Office cleaning prices can run the gamut from unbelievably low to knock your socks off high. The challenge when considering office cleaning services and price, is to first, know exactly what you are buying and second, to get a price that reflects real value. Understanding pricing is critical to you getting real value for your facility. You need to know how much you should you be paying for your office cleaning services. You must understand how to guard against overpaying. Likewise, you should understand why a low-low price on your office cleaning might be a red flag. Office cleaning services are an important component in keeping your facility well maintained and operating effectively, yet spending more doesn’t necessarily net you more. So how do you determine how much you need to budget to get the value you need, the service you deserve all at price you can live with?

Understand How Commercial Office Cleaning Pricing Works

With commercial cleaning prices, there are a number of factors that impact cost. For this reason, one-size-fits-all pricing or even straight square footage estimates don’t really offer an accurate estimate of what your building needs and what you should be prepared to pay for it. When you understand the factors in play, it is easier for you to break down janitorial bids from your janitorial services company in order to find the best value for your facility. What variables matter most when it comes to your office janitorial services? 

• Geographic Area – Where are your facilities located?
• The Scope of Office Cleaning Services – What specific areas do you need cleaned? What elements are essential? Do you need any outdoor maintenance ? Do you require regular or occasional services like window cleaning or specialty floor care? Are you interested in very basic service or a full service or even Day Porter services?
• Frequency of Janitorial Services – Do you want daily cleaning or office cleaning twice weekly? Do you need day cleaning or a Day Porter service or nighttime cleaning?
• Your Facility’s Square Footage – Whether you manage a 1,000 square foot office building or a 30,000 square facility, square footage helps your cleaning company estimate.
• The categorization of square footage by flooring type.
• Your facility’s population density. 
• The total count of restrooms requiring maintenance.

Comparing Commercial Office Cleaning Bids

It isn’t difficult to request a cleaning bid from your Detroit area janitorial services. Yet, getting clear bids and transparent pricing can be more challenging. But without out it, you just cannot effectively compare janitorial quotes in a meaningful way. The value in transparent pricing is that you understand precisely what you are getting for your office cleaning budget allowing you to compare other bids in an ‘apples to apples’ kind of way to determine which Detroit office cleaning company is offering your facility the best value. Clear quotes can also help you avoid low quotes that aren’t really a value because they include less work and overly high quotes that charge you way more for the same services. Be wary of very cheap commercial cleaning prices as they are often a sign that you are dealing with an inexperienced office cleaning company unsure of how to accurately price their cleaning services. By that same note, with high priced janitorial services, that high ticket doesn’t guarantee great service. In order to get the most accurate, understandable pricing possible, ask your janitorial services company how many hours they plan to spend each evening maintaining your facility. Annualize that cost and divide it by the annualized number of labor hours to calculate an hourly billable rate. If they charge too little, they may be taking shortcuts on people and processes designed to protect you, your facility and it’s occupants like illegal hiring and a lack of adequate drug and criminal background screening.  What should your janitorial bid include?

• Labor costs
• Direct costs (ex. cleaning supplies, toilet paper, etc.).
• Employee health insurance
• Employee vacation time
• Insurance & taxes
• A management fee
• Profit

Don’t Shy Away From Directly Addressing Office Cleaning Profits

Understanding and acknowledging your cleaning company’s need to make a profit from their services shouldn’t be taboo. They do after all, run a business just like you and need to make a reasonable profit to secure their business’s long term fiscal health. Understanding what constitutes a ‘reasonable profit’ and where it comes from puts you in a better position to negotiate a fair price and solid value from your Michigan janitorial company. Any office cleaning service that doesn’t negotiate a healthy profit margin from the outset will surely come looking for it later in the form of hidden fees and frequent upsells. Outsourcing your janitorial services is a relationship that functions best with honesty and clear pricing. Healthy, reasonable profits build and sustain successful companies that reinvest in their employees, technology, equipment and in the long run you their customer. Likewise, profitable businesses support their communities through jobs and opportunities.

When Razor Thin Budgets Are A Reality

Labor costs are usually the priciest element of your janitorial service so slashing costs involves slashing labor. How can you get a prospective janitorial services company to work with the budget you have and still deliver an acceptable level of clean? When you have a reasonable office cleaning budget with an expert janitorial team, it is ideal to complete the cleaning specification line by line, each evening. While this kind of thorough cleaning is best, slashed office cleaning budgets have given many Facility Managers competing needs they must balance. Smart Cleaning is the principle where a cleaning company puts the most resources into cleaning those areas of your building that need it the most. So for instance, those areas of your building that are used the most get cleaned the most while areas with less traffic or mess, get cleaned less frequently. Smart cleaning is often a solution to budget cuts. But in order for it to be an effective, livable level of cleaning and maintenance, you must partner with an experienced cleaning that knows how to DO more with LESS.

The Useful ‘Shortcut’ CIMS Certification Offers

Overwhelmed with janitorial pricing and all that is involved in finding the right office cleaning company for your facility? Respected industry certifications like CIMS, can offer a shortcut for finding those Detroit office cleaning companies poised to deliver effective service and a solid value. In the building services industry, CIMS or the Cleaning Industry Management Standard is an industry certification that designates a commercial cleaning company as exceptionally professional and skilled at what they do.CIMS certification is a challenging process that requires an office cleaning company to demonstrate mastery and compliance in a variety of matters critical to extraordinary service. The CIMS standard measures:

• Quality Systems: A framework to ensure effective operations & continuous improvement
• Service Delivery: Processes & systems in place to deliver consistent, quality service
• Human Resources: Best practices for managing any service industry’s greatest asset—their people
• Health, Safety, & Environmental Stewardship: Ensuring regulatory compliance, workplace safety, and health and environmental management
• Management Commitment: Establishing our Mission, Vision, and Values and ensuring that the organization's continuity is secured.

Find a janitorial company that has invested the time and resources into establishing themselves as an industry leader and adopting industry best practices from the top down and you increase your likelihood of partnering with a cleaning company poised to deliver what you need. You CAN get both effective service and value from your office cleaning if you arm yourself with the best information and take the time to invest in finding the right partner for you and your facility.