When Should You Fire a Cleaning Client?

When you started your commercial cleaning business, you may have been happy to sign on anyone who'd pay. As your business grows and becomes more profitable, however, you can afford to be more selective.

Firing low-profit or troublesome clients allows you to spend more time finding and nurturing accounts with higher profit margins.

There are countless reasons you may want (or need) to stop working with one of your clients. A few names may immediately come to mind—those you'd be happy to never see again. But you may also need to end relationships with clients you enjoy if it no longer makes financial sense to keep them around. Remember: Business isn't personal.

Should you fire this cleaning client?

Which Cleaning Clients Should You Consider Firing?

• Do you have clients who don't respect your team? Do they yell, swear, or hurl verbal abuse at your team? These unpleasant clients should be the first to go. It's critical that your technicians feel safe. Forcing your staff to tolerate a hostile working environment will result in losing your best techs and, worst-case scenario, could land you in hot legal water.
  
  
• Which are your least-profitable contracts? Could you up profitability by increasing services for these clients? If they're paying and old lower rate, can you bring them up to current pricing? Could you take on an additional client in the area to reduce drive time? If the answer to these questions is no, it may be time to replace these low-margin clients with others who will provide a bigger boost to your bottom line.
  
  
• Who are the clients you can't seem to please? Do you cringe when they call? Do you repeatedly take reasonable steps to solve their concerns, yet they're never satisfied? If possible, say goodbye to these types of clients. It may take time and effort to find a replacement contract, but it will likely be far less stressful than continuing to work with someone who constantly criticizes you and your staff.
  
  
• Who tells you how to run your business? There are some building owners or facility managers who will only be happy if they get to work directly with the owner of their cleaning company. Or, worse, won't be satisfied unless the owner is on-site doing the cleaning himself. There are also clients who give your technicians direct instructions (that may even be in violation of your own orders), or who don't respect changes you make to cleaning processes. If you're feeling stressed by customer who think they're your boss, fire them.
  
  
• Which clients suck up too much time? Are you having to chase down a client to pay their bill on time each month? Is there one client who regularly calls to discuss add-on services that they never end up purchasing because they don't want to pay extra? While it's good service to keep an open line of communication with clients, there are people who will abuse it. Every non-billable hour you spend dealing with a customer is eating into your profits. That's why it may be wise to put your neediest clients on the chopping block.

How to Fire a Client

Your reason for firing a client will likely affect how you deliver the news.

If the client hasn't done anything egregious, give them written notice that you will no longer be providing their cleaning services. A 30-day notice is common, but adhere to whatever is stipulated in your contract with the client.

During the notice period, continue to service the building in a professional manner. Give the same care and attention to detail you deliver in every facility.

No matter the reason for ending your working relationship, you don't need to provide a long explanation. “We're not able to service your building after [date]. Until then, we'll continue with our regularly scheduled cleanings.” A client may push for more details, but they don't need to know that you dread talking to their building manager or hate chasing them for payment. Keep your explanations as polite, brief, and generic as possible.

If you're dealing with an abusive client, you're likely allowed to immediately terminate the contract no matter the notice clause in your contract. If you're uncertain about the laws in your area, however, check with a lawyer.

A client who requires a swift termination will likely know the reason. If they press you, however, you can simply say, “We can no longer continue this contract.” If you want to be more transparent, it's also okay to say something like, “Due to the abusive environment in your facility, we are forced to end this contract.”

Prevent Problematic Scenarios

Any client can go from dream to nightmare at any point, but there are some steps you can take to avoid worst-case scenarios. Taking action early is far less stressful than waiting for problems to escalate to the point of needing to fire a client.

• Give clients a way to complain: While it may seem counterintuitive, one of the best ways to keep your customers from becoming a headache is to give them plenty of opportunities to complain. It helps you keep your ideal customers happy, but will also identify early on those clients who simply can't be pleased. Every customer complaint is an opportunity to make your business stronger.
  
  
• Start out on the same page: Client onboarding is just as important as staff onboarding. From the start of your working relationship, customers should know what to expect from you. Make sure the client is clear about who will clean their building, what tools and procedures they'll use, how you'll communicate with them, where clients can lodge complaints, any guarantees you offer, and anything else that could later cause concerns.
  
  
• Have a thorough contract: It's absolutely necessary to have a service agreement with every client. Your contract should address your complaint policy, your service termination policy, and your payment policy. These policies can arbitrate most of the disputes that cause business owners to fire clients.

Firing your problematic or unprofitable customers is one of the first steps to building a base of loyal, appreciative cleaning customers that keep your business growing. Hanging on to clients who cause you headaches or lower your margins is a surefire way to keep your company from reaching next-level success.

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