Top 5 Cleaning Complaints and How to Solve Them
No one enjoys picking up the phone and hearing a customer say they're disappointed in their cleaning services. Thankfully, it's possible to reduce the frequency of those calls. The most common cleaning complaints often can be solved with training or a simple adjustment to procedures.
Here are five of the most common complaints commercial cleaning companies receive and tips on how to solve the problems.
Top Complaint Number 1: “We're out of paper towels again.”
Customers quickly lose patience with having to call to ask for refills on paper towels, toilet paper, or other supplies that your technicians are expected to keep well stocked. If you're getting repeated calls from the same location, one of these issues may be the culprit:
- You aren't leaving enough supplies.
If roll towels are being used, you can replace smaller rolls of 350' with rolls of 800' with stub roll access. Most 350' roll dispensers will handle 800' rolls without replacing the current dispenser. The same can be true for center-pull towels. If using a smaller roll, replace with a larger roll.
- You need to add another dispenser.
If changing paper or stocking more isn't enough to meet your customers' needs, it may be time to think bigger. Add a second hand towel or toilet paper dispenser, extra soap dispenser, or change to a jumbo roll dispenser. Changing fixtures is a small price to pay to keep the customer happy and not lose the account.
- Your supplies are being wasted.
Make sure your staff are properly trained on how to stock dispensers. When stocking hand towel dispensers (multi-fold, single-fold, c-fold towels), train employees to fill the dispensers with a couple inches of space at the top. Filling dispensers to the brim puts a lot of weight on the bottom towels, causing them to tear apart when pulling them out.
- Make sure your employees use a systematic process for stocking supplies
If your complaints are mostly about restroom supplies not being filled, then make sure your employees are following a specific process when cleaning. First, empty the trash, second, fill the supplies. If they change up their routine out of boredom, nip it in the bud immediately. When they don't follow the system, things get missed.
Top Complaint Number 2 “Our bathrooms are dirty and smelly.”
You don't want your customer's building to become known as “that place with the dirty bathrooms.” It's bad for their reputation, and even worse for you. If you're hearing this complaint on a regular basis, it's imperative you take action to find the problem.
- Something is being missed.
Restroom training programs that lay out each step for cleaning a restroom is essential. With so many steps, it can be easy for a new employee to forget something and trigger a complaint. Prevent mistakes by providing color-coded microfiber cloths. For instance, blue cloths for cleaning mirrors and polished stainless steel, red cloths for toilets and urinals, and yellow cloths for countertops, sinks, dispensers, partitions, and walls.
- Something smells “off.”
A foul odor can make even a clean bathroom seem grimy. A common cause of odors has nothing to do with your staff's cleaning abilities—a stinky floor drain. Oftentimes odors come from the floor drain because it has dried out. Simply pouring water down the drain on a weekly basis can eliminate the odors. It may also be useful to use odor neutralizers to prevent odor complaints.
Top Complaint Number 3 “I can see dust everywhere.”
Dusting should be part of routine cleaning, but it is sometimes missed. When this happens, it's usually one of two reasons.
- The wrong tools.
The most effective tool to use for dusting is a microfiber cloth. Unlike feather dusters, microfiber cloths pick up the dust rather than moving it around or making it airborne. That means the dust won't re-settle onto surfaces. Use a green microfiber cloth for dusting. Be sure to point out commonly missed areas to employees—build-up around calculators, stacking baskets, pictures, sides of desks, and chair legs. Other areas that are commonly missed are hard to reach high areas and cobwebs in corners. Also, train supervisors to special attention to these areas when walking through the building.
- A lack of time.
If workers need to rush through their work to get the job done on time, dusting tends to be the task that gets neglected. It's much less noticeable than not emptying a trash can. If skipping tasks becomes a recurring problem, it's time to retrain staff on efficient cleaning techniques. If that doesn't help, reevaluate the building. If something has changed at the facility since you last updated your contract (for example, extra workstations that your employees need to work around), it may be necessary to make adjustments to the amount of time or labor you are dedicating to that facility.
Top Complaint Number 4 “The trash cans are full.”
Garbage cans are perhaps the easiest way for customers to gauge whether you've been in the building. If your technicians are missing something so visible, your customers will begin to wonder what else they are forgetting to clean. Luckily, one easy-to-fix reason for forgotten trash comes up more often than any other.
- The tech didn't know the trash can was there.
When training new employees, point out hidden trash cans. There should always be a specific path to follow so a trash can is not inadvertently missed. Typically employees should go counter-clockwise around the room, zig-zagging back and forth down aisles and through the hallways. A good way to double-check the work is to check the cans while vacuuming to ensure they've been emptied.
Top Complaint Number 5 “Our carpet looks dirty.”
Floor care is one of the most important responsibilities you have as a commercial cleaner. Make mistakes with vacuuming, and you can sink a customer relationship fast. There are a few common causes for complaints about dirty carpets.
- An area is being missed.
Train employees to move through the office in a clockwise or counter-clockwise direction to ensure all areas are vacuumed. Mats should be vacuumed and then rolled up so the area underneath can be vacuumed.
- You have the wrong tool.
Cleaning personnel should be using the correct vacuum for the job. For instance, if a wide track vacuum cleaner is being used to vacuum tight areas like underneath desks, then it's likely that bits of paper and paper clips are going to be missed. The right vacuum should be used for the space that's being vacuumed. For large, open areas use a wide-track vacuum. Backpack vacs are great for regular office vacuuming and detail work.
- More intensive cleaning is needed.
A vacuum can only do so much. If you've picked up all the debris and spot cleaned all you can, it's time to talk to the customer about scheduling interim maintenance or a deep cleaning.
Hearing and resolving customer complaints is one of the most important ways to keep your business operating smoothly. Keep track of the complaints you receive on a regular basis so you can find those problem areas right away.
Also, investing in consistent training of all employees will ensure that all employees are using the right cleaning system and procedures. This is the surest way to reduce mistakes and, in turn, customer complaints.
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Customer Service Training Program for Cleaning Technicians (PDF Download)
Your customers generally judge you, your reputation, and your quality of service by the way your employees handle themselves and deliver on the promises you make. Do your employees really know how to represent your company in the way you want it to be represented?
The Customer Service Training Program for Cleaning Technicians will pay big dividends with your customers!
Why is customer service training so important?
- 96% of unhappy customers don't complain, however 91% of those will simply leave and never come back. – 1st Financial Training services
- One unhappy customer will tell 9 to 15 people about their experience. - White House Office of Consumer Affairs
- 70% of buying experiences are based on how the customer feels they are being treated. – McKinsey
- It takes 12 positive experiences to make up for one unresolved negative experience. – “Undertanding Customers” by Ruby Newell-Legner
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