Commercial cleaning pricing can be confusing, and yet, understanding how your janitorial services company prices their services is critical in your role as a Facility Manager. Not only does clear, understandable pricing allow you to compare competing cleaning companies to find the best value for your facility, it allows you to hold your cleaning company accountable to the level of work they promised. While cleaning and maintenance present a sizable cost for most organizations, there is a real value in clean and yet, if commercial cleaning prices and janitorial bids are confusing you, the chances that you can negotiate a real value for your facility is reduced. So how can you as a Facility Manager or Building Manager get a handle on your janitorial bids, find the right janitorial company for your facility offering clear, understandable pricing and negotiate the best value for your facility?
Quite often, a commercial company will leave things purposely inexact. Why? Because it makes harder for you to compare their bid to that of another janitorial company. Additionally, a prospective cleaning company may put together a rushed bid without really putting in the time to understand what you really need. Perhaps they figure that later, if the job requires more than they anticipated, they can just ask for more money or add fees. If the bid was unclear, they can simply tell you that what you are asking was not included in the original janitorial bid. Other times, cloudy pricing is simply a result of a janitorial services company’s inexperience. Perhaps they don’t really know how to price the maintenance of your facility with any precision. While this isn’t disreputable, this lack of experience in pricing their services will still end up costing you and messing up your sensibly planned budget.
Oh, cheap cleaning bids can be so tempting when you are grappling with a belt-tightening budget.While a very low bid can be seductive, the adage that ‘if something seems too good to be true, it probably is’ usually applies. The reality is that operating a cleaning company, just like your business, has hard costs and overhead. Sure some cleaning companies are better at managing their operations and costs in order to offer a better value but there is still a lowest possible price before a janitorial company starts losing money. While a super steal on a laptop or other transactional good might be tempting, going cheap with an ongoing service is rarely a good idea. And remarkably low janitorial quotes can be a sign of other issues. Overly low prices can suggest a janitorial company lack experience and is looking for customers at any price to cut their teeth on. Cheap janitorial prices might also indicate that a commercial cleaning company is exploiting illegal hiring and taking shortcuts that can cause problems for you. Similarly, too good to be true pricing can stick you with a janitorial services company that over promises and under delivers.
Sometimes you must live with the cleaning budget you have, even if it is less than ideal or even bare bones. Too good to be true low bids can indicate an inexperienced janitorial company and really, if you are working with a reduced facility budget, you need a real pro to do more with less. The most professional and effective janitorial companies know via everyday experience where you can and where you cannot reduce services. How can an experienced facility maintenance company help you do more with less? They can work with the budget you having using the principles of Smart Cleaning. This includes focusing on those areas of your facility that see the most traffic and those that get dirty much more quickly (like office restrooms) while reducing the frequency of cleaning of areas that are used less often or tend to stay clean longer. The most effective, experienced janitorial companies are the same ones that can actually help you mitigate a reduced budget and still help you get livable facility maintenance.
While instinctively most of us know that the lowest price doesn’t necessarily offer the best value, it can be hard to pass up what looks like a really good price. But more often than not, when you look closely at what you are actually getting with lower than average janitorial prices, it doesn’t actually meet the needs of your facility. Cheap cleaning usually points to illegal hiring, inexperience and/or sub par work. And less than effective building maintenance just adds more to your already overfilled plate in the form of occupant complaints, time you must manage your cleaning service that was supposed to make your job easier not harder and even the long term health of your business and building assets. But janitorial pricing isn’t just about pricing. A high janitorial bid doesn’t mean you are going to get quality services either. That’s because you really can’t make a decision about your next facility maintenance company based upon price alone. Real value from your janitorial services company means you get BOTH the best work and a fair price.
What signs can indicate your janitorial company is in a position to offer you real value? Do they offer guaranteed responsiveness? Do they have systems in place to assure great people in your facility? Do they understand the importance of effective training and make certain their teams are ready to go in your facility? Do they offer real green cleaning options allowing you to explore how you can level up on your facility’s environmental commitment? When shopping prospective cleaning companies, think about the following. Janitorial services that provide you with transparent pricing allow you to compare quotes in a substantive way. Clear pricing allows you to look at a number quotes side by side in an ‘apples to apples’ manner, which in turn helps you to determine value. The positive is that you can get reliable, secure, healthy, above average janitorial services that are in keeping with your budget if you seek out a commercial cleaning company that offers both a commitment to industry best practices and clear, fair pricing for real value.