Imagine if you had connected online or over the phone with a tradesman to turn up to your house to do some handyman work.
On the day they are meant to arrive, you’re at home waiting for them to turn up and 10, 20, 30 minutes go by. After pacing back and forth and giving them a call to find out where they are, they eventually turn up at your doorstep... 1 hour later. I am sure this has happened to all of us at one point or another. And, it can be quite frustrating right?
Arriving late is only part of the issue – they’re also out of uniform and don’t seem to look like they know what they’re doing.
Unfortunately, this type of scenario happens in more parts of the commercial cleaning industry than many people know. A client will hire a cleaning company that promises the world at the beginning of the relationship, but soon after, turns out to be unprofessional and unreliable.
At In-Tec, we’re told all sorts of stories by our clients when it comes to the problems they’ve had with their previous cleaning company.
While their bad experiences may have led to them not trusting the industry, they found a process that allowed them to find a good solution. They realised that asking questions (not just ones about cost) was the best way to find the right commercial cleaning company for them.
In the case study, we have kept the clients name and their actual location private, due to confidentiality reasons as they are an actual client of In-Tec! Our clients expect information to be kept confidential as it can go into sensitive matters such as cost.
I’m sure you would feel the same way and would prefer to keep all your details safe.
To help paint a picture of the process undertaken with this client from start to finish, this case study will cover the following (in two parts):
The problem and result –
- The clients’ problems with their previous cleaning company
- How the client came to a solution
- How the client felt about partnering with In-Tec
Site specifics –
- The description of the site
- The labour allocated to the site
- The set-up costs for the site
- The monthly cost for the site
Although this case study is for anyone and everyone, it does cater to those of you who have a medium size site (up to 1500sqm). In the site specifics section of the study, we go into the diagnostics of the site which details information such as the areas we clean and how much their overall costs are. If you’re looking at finding details on pricing, then this will be the section for you!
And with that all said, let’s begin.
The problems with an unprofessional cleaning company
At some point in time, we’ve all had to deal with an unprofessional company or service one way or another. You know, those people who don’t turn up on time even when you scheduled an appointment. Those people who don’t have a clue how to do their job properly.
This is how our client felt with their previous commercial cleaning company. They were fed up with dealing with an unreliable service.
So, who is the client?
Well, they are a logistics and transport company that has 2 locations in Brisbane - one small site and one large site. This case study focuses on the larger site, located on the northside.
When the client initially hired a commercial cleaner for their site, they were expecting a professional service that would deliver quality cleaning every time. Unfortunately, as you can tell, this was definitely not the case.
The 3 major issues they had with their old cleaning company were:
- Cleaners out of uniform - without uniforms, it is difficult to distinguish whether the person is authorised to be on site, and can also be quite unprofessional
- Cleaners turning up at the weirdest times even though they had scheduled cleaning times - the client wouldn’t know when to expect the cleaners. Sometimes they wouldn’t even turn up!
- No training (they were using a mop and bucket from Coles and cheap chemicals) - if they weren’t trained, how could they possibly do their job properly? The equipment and products they were using are straight off the supermarket shelves...anyone can buy them!
What do all 3 of these problems equal? An uncontrolled and unprofessional cleaning service that wasn’t capable of delivering the service the client expected.
What also didn’t help was that the previous type of cleaning company was a contractor who was subcontracting the work out to another party and was probably exposing the site to modern slavery. To put it simply, they were most likely underpaying their cleaners...
In a nutshell, a lack of professionalism and reliability was the biggest problem the client faced and was looking to solve.
How asking the right questions led to the right fit
So, how was the client able to come up with a solution to their problem?
The owners of the business contacted us in 2020 after hearing our Operational Leader, Caitlin, via a radio interview on B105. They were looking for a solution to the problems they were having and decided to give In-Tec a call.
One of the immediate asks from the client to us was, “what do you think we should have done?” and “we don’t want cleaning contractors anymore, we want a company that only uses direct employees.”
This was the client’s solution - asking the right questions that would give them the answers and results they needed.
As In-Tec Commercial Cleaning only uses employees, this was the easy part to put to rest. However, to answer the query about what the site needed, this is when we started having back and forth conversations about the client’s weekly cleaning frequency and what should or should not be included.
Initially, our suggestion was that the site’s cleaning frequency needed to be increased from 2 days a week to 5 days. However, after a face-to-face meeting with the client, it was decided that the cost of a 5 day a week clean was not affordable.
To give you a better idea, it would have been triple their previous cleaning cost. They were very open and honest with us by letting us know what their budget was and asked whether there was another option available.
After a few more discussions and revisiting the site when it was in operation, we were able to come up with a revised plan that would deliver a standard the client would be happy with and fit within their budget.
The site is now cleaned 3 times a week by a trained professional cleaner in uniform. We were also able to mutually agree that the site needed deep cleaning in order to bring it back up to standard.
Do you know what questions to ask your current or future commercial cleaning company? Click on the banner below to download our eBook on the 10 questions to ask before you hire a cleaning company.
So, how did the client feel about partnering up with In-Tec?
It’s safe to say that the client was completely surprised at the level of cleanliness of the site – and this standard was accomplished by cleaning the site only 3 times a week!
Just in case you were thinking - okay the service frequency went from two to three times a week and things got better, is that all that was needed?
The answer is yes and no. Yes, there was another clean added. However, there were more hours per clean added, and of course, without the trained cleaner, the delivered standard just wouldn’t happen.
They are super impressed and over the moon that we are able to monitor and maintain the site, arrive on time, and wear appropriate uniforms – in other words, our team of cleaners are professional.
If we take a look at one of the jobs we did for the client, you’ll be able to get a better idea of how happy they are to be partners with In-Tec.
Within the building, the main foyer and stairs are tiled; they are terracotta, old, and really dirty. We were asked to try our best to clean them even though the owners understood that we wouldn’t be able to get them looking brand-new.
But, after a lot of work…we did, and they couldn’t believe it! In their eyes, we did the unthinkable.
I think it’s also important to mention how appreciative we are that the client values the working relationship with the team at In-Tec.
Commercial cleaning site specifics for a medium-sized company
To paint a better picture for you, we thought it would be a good idea to include some facts about the client that may provide you with a little more insight into who the client is and their monthly cleaning cost.
Description of the site
This client is a logistics and transport company that has 2 locations in Brisbane – one on the north side and the other on the south side. For this particular case study, we will be focussing on the northside location (which is the larger of the two).
The site has the following areas that are cleaned by our cleaners:
- 2 story office building
- Operations areas/offices
- Locker room
- Set of amenities for the truck drivers
- Remote set of amenities down the back in a demountable building
- Lunchroom with another set of toilets
- Maintenance areas for trucks
Does your site have similar areas that need cleaning?
How much labour is allocated for this site?
Next up, we need to know the amount of labour that is allocated to the site.
The site cleaning hours fluctuate between 2.5 to 3.0 hours per clean. This equates to a total of 7-9 hours of labour allocated per week (the hours allocated depend on the site's needs on the day) – these hours are undertaken after-hours although there can be employees working back late at the site.
What did the client pay in equipment set-up costs?
Just as a tradesperson needs their toolkit to build a house, cleaners need their equipment to clean a workplace.
Equipment for the cleaners is included in a set-up cost for the site. Set up fees are an investment that In-Tec makes on their behalf that is built into the pricing with the client. During the contract length, the client pays a percentage (not all) of the set-up cost, to allocate for depreciation, maintenance, and the like.
The equipment used at this site included:
- Stormpac battery vacuum and vacuum bags - $928.95
- Rubbermaid pulse mop - $159.50
- Rubbermaid disposable mop covers (red, blue, green) - $412.50
- Rubbermaid disposable microfibre cloths (red, blue, green) - $518.10
- White magic blocks (sponges) - $26.02
- 82L blue bin liners - $61.16
- 36L white bin liners - $45.47
- 3 1L bottles of Enviroplus cleaner - $117.91
As you can see, the total cost to set up the site with equipment for the cleaner came to $2,269.61 (inc GST).
Of course, the above items are the main things the cleaner needed for the site. However, there is a list of other items such as spray bottles and buckets that are not itemised - these are those things a cleaner needs to complete the tasks that may not cost a lot on their own but are needed.
How much does the client pay per month?
After taking everything into account, how much does our commercial cleaning service cost the client?
The answer - $2,199.48 per month with In-Tec.
When the client came to us, they told us that they wanted to stick to a budget of around $2,000 a month for both sites. As mentioned above, after negotiating with the client, we came up with a scope of works and monthly cost that would fix their problems and give them what they were after – trained cleaners and a clean facility. The client more than doubled their budget as they were initially paying $1,833.33 per month across both their sites.
As the saying goes, “you get what you pay for.”
If you haven’t read our article on how much a cleaning service costs hourly then we recommend having a read of it as it gets into all the factors that affect cost. If you want to know exactly what goes into commercial cleaning costs, then you’ll walk away with all the information you were looking for!
Let’s snapshot the main points
This detailed case study shows how a client of In-Tec was able to solve their problem and find a professional and reliable commercial cleaning service that can maintain the cleanliness of the site day in and day out. No longer does the client have to deal with untrained cleaners who turn up at the wrong time.
The case study also discussed some of the client’s site specifics, mainly those that influence the monthly cost of our commercial cleaning service.
- The site cleaning frequency increased from 2 to 3 times a week (total labour allocated per week is between 6 and 7.5 hours)
- Their cleaning equipment set up fee is $2,269.61
- Their monthly cleaning cost is $2,199.48 (they more than doubled their budget)
Are you having problems with your current commercial cleaning service? Or maybe, you’re looking for a reliable and professional cleaning service that will get the job done? If you think we might be the right fit for you, schedule a call with Paul, one of the founders of In-Tec. We’re here to help.
If you think you might be ready to choose the right commercial cleaner for you, download a copy of our 10 questions to ask before hiring a commercial cleaning company eBook below.