When you have remote cleaning teams, you can’t always be as hands-on as you might like. But you can still ensure they’re doing good work.
When you started your commercial cleaning business, the idea of having remote cleaning teams was probably not even a thought. It takes a lot of time and energy, and organization to grow a business large enough that you’re opening locations that you can’t easily get to.
If you’re at that point, or almost at that point, congratulations! You’ve made it through many of the tough parts of starting a cleaning business, and you have a client base large enough that you can expand. That’s cause for celebration.
As you know, though, growth doesn’t come without some bumps along the way. One of those is figuring out how to train your remote cleaning team and track their work when you can’t be there in person.
Here’s the great part, though. Once you get this down, you could expand your business to anywhere. Or you could go anywhere and still manage your business. Want to spend the winter in Florida even though your commercial cleaning business is in Ohio? No problem! Now then, how do you do this?
Work smarter, not harder, with Janitorial Manager. Get your free discovery call today to find out how you can make yourself better!
How to train a remote cleaning team that gets the job done
Some of the most important aspects of building and training a remote cleaning team happen before you ever place a help wanted ad or start an Instagram account for your new location. You need to be clear and detailed with yourself about what you want this location to look like and what your expectations are.
What is your company culture like? How important is customer service? By the way, that’s a trick question. Every single business owner will say that customer service is their top priority, but their actions don’t always back that up. Again, be honest with yourself. You won’t be able to walk into a customer’s business and make those personal connections as easily, so any deficits in your current customer service will grow and become more apparent.
Think, too, about what you expect from your employees or contractors and what they can expect from you. Remote doesn’t mean absent. You’ll still need to check in with your team, be available to answer questions, and have a presence, even if it is through video channels.
However, you do not need to start from scratch when it comes to training a remote cleaning team. All the training videos, courses, checklists, and other material you’ve put together are still valuable. Especially if you’ve worked on this for a while, your training package contains a wealth of information about how your cleaning business operates.
You also have other working documents that you can use in a new location. These may include equipment maintenance checklists, proportions for cleaning solutions, or specialized information around topics like cleaning hard flooring.
If you use software like Janitorial Manager, those checklists are already in your system, ready to share.
You also may not need to train your team by yourself. Many product vendors offer training that you could take advantage of. Be sure to ask about that when you expand your account.
Even with all these training tools and options, it’s likely you will still need a trusted person on the ground to help. This may be someone who emerges over time from your remote cleaning team, or it may be someone you currently employ who is interested in a new challenge.
Tracking your team
Tracking hours, supplies, and jobs remotely may sound complicated, but it doesn’t need to be. With a tool like Janitorial Manager, you don’t need time clocks or inventory sheets. It’s all built in.
The geolocation option allows your team to clock in and out just by entering or exiting a facility. This gives you the ability to track hours, stay on budget for each location, and find out who is in a facility at any given time. And for employees who don’t have a smartphone, there is still a manual clock in and out option.
You can track inventory, as well, so your remote cleaning team doesn’t have to feel like an afterthought. With an accurate count of what products you have on hand and which are running low, you never need to worry about running out of the tools and supplies your team needs to do their job.
Additionally, with features that allow you to track work orders, scheduling, employee performance, and inspections, you can have real-time data anytime.
We’re obviously biased, but the truth is that if you want to effectively and profitably expand your business with a remote cleaning team, you need the advantages that technology gives you. So whether that’s Janitorial Manager or some other software, make it as easy on yourself as possible and skip the pencil and paper or spreadsheets.
Increase the efficiency of your team, reduce your costs, and improve results. With Janitorial Manager, all this and more isn’t just a dream, it’s your new reality. Contact us for a free demo right now and see how it works!