You never go into a meeting without thinking about what questions you might be asked and the answers you’ll come back with.
For instance, we generally do this with interviews! I don’t know about you, but I’ve certainly thought about what a prospective employee may ask me during an interview and the appropriate answers I should reply with.
And the same goes when you’re looking at hiring a commercial cleaning company.
When you meet up with a cleaning company on your site to go through a quote and the scope of works, you want to be sure that you have all the right answers when they ask you the hard-hitting questions.
But what questions will they ask?
Well, we’re glad you asked because 9 out of 10 times they’ll most likely ask the 6 questions below! And these are the exact questions you want to go through before you hire a cleaning service.
At In-Tec, we want life to be a little easier for you when you’re considering hiring a commercial cleaning company. So, we’ve come up with these 6 main questions you have to answer so you can better prepare yourself on what exactly it is you’re after and expecting from your cleaning service.
The questions to ask yourself
It’s time to go through the 6 questions you need to consider before hiring a cleaning company.
It’s important to go through all of these because you need to know what it is you want and don’t want.
Let’s dive straight into it.
What kind of cleaning company do you want to work with?
You can’t choose which phone you want without doing a little research first and finding out everything you can about it.
Do you choose the new iPhone 13 or the new Samsung S22?
Who knows?
This is exactly the same thought and decision process for choosing a commercial cleaning company.
Although you may have thought that there’s only one type of cleaning company, there are actually 5 and you have a serious choice to make.
To make life a little easier for you, we’ll briefly go through the 5 types to give you an idea of the pros and cons of each. However, for an in-depth read, take a look at our article What are the 5 Types of Cleaning Services? [Pros, Cons, & Comparison].
Sole operator (mum and dad)
Pros:
- One of the cheapest services available – perfect for a budget-conscious client
- Because they’re generally a one-man operation or a mum and dad set-up, there is always a direct line of communication. You won’t have to go through a sales or admin team before you reach your cleaner/s
Cons:
- Your cleaner could disappear overnight for a number of reasons: getting a job elsewhere, going on holiday, falling ill, etc. This could leave your workplace without a cleaner for quite some time which could lead to a build-up of dirt, germs, bacteria, and viruses which is what you don’t want
- Often, they’re not up to date with the latest cleaning equipment
Franchisee
Pros:
- On the cheaper side for those who are budget-conscious (due to low overheads)
- Advantageous for those who have a small site with limited foot traffic
- Generally have controls and standards they need to adhere to like cleaning products and equipment, how they invoice you, etc.
Cons:
- There can be a bit of confusion in regard to who you’re dealing with and who’s actually doing the cleaning at your site
- There can be a lack of training either initially or acquired later
- Lack of communication – if you made contact, it could take a while for your message to be received and your query/issue to be handled appropriately
Contractor
Pros:
- Again, one of the cheaper cleaning services available. This is because they don’t need to pay oncosts such as superannuation, leave entitlements, etc.
- They have a pool of subcontractor cleaners to choose from if your usual one falls ill, goes on holiday, or leaves their job. In other words, you’ll always have a cleaner assigned to your site
Cons:
- Lack of communication and training due to the sub-contracting cycle
- Pockets of modern slavery – pay their staff below the Cleaning Services Award 2020 rates. This can lead to a low-quality service
- You never really know who’s going to clean your site
Employee-centric
Pros:
- Consistently go above and beyond to deliver you a high-quality service
- Are up to date (and trained to use) with the latest cleaning equipment, methods, and technology
- Uses a tracking system to monitor their cleaners to make sure they turn up to your site on time and complete all the relevant tasks needed
- Treat their employees fairly by paying them as per the award
Cons:
- Can stretch some workplaces budget. An experienced cleaning company will expect that a certain cleaning standard is delivered (a quick vacuum does not exist). This can result in time being allocated to perform a task correctly, resulting in the overall price going up to the client
Facilities management
Pros:
- Cost-effective for large sites that have a budget of over $100,000 for cleaning
- They have policies and procedures that generally mirror those of large companies
- They can clean multi-organisations such as chain organisations e.g. chemist warehouse, IGA’s, etc.
Cons:
- Large cleaning companies have standardised policies. All their cleaners are trained in a specific structure. For instance, if they’re told not to clean the desks in a workplace setting then none of them will do this, even if you request to have it done at your site.
Of course, it’s up to you to weigh up what’s important and what’s not important – which cleaning company you’d prefer to work with.
But, you do need to consider it and ask yourself this question before you go and hire a commercial cleaning company for your site.
Now, this does lead to the expectations you have for your commercial cleaning service which we talk about 2 questions down!
What are you willing to pay your cleaning company?
Let me start this one off with a question.
Would you ever want to deal with a company or service that participates in modern slavery?
Because the cheaper the service, the more likely that’s exactly what they’re doing.
If you’ve ever been given a quote that seems too good to be true, then it’s most likely that something is not right. As in, staff members are being underpaid.
In terms of the commercial cleaning industry, it all comes down to the hourly rate the company quotes you for cleaning your site.
To give you an idea, an hourly rate for a commercial cleaning service can range from $50-80 an hour. Now, this doesn’t include GST, or any extra equipment or machinery your site may need like an i-mop.
If the quote you’re given is below $50 an hour, then the company can’t be paying their cleaners properly and delivering a good standard.
Another thing you need to do is review your budget and find out exactly what affects the price of a cleaning service.
This comes down to 4 things:
- The type of service you want
- How much a cleaner actually costs as an employee - $39.07 an hour
- Set-up costs
- Support costs
🔍 I recommend reading our article on How Much Does a Commercial Cleaning Service Cost? In this article, you’ll dive deep into each of the factors and how they influence the hourly rate for a cleaning service.
At the end of the day, you need to ask yourself this.
Do you want a cheap, cost-effective service? Or one that is a little dearer, but pays their employees correctly and delivers a great service?
Remember, quality over price.
What expected cleaning standard are you after?
What do you want and what don’t you want?
That is the question.
Do you want your workplace to look clean or be clean? Are you just after a quick mop and vacuum and a flick of a rag? Or a service that will get the job done properly and go above and beyond when need be?
Of course, as I mentioned before, the standard you’re after does depend on the type of cleaning company you want and will, in turn, affect the overall cost you’ll pay.
It also comes down to cleaning equipment and tools.
If you’re not really concerned whether your cleaners use a string mop and bucket and a conventional vacuum, then the standard expected shouldn’t be too high. However, if you want all the latest cleaning equipment used like an i-mop, flat mop, and chemical-free solutions, then you will receive a high standard result.
Think about whether you want your site to look and feel clean, or actually be clean – rid of germs, dirt, and debris.
What areas do you want cleaned?
We all operate better when we know what we have to do. Whether this is in the form of a checklist, agenda, or diary, most of us have some sort of plan for the day/week.
Let me paint a little picture here to give you an idea of what we’re talking about.
Let’s say you have 2 buildings. You want building 1 to be entirely cleaned while you only want the amenities in building 2 to be cleaned.
Working out exactly what areas you do and don’t want to be cleaned is critical as it’s super important for both parties.
A cleaning scope of works allows both you and your cleaner to know what needs to be cleaned and when. It lists all the areas of your workplace, and then underneath, goes even further by listing all the surfaces a cleaner will clean within that area.
Having a clear and defined scope of works will eliminate disorganisation as the cleaner will have a set structure to follow. And on the plus side, you’ll know what’s going on at your site every time the cleaner turns up to do their job.
One more thing.
It also comes down to what cleaning plan you’re after.
At In-Tec specifically, we offer three different types of packages that you can choose from to suit what you believe your business needs – core, core plus, and ultimate.
The core package offers tasks that you expect to be done in an everyday clean such as:
- Emptying bins
- Cleaning amenities
- Cleaning kitchen
- Vacuuming
- Mopping
- Glass spot cleaning
Then, when you move up a level you get core plus. This involves everything that’s included in the core plan but adds on things like:
- Desk cleaning
- Emptying the dishwasher
- Disinfecting surfaces
- Full glass cleaning
- And many more
The other benefit of the core plus plan is that you have access to our periodical services when needed such as carpet cleaning, tile scrubbing, and all the rest.
If you can’t tell already, this is our most popular plan!
Last is the ultimate plan.
This involves everything from the core and core plus. However, the difference is you get periodical cleans locked in. What we mean by this is carpet cleaning and the like are all scheduled in our initial meeting and then locked in. You won’t have to worry about calling us up to book in a periodical, it will already be done.
And, because your periodicals are booked in, you’ll get a discount! How fantastic!
Now I get it. There’s a lot to take into account, but make sure you know what areas you want cleaned and, if you go with In-Tec, what plan you’d choose.
How often do you want your site cleaned?
This question is super important to think about before you meet up with a cleaning company.
To work out how frequently your site should be cleaned, you need to consider 3 things:
- The type of site e.g. warehouse, office, medical facility
- Employee numbers and foot traffic
- How consistently clean you want your site to be
If your site is a warehouse that operates heavy machinery and is dirty and dusty all the time, then the recommended weekly clean is 5 days a week. Whereas, if you worked in a small office with a small number of staff, then 2-3 days a week will be ample.
It all really depends on the 3 factors above.
Now, although you may have an idea of your site’s cleaning frequency, it may not be the best option for you and your site. For instance, a cleaning company may come back to you and suggest your site be cleaned 5 days a week instead of 3. The main thing is to keep an open mind because after all, they’re the experts.
You want to make sure your cleaning frequency is justified.
Do you value sustainability and the use of the right cleaning equipment?
For some of us, being sustainable is a pretty big deal.
Especially when we all need to pitch in and help meet the challenge of reaching net zero by 2050.
There are some cleaning companies out there that only use green cleaning methods for their clients, while others continue to use traditional cleaning chemicals like bleach.
If you value sustainability and want to reduce plastic waste, prevent nasty chemicals from entering our water systems, and minimise the overall waste impact on the environment, then you want to choose a commercial cleaning company that values the same.
For instance, a few of the eco-friendly cleaning products your cleaners could use are:
- Tersano
- eWater
- Enviroplus
- Agar
- Citrus resources
But it doesn’t just come down to the cleaning solutions. It also involves the actual equipment they use like vacuums and mops. Although the days of string mops and buckets should be over, there are cleaning companies that still use them. Not only are they a safety hazard, but they actually use/waste so much water compared to a flat mop or i-mop.
Do you care about your water usage?
Think about whether having a sustainable workplace is important to you before you look at hiring a cleaning company.
What are you wanting to get out of your commercial cleaning service?
It all comes down to what you want.
Do you just want a once a week clean where the equipment being used is ancient and the staff are underpaid?
Or, do you want a cleaning company that values your needs, pays the cleaners correctly, and uses up-to-date tools?
Asking yourself these 6 questions allows you to determine exactly what type of commercial cleaning company you’re after. You don’t want to go and hire a cleaning company without knowing exactly what you want, otherwise, you could just end up being disappointed –no one wants that.
After you answer these questions, your next step will be to interview potential cleaning companies– yay! It’s time to ask them the hard questions!
To help you find the right fit for your premises, download our guide 10 Questions to Ask Before Hiring a Commercial Cleaning Company. In here, you’ll learn which questions to ask and why, what answers you should expect to hear and which you shouldn’t, and ultimately which cleaning company stands out from the rest.
Happy reading!