Whilst we’ve always had high standards for our work, and have many clients that will attest to that, we’ve been able to raise them ever higher with the appointment of a specialist Audit Manager last year.Earlier this year we took the decision to update our website with the aim of trying to give potential clients a clearer view of what we stood for and not just what we do. Afterall, cleaning is pretty much cleaning wherever you go. Isn’t it? You’d think it would be fairly easy to get a cleaner on board and for them to do what you asked of them – however, this really couldn’t be further from the truth. The difficulty we had was trying to find a path through the information most clients are processing whilst making a decision on what

cleaning company

This is a luxury most cleaning companies can’t afford or either don’t value enough to make it an important role in its own right. will best suit their requirements.

Our Audit Manager manages no staff. Her role is not just to ensure that we’re delivering everything our clients have asked of us but to make sure we’re delivering the very best cleaning service that we can within the allotted time frames we have on every single visit.When speaking with new clients we found most ticked many (if not all) of the following points:

From toilets being properly presented to table legs in the boardroom being regularly wiped down – she’ll ensure every corner looks exactly like it should. Whilst we do all of this to ensure clients are happy with the overall standards we’re delivering …….. if we’re being completely honest we do this to ensure that our clients are so happy that they’ll never leave.

They are unhappy with the current level of cleaning being done

Rather than see this role as a simple auditing function I personally refer to this role as being our Client Retention Manager. This diligent approach to cleaning standards allows me to work confidently with the knowledge, and satisfaction, that we’re doing the very best we can enabling me to focus on growing and constantly improving the company and making sure we’re doing the best we can all round.

They are questioning whether the cleaner is in for the full duration of their shift

However, we’ve found that not everyone likes being audited. Whilst the clients love it not all of the cleaners do. Some positively hate it.

They question whether the cleaner really knows what the actual cleaning schedule is

Cleaners generally fall into two camps:

They wonder why their contract manager never returns their emails or calls when they have issues

1. This first group are mostly open and receptive to change and are willing to accept that they can learn and get better and will accept guidance and support in order to improve and excel in their pursuits.
When all of these points go unanswered for a long enough period of time people will get fed up and will ultimately look for change. However, what happens when you’ve been through a process of change and you end up back in the same place a year further on down the line? All that’s happened is you’ve changed cleaning company and things improved for a while but then ended up tailing off and you’re left back where you started. You become reluctant to change again and perhaps have a feeling of that everyone in this industry is the same.
2. This group think they’ve already mastered their art and are working at a level above everyone else. They’re working hard enough and nobody has ever passed criticism of their work before. They often see the client and are quite chatty with them and as a result believe the client is totally happy with everything.
We all have stories of the dodgy workmen and of tradesmen not turning up when they said they would and folks often come to have a level of expectation when it comes to bad or poor service. That’s an entirely wrong way to go about things – but most of us have ample stories of our own and those of friends and work colleagues to back that up. However, what if there was a cleaning company out there that behaved and acted as you’d hope they would? A cleaning company that REALLY cared and have processes in place for regular communications and reviews,

a cleaning company that comes highly recommended

Working with this first group is a joy and to watch them embrace the tips to improve, enabling them to hone their craft, is something that increases not just their confidence levels but also job satisfaction too. and can be thoroughly reference checked? You’d be interested, right?

However, if the cleaner being audited falls into the second category then it often doesn’t go quite so well. They become defensive and in some cases dismissive of the audit findings. It’s like they take offence at having their work checked. It may only be a small thing that’s been pointed out or being asked to be cleaned more often but the response is almost always the same – “well, if you’re not happy then I’ll just leave”. And try as we might to present our findings in a more positive light – some just won’t accept it.We know that in business people buy people. It’s the personal interaction that somebody has with another individual that will ultimately seal the deal. Price and details can be agreed and sorted if there is a bond of trust in place. Trust is everything. It’s stronger than a contract. We know this and this is where we think we excel and it’s where we’re trying hardest to cut through with the type of communications we make with our marketing. We’ll be making bold changes and bold statements going forward from here.

As a result all this auditing has had a positive knock on with our recruitment process. Sure, we’ve had to find an extra couple of staff to replace ones that we hadn’t expected to leave but more than anything it’s allowed us to focus on recruiting staff that share even more of our values.We make no apology for saying who and what we are as well as who we want to be. We won’t lie down. We won’t conform to the usual cleaning company stereotypes. We won’t stand back and let other people be the voice of our industry. Today we stand above the parapet and are prepared to be vocal about what we’re passionate about. Today, we lay the down the gauntlet to all companies out there in our sector that aren’t looking after their staff and clients properly.

We’ve always found that if staff are happy and are being regularly praised for the work they do then they’ll stay a lot longer. It’s this approach that leads to happier clients with Today, we promise that change in this industry is coming – and we’ll be one of the main players pushing it through.cleaner offices .