Cleanworks explains 5 factors you need to consider before trusting a contract cleaner with your business.
As a business owner, we understand that handing over the keys to your livelihood is a serious decision. This should extend to your office cleaning services: you should be confident that you can trust your chosen cleaners to complete their jobs effectively while keeping your workplace safe. Here are 5 questions you should answer before handing your keys to a contract cleaner.
1. Are you letting in a subcontractor?
A common practice among cleaning operators is to cut their delivery costs by using sub-contractors, who are often underpaid. Thus, you must make sure any cleaning service you speak to is clear and upfront about who will actually be carrying out your cleaning and what their relationship is. Otherwise, you may find yourself surprised by who ends up with your keys and security codes. At Cleanworks, we thoroughly vet our cleaners before hiring and ensure that our staff is paid correctly and fairly.
2. Who is insured?
Cleaning contractors must be insured to protect themselves, their workers and their clients. Make sure you ask to see a copy of their insurance documentation before signing any contracts. Some operators skimp on this obligation in an effort to save themselves money, which puts everyone they do business with at risk. Cleanworks cleaners are always insured so that our clients have peace of mind in their office cleaning services.
3. Have they visited the site for a walk-through?
You should be wary of contract cleaners who are prepared to provide a quote without first visiting your site to measure and assess the space, surfaces and other specific requirements. If they have not gathered all this information, it is highly likely that their price will be inaccurate, resulting in either an inadequate allocation of cleaning time (leading to a poor standard of cleaning) or overcharging. Furthermore, if they don’t bother visiting before they win your business, what is the likelihood of them actively resolving issues after you’ve engaged with them?
4. What supplies and equipment will be used?
Cleaning contractors should disclose the full list of all chemicals and cleaning agents to be used on your site via a Safety Data Sheet (SDS). You should also ask them to clarify what, if any, items will need to be stored at your site, how they will prevent cross-contamination of surfaces, and what their systems for the testing and tagging of electrical equipment are.
5. Can they answer all of your questions?
A professional cleaning provider should be able to satisfactorily answer any questions you have about their service delivery, insurance, employment practices and client accountability. If a cleaning provider is unable or hesitant to provide you with detailed responses to any of your queries, you should be suspicious and suspend any plans to engage their services until they have provided the information you require. At Cleanworks, we take customer enquiries seriously and ensure that all questions are answered with full transparency in a timely manner.
Cleaning isn’t rocket science, however coordinating it in an efficient, consistent and cost-effective manner week-in and week-out, while also complying with all relevant practice and employment standards requires well-developed management systems.
Contact Cleanworks for office cleaning services you can trust!
Call us on 1300 609 419 or send us an enquiry.
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