Are Confusing Prices From Your Janitorial Company Making You Crazy?
Commercial cleaning pricing can be confusing.
But understanding how your janitorial services company prices their services is critical in your role as a Facility Manager. Clear pricing helps you compare competing companies and find the best value for your facility.
It also helps you hold your cleaning company accountable to the level of work they promised. Cleaning and maintenance can be a sizable cost, but there is real value in clean.
If bids are confusing, it becomes harder to negotiate value and protect your budget. So how do you get a handle on janitorial bids and find a company offering clear, understandable pricing?
Imprecise Janitorial Pricing Is a Bad Sign
Quite often, a cleaning company will leave things purposely inexact. Why? Because it makes it harder for you to compare their bid to another provider.
Sometimes a prospective company puts together a rushed bid without learning what you truly need. If the job requires more than anticipated, they can ask for more money or add fees later.
If pricing is unclear, they can claim the services you’re requesting were not included. In other cases, cloudy pricing is simply a sign of inexperience.
They may not know how to price your facility’s maintenance with precision. Even if it isn’t disreputable, it can still cost you and disrupt your budget planning.
The Dangers of Cheap Cleaning Bids
Cheap cleaning bids can be very tempting when you’re managing a tight budget. But if something seems too good to be true, it usually is.
Operating a cleaning company has hard costs and overhead, just like your business. Some providers manage operations efficiently, but there is still a floor before a company starts losing money.
Going cheap with an ongoing service is rarely a good idea. Extremely low quotes can signal larger issues.
Overly low prices may suggest inexperience and a company taking jobs at any price to gain traction.
They can also indicate illegal hiring or shortcuts that create risk for your facility. Too-good-to-be-true pricing often leads to overpromising and underdelivering.
When You Must Work With a Less Than Ideal Cleaning Budget
Sometimes you must live with the budget you have, even if it’s bare bones. In that case, you need a real professional who knows how to do more with less.
The most experienced janitorial companies know where you can reduce services and where you cannot.
One way they help is through Smart Cleaning. This means focusing on high-traffic areas that get dirty faster, like restrooms.
At the same time, they reduce cleaning frequency in areas that see less use or stay clean longer. The right partner can help you maintain livable facility maintenance even with a reduced budget.
Understanding the Difference Between Lowest Price & Best Value
Most of us know the lowest price doesn’t always mean the best value. Still, it can be hard to pass up a quote that looks like a great deal.
But when you look closely, low-cost service often fails to meet the needs of your facility. Cheap cleaning can point to illegal hiring, inexperience, or subpar work.
Ineffective building maintenance creates more work for you.
It leads to occupant complaints, added management effort, and long-term impact to your building assets. At the same time, a high bid doesn’t automatically mean better service either.
Real value means getting excellent work at a fair price. Price alone can’t be the deciding factor.
You Can Get Effective Janitorial Services at a Price You Can Live With
What signs indicate your janitorial company can offer real value? Do they provide guaranteed responsiveness?
Do they have systems to support great people in your facility? Do they prioritize training so teams arrive ready to perform?
Do they offer green cleaning options that support your environmental goals? Transparent pricing also matters because it makes comparisons meaningful.
Clear pricing lets you compare multiple quotes side by side in an apples-to-apples way.
That clarity helps you evaluate value, not just cost. With the right partner, you can get secure, reliable, above-average janitorial service within budget.
Look for a commercial cleaning company committed to industry best practices and clear, fair pricing.
