Hiring A Commercial Cleaning Company? Here’s What To Expect
No matter the industry, when you need commercial cleaning services, the company you hire should address the following concerns.
The number of people hiring cleaners is on the rise. In fact, one-fifth of Millennials hire in a cleaner to help them keep on top of their home and plenty more said they would like to if they could afford it.
In the workplace, commercial cleaning services are an absolute must. Whether you run a competitive office or a busy bar, the demand for cleaning help is higher than ever. That’s why there are 3.25 million people working in the American industry alone.
Choosing the right commercial cleaning company is an absolute must if you’re going to get the most for your money. So what should you expect from one of these companies?
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How Much Do Commercial Cleaning Services Cost?
How Much Do Commercial Cleaning Services Cost?Obviously, you can only hire a cleaning company within your business’ budget. But there’s no quick way to answer this question. How much a cleaning service will cost depends on a couple of things.
The size of the space you need cleaning will affect how much you pay. The bigger the area, the more you’ll pay. But you may also pay more for specific types of cleaning.
How often you want your commercial space cleaning will also affect the price. The more cleaning sessions you have, the more you will pay. But some companies may offer discounts on regular contracts.
On average, commercial cleaning of an office space can cost between $50 and $100 per hour. Warehouse cleaning is simpler so it can be cheaper.
But to find the best price you should compare commercial cleaning quotes. This will generate a commercial cleaning rates chart and ensure that you get the best deal.
What Type of Equipment Do They Use?
Finding great commercial cleaning companies isn’t just about finding a good price though. It’s also about finding someone who will do a good job. After all, if you end up paying someone to do a poor job you’re wasting your money.
The type of equipment a company uses will tell you a lot about how professional they are and whether or not they’ll do a good job. So make sure you ask about this before you hire them.
Most domestic cleaners will just use standard mops and vacuum cleaners. But commercial cleaners should be using more specialist equipment. This includes things like steam cleaners and floor sweepers or scrubbers.
They should also supply their own high-quality cleaning products. Using poor quality products could lead to long term damage to your business premises.
In addition to this, all cleaners using chemical products should provide Material Data Safety Sheets. These are an essential part of health and safety protocol for anyone handling chemicals. Most come written in English, but if the cleaning staff speak a different language they should also have a translated copy.
Do They Have a Cleaning Checklist?
Any commercial cleaning service that is going to do a good job should have strict standards they meet for each job.
Cleaning checklists are a great way to get an idea of what you can expect from a service. For an office, this should include:
- Window cleaning
- Carpet cleaning
- Bathroom cleaning
- Trash emptying
- Break-room and meeting room cleaning
- Desk cleaning
Some companies will charge extra for additional cleaning on top of this. But this is the minimum you should expect a commercial cleaning company to include in its service.
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You might really like a cleaning company’s manager but more often than not they won’t be the person cleaning your office space. So it’s worth asking about who will be.
A quality company should have high standards when it comes to hiring people.
But you also want a company that has minimal staff turnover. This indicates that they are focused on hiring high-quality staff and keeping them. A company that just wants to hire and fire shoddy workers isn’t going to keep your business premises up to scratch.
You should also ask about whether or not the same staff will be cleaning your office on a regular basis. A company that uses cleaning rotas will send different people each week. Unless they have consistently high-quality staff, this could result in inconsistent cleaning.
Do They Offer a Guarantee?
Any company that offers high-quality cleaning should also offer a guarantee for their work. This ensures that they complete the job properly and it could save you money in the long-run.
A guarantee is an agreement that their staff’s cleaning should meet a certain standard. If it doesn’t for any reason then they will offer further cleaning free of charge until it meets this standard.
While it might be frustrating for a company to have to come back in to clean, a guarantee means you don’t have to hire in someone else. But it also tells you something about a company’s ethics.
Offering a guarantee shows that the cleaning company is committed to their work and will always strive for high standards. With a guarantee in place, this is in their best interests. Companies that don’t offer one have much less incentive to do a continuously good job.
Do They Have Liability Insurance?
Do They Have Liability Insurance?Anyone that you hire to come into your place of work should have liability insurance. If a company doesn’t have it, steer well clear!
Liability insurance covers a company for anything that might happen in your office while they are cleaning it. So should an accident occur, which damages your property, they will be able to cover the cost of any repairs.
How Good Are Their Communication Skills?
This might not seem like the most important quality to look for in a cleaning company but keep it in mind.
You may need to contact this company on a regular basis to schedule in future sessions or give feedback on their work. And you don’t want to waste valuable time chasing them up.
You’ll often get a good idea of how responsive a cleaning company is when you’re organizing your first session. Be wary of any companies that offer ‘instant quotes’ on your workspace but then take ages to get back to you. This could be an indication of what is to come.
But you should also bear in mind that a company may be very responsive when you first get in touch in order to real you in. To get a good idea of how their communication will be further down the line, take a look at feedback from their previous clients. This will give a real idea of just how they work.
What Hours Do They Work?
A commercial cleaning company’s job is to come in a cleanup workspaces out of hours. This means they should be prepared to work late or very early.
Make sure you ask about their work hours and see how flexible they can be around your business hours. There’s no point hiring someone who can only come in when your company is open for business.
Are They Nearby?
When it comes to picking a cleaning service it might be tempting to go for a huge company that operates over a number of cities. And we can see the appeal of this – we often link a big company with high standards of work.
Nevertheless, you might be better opting for a company that’s based closer to home. A company with a base nearby will be easier to contact and they’re more likely to send people out to help in an emergency.
Before you hit up the big commercial cleaning companies, take the time to Google “commercial cleaning services near me”!
Who Recommends Them?
If you want to find out a company’s standard of cleaning then asking previous clients in your best bet. They will give you a great idea of exactly what a cleaning company will deliver.
If someone that you trust recommends a cleaning service to you then this is a great sign that it is a good one. Just make sure to think about what sort of workspace they have. If they run a warehouse and you run a bar, you may have slightly different cleaning needs.
That said, it’s always worth following up on a recommendation with a call to that company to find out more. But this isn’t the only way to find out about a company’s track record.
Any decent company should provide references from previous clients. Make sure you follow these up with a phone call or email to the client directly to confirm their comments.
You can also look online for reviews of a company. Avoid using the ones from their website as no one in their right mind would put bad reviews on their own site!
When you’re looking through reviews it’s important to check the date they were written. Reviews can stay online for a really long time and old ones won’t always be a true reflection of how a company operates now. So make sure you check out reviews from the last year or so to really grasp what a company can offer.
The Bottom Line
When it comes to picking between commercial cleaning services for your business, there’s a lot to consider. Don’t feel afraid to ask a company about all of their work before hiring them. Anyone who is serious about quality should be happy to answer your questions.
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