Categorizing Your Cleaning Customers

A reader asks: "Being the lowest bid means that we all have to make sacrifices and cut corners where we can. I realize the ideal is to sanitize/disinfect everything every day but it simply is not practical. Any suggestions on when enough is enough?"

You may be looking at the wrong side of the customer spectrum. I used to categorize my prospective accounts in at least three levels: Executive, Basic and Dirt Cheap. The Executive Level required more frequent dusting, vacuuming, spotting, floor work, etc. but they also were willing to pay for that "presence" and attention that other customers expected but did not want to pay for. They wanted the lobby to shine, rest rooms to sparkle and their offices to project a professional appearance. When I discussed extra labor to make sure that surfaces were truly clean and emphasized concepts such as indoor air quality, they did not hesitate to agree with any additional costs necessary for a clean and safe environment.

Basic Level was my version of pulling trash daily (or per visit), dusting once or twice per week, sweeping/damp mopping, buffing on a limited schedule and focusing on the high profile areas that usually looked as good at the Executive Level accounts I serviced. I could service the same square footage in about half the time and dealt with more competition with BSC's successfully low balling the accounts.

The Dirt Cheap accounts were usually the most difficult to clean and always had the most complaints from tenants and visitors. Property management would simply blame the janitors and fail to admit they had a very limited cleaning schedule.

Over the years I learned that the most profitable and stable accounts were the Executive Level accounts. Not only did they expect more from services but they were oftentimes willing to pay more for services that I considered necessary at any level.

Your comments and questions are important. I hope to hear from you soon. Until then, keep it clean...

Mickey Crowe has been involved in the industry for over 35 years. He is a trainer, speaker and consultant. You can reach Mickey at 678-314-2171 or CTCG50@comcast.net.