Myth 1: Image is not dependent on cleaning services

Reality. The level of cleanliness of a commercial facility is the first thing that catches the client's eye. If a customer of a shopping centre sees a dirty, untidy hall, he is unlikely to have the desire to shop there again. Tenants of business centres, who pay rent, also want their customers to come to a beautiful, clean, well-maintained premises, which creates an impression of respectability and trust. Many owners of supermarkets or office premises neglect cleaning services in order to save money, but in the end they lose customers, and, accordingly, and miss profits. After all, they go straight to competitors. Thus, instead of savings - real monetary losses. Therefore, it is safe to say that the quality of cleaning directly affects your image.

Myth 2: Cheap cleaning services can also be of high quality.

Reality. Everyone knows the saying: ‘cheap cheese is only in a mousetrap’. It is more true than ever. When a customer sets the price as the main criterion in a tender, he should realise that he will get a service of appropriate quality for this money.  It simply cannot be otherwise. The price-quality ratio always works. And, if some contractor promises lower prices, it means that he will allocate less staff to your facility, save on detergents, as well as on the time spent on cleaning. Moreover, it is not known whether such a company will be able to provide all the ordered services in full in the end. Thus, the cleaning service will cost you much more, as you will have to hire another company to correct the ‘shoals’ of the first contractors.

Myth 3. An in-house cleaning staff can be effective.

Realities. Of course, the customer himself can take on the organisation of cleaning staff, but whether this model will be cheaper and more effective is an open question. Technologies do not stand still and in order to withstand the competition, you must always be ‘in the trend’. By new technologies we mean not only chemistry and inventory, but also the approach to the organisation of the work process. The customer may simply not be able to keep up with all the trends in the cleaning market. In addition, this business model is absolutely not profitable. After all, in addition to the salary of the staff, you also need to pay for the work of the management staff, controlling their work, organise their provision of material base and control the purchase of cleaning, washing and other consumables. The HR department will also have more work to do, as will the accounting department, counting additional accruals. By outsourcing this process, you can forget about all of this, paying only the amount specified in the contract and controlling the process of the service. Many people wonder why it is favourable for cleaning companies. The answer is simple. The company serves many objects at once, they have optimised the work of the staff, the purchase of detergents and equipment. Accordingly, such an optimisation of labour and costs allows you to save money, and the cleaning company to earn.

Myth 4: Cleaning services of large companies are more expensive than those of small, specialised firms.

Realities. The pricing policy that a large, that a small company for one object is the same. Since the same number of staff is used, and the same amount of detergents. Only the large company has a much smaller part of the cost is included in the administrative apparatus. The same human resources department serves a huge number of personnel. Small company, despite the small staff of cleaners, still have to maintain the administrative part, so in the end the maintenance of the apparatus is more expensive for small firms. As for logistics, large companies also win here. They have a lot of objects in the city, and the transport of cleaning crews is much more qualitatively worked out, minimising the time of transport between clients. Large companies have greater financial stability and can allow their regular customers to defer payments, which is very convenient for the customer.

Myth 5. In-house staff is cheaper.

Reality. Worldwide, the trend towards outsourcing is only growing. Companies prefer to entrust a range of work not related to their direct activities to third-party companies that are specialists in their business. This helps them to focus on their own business, save money, time, and reduce the number of hired staff. Judge for yourself: several cleaners in your team should be provided with inventory, provide in addition to salary full social package, and all this will have to be handled by your accountants, human resources, lawyers..... When outsourcing you pay the cost of the service and do not think about anything else. At the same time you can fully concentrate on the main activities of your company. A lot of items of expenses are released at once. It is enough to calculate to realise that cleaning companies help you save a lot of financial resources that you would have spent on your own cleaning staff.

Myth 6: It is cheaper to buy consumables and inventory on your own.

Realities. This myth is the easiest to dispel. Detergents for the office, the customer buys at market prices. Cleaning companies, have a large consumption of these means and buy them in huge quantities at prices below wholesale prices, as they often have their own system of discounts from suppliers. Many companies even have opportunities to defer payments for the supplied inventory. It is also worth noting that cleaning equipment is quite expensive, but all companies providing cleaning services have the latest devices that cost a lot of money. You just use their technology, and in the tariff for cleaning indicated only the amortisation of expensive equipment. It is not reasonable to buy such equipment for the sake of cleaning one office, and cleaning with a mop and a rag has long lost its effectiveness.  

Myth 7: Cleaners perform exclusively cleaning services

Reality. In fact, cleaning companies have long ago expanded their range of services and capabilities. They can now become a reliable assistant in all areas of your company's functioning. For example, they can provide care for indoor plants or monitor the office for minor breakages of furniture, lighting and other things, while promptly calling a specialist to solve these issues. Such nuances are worked out when you sign a contract. The more you trust the work of the cleaning firm, the cheaper you will end up with this or that type of services, as you save due to the maximum amount of work ordered.  One of the most popular services now is the coffee lady service.

Myth 8: Any professional cleaning company can quote a price for complex cleaning immediately, without conducting an audit

Reality. If a cleaning company is ready to name a price without a preliminary audit of the entire object, based only on the area, it indicates its absolute professional unsuitability. Specialists of their business make a statement of work, where they fully describe the entire range of services to be provided. A lot depends on a variety of nuances, such as the type of flooring, ceiling height, cleaning time, remoteness of objects from each other, as well as many more details. After a full audit professionals will prepare a full report and calculations, so that the customer can clearly understand what exactly he is paying for the specified amount of money. It should be noted that attempts to save money on a particular item of expenditure will not help to significantly reduce costs in the end, but may affect the quality of services, so it is always worth listening to the recommendations of professionals. 

Myth 9. The client can independently draw up a terms of reference that will fully describe all cleaning tasks.

Realities. Maximally accurate terms of reference can be compiled only by large firms, where there is a special tender department. Specialists of such a level may well take into account all the nuances. For small companies, it is better to choose the option of audit from the cleaner. Professionals know a lot of details that can not take into account a simple manager who has nothing to do with cleaning. In the report you can not only see the estimated cost of services, but also calculate the budget for the year. There is an opportunity to develop flow charts that will help improve the quality of cleaning, and at the same time reduce the time allotted for it. Good cleaning companies are even able to prepare tender documentation not only for the private sector, but also for public companies and institutions.

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