How a Digital Management System Can Help Your Janitorial Service Soar in 2024
When you operate a commercial cleaning business, you adopt a work management system. This isn’t always a conscious move. Sometimes, we fall into whatever work management system is handed down from previous employers. Other times, we go with whatever seems manageable at a particular point in time.
Traditionally, most cleaning services used paper and pen as the basis of a work management system. Schedules, checklists, work orders, payroll, and even bids and proposals were written out on paper. You can trudge along with that approach enough to get by if you only have an employee or two.
It’s not the most efficient approach to managing your janitorial work, but it works well enough to get by. That changes once your cleaning service expands. When you’re servicing more than one location at a time or working on different daily schedules, in-person communication, planning, supply inventory, and all the “little things” become much more challenging.
Any cracks in the systems you have in place to share information, keep up with checklists, notify your team of changes, and take care of other janitorial tasks start to grow. Communication gets more challenging, inspections require more planning, and changes in duties and schedules get more complicated. Tasks get missed. People show up to the wrong location or don’t show up when they’re supposed to. You run short on cleaning solutions and supplies.
That’s why a digital work management system is so beneficial to commercial cleaning services.
From workloading to maintenance schedules, Janitorial Manager can help you organize your entire operation. Schedule a free call with Janitorial Manager and make your work easier and more profitable.
Evolution of Janitorial Services
The janitorial industry has witnessed significant changes in technology. Depending on your definition of a commercial cleaning company, the industry began with a college student looking for extra income in 1968. However, Commercial Window Cleaning opened its doors in Trenton, NJ, in 1927.
Either way you look at it, technology has changed substantially since then. Vacuums include HEPA filters that help improve indoor air quality. We have robotic floor cleaners and drones that we can use to clean hard-to-reach outdoor surfaces. We use UV technology to neutralize microscopic germs.
Today, commercial cleaning businesses might take on anything from basic cleaning to light facility maintenance work to full-on building services. And a large part of that is thanks to the technology that can help us streamline so many administrative duties.
As businesses expand, good communication is essential. You can’t be in every location your teams service. Even area supervisors may not be able to visit each location as often as they might like. But with a work management system like Janitorial Manager on your side, everyone can be on the same page.
This is especially crucial in a world of instant communication. Clients expect you to meet their needs and fulfill requests. They don’t want to hear that your team didn’t get the updated checklist. They don’t care that you ran out of the proper cleaning solutions.
With streamlined communication, you solve these issues before they ever come up.
Digital Management Systems and Integrating Technology
Let’s get into some specifics. Because ultimately, janitorial management software needs to provide benefits to you as a business operator. How does it work in the real world to improve your operations?
Among the many duties on your plate, one that can potentially take a lot of time is client communications. You don’t always have the time to return calls, texts, or emails. And yet, you can’t ignore your customers.
While your customers certainly have specific issues they may need to discuss with you, there are plenty of less urgent communications that you can delegate. In this case, delegation means taking advantage of janitorial QR codes.
There’s no question that some customer inquiries are simple, straightforward, and just a matter of requesting updates on progress. They want to know if the conference room is clean and ready to use. They’re wondering when the break room was last cleaned.
With QR codes, like Janitorial Manager’s QR codes, you and your customers can bypass the missed messages, the waiting around for text replies, and all the other delayed communication methods. By scanning the code, your customers can get real-time updates on any space in their building. They can find out when each area was last cleaned and who did the work. And with the JM Connect app, they can get in touch with the team on-site to follow up with any questions.
Advantages of Janitorial Management Software
Communication, task assignment, scheduling, tracking inventory… this is just the beginning of where a solid work management system can support your team. More importantly, perhaps, is that the right software can make your administrative and operations tasks so much easier.
Any work management system relies heavily on communication. If you can’t communicate, you can’t update your team on new protocols, customer requests, schedule changes, or any of the other factors that help a business run smoothly.
One of the big advantages of janitorial management software is that strong communication is built into the system. For example, your team can get instant updates to task lists. Apps like JM Connect give you and your team location-based communication options, as well as translation functions, so you can communicate no matter how different your first languages are.
On the operations end of things, a digital solution makes it much easier to track your inventory, keep up with invoices, send bids and proposals, and keep employee files together. You can track certifications, equipment maintenance schedules, streamline your work order management, and so much more. And it’s all in one easy-access location.
Common Misconceptions with Modern Solutions
All that said, some common concerns come up regularly about adopting tech solutions to the janitorial field. It’s such a hands-on industry that many operators are concerned that software solutions may negatively impact things like customer service or job quality.
Beyond that, many commercial cleaning business owners wonder if it’s worth the investment or the energy it takes to implement a new software-based work management system. Is it easy for employees to use in the field? Will they actually use it? Are customers going to notice a difference?
These are all understandable questions and concerns. As a business owner, you don’t have time to bounce from one solution to the next. You want something that works without a lot of hassles.
The first thing to note is that any reputable software solution will have a robust onboarding process. They will also make it easy to get in touch if you have questions along the way.
Additionally, the simple fact of having all of your communications, checklists, bids, etc in one place will save you tons of time. And when that one place is accessible anywhere you can log onto the internet, it becomes even more obvious how much time you can save.
Imagine running into a customer when you’re out getting coffee. They love the work your team does and ask about the cost of adding some additional services to their current contract. With janitorial management software, you could pull up their contract right there, adjust the numbers, and give them a new estimate in just a few minutes.
If you’re working on paper, you have to go back to your office, figure out all the details by hand, and call your customer. You may or may not reach them. They may or may not have time to talk to you. Instead of parting ways with a new estimate and a plan, you’re now locked into a back-and-forth that could go on for days. That’s just one of many possible scenarios.
What about employees, though. What happens when you run into reluctance? Resistance to change is often the result of these changes being hoisted onto employees. They never have any say in the matter, and they may have very little notice. Imagine showing up to work one day, and all of a sudden, you have to use an entirely new tool!
The reluctance to adopt new technology is frequently the result of a communication gap. It’s important to let your team know what’s coming. Even better, it’s helpful to talk to them ahead of time and get them excited about a new tool.
Software like Janitorial Manager can ensure that their work is streamlined. They can get credit for the great work they do. And because the entire administrative and operational part of the business is more efficient, they don’t have to worry about running short on supplies, getting scheduled incorrectly, or running into problems with timekeeping or payroll.
Future Trends in Janitorial Service Management
Twenty years ago, few of us could have predicted we would have drones to wash windows or robots to clean floors. Luckily, most trends in the janitorial industry mirror the trends we see in society overall.
The truth is that many of these trends are likely to be improvements on many of the things already in progress. Client communication will continue to improve with apps like the Janitorial Manager Client Portal, making it easier than ever to improve your customer service. Green cleaning, already popular and even required for some contracts, will continue to expand as customers learn more about the benefits.
We will also likely see more commercial cleaning companies move into specialized services as a way to differentiate themselves. Biohazard cleaning and communicable disease cleaning are just two areas of current and future specialization. And the key to all of this is getting organized and efficient with a work management system that can grow with you.
Keep up with your cleaning schedule and checklists. Learn more today with a discovery call and find out how to make your cleaning operation more efficient, cost effective, and safer for everyone when you use janitorial software to service your clients.