Why Most Commercial Office Cleaning Companies Can't Get It Right

The Surge of Hope & Inevitable Disappointment
If you are facility’s manager, you have probably experienced the surge of hope that comes with hiring a new commercial office cleaning company and then the growing disappointment that often follows when you realize they just are not going to get the job done right. If you've done this enough times, you can get jaded, tired of trying to get your cleaning service to do things the way you need them done. Eventually, you may even get to the point where you let a subpar cleaning company stay because maybe you have started thinking that all commercial office cleaning companies are the same. 

The reality is most office cleaning companies don't get the job done right, don't communicate what specifically is going to be done and fail to be responsive to individual customers needs and wants. The good news is there are few needles in the haystack, highly professional office cleaning companies that offer clear pricing and specific details of the work included, carefully screened employees who are enthusiastic about their work and a system in place to quickly respond to their customers.

Why Do So Many Commercial Office Cleaning Companies Deliver Subpar Service?
Often, because the startup costs in office cleaning can be relatively low, new start-ups frequently flood the market. Anxious to get accounts, these fly-by-night operations over-promise by not accurately estimating the time they need to clean a facility. Once they get started, they likely realize there is a great deal more time-consuming work than they planned for. So what happens? They either come back and ask for more money or they simply do less. Either way, you are left feeling like you were conned.  

Quality isn’t directly connected to price but there is some truth in the old adage, “you get what you pay for.” At the end of the day, janitorial companies are selling labor. All too often if you are getting an unbelievably great deal, the office cleaning company is doing one or more of the following:

1) Reducing the amount of hours needed to clean the account.  Chances are the crew will cut corners and not deliver on what was promised.

2) Cut the pay rate below the market value.  This will increase turnover of employees at  your account.  It may also attract lesser quality employees who can't find work elsewhere because they are unreliable. 

3) Illegally pay employees as subcontractors to avoid paying taxes and insurance. 

So How Do You Find a Commercial Office Cleaning Company That Delivers Results?
Look for good deals over great deals. Sure, no one wants to pay too much for commercial cleaning services, however, the goal should be value over cost. The best way to make sure your getting a good deal is to request full disclosure or open book pricing from your contractor. Inexperienced professional office cleaning company should have in place something akin to open book pricing. This means that you in your contractor can sit down and look at the same  information, selecting those duties and tasks that you're looking for and then putting a price to them. Companies that price their services transparently allow you to compare apples to apples when deciding on a commercial office cleaning service. You might get bids from multiple cleaning companies but what do those numbers mean if you don't clearly understand what they include.

Likewise, you should do business with other businesses that you could see working for. How is the company's culture? Does this matter? It sure does. Commercial office cleaning is primarily about labor and training, these are the elements you need to be successful in this industry. So how does your perspective commercial cleaning contractor find, screen, qualify, train, manage and reward their employees? These are all things that cost money and will often lead to bids that don't fall at the very bottom, however, companies that experience high employee turnover are not likely to deliver consistently good results to you. In the long term, what is it worth to have a fairly compensated, well-treated, long-term employee service in your building? On that same note, cut-rate companies will often illegally pay employees and subcontractors in order to avoid paying taxes and insurance. This is illegal and put both the cleaning contractor and you at risk.

Can Finding the Right Commercial Office Cleaning Company Be Any Easier?
You just want your building cleaned right? You don't have to spend hours trying to figure out whether a prospective commercial office cleaning company screens their people, or pays them illegally or has the right liability coverage or is can be in business 6 months from now. So how do you find the right commercial office cleaning company without making it your new full-time job? One way to streamline your search is to look for janitorial companies and office cleaning companies that are ISSA CIMS Certified. The Cleaning Industry Management Standard (CIMS) certification program requires businesses to meet or exceed set industry standards of excellence on several different benchmarks.

At Stathakis, we offer our customers and potential customers quality people, a solid organization dedicated to our employees and customers, a steadfast commitment to exceptional customer service, open book pricing that helps our customers determine value and we are ISSA CIMS certified demonstrating our commitment to exceptional commercial office cleaning.