Are you looking to hire a commercial cleaning service for your facility or are you looking to replace an existing janitorial company that just isn’t getting the job done? If so, you might have realized early on in the process that commercial cleaning prices can be really hard to compare. As a Facilities Manager, you have budgets to work with and you want to get the best value for your cleaning dollar. So, how do you cut through the confusion, compare ‘apples to apples’ and find the most responsive cleaning service at the best price?
Why Low Cost Bids Aren’t All They Are Cracked Up to Be
While a low bid can be enticing, you’d be wise to make sure it’s all it’s cracked up to be. That’s not to say you can’t get a good price or that high quotes will equal better service, but if three companies come in around the same and one company is quoting significantly less, it should give you pause. What might that low low quote really entail? More often than not that too good to be true price really is. Overly low quotes usually come down to a handful of factors.
- Inexperienced company
- Over promising & under delivering on service
- Low price could indicate illegal workers
- Low price usually indicates less work
- Long term costs of ineffective cleaning
Inexperienced Cleaning Companies May Underbid Your Facility
A low janitorial pricing quote might indicate inexperience with determining the real work involved in a particular job. Newer cleaning companies or cleaning companies new to larger accounts may just not know how many man hours it is going to take to keep your facilities in good condition. This underbidding doesn’t benefit you because eventually, the cleaning service will ask for more money, start doing less or both. Better to get fair cleaning pricing and cleaning bids with transparent pricing from the beginning and save yourself the headaches down the road.
When Cleaning Companies Over Promise & Under Deliver
When it comes to securing your business remember, anyone can say anything but delivering on a promise to you is a much more concrete thing. Whether they underbid out of inexperience or to secure the contract, you simply can’t get a good job out of a company that is charging too little. If it doesn’t happen right out the chute, over time, your janitorial company will just do less. Your best chance at getting a solid maintenance service and responsive service is to hire a professional janitorial company that understands how to fairly price their services and deliver on their commitments to you. Yes, these very good companies might not offer the lowest pricing but they likely won’t be the highest either and the real value comes in them consistently doing the work they promised.
If a Cleaning Bid Seems Too Good to Be True, It Could Indicate Illegal Hiring
When you get a very low cleaning bid, ask yourself why and how it can be that low. After all, much like you cannot defy gravity, a cleaning company cannot change the fact that there are costs involved in running a company and delivering service and these are part of any cleaning bid. If you get a price that is significantly below most of the other bids, it is very possible the company in question is cutting costs by hiring illegally. Illegal hiring can fall into two camps. One is the hiring of undocumented workers. Two is illegally classifying workers as independent contractors to avoid the legal requirements one has when having employees. This means that a company will try to get around issues of payroll, taxes, benefits and all of the other things businesses are required to do for legal employees. Any cleaning service willing to take shortcuts with their people, their reputation and YOUR reputation and safety just isn’t worth partnering with.
Low Price Usually Indicates Less Work
A professional, established, reputable commercial cleaning company understands that sometimes you have a hard number that you need to work with, even if it is below what is optimal for your facility. Rather than just offer less work for the low price, the right company can help you determine precisely and clearly what you can get for the budget you have. Likewise, a great cleaning company can help you structure the workload to get the best job for the budget you have. They will understand where you can cut back and where you cannot in order to maintain your facility for the long term. A low price offered without an understanding of how to really maintain your facility at razor thin margins will cost you down the road.
Long Term Costs Of Ineffective Cleaning
When you partner with an ineffective cleaning company, there are not just short-term issues to contend with, there are very real long term costs involved. In the short term you have complaints, management issues, the perils of illegal hiring and even your employees health and safety. What kind of long-term issues can affect your business or facilities if you go without adequate cleaning and maintenance? Poor cleaning can lead to increased illness in the workplace, which in turn leads to higher absenteeism. Likewise, poor cleaning sends a message of apathy meaning your star players will move on and other employees will get the message its acceptable to phone it in. Additionally, neglecting on going maintenance and repairs may reduce the lifespan of paint, carpets, flooring, fixtures and more. Partnering with a very good maintenance service can mean small repairs and maintenance are done regularly.
Commercial Cleaning Prices Can Be Clear & You Can Find a Great Cleaning Company at a Fair Price
Good work doesn’t have to come at a hefty price tag. In fact, it is often the most experienced cleaning companies that can help you optimize the budget you have in order to get the most from your cleaning dollar. When looking for a commercial cleaning service, consider the following. Companies that offer transparent pricing give you ‘apples to apples’ numbers to compare. Not only does this make it easier to find the best value but you have an upfront commitment that both you and your cleaning company can use to measure performance. Transparent pricing means no surprises and a much smoother management of your facilities cleaning. There are very good companies out there that will work hard to get and keep your business. Find the right commercial cleaning company and you can build a solid partnership that will serve you well for many years to come.
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