Take Spring Cleaning To Work

It may not feel like winter is coming to an end (especially to us in Milwaukee who are still suffering through the 10th snowiest winter in the city’s history), but with major league baseball players reporting to Spring Training and warmer weather melting the snow, it will only be a matter of weeks before spring is officially here. For many people, it will be time to break out the mop and broom and do some Spring Cleaning around the house.

But what about those in the commercial cleaning industry — how can jan/san distributors incorporate the closest thing to cleaning’s national holiday into their business?

Perhaps the best thing to do (other than Spring Cleaning your own facility and warehouse) would be to take the time for additional education on major cleaning issues. For instance, MRSA coverage may have died down in the national media, but end users still receive plenty of questions from facility managers, building occupants and parents of schoolchildren. Reacquaint yourself with proper infection control measures and products. Help cleaning professionals put together proper documentation to prove to concerned parties that their cleaning methods are effective against the virus.

In previous issues I’ve stressed the importance of researching green initiatives, but it can’t be said enough. Green policies are updating constantly. The U.S. Green Building Council recently passed a proposal requiring green cleaning in all facilities earning Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) for Existing Buildings: Operations and Maintenance certification. Inquire into what products are used towards this certification and put together a LEED bundle.

Get your customers in on Spring Cleaning, too. During this time make sure they are up-to-date with training guides and Material Safety Data Sheets. Remind them to have equipment serviced or batteries replaced in touch-free fixtures.

With a possible recession on everyone’s mind, end users will be expecting more from their distributors as they face potential price squeezes from their customers. Being an information source for them will be one value-added service that’s hard to compete with.