The 5 Biggest Mistakes In Choosing A Janitorial Service
How Do You Go About Making A Wise Decision?
In order to choose a competent, professional commercial cleaning company that will serve your long term needs you must use good selection criteria and avoid the mistakes that lead to poor choices. This article will focus on the 5 biggest mistakes.
When you choose a cleaning Service that doesn’t serve your long term needs, you’ll end up having to go through the whole selection process again. This takes up a lot of valuable time and energy and for most people, it’s not fun.
Competent, courteous, professional cleaning services you can depend on are not as elusive as you may think. Did you know that there’s a proven way to find out how a cleaning service will work out in the long run, before you hire them?
Changing janitorial services is a monster hassle even when it’s warranted! Yet it’s almost inevitable. More than 90% of the janitorial service contracts that begin this year will be terminated in less than a year for poor service.
In almost every case where a cleaning company doesn’t work out, an expensive and unnecessary mistake was made in the selection process.
By understanding the 5 most expensive mistakes managers make in selecting commercial cleaning services, the selection process can be enormously improved and the success rate improved to almost 100%.
The 5 Biggest Mistakes You Want To Avoid When Choosing a Commercial Cleaning Service
#1: Poor/Vague Cleaning Specification:
The specifications in many service contracts are very general. Too general. Vacuum the carpet, empty the trash, clean the restrooms. With that kind of specifications people will clean any way they want to. The problem is that variations in the cleaning process leads to variations in the quality and consistency of the service.
It may sound silly to say that specifications should be specific, but it’s true. Good specification will include specific language that includes how a task is completed as well as a description of the end result. It is best if the specification also include the cleaning products that will be used so that you can insure that only safe, non-toxic products are used in your facility.
#2: Poor Personnel Selection and Training
If you begin with great cleaning specification the next variable is the personnel doing the work. It‘s important for you to understand what process a cleaning company uses to select their cleaning personnel.
Where does their pool of workers come from? How are they selected? How are they tested for competence? How are they trained? How are they equipped?
By asking a janitorial service these questions, you will quickly determine if they know their business or if they’re just guessing.
#3: Poor Quality Control
If you have great cleaning specification being carried out by great people then the next variable is how the cleaning personnel are managed. Good commercial cleaning companies will have a written Quality Control Policy that will lay out how quality is managed.
Decisions about how to manage quality issues are made in advance instead of “off the cuff”. This makes it easier for the cleaning personnel to do a good job because the consequences for poor performance are clearly spelled out in the Quality Control Policy.
#4: A General Liability Insurance Loophole
Most people are unaware that general liability insurance can become almost useless if it contains a single clause that few people pay attention to. Most people focus on the amounts and the limits of liability.
The clause I am talking about is called “Care and Custody”. It means that any item that is currently being worked on is not covered. So if a cleaner ruins a carpet that he is working on, it’s not covered. If he breaks a window he was cleaning, it’s not covered. You get the idea.
The important thing to look for is that the general liability insurance includes “care and custody” so that everything that cleaning personnel could possibly damage is covered.
#5 Signing a Long Term Contract
Many janitorial service contracts are for one or two years. This isn’t all that bad if the contract allows for early cancellation for any reason. Many contracts contain language that gives the cleaning company a time period to correct any “written” complaint.
If the written complaint is corrected within the time limit the the contract term is still binding and has penalties for early termination. It’s much safer to go with a company that has a 30 day cancellation clause for any reason so that you can get rid of a non-performing cleaning service at your convenience.
Who wants to have to put every cleaning complaint in writing and jump through a bunch of hoops just to get rid of a company that isn’t keeping their part of the bargain?
If You Would Like To Avoid All These Mistakes …
If you would like to avoid all of these mistakes, request a request your Free cleaning quote by calling 972-261-9800 to request an appointment or just click here.
By choosing a cleaning company that has comprehensive cleaning specifications, good hiring policies, good quality control policies, good insurance and making sure they must continue to earn your business in order to keep your business, your odds of selecting a great commercial cleaning service will have improved significantly.
Here is why you should get a quote from Delta Janitorial Systems.
Delta Janitorial Systems uses a systematic approach to Commercial Cleaning called the S.M.A.R.T. Office Cleaning System. This system includes all of the elements that we have been discussing up to now.
- Good cleaning specification
- Good personnel screening
- Good Quality Control
- No Long-Term Contracts
- Good General Liability Insurance
When you request a quote from Delta Janitorial Systems you’ll receive information that explains all of the benefits of The S.M.A.R.T. Office Cleaning System. Once you’ve seen how the system works you’ll have no question that this system will provide you with the best possible value in commercial cleaning services.
It’s A Plain and Simple Fact …
Delivering great service over a long period of time, doesn’t happen by accident. It requires the execution of a plan consisting of specific elements that bring about sustained quality service..
These elements are easily identified. Don’t settle for mediocre janitorial services.