What do Clients Want to Know When They’re Considering Contracting a Janitorial Company?

In our experience, most of the companies we’ve dealt with in the last 11 years have been mostly concerned with two things when deciding which cleaning contractor to choose: cost and what kind of references or recommendations the company can provide to prove that they can do the required work. It goes without saying that most businesses require insurance and/or bonding as well. By far, the majority of businesses tend to go with the lowest bidder, but that does not apply to all cases. Some government contracts give priority to socially and economically disadvantaged companies, and some private businesses will go with a higher bidder if they feel that the cost justifies the extra quality and services of that particular company.

According to a survey done by Contracting Profits magazine, facility managers and owners are looking for more specific information when choosing a contractor nowadays. Although these questions may seem more relevant to larger businesses, even smaller business owners or managers would be wise to ask more questions to get a better idea of a company’s background. Reasonable cost and good references are important, but they do not provide the entire picture of a company’s character, business practices, and the way they treat their employees. Here are some Pre-qualification questions that businesses may want to include when evaluating a cleaning contractor:

1. Financial health of the company.
2. Employees, benefits and training.
3. Management team qualifications.
4. Employee and management turnover.
5. Comparative track record, references.
6. Specification and scope exclusions.
7. Bonding, insurance, indemnification.
8. References that not only show exemplary work but also ones that have had problems resolved.
9. Examples of terminated contracts.

While a janitorial company may feel that information about a failed account may be dangerous to discuss with a potential client, it can actually be a good opportunity to show your company’s level of honesty and integrity. Contracts fail for a variety of reasons, some of which have little to do with the quality of the cleaning and which are sometimes out of the control of the contractor. Sometimes the business relationship can be strained for other reasons related to personality differences between client and contractor, or tension caused by other issues. Sometimes cost becomes a factor and the client chooses to seek services that cost less even though the quality proves not to be as good. Not uncommon is the client who decides to do a relative or friend a favor by letting them clean their building, and despite the good quality of service and long term loyalty of the contractor, the client terminates the contract.

The most important part of any contract selection process is peace of mind when it comes to the long term relationship between contractor and client. This is most often achieved by checking their references and asking for not only quality and consistency of work but on their timely response when problems do occur. References are one of the best indicators to ensure that a company is at least “good and reliable” for the most part, but that is only a part of the picture. References do little good if the references are from businesses who are satisfied with mediocre cleaning. Believe it or not, many people really are not that concerned with how clean their building is, and they do not notice when the cleaning is substandard. Other aspects of a good working relationship are more important to these clients than a high standard of cleanliness in their facility. References from these folks will be very misleading.

We address this problem in several ways, one being a custom no commitment contract. Our slogan says it all; “We want you to be our customer because you choose too, not because you have too!” We also are able to provide service 24 hours a day so there is no more waiting to address emergency issues until that night or the next scheduled clean. You have the ability to choose one of several different solutions. Contact us today for a free estimate and evaluation of your office image needs.

The next time you decide to look for another cleaning service you may want to consider some other factors when evaluating the bidding companies. One question in particular will reveal important information about a company’s ability to meet your expectations over a longer period of time, but it is a question that is rarely asked. It is: Do you have a Quality Control Program, and what does it consist of?

An effective Quality Control Program is essential for consistent cleaning performance. Without proper training, adequate cleaning tools & equipment, regular inspections, supervision, detail work and other incentives in place to motivate cleaning personnel, quality inevitably fluctuates, cleaning tasks get postponed, and performance standards can drop in even the best of companies.

We encourage you to ask the companies you interview to show you what their Quality Control programs look like. If they don’t understand what you mean by quality control, ask them how they ensure that their cleaning personnel and management staff will always keep the quality of their cleaning and other services high. Don’t hesitate to ask for details.

A company who has a thorough Quality Control program in place is likely to be more consistent and reliable in the long term quality of their cleaning. It could prevent a great deal of frustration for the client and increase their long term satisfaction with their janitorial company considerably.

Here are some tips on evaluating a Janitorial Company’s Performance by their Quality Control Program:

According to a survey published in January 2001 by Contracting Profits Magazine, 40 percent of business service contractors said they lost accounts because customers just weren’t satisfied with their services. Often, when a company gets a new cleaning contract, they will go in and do a start up and really deep clean the building. The ideal goal then is to keep it as clean as it originally was at the start up. This does not always happen. “It’s no secret that after the first few months in a new job, service tends to taper off, but contractors who have quality checks in place to catch that slide and correct it, will benefit from longer lasting relationships than the industry average,” says CEO Steve Healis of Avalong Building Maintenance, Anaheim, California.

Quality control program is key to maintaining a consistent, high quality cleaning service year after year. Without a systematic and effective cleaning routine and regular supervision to ensure that the routine is carried out, it is inevitable that the quality of work will slide, or at the very least fluctuate in quality. This can be very frustrating to the business owner or facilities manager who has every right to expect that the quality remains consistent.

As a part of the bidding process, business owners and managers should ask the companies about their quality control procedures before deciding who to award the contract to. How do they train and motivate their employees to do quality work? What constitutes their cleaning routine? Does it track the regular basics and extra detail work that needs done at regular intervals? Do the cleaning personnel follow a daily, weekly, monthly and yearly check list of required cleaning tasks to ensure they are not skipped or put off? How are employees supervised; how often is their work checked? What cleaning products and equipment are used in the cleaning; are these chemicals effective and conducive to a healthy environment and good air quality?

Without an effective quality control program in place, even “good” companies can experience fluctuations in the quality of their cleaning. The best way to avoid these “slides” in quality is to make sure that the company you contract has a quality control program in place and has a proven track record that they can carry it out.