It's no secret that your business relies on appearances for success. Customers and visitors to your facilities should be impressed with their experience. In other words, you need to invest in keeping your company's facilities clean and well-maintained.
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After all, there's a reason for such a large professional cleaning industry. Throughout the United States, janitorial services generated a revenue of $61 billion in the year alone.
The good news is that there are high-quality cleaning services available to you. Before you hire those services, though, make sure you know what you're getting into. Recognize and manage your expectations ahead of time.
The good news is that you've come to the right place by reading this article. Listed below are seven essential questions to ask a commercial cleaning company before your business hires them.
1. What Cleaning Services Do They Offer?
Of course, the first thing you'll need to consider is what cleaning services your company actually needs. Don't be afraid to ask for details about the services a potential commercial cleaning company offers.
This is essential, in particular, for the more visible parts of your facility like floors, windows, and restrooms. After all, it's no secret how crucial it is to prioritize proper floor care. Taking care of all of these fine details is part of maintaining your facility's professional impression.
2. How Much Do Their Cleaning Services Cost?
Once you know what cleaning services you need and what a potential cleaning provider offers, the next question is obvious. How much do their cleaning services cost? As a responsible business owner, it's understandable if your top priority is the bottom line; however, keep in mind that value isn't synonymous with cheapest.
For many commercial contracts, a professional cleaning service is going to want to check out the area before giving you an estimate. You might need to be flexible with what services you can actually afford if you are working with a tight budget. Either way, though, investing in sophisticated cleaning and care will be worth the long-term benefits.
3. How Available Is Their Scheduling?
One of the first questions to ask is about your potential cleaning service's system of scheduling. For instance, many corporate cleaning services take place at night-time when offices are closed for the day.
Is that something your company is going to need? What kind of security policy can you expect from that company if you give them keys to access your office in the evening?
These questions will help you manage your expectations, too. Sometimes, a cleaning company might have to hire additional staff in order to fulfill your company's needs. It's up to both parties to arrange a deal/system that's best for everyone.
4. What Have Their Previous Clients Said About Them?
These days, it's pretty easy to find online reviews for any reputable business. Plus, finding a business's website can help you determine if they're relevant and upscale enough for your business.
In addition, though, take the time to ask a potential cleaning service about their history in the business. How many successful contracts have they had with previous commercial clients? Are there any testimonials you can review to recommend this particular company?
Never invest in any professional service that you're not comfortable working with. Not only should they have a solid reputation in the industry, But they should also remain friendly and engaging during your interactions to establish the trust you both deserve.
5. Does the Potential Cleaning Company Have Proper Insurance?
It's an unfortunate truth that accidents can even happen when cleaning. In some cases where a facility holds a lot of heavy, moving machinery, it can even be dangerous. That's why any commercial cleaning company worth their salt is going to have the best insurance available.
Be willing to ask to see some verification of the company's insurance policy before you sign any contract. The best option is to go with full coverage insurance, just in case.
Liability due to injuries or accidents in your company's facilities is serious, after all. You don't want to get caught in legal trouble because you weren't diligent enough to read the fine print!
6. Do They Have Their Own Equipment and Supplies?
A professional cleaning company is worth your investment when you don't need to provide them with anything but a contract. No matter what cleaning services your facility requires, a proper cleaning service should meet those demands. Even for unique or difficult cleaning needs, your cleaning service needs to be adaptable.
In other words, if you're about to hire a cleaning service and they ask where your mops are, keep searching! Reliable, trustworthy professional cleaners know how to get the job done with their own supplies, equipment, and labor.
7. Does the Cleaning Company Have Any Form of Quality Control?
No matter what commercial cleaning company you hire, you deserve to trust in their quality on an ongoing basis. Before you hire them, then, ask about the company's method of quality control. That way, you know even the difficult parts of cleaning, like restrooms, will be taken care of in the long run.
In fact, statistics have shown to back that up. It's been discovered that throughout North America, restrooms are the most problematic area to keep clean and maintained. Make sure your cleaning services keep covering all the areas they originally agreed to.
Find the Best Commercial Cleaning Company for Your Business
At this point in the article, you should have a good idea of what questions to ask a potential commercial cleaning company. You deserve to have the peace of mind that comes from knowing your business is properly cared for. By now, you should feel comfortable investing in professional cleaning services.
After all, you want to make sure that investment is worthwhile. A clean, well-maintained facility is simply better for business. Don't underestimate the value of a healthy, welcoming, sophisticated environment.
In fact, that's where we can help you. We love being able to provide companies with the optimal facilities care and maintenance. That's why we encourage you to check out our general facility cleaning services on our website today.
Hiring a commercial cleaning company is not an easy task, though if you do it right, you can land a janitorial company that you can build a mutually beneficial partnership with for years to come.
Still, there are so many variables and so many different size and types of cleaning companies that finding the right one for your facility can be a daunting process. Making this already difficult process even harder is the fact that far too many commercial cleaning companies will say nearly anything to get your business. But what if there were ten simple questions you could ask prospective cleaning companies to separate the fakers from the shining stars?
&#;What if there were ten simple questions you could ask
to separate the fakers from the shining stars?&#;
Below we have gathered the ten most critical questions you should ask before hiring a commercial cleaning company. Whether you are looking for an office cleaning company, school cleaning company, industrial cleaning company, day porter cleaning services or more, these questions will help you determine if a commercial cleaning company is set up to provide you with excellent service at price that offers you real value.
Question #1
How many years have you been in business and what accounts do you service with a business similar to mine?
Every company has to start somewhere but do you really want your facility to be the training ground for your newly minted commercial cleaning company? Experience matters and experienced companies are just better at what they do. Sure enthusiasm counts, but it can&#;t make up for a lack of experience. So look for Detroit area commercial cleaning company with both enthusiasm about what they do and a solid track record of success. After all, the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior.
&#;Enthusiasm counts, but it cannot make up for a lack of experience.&#;
Likewise, does your prospective commercial cleaning company in Michigan have salient experience working with accounts similar to yours? If you are looking for medical cleaning, you don&#;t want a Janitorial services company that has never worked with a medical facility before. Rather, you want a cleaning services company with enough experience under their belt and the willingness and know how to take what they already know and learn what you need to customize their service to you.
Question #2 How do you screen your employees?
Any Janitorial services company should at a minimum screen applicant for drug use and verify that they do not have a criminal history. But even better, the best Commercial office cleaning company will work hard to look for candidates that are a good fit. This can be done through personality testing. Additionally, verifying previous employment and checking references can go a long way to building a great team. When your prospective janitorial company takes shortcuts on screening employees, they put you, your employees, your reputation and your facility at risk.
You will get efficient and thoughtful service from Felici Machinery.
Question #3
What kind of training do your employees receive?
After your Office cleaning company has hired a suitable applicant, they need to give that individual the tools they need to deliver very good service to you and your facility. This means comprehensive training designed to help cleaners consistently deliver good service. And beyond basic training, if you are in search of medical cleaning, industrial cleaning or school cleaning, your commercial janitorial services should provide their employees with training specifically geared toward your kind of facility.
Question #4
How do you motivate and manage your teams?
After your Detroit area commercial cleaning company attracts good candidates and then trains them, they must manage and motivate them. Success in the cleaning business is largely a function of what kind of employees a housekeeping service has and how they feel about their people in general.
&#;Success in the cleaning business is largely a function of what kind of employees a cleaning service has and how they feel about their people in general.&#;
Even great people who are well-trained need to feel important and even vital to their organizations. They need to be held accountable and offered incentives for stellar performance. And when employees are not performing, they need to be managed in order to do better or let go to save you the customer from having to live with poor service.
Question #5
Are you insured?
Not only should your Office cleaning company be insured, they should insure that YOU are protected. What four types of coverage should your Michigan commercial cleaning company have? These are general liability, workers&#; compensation, automobile liability and an umbrella policy. You should verify coverage in order to give you peace of mind that your Commercial office cleaning company is adequately protected.
General Liability Insurance protects your assets against a variety of claims for alleged negligence or wrongdoing by your Cleaning Company. Your cleaning company should have a minimum of $1,000,000 of general liability insurance.
Workers Compensation Insurance covers job-related accidents that injure, disable, or kill an employee. Workers Comp Insurance covers employees at your place of business, and during business-related travel (for example, a cleaning person driving to your facility). You should verify that your cleaning company carries at least $1,000, by checking their insurance certificate.
Automobile Liability Insurance protects people&#;and property from accidents that occur involving your&#;cleaning company&#;s auto fleet as they come and go from your business. Requiring your cleaning company to have a Commercial Auto Insurance Policy helps protect the assets of your company.
Umbrella Policies cover all losses in excess over General Liability, Workers Compensation and Auto Liability Insurance. Businesses of any size are increasingly vulnerable to multi-million- dollar court decisions. If the actions of your cleaning company resulted in a single, unforeseen event that left your company facing a catastrophic financial judgment, a Commercial Umbrella Liability (Excess Liability) insurance policy could save the day &#; and keep you in business. This policy takes over where coverage under the other Liability policies stops, paying large judgments and providing legal defense costs. You should require your cleaning company carry at least $5,000,000 of Umbrella Coverage on their insurance certificate.
Question #6 Will the same cleaner or cleaners continually maintain my facility?
Not only do you not want a steady stream of new people in and out of your facility, but also a long term cleaner comes to understand your facility and your specific requirements and thus delivers a more responsive clean. Most great Detroit area commercial cleaning companies have floaters, or highly trained cleaners who can deliver service when your regular cleaner or cleaning team is out either on scheduled vacation or ill. But generally, you should not have a continual parade of new faces. The best cleaning companies hire and keep good people.
Question #7
What is your employee turnover percentage?
Part of continuity with people is your Janitorial services company turnover percentage. Did you know the industry average is nearly 200% Yes, turnover tends to be high in the lower paid service jobs but many housekeeping services have been able to create practices and systems that help keep good people and thus lower turnover. What is your prospective Commercial janitorial service doing to keep their turnover numbers low?
&#;With janitorial turnover hovering around 200%, look for cleaning companies with dramatically lower turnover & you will find the quality & value go up dramatically.&#;
Question #8
What kind of quality control checks do you use to assure reliability through accountability?
The gold standard for quality control in the cleaning industry is janitorial inspections. Janitorial inspections bridge the gap between a facility manager and a cleaning company. And the best Office cleaning companies not only make liberal use of janitorial inspections, they use technology like apps, software and reporting to communicate the information gleaned from janitorial inspections quickly and to the right people to adjust your service or handle an issue quickly.
Question #9
What kind of green cleaning program do you have?
With green cleaning there is a focus on sustainability, environmental responsibility and health and safety. Basic green clean practices can include things like proper chemical storage, disposal and labeling. Really every commercial cleaning company should do this but it is surprising how many neglect these important practices. Likewise, good green practices can include limiting the disposal of plastic trash liners by reusing them if they are intact and not soiled with food or liquid. This simple practice alone saves money and limits the amount of plastic trash your facility generates.
Likewise, utilizing hand towels and toilet paper with a significant percentage of recycled or recyclable material, cleaning with microfiber rags rather than disposable paper towels and recycling are more eco-friendly. Taking it a step further, does your cleaning company utilize HEPA filter vacuum cleaners and other equipment that helps reduce indoor air pollution? Likewise, the greenest equipment can also lower noise emissions, improve energy usage and reduce the excess use of cleaning products. Similarly, the best commercial green cleaning companies utilize state of the art carpet cleaning like the Whittaker style. These carpet cleaners are low moisture, meaning less water usage, and absent the harsh chemicals of many other conventional carpet cleaning methods.
Question #10 Are you CIMS Certified?
Asking a prospective Commercial janitorial service whether they are CIMS certified is the single most important question you can ask. Why? Because CIMS certification insures that a prospective Commercial janitorial service has a proven track record of following industry best practices that are proven to deliver consistent, responsive, effective cleaning.
&#;Asking a prospective Commercial janitorial service whether they are CIMS certified is the single most important question you can ask.&#;
CIMS certification, (Certified Industry Management Standard). This CIMS certification demonstrates a commercial cleaning company&#;s steadfast commitment to their industry and shows they meet the very highest standards set forth by the best of the best within their industry. CIMS is among the most rigorous and difficult levels of certification offered. It is the closest thing that you can get to a guarantee when contracting with a commercial cleaning company.
Conclusion
There are nearly unlimited choices out there when it comes to choosing a commercial cleaning company and yet, so many choices can make the process harder rather than easier. Still, if you ask the right questions, you can take at least some of the guess work out of finding a quality Michigan cleaning company and find the right janitorial services company to partner with to deliver quality services to your facility.
If you want to learn more, please visit our website Commercial Cleaning Equipment.