Ottawa is a growing city with a thriving startup ecosystem, and an existing base of large established companies, all of whom will seek a janitorial company now or in the near future in order to meet its needs of maintaining a clean space for doing business.
Whether you’re a startup that has just grown large enough to need to hire an office cleaner for the first time, or whether you’re an established business that is simply not satisfied with your current janitorial maintenance provider, you will be arming yourself with questions you need to ask your potential service provider in order to ensure you get the best possible service, for the right price. Notice that we didn’t say the lowest price — will go into more detail on pricing later. But let’s get started on the questions you should start thinking about.
- When was the company established?
- How many years have they been in business? A company in business for less than 5 years may not provide the same level of service as a strongly established operation that is operating as a well-oiled machine.
- How many employees do they have? This number should include a breakdown of salaried employees and subcontractors. For example, a company may have a large number of subcontractors and not monitor their work if it considers them to be independent, while others may have a supervisor or foreman who oversees all accounts, whether they are serviced by salaried employees or subcontractors, in order to ensure the quality of the service is consistent across.
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- Industries serviced – do they have clients similar to you?
- Do they serve other businesses in the same industry/sector as yours? For example, if you are a medical or dental office, you may require much more detailed cleaning than standard office space. Janitorial providers who have never served a medical facility may not have the proper training or understanding of what “detailed cleaning” truly means when it comes to a doctor’s offices and dental clinics. If the company does service other business in your area, you may be able to stop by and ask for their first-hand opinion about working with this company.
- Are they serious about security and safety?
- Do they have Public Services and Procurement Canada security clearance levels that are applicable to your business, for example, dealing with confidential or secret documents? Ensure that you verify that their security levels are valid and ask for proof.
- A business that provides security training to their staff takes security seriously.
- How do they deal with security issues? For example, if an alarm goes off, the business should have established and written procedures in terms of the steps that need to be taken in these types of incidents.
- Here you’re also looking for a business that has a WHMIS training program in place.
- What are their on-boarding procedures?
- This section includes questions about what do you need from us and what do we need from you to get the contract going. This means things like deposits, start dates/availability etc.
- What is their retention rate?
- Can the name at least a few customers they’ve had for the longer-term? For example, at least 10 years? A business with a low retention rate will have had their longest customer not much longer than their latest. Retention rate is a sign that the business takes care of their customers, to the point where over time, clients understand that it is more costly to leave them even if they get a slightly lower quote elsewhere.
- What is the insurance coverage level?
- Make sure that you are comfortable with the level of coverage the company has and ask to verify this coverage by seeing their insurance certificate. Generally, the size of the amount of coverage the business is able to afford is an indication of the size of the business and of how established it is.
- Are they a BBB member with a good rating?
- For a manager or senior individual in the B2B service industry to take the time to submit a complaint to the BBB it is generally unlikely. Thus, if a business does have a less than an A+ rating, you should take that as a warning sign.
- How do they charge for extras?
- You may be quoted a standard cleaning rate, but there are monthly, semi-annual and annual tasks – will those be charged extra or are those included? Ensure these types of items are included in the quote.
- You may want to think about and plan out whether it is more convenient for you to buy supplies yourself or to ask the cleaning company to include the supplies in your contract. Including supply purchasing in your contract can save you time and an extra worry, and if your business is growing rapidly, the need for supplies may fluctuate. Janitorial companies are typically experts in ordering supplies just in time and forecasting needs based on clear communication with the client.
- How do they deal with comments or issues?
- Do they have an easy way for anyone in your organization to provide comments or feedback on the service? Typically, there should be a method to communicate with both cleaning staff day-to-day as well as with the supervisor/foreman and, if necessary, with senior management or with an account representative.
- When can you expect to get an estimate by?
- Negotiate a time you can both work with and ensure they stick to it. A supplier who doesn’t respect your timelines when they are trying to win your business, will probably not respect timelines once they have it.
Once you’ve gotten solid answers to the questions above, you can compare you janitorial services estimates. Looking at the price, think carefully about the level of effort you want to put into reviewing this contract again in future. Don’t be enticed in accepting the lowest quote, in the sense that the lowest pricing company will likely pay workers minimum wages, have a higher turnover in staff and therefore inconsistent quality of service, and at worst, cut corners by watering down cleaning products or not allocating for enough hours to get the work done well — which could mean more effort for you and possibly having to switch companies sooner than you would like.
Hiring an established, professional, and qualify-focused business like Canada Maintenance, could be your answer! Find out by requesting a quote today (and don’t forget to include all your questions!).