Over the last two weeks, we have discussed ways that technology has begun revolutionizing the traditional janitorial business, including new ways to present a positive first impression and tech-savvy ways to support your efforts to maintain customer loyalty.
Read those here… (Part 1 & Part 2)
However, technology doesn’t only affect the way your cleaning company is perceived by your customers; its ability to effectively manage your labor expenses – your biggest expense! – is also essential. Utilizing quality management software can significantly impact the bottom line financial success of your business.
Intrigued? Keep reading…
Part 3: Increasing Income and Improving Labor Efficiency & Productivity
According to Cleaning and Maintenance Management magazine, “Typically, labor accounts for at least 55 percent, and generally no more than 70 percent, of your total costs.”
This means that if you don’t maintain control of rising labor costs, you’re guaranteed to be missing out on hard-earned income!
Reasons for Inaccurate Labor Costs
- Extra Services
Problem: It is not uncommon for your customers to ask for additional services throughout the year. Attempting to manage these requests verbally or via hard-copy work orders, runs the risk of failing to remember to invoce for these services!
Solution: Consider streamlining and documenting work orders via management software. Today’s technology allows you to keep each customer’s work orders organized and archived within the software. This simple system not only gives you access to client activity at a glance, but it also makes it much easier to invoice accurately each pay period!
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Underestimated Time
Problem: We’ve all done it… we’ve quoted a job, expecting it to take a certain amount of time, and discovered on the other end that we sorely underestimated the labor. Or, even worse, we failed to track how much time that it actually took, so we can’t tell if we made or lost money on the project!
Solution: Using management software that incorporates a timekeeping function requires your staff to clock in/out at the job site. It provides a straightforward and state-of-the-art way for you to keep an eye on the status of jobs scheduled through the management software. The Time Card Summary, then, allows you to monitor labor hours for each job. You can watch for patterns or deviations and make prompt adjustments.
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Overestimated Time
Problem: You’re discovering that you’re consistently under on your labor estimates, and while the additional income is nice, customers are starting to complain…or worse, your getting under bid.
Solution: Often, if you’re overestimating the amount of time that it will take for your employees to complete a job, there is either a training issue or a quality issue. Either way, quality inspection tracking procedures provide a critical measure for success in these areas. It’s so important, in fact, that we will focus on the technological advancements now available in this area during Week 4!
Are You On the Edge of Your Seat?
Until then, realize that technologies – especially customized management software that helps your business adapt and thrive in measurable ways – are indispensable!
To help you discover more about how you can transform (or re-energize!) your janitorial services business, connect with us for a personal demo of the Janitorial Manager software, and we’ll show you how you can take your first steps towards managing a more profitable cleaning company, today!
Come on back for Week 4’s discussion when we’ll dig a little deeper into the importance of Inspections Tracking and how today’s technology has made it even more powerful! If you’d like to catch up on Weeks 1 & 2 of this series on how technology has revolutionized the commercial cleaning industry, click HERE!