Are your office cleaning services checked in or checked out? Do they get back to you promptly when you have an issue or do you have to track them down to get answers? Do you feel like you are having to micro manage your office cleaning service in order to get a basic level of service assured, or can you focus on other areas of your facility knowing your office cleaning company is on it? Do you feel like you get commercial office cleaning customized to your individual facility or one size fits all “solutions” that don’t really fit or solve your most pressing cleaning and maintenance issues? Do your office cleaners have the solid training to provide real professionalism and value or are you seeing poorly trained office cleaners, high turnover and a revolving door of new faces from your commercial office cleaning services?
When your office cleaning company isn’t checking all of the important boxes and hitting the mark, it’s frustrating. After all, one of the reasons you outsource your office cleaning is so that you don’t have constantly chase people down to make sure the work is done right. We talk to Facility Managers every day that are feeling the pain of substandard office cleaning services that provide little in the way of individualized service, responsiveness and professionalism. If your current office cleaning company isn’t getting the job done, it may be time to check out some new office cleaning companies.
It can be frustrating when your office cleaning company isn’t hitting the mark because it should be easier right? What is it about office cleaning that can make it so challenging to find a good company doing good work? First, there are so many different kinds of cleaning companies, with different sizes, structures, different resources, outlooks on customer service, different employee screening and training. Look at these companies from the outside or as they line up in your browser under the search term “office cleaning company’ and they look pretty much the same, however, peer under the hood looking at how they do business and you can spot some important differences. The best office cleaning companies are experienced. Sure everyone needs to start somewhere but do you really want your facility to be the training ground for a new cleaning company or a janitorial services company that is dipping their toe into new markets? You want an office cleaning company that will consistently hit the mark not one that is still trying to get a handle on the basics. Experience matters, professional office cleaning services take time to polish, don’t trust your facility’s maintenance and reputation to an office cleaning company without a proven track record.
Listen, we understand the pressure to meet ever tightening budgets. We have all been on the cinching end of belt tightening and it can make those low low office cleaning quotes look pretty good. But when you get a handful of office cleaning bids and one or two stand out as being significantly lower than others, you have to stop and ask yourself, how exactly can they charge so much less? We aren’t saying higher prices equate to quality every time but when a few quotes are so much lower than the rest, it’s really more of a red flag than a life raft. The reality is that when it comes to office cleaning, good work requires good people and sufficient janitorial hours allocated, and that costs money. The single greatest cost with commercial office cleaning is labor. Very low professional office cleaning bids might indicate that a janitorial company is underestimating the hours needed to complete the requested work. That could lead to a situation where office cleaners cut corners and do less than was promised or even ask for more money later on or add unplanned charges and extras. Bad work isn't a good deal at any price, right? Low prices might also be a sign that the office cleaning company is paying their employees below market wages, which ultimately just increases janitorial turnover creating more service and safety issues for you and your facility. Finally, a very low office cleaning price might be an indication that a cleaning company is dabbling in illegal subcontracting or even illegal hiring practices. Again, both potentially negatively impactful on your facility. Understand that as tempting as a low price can be, companies that are willing to take shortcuts in one area are willing to take them everywhere.
When looking for commercial office cleaning companies that consistently hit the mark the challenge is that while low low prices are a red flag, high prices are no better at predicting service that hits the mark. So as a Facility Manager how do you spot the masters from the disasters? First, look for good deals over great deals. The objective should be finding an office cleaning company that delivers value. Price is what you pay, value is what you get. Similarly, you should search out those companies who offer transparent pricing so you can both compare office cleaning bids and hold your future office cleaning company accountable to the work they promised. Furthermore, consider those commercial cleaning companies that have a culture that provides a strong foundation for employees. This means competitive wages and benefits, solid training to help office cleaners deliver a level of service they can feel good about and the management and support that translates into professional, responsive and reliable service for you.
Want to find an office cleaning company that hits the mark with the least amount of hassle? You can simplify the search for those companies set up for success by using trusted professional certifications like the ISSA’s CIMS certification to create your short list of prospective commercial office cleaning companies. The Cleaning Industry Management Standard (CIMS) certification program requires businesses to meet or exceed set industry standards of excellence on several different important benchmarks. It is a tool that is free to you as a Facility Manager and a really great way to qualify companies so you can find an office cleaning company that will consistently hit the mark and score high marks from you and your employees and tenants.
At Stathakis, we work hard to find, screen, train, manage and inspire quality people. We offer a solid organization dedicated to both our employees and customers. We are committed to exceptional customer service, industry best practices, innovation that controls costs for our customers and clear pricing that gives them real, useful information from which to make their buying decisions. We are ISSA CIMS certified demonstrating our commitment to exceptional commercial office cleaning, every time.
If you need office cleaning services and your business is in the South Eastern Michigan service area, please get in touch with us at (800) 278-1884 and let us make your life easier and your facility shine. Proudly serving Genesee County, St. Clair County, Macomb County, Oakland County, Livingston County Wayne County, Washtenaw County and Monroe County.