ICS Office Cleaning Services

Many cleaning companies have been struggling to find new business during the current times where many companies are tightening their belts and cutting back.

All areas of business is being affected, many people are being made redundant and sales are down.

How do contract cleaning companies get through these tough times?

Firstly cleaning companies need to change their mindset and look at the current climate as an opportunity. How can it be opportunity, when everyone is cutting back?

If someone is cutting back and looking at budgets and if you can offer the same high service at less cost to clients in your area, client will be much quicker at making the change .

Traditionally in recessions the first companies to go are unwieldy, bloated and wasteful ones, if you run a tight ship managing your costs at every corner, driving down unnecessary waste you will be able like ICS to offer a great service and lower costs - this is an opportunity to win new business.

How does the cleaning contractor maintain its client base in tougher times?  If clients are asking you to quote for the cleaning services then you pretty much reckon they will be doing the same to your current contracts.

Clients and their purchasing departments will be double checking that they are buying best value and enjoying a trouble free service which has added value to what is specified in the contract.

First, staff must be advised that their work has never before been under such a high level of scrutiny, but not to be frightened if they are trained properly to carry out their work and if it is done with enthusiasm.

The current situation is the time when we go back to our clients and double check that they are satisfied with all aspects of the services we provide and to make minor changes for improvement if needed.

Clients must be advised of those little extra tasks you have been carrying out that are over and above those specified in the contract.

When money is tight, it is particularly important to adopt our normal policy which is to use the contract as the basic minimum onto which, within reason, other tasks are carried out in order to maximise the output. It's the little things that go undone that annoy clients.

The only way our work gets judged is if it is of the right standard at the right price with the minimum of client involvement or fuss.

You should take a fresh look at the schedules and operating methods – find new ways or products to achieve the same or better end result without adding cost and possibly reducing time input.

A large percentage of our clients have moved over to 'Output Specification' contracts which focus on the end result and base our success on the question 'Are the premises cleaned to the required standard all the time? If the answer is yes you have a happy customer, if there is any area of doubt you should revisit and re-plan the process.

Traditional contracts which are based on a number of hours per person per day, carrying out a series of tasks like a robot, regardless of whether they really need doing every time. This is extremely dull and mechanical for the cleaner and usually wastes client's money. If washrooms need less attention on Fridays because a number of staff work from home, then reduce the schedule and client costs accordingly – or the time can be diverted to computer screen cleaning as people are away from the office and not inconvenienced by the cleaners.

Cleaning in a recession is about service, value and added value.

Those adopting this mind-set should come out of the recession better operators and hopefully not affected too much by cut backs, because their work will be seen to have value that the customer must have.

Find out if we can save you money on your cleaning services by getting a quote now.