4 Common Problems With Cleaning Contractors - And How You Can Avoid Them
Are you thinking about hiring a cleaning company but worried about potential problems with cleaning contractors? Looking for some tips on how to avoid them?
Whether you’re looking to hire a cleaning contractor for an office, a nursery or a factory, the whole point is to make your life easier, so you can spend time concentrating on your job rather than the job of cleaners in your workspace. The last thing you want is to start chasing up unfinished work or spending hours trying to get through to customer support.
We’ve put together a list of some common problems with cleaning contractors you could face and how to avoid them. Following these simple guidelines should save you some time and mean you can turn up to a workplace that’s looking spick and span, leaving you to get on with your day’s work.
1: Unreliability
You’ve happily picked up your morning coffee and enjoyed the stroll into work, but your happy mood soon deteriorates when you find that the bins are still overflowing from yesterday’s rubbish and the floors are still scattered with Tony’s sandwich crumbs!
Walking into your office to find the cleaning hasn’t been done is number 1 on the annoyance list of problems with cleaning contractors. Now imagine that it’s a nursery where 50 children and their parents are about to descend on the place only to find the floors are still sticky from yesterday’s messy play!
How Do You Avoid Unreliable Cleaning Contractors?
It can be difficult to know for sure whether the cleaning contractor you’re hiring will be reliable until you start using them. Really, it’s down to the reliability of the individual cleaners they have hired. But obviously, some resources can give us an inkling about the quality of a company’s services and staff.
First up, it’s important to check out their reputation before hiring. Any credible company will have client testimonials and will more than likely have reviews online, so do your research.
When you think you’ve found the right one, you must ensure they can cover staff absence. Ask what their procedures are for staff absence and make sure they have a backup.
At LNC Services, we do everything we can to ensure no-show scenarios don’t happen. We have area supervisors who can step in if a cleaner can’t make the job and a support system to help in such cases.
2: Poor Management
One of the pros of hiring a cleaning contractor over a self-employed cleaner (you can check out more pros and cons here) is that they should provide a layer of management to ensure a smooth process. If you don’t want to be the one chasing things up or having to find a replacement cleaner when they don’t show, then this is a great solution for you.
Unfortunately, poor management is one of the common problems with cleaning contractors and can mean:
Poor Communication - if you have a problem with the cleaning or someone hasn’t turned up, you need to have a point of contact that is easy to reach. If no one is answering your calls, it can be extremely infuriating. And if there’s no system in place for sending messages to the cleaning team or complaining about poor service, then the hiring of a contractor seems a bit pointless.
Bad Admin - if you’re hiring a contractor, then they should have someone who deals with all the invoicing and accounts. If invoices are not sent on time or are incorrect, you are, again, going to have to spend time chasing them up and getting them changed.
No Accountability
- when something goes wrong, you need to know who’s going to deal with it and solve the problem. Some cleaning contractors will blame their staff/individual cleaners and offer no resolution to you. A good cleaning contractor should ensure that if a problem arises, they can offer you a solution.
How Do You Avoid Hiring A Cleaning Contractor With Poor Management?
When hiring a cleaning contractor, speak with the team about their processes. Ask how they deal with any problems that happen and what their system is for dealing with bad service or no-shows. If they seem vague and unsure, it is probably best to avoid them.
Here at LNC Services, clients can access the managing director directly, using whatever platform they choose - e-mail, call or even WhatsApp. This means we can resolve any issues quickly without you having to deal with any frustrating call centres or answering services.
We also plan monthly visits with both our clients and our cleaners to check in and ensure your expectations are being met, and identify any potential problems before you feel the need to pick up the phone.
3: Poor Cleaning Service
A frequent complaint when looking into common problems with cleaning contractors is simply doing a bad job of cleaning. They may start well, but after a while get comfortable and start cutting corners. The cleaning service deteriorates over time, and the sparkly clean toilets and spotless floors are no more.
When the cleaning service deteriorates, you may find you are dealing with reoccurring issues, such as emptying the bins, even though you’ve mentioned them on numerous occasions.
Poor cleaning isn't just a one-off bad day; everyone has those. It becomes a problem when you find yourself having to chase up problems regularly.
How Do You Avoid Hiring A Cleaning Contractor That Won’t Do A Consistent Job?
To try to avoid this particular problem with your cleaning contractors, you can ask to speak to current clients before you hire them. Though it is unlikely the contractor is going to put you in contact with a client they know they are not providing a good service to; you may be able to get a bit more of an idea of any problems that could arise.
Having a trial period is also important. Though you may find the service deteriorates after the trial period is up, at least you can filter out any contractors that are not up to scratch from the start.
When signing a contract for a cleaning service, it is important to check it covers the process for addressing any concerns. There should always be a system for getting out of the contract if the contractor is providing a consistently poor service and is doing nothing to resolve it.
You can also check if a cleaning contractor is a member of any professional body. These professional bodies tend to have expectations to meet, so can give you some assurance of a certain level of service.
LNC Services is both BICs and SafeContractor accredited. This shows our commitment to professional standards of cleaning, the development and training of our team and health & safety procedures.
4: High Staff Turnover
Another issue that comes up for businesses facing problems with cleaning contractors is a high staff turnover. You may find that every day or week, you are dealing with a different cleaner.
This makes it difficult to build up any kind of relationship between on-site cleaners and staff, which can be really useful, especially if there are certain nooks and crannies that are always missed unless pointed out.
Different cleaners arriving each week can also mean extra work in terms of security. You can’t just have anybody walking into an office or nursery without checking ID, but if you have a familiar face turning up daily, this isn’t necessary each time.
How Do You Avoid Hiring A Cleaning Contractor With a High Staff Turnover?
If a cleaning contractor has a high staff turnover, it is usually due to a lack of competitive wages and benefits.
If you don’t want a different cleaner turning up to your workspace every day, you can ask your cleaning contractor to be transparent about the retention of their cleaners. If you sense that they are only offering the minimum wage, with no bonus or further benefits, it is more than likely that their cleaners’ job satisfaction doesn’t rank high. They are, therefore, less inclined to provide a good service and more than likely to jump to another contractor or business if a higher salary potential arises.
Here at LNC, we insist on paying our cleaners the London living wage of £11.95 as opposed to the minimum wage of £10.42. We aim to be more ethical than many within the industry, which is renowned for low salaries and poor job satisfaction. To us, our employees are just as important as our clients.
Due Diligence Is Key
The biggest piece of advice we can offer is to exercise due diligence. If you want to avoid problems with cleaning contractors and don’t want to get stuck with one that doesn’t deliver, doing your research and asking the right questions will help you filter out the bad eggs.
Here at LNC Services, we pride ourselves in the service and communication we provide to our clients. If you’re looking to hire a cleaning contractor that offers a transparent and personal service,
contact us for a quote.
