Is the difficulty of trying to find a new commercial cleaning company beginning to feel reminiscent of your college algebra course? Does it seem like no matter what you do, you can’t ever seem to find the right solution? Finding the right office cleaning company for your facility can feel like a seemingly insurmountable task. For every professional, effective office cleaning company, there are probably at least twenty cleaning companies just treading water. Fortunately for you, although this task can feel Sisyphean or even impossible, there is a tried and true formula (no algebra we promise) for finding high quality, effective, responsive office cleaning without too much suffering on your part. By looking at a few core aspects of office cleaning and what takes it from poor to good to great, you can see what makes a company effective and those qualities that add real value to the service you receive.
Forget the algebra, this isn’t rocket science, but if you did the math on your prospective cleaning companies bid and things just aren’t adding up it might be time to look for another office cleaning company. An imprecise bid has a number of inherent problems with it. First, if the pricing isn’t clear, it can be difficult to see what it is your actually paying for. Without being able to determine the value of a service, it can be difficult to decide if a commercial cleaning company is right for your facility. Further, fuzzy pricing can be a function of hidden fees and other upcharges, which can further damaged an already reduced budget and throw careful planning into a tailspin. Second, without a clear price point it is impossible to compare different companies to each other. As a Facility Manager, you are always looking to get the best deal for your company, so not having the tools to do so can create a significant handicap. The most experienced, professional companies will always give you a detailed and crystal clear bid. They want to set a benchmark and consistently perform at that level so that you continue to give them business.
Any service business’s most important asset is the people that they employee. The best commercial cleaning companies understand this concept and work around the clock to attract, hire, and retain the best staff for getting your facility cleaned properly. A good gauge of the quality of any prospective commercial cleaning company is their understanding of the value of their staff. Ask them how they attract, screen, hire, train and retain their top talent. The best companies will show you clear, well thought through and developed processes that make them shine above the rest of the competition. What is even more encouraging about these companies is that they didn’t just stumble across their techniques to this particular challenge. Any company that dedicates themselves to finding the right employees and implementing pre-qualifications such as background checks and drug checks is going to take cleaning your facility just as seriously. Partnering with a company that shows a passionate interest in the quality of their company culture is always going to perform better than a company that is not interested in the people that they hire.
Communication is another important trait of any successful commercial cleaning service provider. These companies recognize the need to have the right people in place in order to deliver the most effective service as well as respond to your requests and suggestions as they come up. As you likely know as a Facility Manager, being responsive to your customer’s requests is one of the foremost priorities of any service business. The reality is that people are performing a service and people are only human after all. Even the most effective, professional office cleaner will need some feedback to fine-tune their work to your particular requirements. It is never a question of if your commercial cleaning company is going to make a mistake, it is a question of how they are going to address it and how smoothly the issue can be resolved. The cream of the crop companies will communicate how they are going to solve the problem and then quickly implement their solution.
Finding the right cleaning company as a Facility Manager can seem like a giant headache full of numbers, computations and promises that may or may not hold water. Fortunately for you, there is a useful shortcut you can take advantage of to help cut down on the time you have to look for the right company. As a Facility Manager, why wouldn’t you avail yourself of any and all advantages you could in finding and hiring a solid, consistent and quick to respond office cleaning service? One means to get to the answers to your office cleaning problems faster and more effectively is to put industry certifications to use in creating your short-list of qualified, professional office cleaning companies. Taking advantage of such certifications as the ISSA CIMS offers an effective way to winnow down this list given the rigor and prestige of such a certification. Companies that are CIMS certified are often the best in their industry committed to excellence and innovation. When looking for your next partner in cleaning, take advantage of this free tool to help make the search for your next office cleaning company easier and more effective.