What Do Customers Want From a Commercial Cleaning Company?

Have you ever wondered to yourself, "what do clients want from my cleaning company?" If you own a commercial cleaning business it's likely you've thought about this when a customer seems to want more from you than what you both agreed to. While it may seem like a mystery, the good news is that there are several things that customers want from a cleaning company across the board.  In this post, you'll learn what do customers want from a cleaning company and how to provide it to them in your cleaning business.

Commercial cleaning customers want quality work

First and foremost as a cleaning business owner you should strive to provide quality work as a foundation of your cleaning services. If your cleaning service is providing subpar service you run the risk of losing customers and a poor reputation.

As a part of your reputation management strategy, be sure to focus on providing the best service possible to your clients. Doing so can help you gain a good reputation and can lead to positive word of mouth that can help expand your business.

Attention to detail is another way to show customers that you provide quality service. Often we hear stories of cleaning clients switching to a different company because the little things keep getting overlooked. This could be things like not straightening the magazines in the reception area, not dusting the tops of picture frames, or leaving water spots on restroom mirrors. These may seem insignificant to your cleaning technicians, but they are important to your clients.

Some businesses even leave "traps" or areas left intentionally dirty to see if your cleaning technicians miss things. A common example of this is leaving something like a coin under an entryway mat to see if it was picked up for cleaning the floor underneath. If your cleaning technicians frequently miss cleaning areas like this it could cause your clients to hire a different cleaning service.

You also want to pay attention to special requests or how clients like certain things cleaned. If you consistently make the extra effort to clean as your clients wish, (within reason of course), you can keep your customers satisfied.

Allow for flexibility in your cleaning services

Potential cleaning customers want flexibility. People don't like paying for services beyond what they need, and they also like being able to pay for services on their terms.

Of course, your flexibility can only go so far, as you have a business to run, but consider making aspects of your service flexible where possible. For example, maybe you always schedule cleaning on a specific day and time. Do you allow your clients to change their cleaning schedule?

Maybe you offer additional services like window washing or carpet cleaning. Do you work with your clients to determine how often these services should be done? Sometimes commercial cleaning companies get into the habit of scheduling these services on a monthly basis or quarterly basis when they may only need to be done quarterly or semi-annually.

If a client has a reasonable cleaning request, every so often, try to accommodate them if it will take just a few minutes of added time. Just be careful of scope creep, which is when clients start asking for more and more service without paying for it.

Trustworthy, Courteous, and well-trained employees

Other important aspects of what customers are looking for, has to do with your cleaning technicians and office personnel. Your role as the owner of the cleaning business is important, but your employees act as the face of your company. This applies to both cleaning technicians and office employees who have contact with your clients.

How customers and potential customers interact with employees can help you attract new cleaning clients or repel them. The first thing people want from a cleaning company's staff is trustworthiness.

When a potential customer decides to hire a cleaning service, they are trusting complete strangers into their business. Most people are not going to hire a company they feel they can't trust.

We'll explain more on how to deal with this in the marketing section of this post, but one way to build trust is by having high standards for hiring employees and performing extensive background checks on employees you hire.

Since your employees may interact with clients and potential clients, you want them to be courteous and well trained. If your staff is courteous it can help build trust with existing clients, and potential customers could be more likely to take a chance on hiring you.

Accurate and simple cleaning quotes

While the price isn't the only factor customers are looking for when they choose a cleaning company, it is an important one. These days it is relatively easy for people to request quotes online from a variety of cleaning companies.

Cleaning prospects want to get a general idea of what your price is likely to be as fast as possible. That way they can see if your services are in their price range.

When you provide commercial cleaning services, you'll need to visit their location to do a walk-through before offering a price, so make the process as simple as possible. Don't ask too many questions on the online form and get back to them as soon as possible to set up the appointment.

Once a prospect has contacted you, you have their interest. From there you can focus on selling them on the benefits of hiring you vs the competition. Your cleaning business marketing plan can highlight more of your core difference and benefits to potential customers as well.

When people can quickly trust your company, know the benefits of hiring you over the competition, and can get an accurate quote fast, they are more likely to convert into new cleaning clients.

Quick responses and good communication

Yet another factor that customers want from a cleaning company is good communication. It may be surprising but we often hear that a company earned a new client simply because they were the only company that answered the phone when they called.

Unfortunately, a lot of cleaning companies drop the ball when it comes to quick response times and good communication. You might have a smaller company and don't yet have a customer service team.

Maybe you don't yet have someone that can fully dedicate their time to the phones. Or maybe you are slow to respond to emails. Regardless, it is an area you should focus on and make an effort to get better.

Another aspect of this is having a timely response to concerns from customers. For example, when Steve Hanson, co-founder of The Janitorial Store, was running his cleaning business, he had the reputation of being extremely quick at responding to concerns.

Often his clients would tell him he doesn't need to rush right over, and it can be taken care of that night.  They did this because they knew he would get someone right on it. This is great because when clients know you will respond as quickly as you can, they don't get as upset if a problem happens.

Commercial cleaning customers want a quick response

Using your marketing plan to show you offer what customers want from a commercial cleaning company

Now that you have a better idea of what customers want from a cleaning company, you need to show them you have what they are looking for. You can do this through your cleaning company website and marketing efforts.

Many cleaning companies miss this marketing secret. It's one thing to have a trustworthy company, great employees, and provide quality service, but if no one knows about it, it doesn't matter.

First, use real photos of your employees and avoid using stock photos. By using real photos people can see who they are letting into their home or business and this increases trust in your company.

Another trust builder is to feature customer reviews and testimonials on your website and in your marketing. Talking about the quality of your service is important, but having a 3rd party review does more to build trust and credibility for your business.

We also suggest including an about section on your website. This section can highlight various aspects of your company story. Talk about why you care about cleaning or how your company gives back to the community.

In addition to highlighting info about your business, you also should cover information on your staff. This should highlight aspects of your hiring practices, background checks you perform, and the extensive employee training you provide.

Some other aspects to include to build trust are highlighting safety precautions your company has such as an infection control policy.

Customers want a cleaning company that provides solutions to their problems

Despite what you might think, most people don't care about the features of your services as much as it seems. In reality, they mostly care about the benefits they receive from hiring you.

For example, maybe you highlight the benefit of hiring your cleaning service to help save time and money. Instead of a client having to buy their own cleaning supplies or spending their time cleaning, you could solve that problem.

Focus on benefits not just features and it could give them a reason to hire you.

Potential cleaning clients want a full-service cleaning company

Most companies hire a cleaning company to make their lives easier. If a business has to hire a separate cleaning company to do carpets, one for general cleaning, and another for window washing it becomes too much.

If your potential customers can hire one company to do it all they will be much happier. It means they only have one vendor to pay, contact, and deal with. This is why you want to be a full-service company that offers all of the services your potential customers are looking for.

This might not be possible if you are just starting out and don't have all of the necessary equipment to provide each specialty cleaning service, but it should be something to strive towards.

When you build trust with your customers using the methods covered in this article they are likely to use your company for all of these additional services rather than hiring another company.

Cleaning customers want you to follow through on your promises

What did you specifically write in your cleaning proposal? Did you say that you would empty the recycling bins? Does your proposal include providing paper products and soap for the restrooms and making sure they're fully stocked every day?

Your proposal is the agreement you signed with your cleaning client and you should uphold your end of it. If you have a hard time doing this you may need to work on your internal systems. For example, often the soap will run out in restrooms in a facility because it isn't something that needs to be filled daily. Do you have some kind of system in place to avoid things like empty supplies falling through the cracks?

Another aspect of following through has to do with random issues that may pop up from time to time. Do you have a system to deal with occasional concerns in a timely manner?

This is a great area to overdeliver in your cleaning service. If a customer has a request or some issue that needs to be addressed, often it might not be so urgent that it needs to be dealt with immediately. However, if you are able to remedy it the same day or within 24 hours, clients will remember that.

This can keep your clients loyal because they know you overdeliver on what is expected of you. Make sure you follow through on your promises.

Customers want a professional-looking cleaning company to work with

With a commercial cleaning business, you may have cleaners that clean at various times of the day. Some are during business hours, evening hours, and some may even work overnight. Regardless of the hours, your cleaning staff works, your customers want a company and cleaners that look professional. There are many things that can influence whether your cleaning company looks professional or not.

For starters, your customers want a clean janitor closet.  Your cleaning clients also want to see clean equipment in their buildings. Cleaning buildings with dirty equipment can cause customers to lose faith that you are doing a quality job cleaning.

Customers also want nice looking vehicles in their parking lot. Make an effort to use branded and clean vehicles to transport equipment to your cleaning client's business.

Your company image goes beyond equipment. Customers want the cleaning personnel to be professional looking. This is where having a dress code is important. Some companies don't use a dress code and their cleaners some times show up in sloppy looking clothes. This poor appearance usually doesn't go over well with your customers.

Having branded uniforms can also help keep your cleaning company in front of mind with your clients. This can help them think of you first and could lead to potential referral business.

Conclusion

It may seem overwhelming to try and figure out what customers want from a cleaning company. However, the reality is that with a few adjustments you'll have exactly what customers are looking for.

Start by providing excellent service, and a well trained courteous staff. Provide accurate quotes and estimates for your services quickly. and maintain a good communication flow with potential and existing customers.

In addition to that build in trust factors to your website and marketing like real photos, reviews, and case studies. Also, strive to be a full-service cleaning company while maintaining a professional image.

As you continue to market your cleaning business make sure that your messaging is benefits-focused and doesn't highlight features alone. When you combine all of these factors together you get a recipe for success.

Doing so will give customers exactly what they want from a cleaning company. Implement these tips to help you generate more leads, sales, and to help keep your customers longer.

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