Uncategorized

How Does Janitorial Pricing Work? Key Factors You Should Know

We've all heard the classic breakup line, "It's not you – it's me."

(Maybe you've even used it yourself.)

The truth is, there's some truth to that statement. Often, mismatched expectations are the root of incompatibility. The same applies when partnering with a commercial cleaning service. If you and your janitorial provider aren’t aligned on pricing or the scope of services, the relationship can become strained—just like in a mismatched partnership.

To prevent this, it’s essential to understand how janitorial pricing is structured. Being aware of the main factors that influence costs can help you build a strong, lasting relationship with your cleaning service. Here are five key elements that play a significant role in janitorial pricing.

To make things fun, let’s think of it as evaluating a potential match.

1. The Activity Level of Your Facility

The first factor that affects cleaning costs is how busy your space is. More foot traffic—whether from employees, customers, or visitors—means more mess. This translates to higher cleaning needs. For instance, cleaning a 30,000-square-foot office with 400 employees will generally cost more than cleaning a 300,000-square-foot warehouse with only 60 workers.

2. Your Industry

The nature of your business also impacts cleaning costs. Different industries have different cleaning requirements. A manufacturing facility, for example, will accumulate more dust and grime than a standard office. Meanwhile, schools, healthcare facilities, and public spaces typically require more frequent cleaning and disinfecting, which can increase overall costs.

3. Your Building’s Features

The layout and features of your building directly influence cleaning time and effort. Factors like total square footage, number of restrooms, types of flooring, and even the building’s age play a role. An older facility with hard floors and tight spaces will generally take longer to clean than a modern building with spacious, carpeted rooms.

4. Services You Need

Most cleaning contracts include standard services like emptying trash, cleaning floors, wiping surfaces, and maintaining restrooms. However, the frequency of these services can significantly impact costs. For example, a medical office may need daily mopping and disinfecting, while a corporate office might only require cleaning a few times a week.

5. Your Standards for Cleanliness

Everyone has their own definition of “clean.” Your expectations will affect the amount of time and labor needed to maintain your desired level of cleanliness. If you expect dust-free surfaces and spotless floors at all times, more frequent cleaning will be required, potentially increasing costs.

How Cleaning Time and Effort Influence Costs

Ultimately, the time and effort it takes to clean your facility are the biggest factors in determining the price of janitorial services. However, understanding the elements discussed above can help you better communicate your needs and manage expectations.

Ready to Partner Up?

Now that you know what influences pricing, here’s the big question:

Are you ready to find the perfect cleaning partner?

If you’d like a free estimate tailored to your facility’s needs, contact us today!

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Uncategorized

2025 Cleaning Contract Budgeting

As we approach the end of 2024, it's the perfect time to start budgeting for our 2025 cleaning contracts. Whether you’re managing a commercial building or overseeing multiple facilities, planning ahead can help ensure a spotless and efficient workspace. Here are three key considerations:

1. Evaluate Current Needs: Begin by assessing the current condition of your facility's carpets, floors, and windows. Regular evaluations can help identify which areas need more frequent attention. This proactive approach allows you to allocate your budget effectively, ensuring that high-priority areas receive the necessary resources.

2. Anticipate Future Trends: The cleaning industry is constantly evolving with new trends and technologies. Staying updated with these advancements, such as eco-friendly cleaning solutions and advanced cleanliness measurement tools like ATP meters, can give you a competitive edge. Incorporating these trends into your budget planning will not only enhance your cleaning services but also align with sustainability goals.

3. Flexibility and Growth: Building flexibility into your budget is crucial. This allows you to accommodate unexpected needs or seize growth opportunities as they arise. By maintaining an agile budget, you can respond quickly to changes, ensuring that your facilities remain pristine and well-maintained.

Let’s make 2025 the year of pristine workspaces! How are you preparing your budget for the upcoming years? Share your tips and insights in the comments below.

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Uncategorized

How to Get the Cleaning Service Performance You Expect from a Commercial Cleaning Company

Your expectations for a clean workplace might prove to be vastly different than your commercial cleaning company’s expectations. Have you hired a cleaning company that seemed really eager to do everything you expect, and then, a couple of months later, you notice a significant drop in their cleaning service performance?

We know the pattern. The breach between what you want and what the cleaning company actually does creates a rift in your relationship. Communication suffers. The whole process seems to become a game of how much the cleaning company can leave undone before noticing it and calling it to their attention. 

If only you could convey to your cleaning service provider what really matters to you! We believe there is a way to manage a good relationship between you and your commercial cleaning company. Consider these tips for ensuring optimal cleaning service performance.

Understand Your Needs & Wants

You can’t communicate to a third party what cleaning outcomes you want to be delivered if you are not clear in your own mind.  Work scopes define tasks, not results. Scope tasks do not always provide the results you want to be achieved. Take time to determine what you expect the work scope to really produce.

Does your current work scope communicate that? Hint: A clean building is not the answer. Review the work scope that is already in place and update it to represent your most current requirements, space changes, and cleanliness expectation. Ensure you have recently updated your cleaning requirements to meet COVID-19 health standards. Have these ready to communicate when you interview a commercial cleaning contractor.

Discuss Cleaning Products, Equipment, and Safety

Does your building require specialized chemicals, equipment, and safety procedures? IF not, should this be considered? Especially with all of the emphasis on viral control. Make sure that you have your needs defined to discuss with the contractor.

You’ll want to ensure that your environment and the occupants are fully protected per your company standards. Discuss how the employees are trained and qualified to use the equipment, identify safety hazards, report them, and correct them professionally. Read this article to see what American Cleaning Service does to qualify our employees for cleaning and disinfecting services.

Know How Much is in Your Budget for Cleaning

Be clear on how much you have planned to invest in the right cleaning company from the beginning. A big mistake that is often made is asking for a steak at hot dog prices. An experienced professional cleaning company will help you develop a custom cleaning plan at a fair market that will deliver what you want. Getting exceptional service outcomes from your cleaning service is dependent on matching your expectations with your budget. 

Make Your Values Clear

Before you hire a cleaning company, take time to establish what you value most in a cleaning company. Of course, everyone values price.

But what do you place a high value on beyond the cost? Is it a clean, healthy professional appearing working environment?  

How meaningful to you is the relationship you will have with their management team? What kind of responsiveness do you want from them? 

Do you place a high emphasis on their hiring practices and retention of their employees? Is it necessary that they have received third-party credentials for specialized services?

How does a clean working environment positively affect your employees and overall productivity? Do you value cleaning methods that reduce your environmental footprint? Make sure you discuss these things with your cleaning service provider.

When you are clear about what kind of value their services provide, your relationship will be stronger. You can build more trust that should result in more reliable cleaning service performance.

If we can be of help, please let us know As a well-established cleaning company in the Boise and surrounding Treasure Valley area, American Cleaning Service provides clients with exceptional customer experiences. We have identified four areas in which we can make a REAL difference in your workplace.

We believe a great business relationship includes good communication, accountability, safety while cleaning indoors, and training good leaders within our team. We’ll help you increase the value of your contracting outcomes. Meeting your cleaning service performance expectations is a natural part of how we operate.

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Cleaning For Health, Uncategorized

Trusted Spaces: Psychological Benefits of a Healthy, Clean Workplace

We all know that workplace cleanliness has become a higher priority in the age of COVID-19. What’s not so obvious is how sanitation works not only to eliminate 2019-nCoV contamination but the psychological barriers that could come from a clean and healthy workplace. 

Once an essential yet very “behind the scenes” part of business, facilities cleaning and worker safety has been shoved into the limelight. How will your COVID-19 mitigation plan perform? Here, we will discuss the psychological benefits of a clean and healthy workplace.

Prove Your Commitment to Your Workforce’s Safety

Do you know how confident your employees are in your company’s COVID-19 infection monitoring? Cleaning and disinfecting protocols, and social distancing plan? Perhaps it’s time to ask them. Global workforce consultants PwC did just that, polling more than 1,000 U.S. workers for their November 2020 Workforce Pulse Survey. 

“Almost half of employees (48%) say they strongly or somewhat agree that they are forced to sacrifice personal safety to remain employed. Among those who identify as essential workers, that number is 52%. Even 45% of remote workers express this concern, possibly because they’re expecting to be recalled to a physical office at some point.” —  PwC, “Recovery Starts with Safety and Confidence”

Surveyed workers are anxious about working on-site as they are about losing their income. They don’t want to get sick, and they don’t want to infect loved ones with compromised immune systems. They want assurances that you’ll prioritize a clean, healthy workplace ahead of the bottom line and won’t penalize them for speaking up if they feel conditions are unsafe or calling in sick if they are having symptoms.

Be prepared to bring in professional sanitizing services. They’re better-equipped than your staff or standard janitorial service to handle Coronavirus sanitation. Bringing their own PPE and experience with the most current OSHA and CDC recommendations. Asking your already stressed staff to step up to a potentially hazardous job, especially after a confirmed outbreak on the premises, is a sure way to undermine morale. 

Give Your Customers Peace of Mind

Even before the pandemic, social responsibility became a major factor in consumer’s purchasing decisions. Your customers want you to make a big deal about maintaining not only a safe customer experience. But a clean, healthy, and ethically-managed workplace. Let them know you are. Transparency builds trust, even when it comes off as sounding your own horn. Advertising your commitment to a safe, healthy environment may give you the edge over the competition.

Don’t wait until after business hours to clean high-touch surfaces. Let them see that you’re on the ball. Post your everyday cleaning and disinfecting routine, and how you bring in professional cleaning services as necessary. Share how often you test your staff for 2019-nCoV. And be upfront about other steps that might not be obvious to visitors and employees. 

Post signs in high-visibility locations within public and work areas. Add a prominent home page link to your COVID-19 policy page. Update your Facebook, Google My Business, Yelp, and other directory listings. And don’t forget to promote your safety campaign on social media channels as appropriate. If done correctly, you can earn a thought leadership role in your market. Whether you’re a medical facility in the Boise Metro Area or an Airbnb host managing a fledgling property rental empire in the Bahamas.

And yes, businesses that require their staff and customers to mask up encourage the public to do business with them. 

Follow Through on Your Promise of a Healthy Work Environment

What customers and workers once dismissed as “just a bit of dust” is now a doubt-generating dealbreaker. Words alone can’t reassure valued staff and customers who are rightfully anxious about their safety. Invest in commercial cleaning services, stay current with ever-changing guidelines and mandates. Whenever possible, stay ahead of the curve.

The best way to do that? Listen to your customers and employees, and encourage them to speak up. Transparency is another cornerstone of brand trust. In the age of Coronavirus, it’s an opportunity to foster that feeling of “we’re all in this together”. 

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Locker disinfection performed by one of the employees of American Cleaning Services for our business clients. Lockers are thoroughly treated with a fog disinfector.
Cleaning For Health, Uncategorized

What Qualifies Cleaning And Disinfecting Services?

It was not that long ago that if a building looked clean, that was an acceptable standard. Anyone capable of performing standard cleaning and disinfecting services would be able to accomplish this if they had basic training. The current pandemic has resulted in some significant changes in the cleanliness standard.

Even though this shift's reasons are not pleasant *cough thanks COVID-19 cough* there is a positive side. The level of cleanliness considered acceptable today has reached a higher standard.

To provide higher cleaning levels focused on virus and bacteria control requires more knowledgeable and competent people. When two cleaners are standing next to one another, one may find it difficult to tell the difference just by looking at them.

After all, it is easy for someone to say that their staff can clean an area. If I said I am a Nigerian prince who just inherited a fortune, would you give me your bank info? This comes down to whether cleaning companies are merely capable of completing the service or are they also qualified?

Let’s start with the obvious question…

The Difference Between Capable Or Qualified Cleaning And Disinfecting Services.  

Naturally, this got us thinking what the difference is between cleaning companies being capable and being qualified. Especially when the cleanliness, health, and safety of an environment can now be judged under a microscope.

Can You Be Confident In Capable Cleaning? 

The definition of a capable person is: one who is "Able and efficient; having the ability needed for a specific task. Metaphorically speaking if one were to hire a neighbor to replace the brakes on a car because they said...

“I watched a YouTube video on this, and it doesn’t seem that hard. It is definitely something I am capable of”.

Would you put them in charge of maintaining one of the most critical safety systems on a vehicle?

It is nice to think that neighbors are people we can trust. But as you approach an intersection will you have confidence in the car stopping before injuring yourself or others? Heck… the wheels could fall off before you even get there.

So, what makes qualified cleaning and disinfecting services? When it comes to the safety of employees and customers in an indoor space they could potentially be at risk if corners are cut. 

Now that workplaces and indoor environments have become precarious spaces, we must have standards and specific requirements to be consistently met by capable cleaners who are performing the tasks.

Of course, by way of training or experience, a person can become knowledgeable, capable of identifying hazards relating to the specific operation, in this case cleaning, and correcting them.

But will they know the proper procedures other than just wiping down high touch point surfaces, emptying trash cans, and vacuuming high traffic areas?

In most cases that simply will not cut it when it comes to cleaning for healthy environments. 

If you are hiring someone to handle a safety issue it would probably be best to have validation and assurance. You want to know the job is done with precision instead of a simple YouTube instructional video. Particularly with the increasing risk of invisible threats from the world around us.  

What Is Qualified Cleaning? 

A “Qualified Person” is one who, by possession of a certificate, professional standing, extensive knowledge, or training and experience, successfully demonstrates the ability to solve/resolve problems relating to the task at hand.

Now we are talking.

When I go to get my brakes done on the car I take it to a certified technician who is well qualified to get the job done correctly.

I make this choice because they have taken the time to go through training, develop knowledge, complete the certification, and worked with professional experts to provide a superior service.

This way I know that the person working on my vehicle will produce an improved and safer outcome.

Qualified not only means that the person is capable, but they boast the necessary experience and criteria. The job will be completed with confidence that it has been done beyond satisfactory conditions.

This is especially important when it comes to having a safe and healthy environment for protecting your workers, customers, and visitors from illness.

How We Consistently Provide Qualified Cleaning And Disinfecting Services.

Our greatest asset is the people that we employ. We believe that training for proper performance of a job is time and money well spent. 

Which is why we regard it as an investment rather than an expense.

To ensure that we deliver only the best and most efficient level of service our team completes third party certifications. They become specialized technicians who can provide qualified cleaning and disinfecting services.

One that we are particularly proud of is the GBAC which certifies our technicians to prepare for, respond to, and recover from biorisk situations.

GBAC has trained our technicians to prepare for, respond to, and recover from biorisk situations.   Our Technicians are certified in the standard in the building services industry and are a symbol of excellence   
CMI furtheres the education and development of cleaning and maintenance professionals, managers, supervisors, and executives. This helps us to provide qualified cleaning and disinfection services.   
Our technicians adhere to the institute of inspection cleaning and restoration cerification

Whatever type of job is being performed there is always a designated technician who is qualified and proven to perform the specific duties.

The team working under our specialists has thorough and regular re-training to make sure that no corners are being cut and every task is completed to rigorous standards. 

Plenty of companies simply state they provide a cleaning or disinfecting service.

While they may be able to show they are capable, they should also carry validation which proves they have the training and knowledge to deliver more than just a clean appearance.

We invest in our team to show that they are more than capable.

They are qualified to clean our customers facilities and provide the highest level of cleaning for safe and healthy environments.

This in turn provides the proof and peace of mind that the right person is doing the right things, every time.

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