Cleaning Affects Productivity: A Golden Marketing Opportunity for Cleaning Companies
Those of us in the cleaning industry know that an unhealthy work environment has a direct, negative affect on employee productivity. And we may take it for granted that our clients also understand this correlation.
The truth is, however, many building owners and property managers are so focused on day-to-day business activities that they haven't learned about the hidden costs of unclean offices. That makes this a golden marketing opportunity for BSCs who take the time to educate their prospects.
How Cleaning Affects Productivity: The Numbers
Employee health has a huge impact on a company's bottom line, yet managers don't seem overly concerned with employee health, illness/injury prevention, reducing absenteeism, and promoting overall wellness in the workplace.
According to the CDC, sick days result in a 54% loss in productivity and cost U.S. businesses $225.8 billion annually. And insurer VitalityHealth found that each year, the average employee works 27.7 days while sick—and those days are very likely at far lower productivity levels than when the employee feels 100%.
What if someone were to quantify the benefits of a healthy workforce? What if you could connect a clean work environment and a healthy workforce to increased productivity and a healthier bottom line?
To help prospects understand the financial benefits of your cleaning services, you must be armed with data. There are many studies that support the claim that cleaning affects productivity.
- The level of office cleanliness directly impacts on employees' productivity and contributes to employee satisfaction (Association for Cleaning Research, 2017). In other words, when the environment is technically clean, productivity and work satisfaction are higher.
- For 89 percent of Americans the workplace restroom is one key indicator of how a company values its workforce (Healthy Hand Washing Survey, 2017). Clean bathrooms, then, are an especially critical component of employee satisfaction.
- Happy employees are important because they are 12% more productive (University of Warwick, 2015).
Keeping the work environment clean—and therefore supporting employee health and happiness—results in fewer work days lost to preventable illness and lower turnover. As a cleaning business owner, you are a key partner in ensuring these results.
This means cleaning is more than just an expense, but a value-added service that contributes to a company's short- and long-term profit margins.
The Solution to Making a Difference in Employee Productivity
Of course, not all cleaning is created equal. To really make a difference in the overall health of a workplace, cleaning companies should clean for health and not for appearance only. This approach reduces “sick building syndrome,” meaning lost productivity due to dirty and unhealthy workspaces.
(As an added benefit, cleaning for health is better for your technicians. It lowers their absentee rates and reduces safety risks associated with toxic products.)
The key elements of a cleaning program focused on health include reducing cross-contamination and using greener products.
There are several ways to reduce cross-contamination:
- Implement best practices for your cleaning procedures. As an example, you should never dip a dirty microfiber mop head into a disinfectant bucket because it contaminates the solution. Instead, place the dirty mop head into a plastic bag and continue with a new mop head, which has been placed into the clean solution.
- Use color-coded tools. These tools ensure that tools are only used for their assigned tasks (as in, a rag used in a toilet doesn't eventually get used on a desktop). A standard coding system is red for high-risk cleaning (toilets and urinals), yellow for restroom surfaces (countertops and sinks), blue for low-risk areas (glass surfaces and mirrors), and green for dusting.
- Switch to microfiber mops and rags. Fine-grade microfiber picks up dirt and dust better than other fabrics. It will remove more soil and, with it, pathogens.
Green products can further reduce the negative health effects of cleaning. Choose items that have third-party certifications. Green Seal and Environmental Choice are two certifying bodies that look at both environmental and performance standards when certifying products.
Cleaning chemicals are obvious candidates for replacement with green alternatives, but don't overlook other tools in your arsenal. As an example, you may also want to switch to HEPA-filtered vacuums and floor finishes that don't require buffing. Also, considering eliminating or reducing the use of deodorizers that negatively affect indoor air quality.
Finally, it's incredibly important to train cleaning technicians on your new tools and procedures. All the best policies and products in the world are meaningless if your employees fail to use them properly.
The Marketing Pitch
Data is great, but how do you translate that into paying customers? The answer is in getting your prospects to start asking themselves these questions: “Is my work environment dirtier than I think?” and “Could that be contributing to my employee turnover and productivity rates?”
To do this, you should be creating content about the importance of clean work environments and how they affect employee productivity and satisfaction. Share this information via your website copy blog, social media, email newsletter, and paid advertising if you do any.
This could mean sharing news stories or new studies related to these issues, or writing your own articles or blog posts that pull all of this information together. It could be as simple as tweeting interesting statistics or as involved as writing a multiple-page white paper that goes more in depth about all of the data.
Once you have piqued interest in the topic, you can sell the value of your cleaning service.
In all of your online and in-person communication, play up anything special your company does to address cleaning for health. Do you have any third-party certifications? Have your technicians undergone specialized training? Do you use green products?
Instruct potential prospects that with the proper cleaning regiment, procedures, and quality control principles in place, you will save them money and improve their bottom line.
Tell prospects why clean offices are important + tell them how you will deliver those results = a winning equation.
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ISSA, the cleaning industry association, has provided the Value of Clean infographic below, to share with clients and prospects on this very important topic.
© ISSA
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