Finding a commercial cleaning service these days is a piece of cake. All you need to do is carry out a quick web search to find literally hundreds of listings. However, finding the very best cleaning company for your needs can be another story entirely.
The simple fact of the matter is that every cleaning company in business certainly does not perform to the same high quality standards. In fact, there are certain service providers on the market that could actually prove detrimental to your business, were you to take them on.
So to make the search and selection process easier, here’s a quick 10-point checklist of the kinds of things you should be looking for when hiring a cleaning service:
1. Insurance. First and foremost, if they are not insured to be doing what they’re doing, they’re not doing what they do legally. It is a fundamental requirement for every provider working in the industry to carry insurance and produce evidence upon request.
2. Experience. It’s generally fair to say that experience breeds expertise, which in turn breeds superior-quality cleaning services. It’s not to say a newcomer to the industry cannot do a great job – it’s just to say that the very best are usually those with plenty of experience behind them.
3. Specialism. Always pay attention to the specialisms of the cleaning companies you’re considering, in order to verify whether or not they’re suitable for your business. Just because they’ve experience in cleaning office buildings doesn’t mean they’ll know what to do with a large-scale factory floor.
4. Capacity. In the same vein, it’s also a good idea to make sure they have the kind of capacity to get the job done. If they can’t handle the scale or nature of the job, it won’t be a successful partnership.
5. Team Members. While some cleaning companies outsource, others tackle every job with their own in-house team. They train, develop and stand by their own team members as consummate professionals, almost always resulting in superior cleaning services.
6. References. If you cannot find any references or testimonials online, you need only ask the company to provide examples of satisfied customers. They should also be able to share case studies and examples of their success stories, in order to validate their claims and competencies.
7. Flexibility. With professional cleaners, it should never be a case of ‘this is what we do, take it or leave it’. Instead, flexible service packages should be created in accordance with the needs, preferences and budget of the client, every time.
8. Guarantees. Does the company claim to deliver outstanding results, or do they actually back such claims with comprehensive guarantees? If no guarantees are offered, you have to ask yourself what this tells you about the provider’s confidence in its ability to deliver.
9. Contracts. Professional cleaning companies should always insist on signing into contracts, which clearly specify their duties, the expectations of the client and so on. It should never be a case of services being provided in accordance with verbal agreements or instruction.
10. Versatility. Last but not least, it’s always preferable to work with a cleaning company that’s able and willing to take care of every necessary workplace cleaning job without exception. If you find yourself working with a provider that only gets 75%, 85% or even 95% of the job done, you’ll find yourself regretting your decision.