The Myth Of The Perfect Commercial Cleaning Company

While finding the right commercial cleaning company for your facility isn’t always going to be a fairytale with the perfect happy ending, it is certainly a worthy quest to embark upon. Still, it can feel like a futile pursuit. Maybe this is in part because many cleaning companies will offer promises of service that seem straight out of mythical stories where they are the one and only hero cleaning company that can vanquish dirt in your facility. Finding a company that not only makes promises but can actually deliver on them is quite a feat. While finding a janitorial company that can and will deliver effective, consistent, high quality service is the goal and we have a couple of tips and tricks to make sure that you can find the right company for you and your building without having to go on an epic, lifetime journey slaying monsters and dragons along the way. Don’t give up on your quest to find the best commercial cleaning company just yet.

Blind Bids & Cloudy Pricing Don’t Lead to Happy Endings

It happens all too often that a Facility Manager will accept a less than clear cleaning contract thinking. Maybe they are mesmerized and hopeful about finally getting the service they need but all too often they find that promises disappear in a poof of air or worse, that it was all a devious trap. Many cleaning companies will offer unbelievable, mythical prices, too good to be true as some would say, and it can be easy to convince ourselves this is what we need. However, these low, unclear prices are often a sign of two things. The first is inexperience, a company that lacks experience in janitorial and commercial cleaning will often not know how to properly construct a bid leading to inaccurate, unclear pricing. Second is that a cleaning company is trying to hide fees and charges in order to get your business now and get more money out of you later. By having an unclear bid, they can effectively obscure these charges. Never partner with a company that can’t or won’t produce a clear janitorial bid for your building. You deserve to know exactly what you are getting and what it is going to cost.

Communication Must Be a Part of the Story

The next critical aspect of any successful commercial cleaning service is a quick system in place to respond to problems and customer issues. Now of course, when you ask if there is such a system in place, every company will answer with a resounding yes. But, not every company can back this assertion up.  The key here is to ask to see their plan, to walk you through how they handle issues now. The best commercial cleaning services will have a clear written plan/policy on how they respond to customer requests, complaints and other issues. The truth of the situation is that not even the oracle of all cleaning companies can operate with peak performance in your facility without some feedback. After all, you know your facility the best. As such, regular communication is key to your satisfaction as well as receiving a high level of consistent cleaning service in your facility year after year.

People Are Key

The cornerstone of any successful service business is their frontline staff, as they are the people that represent them. You can’t have an epic story without the very best characters. One significant problem when it comes to the janitorial and commercial cleaning industry is the high turnover rate that often leads to an influx of new people servicing your facility. This can bring with it a couple of major problems. The first is that no matter how good a company is at training their cleaning staff, nothing can make up for experience and getting acclimated to the unique needs of your facility. So, with a constant revolving cast of characters, what you’ll find you are missing is practical experience reducing the quality of service. The second issue that will come up is that of security in your office. With new staff constantly entering and leaving it can be difficult to properly screen employees, putting you building at risk or giving tenants and employees the impression it isn’t safe.

Require A Regal Reputation

When it comes to protecting your kingdom from the dragon that is dirt and germs, you want to have the right dragon slayer for the job, right? So how do you find a this almost magical, mythical cleaning company? You don’t want the man that boasts about his skill but rather the one that has a reputation for quality dragon slaying. Finding the right commercial cleaning company for your building can really come down to who you know. Recommendations from other industry professionals and trusted Facility Managers are great if you can get them. While no one is perfect, these companies consistently provide a high level of service earning them a reputation for their solid work ethic, professionalism, easy to understand bids and quotes, open communication lines, and proven practices.

Check Certifications

In lieu of a trusted recommendation, you can use the ISSA’s CIMS and CIMS-GB certification to separate the princes from the frogs. This particular industry certification requires companies to hit a series of benchmarks in service, people, training, communication, green cleaning and other core areas to ensure that if you partner with this company, that they will deliver the highest quality cleaning service. Essentially, going with the commercial cleaning service that has secured professional certification from an industry organization is like magic to save you the time of doing all of the due diligence from the start. Of course you still will want to determine that they will be a good fit but you at least start well ahead of the game.

Getting Your Happily Ever After

Get your fairy tale ending, or at least pretty close by finding and partnering with a commercial cleaning company that will service your building most effectively for the best possible price. Any janitorial company that invests and values their staff, offers clear, easy to understand janitorial bids, and has a solid reputation is likely to keep your building looking it’s best. As an added bonus, you can quickly identify companies like this by taking advantage of the ISSA’s CIMS certification to quickly sort the pros from the nos. As long as you know where to look, there are truly professional commercial cleaning services and finding one for your facilities is possible and will make your job and life much easier in the long run getting you closer to happily ever after.

Here at Stathakis, with over 30 years in, we have carefully developed and refines our standard of service that meets or exceeds that of our closest competitors. We have achieved CIMS certification through hard work and determination and continue to meet CIMS certification year after year. We have also worked hard to create lasting relationships with our customers and offer the businesses of southeastern Michigan the service they deserve by adhering to and even expanding janitorial best practices.

Are you searching for commercial cleaning services in Ann Arbor, Detroit, Royal Oak, Farmington Hills, Farmington, Dearborn, Livonia, Troy, Auburn Hills, Novi, Plymouth, Downriver or surrounding areas? Are you looking for commercial cleaning services, office cleaning, school cleaning, industrial cleaning, medical cleaning or other building services and need more than the same old song and dance, please contact us to learn more about how we can assure you get the service you and your facility require.