Avoid 6 Big Mistakes Hiring Your Next Cleaning Company
She’s in the building. The client you’ve been wooing for months. She’s ready to meet you and sign that agreement. But first, she takes a detour to the bathroom.
Only to find, overflowing trashcans, the pungent smell of disinfectant, and NO darn toilet paper. In an instant, she decides she will wait to use the bathroom and
…. will wait to use your company.
Those are a few dirty details that can happen when you hire the wrong cleaning company.
So, whether you’ve thought that commercial cleaning services are all the same or you just went with the cheapest the last time around, these are your first two mistakes.
Here are the other 6 big No-Nos:
No-No 1. No thorough hiring process or ongoing staff training. Though cleaning isn’t rocket science, training and development are still important. But some companies don’t realize the power of their team. If they aren’t investing in their staff, you never know who might show up (or not) on any given day to clean your office. During your screening process, listen to the vendor’s sales pitch and notice how they refer to their “orientation.” Are they giving out pretty how-to-clean manuals and sending them on their way? Or, is ongoing training actually on their calendar. Ask them.
No-No 2. No management team or leaders visiting sites regularly. In addition to training, is there a pecking order and are those at the top ever seen? Consistent quality control checks and guidance are an important part of success. Without these, who’s minding the shop or offering any support? Absent leadership can lead to missed opportunities to course correct mistakes and situations before they become bigger issues.
No-No 3. No clear or timely communication procedures. When you have a question or concern (and eventually you will), do you really want to go through twenty people or a never-ending voice prompt system before you get an answer? You want to be sure there are systems in place to handle anything that comes up quickly.
No-No 4. No background checks. You want your staff to feel at ease leaving their computers out, personal items on their desks, and that nice sweater on the back of a chair. For your piece of mind (and theirs), pre-screened team members are a safer bet for everyone.
No-No 5. No license or insurance. Be sure to check that they have a valid business license and that you’re protected from the speculative slip and falls and the opportunistic bad knees. Of course, accidents happen, insuring that you’re covered before they do, protects both you and your business.
No-No 6. No green cleaning products. If you don’t want your office to smell like a hospital, then eco-friendly cleaning products are the way to go. Seems silly to clean your toilet while you’re dirtying your water and air. And with more and more natural, non-toxic solutions available on the market every day, it’s never been easier to switch to greener methods.
Finding a reliable commercial cleaning company can be a difficult but not impossible task. If you want to make your next hire your last, ask great questions and steer clear of vendors that have any of these big No-Nos.
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