Have you heard the joke about reduced budgets? The Facility Managers we talk to sure have. In fact, a study of economics usually reveals that the best time to buy anything was last year. Ba dump bump! Budget cuts seem to be a recurring theme in many facilities. As the economy shifts faster that most of us can keep up with, individuals and businesses alike look to protect themselves against financial crisis by reducing spending and trimming costs wherever they think they can.
Regardless of the justification, the burden often ends up on you as a Facility Manager to get more work done for less money. Sometimes the numbers work out and sometimes they don’t and you simply have to live with being under resourced. That being said, commercial cleaning companies have come a long way in technological and logistical improvements and if they understand what you need and what you are up against, many of the bets Detroit cleaning companies can provide you a more efficient, more wallet friendly commercial cleaning service.
With the right commercial cleaning company, you can make sure that your facility is getting cleaned by skilled professionals while still working around significantly reduced budgets. Finding the right commercial cleaning company is the trick. Doing more with less is by no means a beginner’s game. This level of skill and professionalism to maximize your cleaning dollars is imperative and in staggeringly short supply. Many companies will try to make up for this lower level of competence by offering low prices. Don’t be fooled into partnering with such companies. If the work you need isn’t getting done, it doesn’t matter what your paying for it. To best maximize your budget, your commercial cleaning company is certainly going to have to make some cuts but they have to be smart cuts and that is where Smart Cleaning comes in.
Smart cleaning is a method of cleaning that strategically targets high traffic areas in your facility and prioritizes them while reducing service to areas that aren’t often use to create a more effective, less expensive cleaning plan. To effectively Smart Clean your building, your commercial cleaning company needs to have a comprehensive understanding of how your employees and tenants use your facility. Without this information, it is impossible to design a Smart Cleaning plan that will be any more effective than a cleaning service basically winging it. Smart Cleaning requires careful planning, customization and taking advantage of different industry innovations as well as a strong commitment from your commercial cleaning company. Those less critical services can be reduced and staggered in frequency reducing the total janitorial hours needed to maintain your facility, the goal being to cut back on non-essential services without the perception that your maintenance is suffering.
The first tool your commercial cleaning company has to implement Smart Cleaning in your facility is the numerous innovations in the cleaning industry has to offer. Breakthrough techniques and equipment have cut down on overall cleaning times thereby reducing janitorial labor hours (the largest single cost in the industry), improved the quality of cleaning preformed and reduced the price of resources needed to do said cleaning. Such quality improvements like Boost floor cleaning machines, team cleaning, and HEPA filtration vacuum backpacks are all forward-minded innovations that will both save money and time allowing your cleaning company to reduce their own costs passing cost savings on to you the customer. These technological advances don’t happen by accident, however, you have to partner with a company that actively invests in themselves in order to provide their customers with the best possible cleaning experience regardless of budget.
If the words “Smart Cleaning” are not coupled with a detailed and well thought out plan, then they are little more than words. It is also important to recognize that you can’t just tell your commercial cleaning company to Smart Clean your facility and expect different results. Only you know what areas in your facility are high traffic and what can be implemented periodically and what cannot. When setting up a Smart Cleaning program there are a couple of factors to consider. First, will a Smart Cleaning program actually improve the quality and cost of cleaning in your Facility? Likewise, what things in your facility can be improved and what cannot without dramatically raising the cost of cleaning? Finally, with the number of companies of varying size in the market, which company is best suited to provide you with a professional cleaning service?
When looking at prospective janitorial companies to partner with in order to secure a price range that fits your budget, you have to know exactly what service your getting and what said services will cost. This may seem like a straightforward thing, however, many companies will try to present you with not entirely clear pricing in order to make it tougher to compare prices or to obscure hidden upcharges. Either way, companies that present this type of pricing are inexperienced at best or malicious at worse and you won’t get the level of cleaning and responsiveness that you need out of them. A clear, detailed pricing plan is an indication that the company you are planning to partner with is professional and ready wiling and able to make your cleaning budget go further. It takes a level of competence that you simply won’t find in a company that quickly throws together a rough estimate of the cost of cleaning your facility.
We live in the land of the big bad basement bargain price, and it is often against our nature to turn down ever enticing low low prices. However, companies that consistently lowball their prices will not give you adequate coverage and the cleaning of your building needs. A good value is one thing, but very low prices, lower than most quotes are a large red flag for a couple of not so enviable problems. The first is cutting corners with your facility to reduce prices. Another is illegal hiring and subcontracting to overall reduce the price of their service by partaking in illegal staffing and payment processes. Finally, low prices are often a sign that you will be billed with hidden charges at some point during your partnership to make up for lost revenue. Remember, when you see a bid come in well below others, the first thing you should ask is how are they doing the work for so much less.If the math just doesn’t add up, move on.
Price and value are not the same word. Real value stems from a commercial company that provides superior cleaning at an affordable price. If your building isn’t being adequately cleaned and serviced, it doesn't matter what your paying for it. Cheap cleaning is often ineffective cleaning and with your facilities reputation at risk, it is better to stay away from the cheapest cleaning bid and overly low janitorial bids that seem too good to be true. By Smart Cleaning and partnering with the right commercial cleaning company for your facility, you can have effective cleaning without destroying your budget. Steer away from the companies that offer the cheapest price and instead look for the company with the most experience so that they can help you optimize your budget and provide you with the best possible cleaning service.
As many Facility Managers are, you might be working with a less than ideal cleaning budget. That doesn't mean, however, that you can’t have an effective, professional, and reliable commercial cleaning service. The most experienced cleaning companies will always offer transparent pricing and can find ways to reduce the cost of cleaning while continuing to maintain a standard of cleaning in your facility you can not only live with but take some pride in. They will not use illegal subcontracting to artificially deflate prices and they will make use of innovative new processes and technologies to reduce cleaning time and price. Find a company that offers you solid service while working with not against your issues and you can limit the hit on both your budgets and your facility’s overall cleanliness.