How Do You Choose the Right Commercial Cleaning Company?
What to Look for When Selecting a Commercial Cleaning Company
The process of selecting the right commercial cleaning company involves more than just looking at price and availability. You should choose a company that knows your facility, is able to outline a well-defined scope of work, has a written quality-control procedure, maintains consistent communication, deals with problems swiftly, and clearly assigns responsibility. The company that is most suitable will be one whose way of operating corresponds to how your property really needs to be managed.
A good cleaning partner should make your job easier rather than setting up another vendor relationship that you have to keep an eye on constantly.
The following checklist can be used to compare companies according to the way they operate after the contract has been signed.
Start with relevant commercial experience
While experience is important, the number of years one has been in business doesn’t tell you much.
Find out from each commercial cleaning company what types of facilities they usually clean and the way in which they adjust their cleaning plans to suit different kinds of buildings, their schedules, the types of floor surfaces, the volumes of use in the restrooms, and the traffic patterns.
The actual issue is whether they will be able to turn the building conditions into a feasible cleaning plan.
For instance, a building having several entrances, heavily used toilets, a mixture of floor types, restricted access after hours, and a number of areas that are shared requires a different way of running its operations than a sparsely occupied office.
A provider must be able to explain the way in which those factors influence labor, the frequency of services, the need for supervision, and the requirements for periodic cleaning.
Make sure the service scope is specific
Do not suggest services based on general terms like “general janitorial service” or “complete cleaning.”
An effective scope ought to show what occurs in each area and how frequently it occurs.
For instance, the tasks that we carry out regularly could be restroom cleaning and restocking, breakroom cleaning, trash removal, cleaning of the offices and conference rooms, routine floor care, interior glass spot-cleaning, and looking after the common areas. The frequency with which these tasks are carried out can differ according to the task and the requirements of the facility.
It should also distinguish between ongoing work and those services which might have to be arranged separately, for example carpet extraction, strip and wax, exterior windows, pressure washing, day porter coverage, or certain machine floor-care services.
When comparing companies, ask:
- What is included in the recurring scope?
- What is excluded?
- What are the services that are periodic or additional work?
- What is the procedure for documenting scope changes?
- Who approves additional work?
A commercial cleaning company that is good should be able to answer those questions clearly prior to the start of the service.
Ask how quality is actually measured
All the providers claim that they are concerned about quality; the real question is how they check it.
Look for a system that is clearly defined, not a promise.
The quality-control procedure involves the use of site-specific cleaning checklists, inspections by a supervisor, photo documentation with time stamps and a client communication log via SWEPT. In addition, each site is assigned both an account manager and a supervisor, and the training of the crew is matched to the scope that had been agreed upon.
It is not necessary for all the providers to use the same tools, but it is necessary for them to explain the way in which they check quality.
Ask:
- Who performs inspections?
- How frequently do inspections take place?
- Is the scope of the inspections linked to the actual scope?
- How are results documented?
- Is it possible to keep a record of persistent problems over time?
- Who reviews the findings?
If the response is ‘Our supervisor checks on things’, then ask for further details.
Pay attention to the inspection process
The purpose of inspections should be to ensure that a cleaner has actually turned up.
A good inspection should ascertain that recurring tasks are being carried out consistently and that problem areas are either improving or worsening.
For instance, if the same floor edges are repeatedly missed, there is a shortage of supplies in the restrooms, fingerprints appear on high-touch surfaces, or the same trash problem occurs week after week, this points to a process issue rather than simply a single mistake.
The proper commercial cleaning company should carry out inspections in order to identify those patterns before the property manager is forced to.
The distinction lies between proactive oversight and service based on complaints.
Evaluate communication before there is a problem
It is usually at the time when there is a problem that communication becomes most important.
Before you employ a provider, find out precisely how service problems are reported, who gets them, and what takes place afterwards.
We allow clients to report issues by email, text, or phone. We log the issue, dispatch a supervisor, and aim to respond in under 24 hours. Corrections are typically completed within 24 hours and often the same day.
When assessing other providers, use that degree of specificity.
You should know:
- Who your primary contact is
- Who supervises the cleaning team
- How urgent concerns are escalated
- How issues are documented
- What response time you should expect
- How follow-up is handled
Vague communication during the sales process might make things even more difficult when service starts.
Look closely at issue resolution
The fact that a task has been missed doesn’t mean that the company is a poor fit.
What matters is the way that they respond.
A commercial cleaning company that is competent should recognise the problem, take responsibility for it, put right the situation, and then decide if any changes are needed as a result of the process.
Whenever the same problem occurs more than once, you should find out what corrective action is being taken.
That could entail retraining the staff, modifying the way supervision is provided, altering the frequency of cleaning, making the scope clearer, or looking over the staffing arrangements.
The fact that corrections are carried out repeatedly without any change to the process should serve as a warning.
Make accountability easy to understand
It shouldn’t be the job of property managers to work out who owns the account each time an issue arises.
To each site we designate both an account manager and a supervisor who have clear lines of responsibility.
Request that each commercial cleaning company give an explanation of their structure
Who looks after the day-to-day communication? Who is in charge of the on-site team? Who gets involved when a problem is not resolved? Who meets with you to review your performance?
Having clear accountability means that less vendor management has to be passed on to your team.
Use a practical buyer checklist
Before selecting a commercial cleaning company, review each provider against the same questions:
- Do they understand the way our facility is actually used?
- Is the recurring scope specific?
- Is it clearly stated whether exclusions and add-ons are included?
- Is there an actual inspection procedure?
- Can they show how they track quality?
- Do we know exactly who owns the account?
- Is there a set procedure for reporting and correcting problems?
- Does the service model match our requirements regarding schedule, access, and communication?
As a result, the decision becomes less personal and the comparison remains centered on the way the service will function.
Choose the system, not just the proposal
A good commercial cleaning company should give you confidence in the cleaning process itself by providing a well-defined scope, carrying out the cleaning at reasonable intervals, carrying out documented inspections, maintaining consistent communication, clearly assigning accountability, and offering a reliable method for dealing with any problems.
If you are reviewing your current cleaning arrangement or preparing to change your commercial cleaning company, we can walk the facility with you and help identify where the scope, service frequency, quality-control process, or accountability structure may need more clarity.
FAQs
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Ask about scope, cleaning frequencies, exclusions, inspections, account management, communication, issue resolution, and how they document quality.
