Has Your Commercial Office Cleaning Company Fallen Behind

We often see office cleaning companies that start a race strong with a commitment to delivering the highest quality service and slowly lose steam and sight of that commitment. Maybe you have noticed your office cleaning service slowing down, or maybe they were never running a good race to begin with. If you are considering looking into a new office cleaning service, there are some things you should be on the lookout for to help you find an office cleaning service that will help you finish strong. 

In order to know the right direction to go, you must be equipped with better information when it comes to selecting from the crowded and often confusing janitorial services marketplace. It can be all too easy to convince yourself that all office janitorial services are the same when you’ve seen company after company that can’t keep a steady pace and deliver on their promises. And even if you were to find a professional office cleaning service, could you even afford it? Lucky for you, effective, professional, responsive office cleaning companies do exist and with the right information you can find one that meets your needs and your budget.

The Mistake Of Too Many Mistakes

People make mistakes and your office cleaning company is made up of people, so mistakes are bound to happen. The critical point is when your office cleaning company goes off course, do they course correct or just keep going off in the wrong direction? And at what point are mistakes being made so frequently that it is detrimental to your service and not worth the money you are paying? The following are some big red flags that we hear from Facility Managers all the time that might tell you that it is time to start looking for a new office cleaning company.

Fuzzy Office Cleaning Prices Are A Bad Sign

The first sign your office cleaning service isn’t capable and/or committed to delivering on what they promised is if it's difficult to tell what they promised in the first place. Fuzzy pricing can make it challenging for you to compare different bids and get an idea of what is best for your facility. On top of that, not having a clear plan in place of what your prospective cleaning company has agreed to do makes it difficult to hold them accountable. Don’t get thrown of course and settle for a company that can’t offer a clear and detailed bid.

Don’t Stand For A Slow Response Time From Your Office Cleaning Service

Another significant problem Facility Managers frequently deal with is a lack of responsiveness. Of course mistakes are going to happen from time to time, but if your Detroit office cleaning company isn’t quick to alert you of them and take control of the problem, things can spiral out of control in short order. All too often office cleaning companies will brush off problems only to have them come up again and again. It isn’t your job to micromanage your cleaning company, so don’t settle for an office cleaning company that will force you to do so. Any solid commercial cleaning company will have a system in place to handle problems and to allow easy communication between you and your cleaning company. Those that do offer a sign that they take your business seriously and know how to handle problems in an efficient and professional manner.

You Can’t Win the Race Without The Right Equipment

You wouldn’t start a marathon in work boots or high heels would you? To be effective you must have the right equipment. In the last decade, the cleaning industry has made huge strides in more effective, green, and efficient solutions and equipment. Having the right equipment for the job can save you time and money and more often than not, older equipment simply doesn't do the job as well. So, if your office cleaning service isn’t using up to date, properly serviced equipment, you aren’t getting the cleaning that you should be.

Keep Your Personal Problems Out Of The Office

Like many other businesses, the quality of the service you and your facility receive is dictated by the quality of the people that your cleaning company employs. If your office cleaning company takes shortcuts when it comes to their hiring and training process, you can be sure they will take shortcuts in any other number of areas. Further, far too many commercial cleaning companies will turn to illegal hiring, illegal subcontracting and subpar employee screening to try to make their numbers work. This not only sets you up for poor cleaning, but has major security implications as well. Having poorly screened cleaning staff in your building after hours is a recipe for disaster. It is the responsibility of your commercial cleaning company to provide full background and drug tests, not yours. Finally, poor hiring practices often increase turnover rates, further reducing the level of the service you receive. Paying employees under the table and not providing benefits is a good way to burn out staff quickly. So, before you partner with a prospective office cleaning company, for the sake of your service and safety, ask about their hiring and training practices. If they are in it to win it, they will be happy to share their plan and practices with you.

What Is Professionalism And Why Should I Care?

It may seem like common sense but professionalism isn’t guaranteed even when it’s promised. So, what does professionalism look like in the office cleaning industry? It starts with having well trained and well equipped teams that take a serious and effective approach to cleaning you building properly. It's also having open lines of communication to help deal with problems as they come up and to keep you in the loop about what is going on. It is having a thorough screening system and easy to identify uniforms and badges. It’s offering great people the training and management to really win at work. A company that does not operate on a professional level is bound to have other problems that bleed into your service.

Professional Office Cleaning Requires Professional Training

Marathon runners don’t just show up for marathon day without any training. Can you imagine? It would be a disaster. Cleaning has evolved from the time of the mop and bucket, it is now built on the foundation of science and the knowledge of what creates a clean and healthy workspace. To be an effective cleaner, you need this general knowledge of how to clean for health and specific industry training. Cleaning for a school versus a hospital versus a general office or industrial plant are all drastically different from each other. Whether it’s best practices, safe chemical use and storage, effective Smart Cleaning strategies or more, solid training benefits you the customer and changes the way people feel about their work, which in turn fosters a more professional attitude. Everyone wins!

Commercial Office Cleaning Services Require Accountability        

No matter what you are paying for, even if your budgets are below where they perhaps should be, you can still secure solid, professional office cleaning services. It all comes down to how your cleaning service holds their staff accountable to the work they agreed to do. The best office cleaning companies will often conduct regular janitorial inspections to make sure the work is being done consistently and to the highest possible level. On top of that, they will often meet with their customers to adjust what they are doing to better meet their needs. You and your facility deserve responsive service and accountability from your office cleaning company.

Partner With The Company That Knows How To Be A Professional

You are going to come across many commercial cleaning companies that just can’t get it right no matter what they do. Fortunately, there are companies that are professional and effective cleaners that will set you up to finish strong. What are these companies doing to help you get to the finish line? They know how to communicate and how to be responsive to your needs. The best commercial janitorial services know that people are the starting point of effective service delivery and they make their people processes a priority in order to find, hire, retain and manage great people who are a natural fit for the work. They know that investing in high quality equipment and cleaning solutions will benefit you and them in the long run along with improving the quality of their cleaning and the health of your facility. They perform frequent inspections of their frontline staff to make sure they deliver consistently high quality results. Finding an office cleaning service like won’t be easy, but it will be worth it.

Make Your Building Maintenance Manageable

We all want to deal with problems before they come up, after all, that's why we see our doctors for preventative care and get our cars serviced. Dealing with maintenance before it turns into a full-fledged problem is always the better choice, and it is the same with our facilities. Yet, as Facility Managers we often delay preventative maintenance maybe out of budget concerns or just a lack of time. Maybe our current problems are just so front and center that it makes it really hard to consider our future problems. No one wants things to go catastrophically wrong, rack up a huge repair bill but it can be easy to be lulled into a false sense of security when it seems like everything is going fine. But we all know problems are lurking, seemingly waiting for the worst time. And once a significant issue surfaces, you have no choice but to pay out and have it fixed because you need your facility to be operational. But, if you make in-house facility maintenance part of your building maintenance plan and factor it into your budget, you can help protect yourself from these unexpected charges and damage and manage small issues before they become big problems.

Outsourcing Building Maintenance Is A Smart Move 

Of course, any type of maintenance is going to cost you money, preventative notwithstanding, but fixing problems as they inconveniently pop up is always going to cost you the most. There must be a shift from pay big later to pay a little as you go now, but the cost savings in preventative maintenance saves big money over time. If you identify issues before they become full blown problems, it is much easier to address, service or repair, and you can do it in your own timeframe if the problem allows. By avoiding peak operating times, you can plan to fix issues when it will cost you the least and be the least disruptive. Take for instance your HVAC systems. If it breaks on a summer day mid work week, it is likely to cost you a small fortune to get it repaired in a timely manner. But if you test and service your HVAC in the off season, you can make a plan at significantly less costly fix instead of waiting until it stops working. This allows you to construct a history of problems to start looking at predictive maintenance as well. If you know when your equipment starts to have problems, you can identify when you need to start working on certain things to further protect yourself from unforeseen complications. Instead of reactively addressing problems as they come up, you can save yourself the stress, time, and money by taking advantage of preventative and predictive maintenance to keep your facility running optimally.

A Professional Handyman Service Can Make Life Easier AND Save You Money

Of course preventative and predictive maintenance are going to require some forethought, planning, and be figured in to your already tight budgets. But by actively addressing potential problems in your facility before they become immediate problems, you save yourself money, time, and net a lot of value from something much simpler than trying to coordinate an emergency fix for critical systems. Any professional commercial handyman service can help you put together a preventative maintenance plan that makes sense for your facility. This comes with the added benefit of being able to work around your busy times and gives you more control of your budget because you know what everything is going to cost with no surprises. Even better, when you do have unforeseeable maintenance issues, you already have a partner in your corner ready to step in and help.

A Preventive Building Maintenance Checklist

There are a couple core areas standard across most facilities that have huge returns with a little preventative maintenance. Light, carpets, flooring, and the HVAC system that picks the middle of winter or the hottest day of the summer to break. Light bulbs are often the least conspicuous. It doesn’t seem like it takes a lot of time to replace them as they go out, but it adds up very quickly. Consider re-lamping and replacing your standard halogens with LEDs that have nearly fifty times the lifespan and can help you reduce money spent on powering them. They may cost a little extra, but in the long run they can save you some big money. Another less than noticeable area is your hard flooring and carpets. A solid carpet cleaning and repair plan can easily add another five to ten years onto your carpet’s life. If you wait until the stains, dirt and damage are visible on your carpet, it is likely already too late. The same goes with your hard flooring. If the protective coat has been worn down, your building’s traffic will start to damage the floor itself.

 A commercial handyman service can clean, repair and protect these expensive assets before they are too far gone and give them a much longer lifespan. Repairing and servicing them early is always going to be less expensive than replacing carpet and hard flooring. The final area that you should look into preventative maintenance is for your HVAC system. It will break, and it will be at the worst possible moment. If you take the time to test, service and repair your HVAC unit, you can make sure that when it is needed most, it is ready to go. Most commercial handymen services recommend looking at it at least twice a year. On top of this, it can be a good idea to conduct a thorough inspection of it when the time rolls around that it is needed again. This is certain to save you a lot of money in the long run.

Identifying & Creating A Preventative Building Maintenance Schedule

Forming a lasting partnership with a solid, professional building services company is going to be a better investment that trying to secure the right contactor in the middle of an emergency repair. Not only will you have year round service available when you need it, but the ongoing service and repairs will save you money and help extend the longevity of some of your most important building assets. There is no way to avoid every nasty surprise, but with a little planning and due diligence, you can help reduce their impact on your facility and be prepared.

Wading Through the Industrial Cleaning Marketplace

There is a lot to look at if you are trying to wade through the industrial janitorial services marketplace to find a contractor that takes its role in your facility seriously. Fortunately, CIMS certification offers a great place to start. What exactly is the ISSA’s CIMS and CIMS-GB certification? It is an industry relevant accreditation issued by the ISSA, or the International Sanitary Supply Association, a worldwide professional organization dedicated to building services and the companies that offer them. CIMS stands for the Cleaning Industry Management Standard certification. This certification offers a challenging program that requires building services contractors to implement and demonstrate successful and effective use of the industries best practices in a myriad of areas. Finally, the GB in the certification is an acronym for Green Building. Holders of this specific accreditation are certified to help put you on the path towards a greener building and are trained to help you earn more LEED-EBOM points. This rigorous and stringent accreditation program can help you narrow down your list of potential Michigan industrial cleaning services to those companies best set up for your individual facility.

CIMS-GB Certification Translates Into Quality Service From Your Industrial Cleaning Company 

The ISSA’s CIMS-GB certification focuses on five core aspects of solid, effective, and professional industrial cleaning and maintenance services:

▪   Service Delivery: Assure that janitorial companies implement systems and processes to assure responsive, consistent, quality service.

▪   Quality Systems: Confirm the structure needed to ensure effective operations & continuous improvement is in place.

▪   Management Commitment: Examine the company’s vision for the direction of their business that will lead you towards a stronger and more beneficial partnership.

▪   Health, Safety, & Environmental Stewardship: Assure the provider mandates regulatory compliance at the federal, state, and local level and ensures safety for the workplace, and for the environment.

▪   Human Resources: Confirm the company takes the training and welfare of their employees seriously as they are their greatest asset and your frontline resource.

CIMS-GB Isn’t A Guarantee, But It’s As Close As You’ll Get

Being a recipient of the ISSA’s CIMS-GB certification speaks volumes about your prospective Detroit industrial cleaning company. Not only is the accreditation program rigorous and challenging, it is voluntary meaning that your prospective industrial cleaning company went out of their way to demonstrate their competency to the ISSA and prospective customers and elevate the overall quality of their service for current and future customers. Companies that possess this certification are the cream of the crop so to speak. They have clearly put their best efforts into being a customer-driven commercial cleaning service that takes the unique needs of each facility seriously and gives them the attention that they deserve. As with any skill, the more time you take to hone and master your trade, the better quality service you can deliver to your customers.

Do You Really “Get What You Pay For?”

We’ve all heard the phrase “you get what you pay for”, and to some degree this can be true. Still, when it comes to industrial cleaning, and really any janitorial or cleaning service, paying more isn’t always going to get you better results. If only the equation was that easy but unfortunately cost does not always translate into value. Of course, you also can’t just chase every low bid because it looks promising on paper. It all comes down to how experienced and professional your cleaning and maintenance service actually is. Companies with experience know how to take appropriate cost-saving measures and are so experienced they can save you time and money while giving you more for your dollar. A detailed and well executed cleaning specification designed specifically for your facility can assure that you get your needs met without wasting your time or money on things with little impact on the operations of your building. Experience isn’t charging a high price, experience is knowing how to work with a significantly reduced budget while still providing a quality service.

Our Commitment To You

As a premier Detroit industrial cleaning service, we take pride in demonstrating the quality and effectiveness of our work time and time again. At Stathakis, our first priority is making sure our customers receive a quality service at a price they can live with. As a local Michigan commercial cleaning service, we work hard to deliver professional services while holding on to what makes us a truly local cleaning service, a personal connection with our customers. We would love to be given the opportunity to demonstrate our cleaning and maintenance practices and put together a custom plan that fits the needs of your facility, and your budget. We take great care to assure quality services with a reasonable price tag while placing a heavy emphasis on compliance and regulation.

No matter if you are looking to up your LEED-EBOM score, beginning a green cleaning program, or just looking for a more reliable industrial cleaning service, we can lend a hand. Stathakis is CIMS-GB certified and we are one of the most well regarded industrial cleaning companies in the Michigan area. Our LEED and ISSA certifications are a symbol of our commitment to providing an industry leading level of service. Here at Stathakis, we are constantly trying to push progress with the level of service we provide and strive to drive industry innovation and processes that benefit our customers.

When Building Maintenance Is Piling Up, It’s Time To Look For Help

Facility Managers will often find that without the help of regular maintenance teams, issues tend to grow out of control and overwhelm their ability to address and fix them in real time. Not to mention the cost involved in both time and money each time you must find a new contractor. This problem is especially prevalent in larger facilities that may have ongoing maintenance issues such as painting, plumbing, electrical, and HVAC. Trying to coordinate all of these separate projects isn’t just costing you money, it’s costing you time, and a lot of it. Fortunately there is a better way. By partnering with a commercial handyman service, you can save time and save money all while getting issues in your facility addressed quicker . You can keep your staff and occupants satisfied and protect your facility’s positive reputation. Perhaps it is time to start looking for the right commercial handyman service for you and your facility.

Don’t Let Maintenance Issues Spiral Out Of Control

Any Facility Manager knows that no matter how experienced or skilled you are, your facility will throw things at you that will bog you down and overwhelm you from time to time. Managing this ongoing battle with your facility’s maintenance is going to seriously cut into your time to be working on other, often more important things. The good news is that with the right commercial handyman service, you don’t have to be overly involved with dealing with day-to-day maintenance issues. On top of that, you can be more preventative focusing on the little things that when ignored or put off grow into large, untenable problems. You can even create a custom maintenance schedule to make sure that your facility is always in its best condition and you can plan, budget and execute all your important repairs, scheduled maintenance, preventative maintenance, fixes and projects.

Professional Commercial Handyman Services For the Win

The important difference between a single contractor and a professional, commercial handyman service provider is the commitment to your facility and the breadth of services available. Every time you hire a contractor to take care of one project, there is the concern that they aren’t going to show up on time, that the work they do will be subpar, that costs and fees might be higher than stated. But when you partner with a reliable, professional handyman services company, you develop a relationship, you know what you are getting, the overall standard and quality of work and what to expect. This consistency builds trust and saves you time, money, and likely, your sanity. Don’t make managing your facility’s maintenance harder than it needs to be, start looking into the benefits of commercial handyman services.

Commercial Handyman Services Help Those That Help Themselves

When you partner with the right company, you are getting a team of industry professionals who have years of experience in handling a variety of maintenance issues and tasks. Handyman service providers are like the Swiss Army Knife of the maintenance industry. You’ll be getting experts in HVAC, plumbing, painting, general repair, and electrical among others. No longer will you have to get in touch with different contractors to get work done around your facility. Instead you’ll have the easy and affordable option of letting your commercial handymen address issues quickly and cost effectively.

Do I Need the Help In My Facility?

We’ve found that Facility Managers sometimes worry that they don’t have enough work to warrant an ongoing partnership with a commercial handyman service. Or perhaps you are on the other end of the spectrum and have concerns that your facility requires too much work and wonder if any contract service providers have the ability to keep up with your facility’s demands. Whatever the case may be, there is a provider and level of service that fir your needs and your budget. The best commercial handyman services will customize their teams and work around the unique demands and budget of your facility. Some facilities will require daily maintenance at multiple locations, others may only periodic check-ins or services calls to make sure everything is running smoothly. Or, perhaps your maintenance is seasonal and you need more help during certain times of the year. It does not matter, the right maintenance companies will be happy to put together custom service plans to make sure that your facility is well maintained.

Is Your Professional Handyman Service Truly On Top Of It?

What we’ve described above will sound pretty great to most Facility Managers, but not every commercial handyman service offers the level of care, knowledge and professionalism needed to be a true ally and partner in your facility’s maintenance. A commercial handyman service is not the same as a one-man with a van “handyman service”.  Small or single operators rarely have the staffing and flexibility to address a wide variety of issues or scheduling specifications. A true commercial handyman service is one with a team of dedicated professionals. Their wide variety of experience and knowledge allows them to work in nearly any facility and they are more likely to have a large staff means that they can handle your needs as they ebb and flow. Unlike the smaller operations, larger service providers have the depth and breadth of knowledge to address more complex issues and are often much better at resolving problems quickly and with minimal disruption to the day-to-day operations of your building.

A Commercial Handyman Service Makes Things Easier, And You Deserve To Have Things A Little Easier

Partnering with the right professional commercial handyman service is going to save you time, money, and just make you life easier in general. You can get many of your facility’s needs met in one place and assure your facility is well cared for and tuned up as needed. No matter what is on your to-fix and to-do list or how long and overwhelming it has become, a good commercial handyman service will have your back so you don’t have to spend time hassling with independent contractors. If you are sick and tired of dealing with the seemingly overwhelming number of problems that crop up day-to-day, it is time to make the switch and help us help you.

At Stathakis, we have served the businesses of Southeastern Michigan for over thirty years. We are proud members of the BSCAI (Building Services Contractor Association International) and are CIMS certified. The Cleaning Industry Management Standard assures our customers that whether its our Commercial cleaning, janitorial services, day porter service, commercial facility maintenance or handyman services, we will deliver effective, affordable solutions. If you are looking for a Commercial cleaning company in Michigan that can deliver a multitude of solutions for your facility or facilities, from Commercial handyman services company to Day Porter services to industrial cleaning, medical cleaning and Janitorial, please get in touch. We provide commercial cleaning and commercial handyman services to Genesee County, Livingston County, Washtenaw County, Monroe County, Wayne County, Macomb County, St. Clair County. We offer effective, professional facility services to the cities of Detroit, Ann Arbor, Farmington Hills, Dearborn, Farmington,Livonia, Plymouth, Downriver, Royal Oak, Southfield, Troy, Auburn Hills, Novi and more. For more information on our services and how we can help you, please contact us at 1-800-278-1884.

Don’t Let Your Medical Office Cleaning Service Making You Sick

The progression of healthcare changes in this modern era is unprecedented, and your medical cleaning company needs to keep up. As new knowledge about cleanliness, infection, and patient satisfaction comes to the forefront, it is critical that your medical office cleaning service adapts with it. It may not seem obvious at first, but your medical janitorial service plays a critical role in your patient’s safety and the ever important HCAHPS score. The concern about getting sick in a hospital is just as relevant as ever, especially with the high volumes of sick patients that many hospitals take on a daily basis. Not too mention newer, antibiotic resistant viruses, bacteria and fungus like candida auris which preys on people with weakened immune systems and has been recently reached New York, New Jersey, Illinois leading the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to add it to it’s list of germs believed to be “urgent threats.” If you are a Facility Manager of any type of clinic, surgical center, hospital or other general care facility, having the right hospital cleaning service is critical to keeping your patients and staff safe. Effective healthcare cleaning services set a solid foundation from which to elevate patient care.

Not Every Hospital Cleaning Service Is Fit To Do The Job 

With medical cleaning, there is simply too much at stake to leave it to amateurs. If your commercial medical cleaning company is not on top of the cutting edge advances in their industry, you, your staff, and patients are all at risk. Unlike other industries, you cannot have a subpar cleaning service in your hospital. While reputation is important in every industry, no where else is patient/consumer perception of cleanliness as important. Literally it can be a matter of life or death. Any medical specialty requires extensive training, experience, knowledge, and a drive to succeed, your medical cleaning service needs the benefit of the same levels of know how. All too often we see janitorial companies that have had some success in general cleaning and think they are ready to become medical cleaners. If your prospective Michigan medical cleaning company can’t clearly demonstrate their industry relevant training, knowledge, and experience along with the respective accreditation, you should not risk your facility’s health and reputation. Failure to do your due diligence can have disastrous results. 

Hospital Housekeeping Is About Far More Than What Lies On the Surface 

Cleaning hospitals and healthcare facilities isn’t a simple task. Healthcare is its own special kind of niche cleaning service.  It has its own risks, compliance and regulatory concerns and requires the utmost care with safety. You can’t take risks with medical cleaning; when your company doesn’t have the experience or the ability to keep up with the industry, there is a potential for harm to your patients, staff, and anyone that comes into contact with your facility. Medicine and the healthcare industry has made huge strides in care over the years, in fact, the advances have been exponential raising life span and increasing the potential for elevated quality of life for many. As such, the supporting industries need to advance with them. It may seem trivial, but HAIs, healthcare acquired infections causes nearly two million cases of infection a year, nearly a third of such infections can be directly traced back to poor facility cleaning. This says nothing of the flu season, it is nearly impossible to determine how many cases of the flu are contracted yearly at hospitals because of a lack of adequate hospital cleaning. All too often general cleaning companies rather than experienced medical cleaning professionals don’t realize that their cleaning needs to go deeper than what lies on the surface. Sure your counters look clean, but you run the enormous risk of spreading virulent illness all over your building if they are not properly disinfected. Cleaning is not just what you can see on the surface, especially in a medical setting. If cleaning isn’t taken seriously and done effectively, people are going to get sick, and you will be met with some catastrophic outcomes that were avoidable with effective cleaning and maintenance.

Compliance And Regulations Are Key 

We’ve put a heavy emphasis on why cleaning for health is critical in your facility, but this isn’t to diminish the importance of making sure your facility looks clean. Effective medical cleaning must impart a deep clean eradicating disease causing germs where they lie AND assure your facility looks clean and welcoming. As you are likely aware, HCAHPS is responsible for keeping track of patient satisfaction and approval and it directly affects you and your facility. How clean your facility appears is a serious consideration for the HCAHPS survey. In fact many industry regulatory services such as HIPAA, HCAHPS, OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration), CDC (Center for Disease Control), and AORN (Association of Perioperative Registered Nurses) put a heavy emphasis on the importance of how your facility appears to your patients. Your medical facility cleaning services need to know how to clean for both health and appearance, anything less and you are not getting the value and assurances you and your facility deserve.

How to Gauge Your Prospective Michigan Medical Cleaning Company’s Competency

Here are a couple quick questions to gauge the competency of your prospective medical office cleaning companies: Do they know the difference between clean, disinfected, sterile and aseptic? Can they explain the core differences between the application, usages, and various products that they plan to use around your facility such as sanitizers, detergents, virucides, and disinfectants among others? Aseptic cleaning, for instance, is used in a number of different clinical conditions to help reduce the spread of disease and other infection causing pathogens. In any hospital, techniques like this require specific training and experience to master. Understanding the difference between critical and non-critical cleaning, correct product usage, dwell times, product descriptions, protective equipment and disinfection protocol is can be the difference between life and death for some people. Your medical cleaning service provider should be using the correct equipment. Without commercial hospital cleaning grade EPA-approved disinfectant products used on touch points and hot spots with the correct dwell times, you aren’t going to get the results you need. The danger of healthcare associated infections is so prevalent that it has its own cleaning technique to help address. Terminal cleaning is used to target and immediately reduce the bacterial and pathogenic load on high-touch surfaces such as door handles, computer terminals, tables, remotes, rails, and other frequently used, high traffic items. Every aspect of the medical cleaning industry has a proven science backing it. Is your medical cleaning company aware of them?

Does Your Medical Janitorial Service Have What It Takes To Succeed? 

To succeed in the ever advancing medical cleaning industry, your prospective healthcare cleaning company needs to keep moving forward all the time. Relevant industry certifications like the ISSA’s CIMS and CIMS-GB accreditation can be a great way to find these companies. Companies that go out of their way to demonstrate their commitment to the industry's best practices are going to be far better candidates for consideration that those that choose to wing it. Further, like many industry certifications, the CIMS certification can show mastery in different aspects of the cleaning industry, namely, medical. As such, these companies are going to be in a much better spot to meet the unique needs of your medical building. This free tool provides a lot of insight into your prospective medical cleaning services company’s ability to innovate, lead, be responsive and provide a quality service. With certifications like CIMS and evidence-based analysis of a cleaning companies commitment to industry best practices and understanding the specific issues inherent in medical cleaning, you can find a company ready and willing to deliver the services your healthcare facility deserves.

The Wrong Carpet Cleaning Service Will Take A Toll On Your Carpet

Carpets can offer your facility a lot of benefits, they can be easy on feet, help dampen noise, improve air quality and when properly cared for look great. But of course carpets come in all different states, some have been newly added to your facilities and others are perhaps older than you are. Fortunately, a reputable and competent carpet cleaning service is going to know how to best help you whatever the condition of your carpet. Maybe you have to squeeze a couple more years out of it before you replace. Maybe you finally shelled out for new carpet and now you want to get as many serviceable years from it as possible. Finding the right commercial carpet cleaning service that knows what it is doing is critical to caring for old carpet, new carpet and everything in between.

When looking for Detroit carpet cleaning, it can be so difficult to distinguish one company from the next. For every solid company you find, there are another twenty looking out for themselves, not your carpet and your facility. Another thing you may notice about different carpet cleaning companies is the difference in the quality of equipment, training, procedures, and staff. Unfortunately, it can be nearly impossible to see these differences until you’ve actually hired the company and they have worked on your carpets. That is to say, after the damage has been done. Picking the wrong Detroit commercial cleaning company can spell disaster for your carpets, your budgets and ultimately, your facility’s care and reputation.

Office Carpet Cleaning Can Be Tricky If You Don’t Know What To Look For

Deciding on which carpet cleaning company to partner with is never going to be an easy decision, but there are some telltale signs that can help you predict the kind of service you are going to receive. So, what should you be on the lookout for? The first thing that should come to mind is people. Carpet cleaners are the single biggest predictor of success or failure in carpet cleaning and facility maintenance. A company's staff are the ones that are doing the actual work in your facility. A carpet cleaning company can buy the latest and greatest in fancy new cleaning technology, but it doesn’t mean much if staff isn’t well trained on it. And the work doesn’t stop at training either.

Any competent Detroit carpet cleaning service will also screen their employees with comprehensive criminal background checks, drug tests, and more. Good cleaning doesn’t mean anything if you, your staff, and your facility are at risk. Carpet cleaning staff must not only be trustworthy and reliable, but have the know-how to identify and deal with carpets in a variety of conditions, stains, use correct cleaning methods to improve carpet longevity and cleanliness, as well as decide on which tools are right for the job to save you money and time. On top of this, your carpet cleaning staff should be well versed in green cleaning technology. In recent years the cleaning industry has come a long way and if you aren’t receiving a greener clean, then your cleaning company is dropping the ball and you aren’t getting your money's worth. Finally, make sure your carpet cleaning company has systems in place to address problems as they come up and keep open lines of communication with you.

Commercial Carpet Cleaning Prices and What they Don’t Tell You 

Another aspect of the carpet cleaning selection process you’ll be quick to realize and even quicker to get frustrated with is the wide and often inexplicable range of pricing. Obviously it is important to select carpet cleaning services based on your budget, but don’t let it be the only deciding factor. Prices well below market can seem appealing at first, but an important question to ask yourself is how a company can offer such a low price compared to others. 

Often this is an enormous red flag for illegal hiring practices and other forms of corner cutting that will damage the overall quality of your service. On the other hand, it can be easy to convince yourself that very high prices translate to very good service. More often than not, however, you’ll find that price alone isn’t a very good indicator of quality or value. This disparity in expectations can often make it difficult to use pricing as an effective tool despite it being so important. So, what can you do to clear things up?

Most importantly, you should make sure that your pricing is precise and detailed. A clear write up for what you are paying for and why is the best possible way to decide if the price is worth it for your facility. On top of that, ask your carpet cleaning about how they do business and you can see how your money is directly translating into training, equipment, management, quality assurance systems, and cleaning products and decide which company best matches your needs.

Finding a Professional and Effective Commercial Carpet Cleaning Company

Your carpets are an investment and one of the first things people see when in your facility. You want clean carpets and longer-lasting carpet cleaning. You want an effective carpet cleaning process. You want carpet cleaning technology you can count on. You want a carpet cleaning service that delivers results. Clean carpets make a positive impression, not to mention the money you save from getting more serviceable years out of them. Partnering with the right commercial carpet cleaning company can offer you effective cleaning service that can save you money in the long run.

Here at Stathakis, we offer a competitive commercial carpet cleaning service based out of South Eastern Michigan that can meet the needs of your facility. We go out of our way to make sure our employees are of the highest caliber and give the relevant training to succeed in your building. On top of that we are resourced with the best equipment the industry has to offer and we feature a wide array of green cleaning products and equipment and can help manage and point you towards an effective cleaning solution for your building no matter your budget. Whether you are looking for an on-demand carpet cleaning or even a subscription based carpet-cleaning program, we are here to help. For more information on how you can keep your floors cleaner than they have ever been, please contact Stathakis at #800-278-1884.

Is Your School Cleaning Making the Grade?

School campuses suffer from many of the same issues that we find in other types of buildings and facilities. Their high traffic quickly dirties just cleaned spaces, damage and wear can add up fairly quickly, and their multifaceted nature requires individualized cleaning services. Don't be fooled though, schools present a host of other issues unique to the learning environment and if your cleaning company is not well versed on what a school really needs, service is going to be less effective at best, disruptive at worst. So what does this mean for you as Facility Manager? First, that you need to partner with a commercial cleaning service that has experience working with schools and understands what sets school cleaning apart from general office cleaning. If you school cleaning services aren’t intimately familiar with the service and security that a school setting demands, they won’t keep your students and staff safe or keep the campus running smoothly helping to provide the ideal learning environment. So, what are the top ten things that will make or break your school cleaning?

#1 - Knowledge of Cleaning for Health Is A Must Have

Wiping a surface until it looks presentable isn’t all there is to cleaning. In fact, you may be doing even more harm than good just moving disease causing germs around without eradicating them. Michigan school cleaning services that take their jobs seriously know that they need to carefully observe dwell times and touch points among other critical aspects of cleaning for health when dealing with your facility. Is your school cleaning company paying close attention tot hose areas students touch most frequently? It is also critical that there is a green school cleaning in place. Does your school cleaning company utilize green cleaning in their process?

#2 – Security Is Vital

There is no issue more important or more relevant today than security and your cleaning company must be focused on assuring the right people are chosen to work in your school setting. It should be a given that your school cleaning company isn’t taking any chances with their staffing. What does this look like? They must take the time to carefully and rigorously screen every person that works on your campus with at least the following: drug screening, stringent, comprehensive criminal background checks, reference and employment verification among other relevant screening. When it comes to your school’s cleaning staff, school janitorial services cannot be taking the easy way out with regard to hiring practices.

#3 – Commitment Can’t Be Lacking

A constant hiring and firing of cleaning companies is of help to no one. Your ever-changing cleaning staff will never have time to learn the ins and outs of your facility and it will send the wrong message to staff and parents. But of course you shouldn’t have to settle with a cleaning company with no commitment to you, this is why vetting a school cleaning company before you commit is so critical. The goal should always be to build a stable, lasting relationship with a single school cleaning service provider. No company is going to be perfect at first, but the best will take the time to learn the dos and don’ts of your school and set you up for a long, mutually beneficial relationship.

#4 –Safety & Safe Practices

You may know who you are letting in your school, but do you know what you’re letting in? Security isn’t the only way that you need to insure your student and staff’s safety. Not all cleaning products and procedures are appropriate for schools. To insure safety, safe chemicals need to be used and it should be absolutely required and checked that all regulations regarding chemical storage are followed to the letter.  If a janitorial company is taking shortcuts here, thy are likely taking shortcuts everywhere.

#5 – Attitude Is Latitude

Ever hear the phrase “attitude is latitude?” The idea being that a positive attitude and growth mindset give you position, direction and help you accomplish all you want. The biggest indicator of the quality of your cleaning company and the subsequent quality of your cleaning and service is their attitude towards their work. Companies that care about the work they do will have staff that are positive, enthusiastic, and excited to take on the challenges of your school. Attitude isn’t about rote perfection, it’s about caring that the work is done well and caring about your customers. If a company really cares, good work grows from that.

#6 - Flexibility & Responsiveness = Better Service & Better Value

Anyone that has attended school knows that they can be unpredictable places that change from year to year, day to day and even from hour to hour. The number of students, the mix of class types, after school activities, athletics, programs, events, and budgets mean that every day is going to look at least a little bit different. For this reason your school cleaning company needs to be able to respond and adapt to the constant flux and be flexible and responsive to your school’s specific and individual needs. In this era of shrinking school budgets, you cleaning company needs to be able to scale up and scale back their staff and services as you need.

#7 – Accountability Is Key

Things are always going to go wrong, that isn’t the issue, not knowing who you need to speak with to get things back on track is were the real issues begin. A solid school cleaning company will make sure that you know who to get in touch with and deal issues before they spiral out of control.

#8 – Communication Matters

In schools the “learning curve” is often referenced, and the same goes for your school cleaning service. Keeping open lines of communication between you and school janitorial services is the only way that you can keep your school in peak operating condition. The best Michigan cleaning companies are going to have provably effective systems in place to keep those lines open and running without hitches to deal with problems as they inevitably show up.

#9 – Compliance Is Critical

No matter what the area, chemical storage, screening practices, hiring regulations, insurance, or data safety, the rules exist for a reason and your cleaning company must be complaint on all of them. There is no place for a service provider that cuts corners inside something as important as your school.

#10 – Cleaning Industry Best Practices

It should go without saying but when it comes to school cleaning services, best practices are a must. Whether it be the use of effective, tested, modern equipment, proper background checks and security practices, safer green cleaning chemicals and practices, a school is not the place to be taking shortcuts. The school environment is the best place to implement all of the things we know make for safe and effective cleaning. Don’t settle for less from your commercial cleaning company.

Finding A School Cleaning Company That Hits the Top Ten

As we might expect of anything school related, it all comes down to you doing your homework on possible school cleaning services. Your best bet is always going to be looking for a company that offers a green cleaning program that fits your budget and specific needs. Among other important things is to check for is a comprehensive training program and clear commitment to the industry's best practices. Any competent school cleaning provider will always be happy to show you exactly how they train their staff. Similarly, any professional cleaning service will have an effective system in place to make sure you get the best possible results in your facility and makes it easy to address problems and resolve them as they pop up, not after they have spiraled out of control. You can use relevant industry accreditation programs like CIMS-GB. Such certifications can be a powerful tool for quickly narrowing down your list of companies to only the best. If you do your homework, your school cleaning service is sure to pass the test!

Is Your Commercial Cleaning Company All Promises But No Action?

Finding people that will TELL you they are going to do great work and deliver on their promises to you is easy. Finding people that will actually DO great work and in fact, DELIVER on their promises is quite another story. Were business more accountable in the past or do we just like to imagine the past a more idyllic, simpler time? So many commercial cleaning companies will make promises about their service in order to secure your business. However, like in any business, promises can be easy to make and hard to keep. So, ask yourself as a Facility Manager, is your current office cleaning company actually doing what they said they would? Are they living up to what they promised you and your facility? Are they living up to what you hoped? Are they delivering a reasonable level of service in your facility? And if not, how can you as Facility Manager sort through the promise breakers to find a reliable office cleaning company that will consistently do their best to deliver on their promises to you?

Don’t Let Your Cleaning Service Give You Little More Than Lip Service

No matter how well priced a service may seem, if you have to chase down your cleaning staff to get it completed, it isn’t worth the money. Getting less service than you need is never really a bargain at any price. As a Facility Manager in a demanding position, you need your office cleaning to get done without you having to be constantly on top of it, after all, isn’t that one reason you outsourced your building cleaning? Incredibly enough, in the building services industry, sometimes just doing what you say you’re going to do goes a long way with customers. So it’s so disappointing to find your cleaning teams continually failing to meet your expectations and deliver on their promises. Worse yet, when you finally take the time to complain and let your commercial cleaning company know you aren’t happy with the level of service and they still don’t fix the issues, it can be down right frustrating. You are likely inundated with other things that need to get done aside from trying to manage your supposedly professional office cleaning company. Not only that, but with tighter budgets and more responsibility, you’ll find that if you focus on your office cleaning service you won’t have time for other important tasks that really need your attention. After all, there are some things only you can really do, making sure your commercial cleaning company is getting their jobs done really shouldn’t have to be one of them. What you and every Facility Manager need is a janitorial company that will do what they said they would in terms of services, without being repeatedly reminded.

Shopping Locally Has Some Major Upsides

As the Facility Manager of a large facility or multiple facilities, it can be easy to think that perhaps we need to work with a large, national commercial cleaning company in order to get out needs met. What few fail to recognize is that there are very few instance in which you need a national janitorial company to clean and maintain your building. In fact, often these very large national janitorial companies can make it harder not easier to get customized, responsive, consistent cleaning services. Think about it, to such a giant company, providing connected and customized service is a pretty big ask. For most facilities, a large local Michigan commercial cleaning service can offer nearly all of the benefits of the national janitorial company with all of the benefits of a local Michigan janitorial company. Not only does it help keep tax revenue right here in Michigan, you’ll find that these larger, local commercial cleaning companies have all the benefits of the “big national guys” without any of the drawbacks of those very small cleaning operations. Not only do they have the manpower and buying power to service larger facilities at a reduced price, they aren’t so large that you’ll be lost among other contracts allowing you to get a customized cleaning experience tailored for your facility. It’s not unlike Goldilocks and the three bears, when it comes to janitorial companies, often the national companies are “too big”, the smaller operations are “just too small” and the mid to large size established, professional companies are “just right.”

People Are the Cornerstone of Any Service Company

Any responsive, professional service company has an understanding that their staff are their single most important resource. Think about it, it is the front line office cleaners, custodians, day porters, medical office cleaners and such that come in and out of your facility each day. It is these people who are in the field, in your facility, moving about your building doing the care, leaning and maintenance. As such, the frontline staff need to be well trained, and above all, a good fit for your facility in order to ensure success. So when talking to prospective commercial janitorial companies, make sure to ask about their people services and processes to get an idea of how any prospective cleaning company sees and treats the people who will be providing services in your facility. A company that takes time to recruit, screen, and hire employees correctly will have a lower janitorial turnover rate and subsequently provide a better service. So ask any prospective cleaning company, how do you recruit employees, how do you screen them, do you do comprehensive background checks? What does your employee training look like? How do you manage and motivate your teams to do their best work? Companies that take these steps will almost always want to show you what sets their teams apart.

Find The Company That Has It All

Your facility is likely not only in need of basic cleaning and often it can be difficult to coordinate multiple contractors to get things like repairs, floor care, carpet care, construction cleaning, handyman services, window cleaning, preventative maintenance and other types of janitorial services done in your facility. However, this can all be avoided if you contract with a single Maintenance company that offers a wide menu of related services. This will not only save you time but also money because working through a single company allows you to negotiate with the same point person. It is easier and more affordable to offload needed tasks to a company you already trust and have a relationship with.

The Clearest Pricing Is The Best Pricing

When you go to the grocery store, would you buy something that didn’t have a price tag that you could understand? Most of us wouldn’t so why would you settle for a commercial cleaning company that does the same thing? A transparent price point allows you to easily compare janitorial bids apples to apples style so that you can determine what is truly best for your building. Second, an unclear bid is often a sign that your prospective cleaning company is either inexperienced or that they are intentionally trying to obscure fees and other charges. Don’t partner with a janitorial and commercial cleaning company that won’t or can’t give you a clear, accurate building quote, your planning and budgets require it.

Does Your Professional Cleaning Service Understand Cleaning For Health?

A solid office cleaning service doesn't just clean to make things look good, they clean using the science of bacterial and viral spread to make sure that what looks clean actually is clean. The best of these companies understand touch points, how to effectively reduce infection and disease, cleaning for health, proper restroom cleaning, Smart Cleaning, and Green Cleaning processes as well as which chemicals to use where. If you are partnered with a company that isn’t cleaning with health in mind, you are putting yourself and your employees at risk, especially during cold and flu season. Well-trained office cleaners will not only keep your building sparkling they will help you maintain a clean, healthy work environment.

Referrals And Certifications Are Powerful Tools For Finding Your Next Partner

The best way to find a solid commercial cleaning company is through the recommendation of another trusted industry professional. Similarly, you can also use relevant industry certifications like the ISSA’s CIMS (that is, the Cleaning Industry Management Standard) to help you determine which companies have demonstrated their ability to provide a superior standard of service. CIMS certification measures a number of areas that translate directly into better service for you the customer. While there are no quick tricks to finding the right commercial cleaning company for your building, this certification can help you narrow down your list of prospective office cleaners, and, with a little research, you can find a partner that will service your facility at the highest level for a long time to come. You deserve better service, fewer headaches and a commercial cleaning services that will keep the promises they make to you.

Here at Stathakis, we combine state-of-the-art innovations in office cleaning and care with proven training and industry practices to give you the service your facility requires. If you need office cleaning services, connect with Stathakis. For more information on how you can get offices cleaner than they have ever been, please contact us at #800-278-1884.

Is Your To-Do List Threatening To Topple Your Desk?

Even experienced Facility Managers occasionally get swamped by the amount of work they have piling up in their inboxes and on their desks. And with so many other responsibilities, it doesn't take much before things feel like they are threatening to spin out of control. A little unplanned maintenance issue here, a little hiring problem there and you have yourself a recipe for overload. These pile ups are bound to happen from time to time, especially if you don’t have regular preventative maintenance in place. So, if you are falling behind and in a perpetual game of catch up, one of the best ways to keep yourself from getting bogged down is by enlisting the help of a professional commercial handyman service. Not only can a handyman service attend to day-to-day problems before they ever reach your desk, but they can also manage preventative maintenance and work on projects that you have been putting off for more pressing issues. Now of course, you are probably thinking “Of course I would love some help, but there is no way that I have enough money in the budget to afford that?”

Is The Price Of Commercial Handyman Services Getting You Down?

Sure you want to tackle your expanding to do list, but you don’t want to topple your carefully planned budgets in the process. There are a couple of important things to consider when deciding if you can afford a handyman service for your facility. First, when you partner with a solid commercial handyman service, you are creating a partnership that benefits you both. Your maintenance company gets ongoing work and you get to move to the front of the line paying less than you would with a steady stream of new, individual contractors. Second, you have to balance the long-term benefits of having a handyman service with the pain of short term costs. Things are going to go wrong in your facility and invariably it is going to cost you more to get a last minute repairman out to your facility than to have a regular, established relationship with a handyman performing regular inspections and preventative maintenance. Think about it, if your HVAC system break in the middle of summer it is going to cost a small fortune to have someone drive out and fix it as opposed to having your contracted handyman service fix the problem or have made sure that the problem never happens in the first place. Third, having a partnership with a professional handyman service rather than hiring a handyman or team is always going to be less time consuming. Having to deal with wages, benefits, overtime costs, healthcare and other associated costs will take your time away from managing your building. Outsourcing your handyman service is a good way to save you time and money.

Don’t Start From The Beginning Every Time Your Facility Needs Maintenance 

If every time a maintenance issue comes up you have to find a new contractor to fix it, it is little wonder that you have so much work piling up. Finding a contractor often involves lengthy appointments to assess the problem and suggest remedies, price negotiations, scheduling and often waiting ridiculous amounts of time to get simple services completed. On the other hand, a solid, professional commercial handyman service is always ready to go whenever you need them. Even better, your commercial handyman service already has knowledge of the ins and outs of your facility and how to diagnose, price and complete work while causing minimal disruptions to normal traffic flow. What if every time you needed carpet cleaning you didn’t have to scour the marketplace to find a reasonable quote. Or when you needed electrical done you already had a contractor that you trusted could do the job? Having commercial handyman services is a cheaper, faster, more effective way to handle maintenance when compared to dealing with multiple contractors or trying to go it alone.

What Should You Expect From A Handyman Service?

If you are on the fence about outsourcing your building maintenance to an experienced professional, it can be helpful to get a sense of what services they can offer you. While not every service provider will offer the same thing, generally, larger maintenance companies have a vast network of industry professionals and technicians that are all skilled in a variety of maintenance tasks. Here are some services that many commercial handyman services can provide you: 

• Lock and Door Repairs
• Carpet Cleaning
• Water Clean Up
• Floor Restoration
• Wall Repair
• Electrical Repairs
• Window Cleaning
• Caulking and Glazing
• Painting & touch-ups
• Ballast Replacement
• Door/Hinge/Hardware Repair
• Light bulb changes/Light fixture installations
• Construction Cleanup
• 24/7 Emergency Repairs
• Roof Inspections
• Exterior Power Washing
• Comprehensive building inspection
• Carpet/Tile Repairs, Restoration & Replacement
• Office Furniture Moving & Assembly
• HVAC preventative maintenance & repairs
• Painting/Wallpapering
• Plumbing Repairs
• Ceiling Tile Repair/Replacement
• Life/Safety Audits
• Remodels/Alterations
• Group Relamping

Outsourcing Is The Way To Go In More Ways Than One

With an established, reputable, experienced building maintenance company, you can get quick fixes to your maintenance issues, go straight to the front of the line, extend the life of your property’s assets, forecast better, cut maintenance expenses and even plan work around your needs. If you are in a long term contract with a commercial handyman service, it means you can get the help you need at anytime without having to put in all of the leg work every time you need help. Don’t go through the time consuming, beyond frustrating process of looking for a contractor every time you need help, contract with a professional handyman service to save yourself some time and money and keep your facility running without fail.

How Customization & Experience Affects Service 

You may have an exact of idea of what you want done in your facility but think that you simply don’t have enough work to necessitate ongoing service. Or, perhaps you have the work that needs to be done but you don’t think your budget can support a professional handyman service provider. Fortunately for you, most professional handyman services can adjust and customize their services to varying levels of work and a variety of budgets. The best commercial handyman services know that there is no one-size-fits-all service and they work to find the best solution for you. So don't think that just because you are on a budget or don’t have an immense amount of work that needs to be done that you can’t have an effective, affordable handyman service.

The Direct Benefits Of Outsourcing Your Handyman Service

There are some clear upsides to outsourcing you maintenance to a professional handyman service. Not only will it help you manage your ever growing to-do list, but it can help reduce the time and money associated with finding and contracting with an independent service provider each time you need a fix in your facility. Further, it means that you don’t have to worry about buying, maintaining, fixing, replacing and storing you own equipment and other necessities, Finally, you’ll have immediate access to industry professionals that can help not only with small tasks but can take on larger, more difficult projects that you may have been putting off. Not only can you avoid the premiums of individual contractors but you have a responsive service that you already trust to do the job correctly the first time. Let your handyman service do the work so that you can focus on your business.  

Let Stathakis Help You Tackle YOUR To-Do List

If your to-do list feels out of control or you feel like your job has become you running around trying to put out maintenance fires, it may be time for you to make a decision that will benefit you and your facility for years to come. Making the choice to outsource you building’s maintenance needs can help stabilize maintenance costs and assure that you get service when you need it most. Partner with a company that has a solid reputation and over 35 years of experience. To get more information or to schedule a free consultation, call Stathakis at 1-(800) 278-1884.

Many of your fellow Facility Managers have already likely determined the solid benefits of having an effective, professional, reliable commercial office cleaning service provider. Unfortunately, there are still Facility Managers who have all but given up hope of good service settling instead for a below-standard janitorial company. Is it that they don’t want better cleaning services? Fewer complaints? A better value? Of course not, it’s likely more a function of either feeling like all commercial cleaning companies delver poor service or not having an understanding of how to tell the good cleaning companies from the bad.

Why is it worth putting in the extra time and work to hire a professional, reputable commercial office cleaning service? With ever tightening budgets, you can’t afford to throw good money out the window on a cleaning service that just isn’t delivering. With a more effective building services contractor, not only can office cleaning be affordable, if can even save you money by increasing employee productivity, morale and helping to attract new customers. Having a commercial cleaning company that you trust and that provides real value is a excellent way to save money in the long run and keep your facility looking its best. As such, being saddled with an incompetent commercial cleaning service may end up being what costs you.

Don’t Try to Give Your Employees Cleaning Duties

If you are already running on tight budgets, it can be tempting to delegate some cleaning to your staff. This eliminates the need for a commercial cleaning company, right? Especially in smaller offices, far too many managers will try to enlist help from certain employees to keep the facility cleaner. As it turns out, your receptionist won’t be particularly happy to have to clean up the toilets after colleagues use them. Now cleaning isn’t any more or less important than any other job, but for an employee that was hired specifically for one set of tasks, it may feel that way. On top of this, cleaning tasks are always going to be put on the back burner for the work that your staff was hired to do. This leaves most building cleaning and maintenance poorly done or abandoned all together. Often this will lead to an unclean work environment that stems from a lack of proper cleaning causing higher absenteeism, lower job satisfaction and generally more problems between employees.

An In-House Cleaning Service Gives You More Work Without Tangible Improvements

You may also be thinking that it would be a better idea to hire your own cleaning team for your facility. At least then you have some control over it right? Sure, if you really prepared to wholeheartedly take on another full time job of cleaning management, background checks, training, firing, as well as all of the administrative work that goes into managing cleaning staff? More often than not, you will be certainly be better off devoting this time and energy into improving your own chosen business and bottom. Between healthcare costs and the money and time involved in administration of more employees, there are significant costs associated with employing over contracting. Similarly, running a cleaning service is going to have some very different skill sets and responsibilities than your chosen industry. Even if you understand what it takes, it is likely better to devote your limited time towards other important areas.

Find the Right Commercial Cleaning Company & Let Them Do What They Were Hired To Do

Successful business people understand that there are major advantages to hiring an expert. The more experience a business accumulates, the more they know. It is as simple as this. When you partner with a professional, effective cleaning service, you will get professional, effective cleaning in your building. As an added bonus, such cleaning might even be cheaper than you think it is. As it turns out, more experienced companies know how to more accurately price their service and have had years to work with other Facility Managers on a budget.. As such, they have honed their service to be effective even when your cleaning budget is less than optimal. Similarly, through scale they get cost saving measures you would not running a smaller in-house cleaning operation. Another important aspect to consider is that a professional, experienced commercial cleaning companies have a more clear understanding of federal and state regulations that govern them. While it may seem obvious, this means that you don’t have to waste time familiarizing yourself with these various regulations.

Commercial Cleaning Equipment Presents a Cost You Don’t Need

When a company is primarily focused on cleaning as their core business, they have likely spent the time and energy needed to secure the best prices on the quality supplies and equipment to keep your offices sparkling clean. As such, you can avoid expensive chemicals and cleaning equipment that can cost you thousands for even the most basic models and let your commercial cleaning company handle it. Even better, it means that you are not responsible for servicing, repairing and storing said equipment. Of course, you are going to need to work with your commercial cleaning company at first to get things running smoothly and work out any kinks. However, the most professional cleaning companies will quickly get on their feet and do their best work in your facility. On top of this, many of these companies will have added services that can be really useful. For instance, carpet cleaning, hard floor stripping and resurfacing, drywall repair, painting, carpet cleaning and more. It can be very helpful and efficient as you have a one-stop-shop for the bulk of your building maintenance needs. 

Your Time And Effort Belongs To Your Facility

For many Facility Managers, running a commercial cleaning company isn’t a lifelong dream just waiting to be realized. Let a solid, professional commercial cleaning company meet the maintenance and cleaning needs of your facility. Having your own cleaning staff is time consuming and requires a lot of resources that are better directed towards your facility. Hiring a commercial office cleaning company will give you and your employees more time to focus on tasks and issues central to your business and the bottom line.

Finding the right office cleaning company to partner with in your facility can be a big ask. CIMS can help clear a path that while not making the process easy, at least makes it easier. Here at Stathakis, we have spent over thirty years developing a standard of service delivery. We have worked hard to create lasting relationships with our customers and offer the businesses of southeastern Michigan the service they deserve. We are proudly CIMS certified and committed to the continual improvement that has made us a valued partner to the businesses of southeastern Michigan.

If you are a Facility Manager in Ann Arbor, Detroit, Royal Oak, Farmington Hills, Farmington, Dearborn, Livonia, Troy, Auburn Hills, Novi, Plymouth, Downriver or surrounding areas and you are looking for commercial cleaning services, office cleaning, school cleaning, industrial cleaning, medical cleaning or other building services, please contact us to learn more about how we can help make your job at least a little easier and make your facility shine. To find an office company in your area ISSA CIMS-GB certified, visit the ISSA here.