Janitorial Service Mistakes

Janitorial service companies are a dime a dozen.  Many make claims that they can’t possibly live up to in an attempt to get you to sign a long-term contract.  What makes some companies perform better than others?  What mistakes should cleaning services avoid in order to keep their customers satisfied for years to come?  Here are questions to ask to determine if you have selected the right office cleaning company or issues to look for after your new company has started.

Many janitorial service companies have extremely good marketing departments.  They hire and train professional salesmen and pay handsome commissions for every new account acquired.  However, the salespeople are not the ones responsible for cleaning your buildings.  Many times a company’s marketing ability exceeds its ability to recruit and train employees.  When this happens, the company must quickly staff an office building, many times with poorly trained or untrained employees.  Make sure you know the job histories of each cleaner in your building.  Why pay premium prices for unskilled labor?  Ensuring your janitorial service has extensive experience will minimize the likelihood of major mistakes in your building.

2.  Leaving your building unsecured

No matter how many times you tell someone to lock the building when they leave, somehow it still manages to happen.  Why?  Because the person you are telling has likely never left a building unlocked before and simply does not understand the consequences of leaving buildings left unsecured.  Leaving a building unlocked can leave your assets, personnel files, confidential information, contracts, and even medical information exposed to intruders.  Make sure that your entire janitorial service staff knows the potential consequences of leaving your building unlocked.  If your janitorial service is not responsible enough to check the doors when they leave, are they responsible enough to clean your building?

3.  Not providing all contracted services

Although contacts can be a royal pain, they can also be useful.  Companies are always trying to find ways to save money, and one way janitorial services can do so is to reduce the amount of services they provide and continue to charge the same rates.  If you pay a company to provide a service and they miss cleaning that area, the money they are paid is all profit, since they do not have to pay anyone to perform that service.  The company saves an employee’s hourly rate, matching federal and state tax (if applicable), worker’s compensation, and any supplies involved in performing the service for which they are charging.  Make sure if you are paying for a service that your commercial cleaning company is actually providing those services.  If you find out otherwise, you should demand a refund for the services they have not provided.

4.  Downplaying cleaning complaints

Many times an office cleaning company will assign an operations manager to deal with janitorial complaints.  These managers typically have years of experience in the cleaning industry and have dealt with hundreds of cleaning complaints.  In many cases, the cleaning company’s operations managers will try to downplay a complaint, like blaming an unlocked door on a new employee or the lack of toilet paper in a bathroom stall on a supplier backorder.  Although there are always reasons for office cleaning complaints to happen in an office building, it is the janitorial service’s job to minimize and prevent the complaints.  Remind your cleaning company that you are paying for a their service and you expect what was promised.  However, complaints on commercial deep cleaning services may not be covered in the current Scope of Work, so read the contract closely.

5.  Lack of communication skills

Maybe one of the most important mistakes janitorial service companies make is not teaching their employees to communicate effectively with the personnel who work in the building they clean.  Many time office cleaners have questions regarding day-to-day procedures that the operations manager simply cannot answer.  “Should I empty Mr. Smith’s trash today,” or “How long should I wait to clean Mrs. Sally’s office if she is in a meeting?”  Cleaners should be taught that it is ok to communicate with the personnel that work in the building the clean as long as it relates to their job.  Leaving a note on Mr. Smith’s trashcan asking if the contents are trash is an excellent form of communication.  It lets Mr. Smith know that you’ve seen the contents of his trash can and are waiting on him to make a decision before you potentially throw away anything of value.  For more janitorial service communication tips, click HERE.

For information on janitorial service education, visit ISSA at https://www.issa.com/.  For more information on commercial cleaning in Columbia, South Carolina, visit Palmetto Commercial Services here.

About the Author

Mike Young owns Palmetto Commercial Services, a full service janitorial company in Columbia, SC.  Palmetto Commercial Services has won multiple cleaning awards, including Best of the State Cleaning Service 2017 – 2021, Post and Courier/Free Times Best Cleaning Company 2019 – 2022, Columbia Metropolitan Magazine Best Commercial Cleaning Service 2019 – 2022, Better Business Bureau Torch Award for Business Ethics 2017, Top Rated Local Best Janitorial Service in South Carolina 2019 – 2021, Lexington Life Magazine Best Restoration Company 2021 & 2022, and SC Best In Business Best Janitorial Service in South Carolina, Best Floor Cleaning Service in South Carolina and runner up for Business of the Year 2021.  Mike helps other cleaning services by writing cleaning service SEO blogs.