4 Ways a Commercial Cleaning Checklist will Boost Business

Ahh, vacation time. Whether it’s sun, sand, snow, or getting out on the open road, it all means the same thing: kicking back, relaxing… and living out of a suitcase. Thus, the need for a packing checklist. You consider all your activities, plan for the length of time away, list out every item you’ll need, and check them off as they are placed into your suitcase or vehicle. In the janitorial industry, the same can be said of your non-vacation days: a commercial cleaning checklist makes the days on the job so much easier and ensures you have everything you need, in the right place, at the right time.

1. The Importance of a Commercial Cleaning Checklist

When you take on a new customer, you should complete a walk-through of the site with them to clearly identify their needs and expectations. From this understanding, then, you can tailor your commercial cleaning checklist to identify each of those essential responsibilities you need to complete each time your crew tends to the site. High employee turnover rates in this industry mean that you are likely constantly hiring and training new cleaners to serve your customers’ needs. While you, of course, provide initial training, you can’t be everywhere always, following behind each new hire for weeks to ensure they get every task completed every time. This is when a commercial cleaning checklist becomes an indispensable tool. A checklist provides a constant reminder of what employees were taught during their training, it helps guide their routines at that location, and it can be updated and adjusted as needed to accommodate for new needs and expectations. Special instructions can be included for especially tricky or tedious tasks to make sure they are done correctly every time.

2. The Need for Accountability

In addition to serving as a to-do list for the cleaner, the commercial cleaning checklist also provides you with an added layer of protection and a tool for ensuring accountability from your staff. How so? Having your requirements documented in black and white serves to:

• Avoid the risk of forgotten instructions
• Disprove any denial of knowledge of expectations
• Allow for a clear-cut inspections process

When your inspector completes quality control checks, he or she needs to measure the work against the specific needs of that client’s commercial cleaning checklist. Ensuring both the cleaner and the inspector are working from the same guidelines prevents:

• Errors and oversights
• Accusations of unfair inspections (and the consequences that may accompany persistently poor inspection results)
• Failure to meet client expectations

3. What’s on Your List?

Your vacation packing checklist could include everything from toothbrushes to skis, and everything in between! Similarly, your commercial cleaning checklist should include everything that you could possibly need… from the mundane everyday tasks to the site-specific needs. The reason for this thoroughness is that while you may consistently do a great job on a very precise project that is unique to that client, one mistake could cost you the account. For example, if you forget to take out the trash in one of their offices for three weeks, you may still lose that account! As the adage goes, “The devil is in the details,” meaning, the seemingly unimportant or least valuable lines on the checklist may be your downfall if they aren’t taken care of! So, in addition to each customer’s site-specific list items, be sure to include the “of course!” tasks in each room, including (but not limited to):

• Emptying trash cans and replacing liners
• Vacuuming carpets and rugs
• Sweeping and mopping hard floors
• Dusting and disinfecting all horizontal surfaces, sinks, and doorknobs
• Removing cobwebs from corners and ceilings
• Cleaning windows and sills
• Polishing fingerprints from mirrors, light switches, and doors
• Restocking bathroom papers and soaps
• Scrubbing and sanitizing toilets and urinals, inside and out

This list could go on, but you get the picture. Detailing out the requirements for each room ensures that your cleaners don’t forget to do them, reminds your inspectors to check for those items, and supports your customers’ satisfaction with your cleaners’ work.

4. An Efficient Solution for You!

A commercial cleaning checklist is clearly a useful tool, although not a new idea. Many janitorial companies provide their cleaners with paper copies of such lists. However, most cleaners still fail to utilize said lists simply because of the hassle of carrying around the oft crumpled, stained pages that regularly get misplaced or ruined! Or, the client requests changes to be made to the list, making it either outdated, inaccurate, or difficult to read with manual mark-throughs and added notes. Today’s efficient solution to these problems is a commercial cleaning software that provides easily customizable checklists available via the Cloud on any smartphone, tablet, laptop, or other connected devices. Your cleaners are unlikely to misplace these pieces of technology! They’ll be able to electronically mark off a clean copy of that client’s commercial cleaning checklist every time they clean. And the list can be updated in real-time by authorized users. If this sounds like a quality resolution for your commercial cleaning team, learn more about Janitorial Manager’s software solutions by requesting a free one-on-one demo or a free trial today!