For the small to medium sized business it can be a challenge to find reliable cleaning. You may question if your operation is large enough to justify hiring a cleaning service. The cleaning needs of your facility may appear to be minimal. But how do you really know? Making the decision to hire a commercial cleaning service becomes easier when you know what to look for. Big cleaning companies are often a poor fit to clean small to medium sized businesses. In this post we’ll detail why.
Big Cleaning Companies are designed to clean large scale facilities.
Large-scale or franchise companies often have brand recognition and a sizeable marketing budget. As such, you may be familiar with them, or have seen their ads. Before picking up the phone, consider that these companies prefer to target larger-scale buildings and clientele such as hospitals, universities, sports arenas, or office towers. For those types of organizations, partnering with the large cleaning company is often the best choice as they have the resources to scale up and service a large volume of cleanable square footage.
They’ll charge higher rates.
In many cases, big cleaning companies will charge premium rates for their services. In some cases they’re unionized, and must account for higher union-scale wages. These costs are simply passed onto the customer. Other times it’s their ability to scale up that becomes a competitive advantage. They own and utilize big machinery and equipment such as boom lifts or ride along-floor scrubbers. In markets where there are few local alternatives, they’re able to fetch premium rates and pull in high profit margins as a result.
This is where the smaller cleaning companies come to the rescue. They’ll often be more price competitive. They’re also better equipped to put together a contract that fits your budget.
Big Cleaning Companies have less attentive customer service
In large-scale companies the sales staff will pursue landing the more lucrative, large contracts. Operationally, the organization’s time and resources are allocated with this goal in mind. This includes management, cleaning labor, and customer service.
To these companies, small buildings are seen as small potatoes. Being lower in priority, any service issues will generally take longer to resolve. Response time is generally slower. Jobs such as carpet, window, and floor cleaning take longer to schedule. All told, as a small company you’ll be paying more and receive poorer quality service.
They’re looking for long-term contract commitments
Big cleaning companies will sometimes try to lock their customers into multi-year contracts. While this can bring certainty and stability, these contracts can also be difficult to get out of. Small to medium size companies should be wary. If you’re ever unhappy with the cleaning and the issues don’t get resolved, you can be stuck in a miserable relationship.
Being stuck in a toxic relationship is never fun. Unlike dating, you won’t be able to simply ghost the big cleaning company (the contract’s fine print will make sure of that!) Instead, look for a company that can offer month-to-month contracts. They’re more likely to be hard-working and attentive. They’ll continue earning your business each and every month.
They’ll have fewer contract options that fit the needs of smaller operations
Maybe your business only needs one or two cleaning services a week. Examples might include small churches, offices, or warehouse. Perhaps every two weeks or once per month service would suffice. These contracts are simply too small for most large scale companies to even consider.
Smaller, locally owned cleaning companies can accommodate these smaller cleaning contracts and much more. Often they’ll take the time to create a custom cleaning contract that fits the unique needs of your facility. Do you have more questions on why big cleaning companies are a poor fit to clean your small business? Contact one of our service consultants today!