Have you ever had a stack of building janitorial company pricing quotes for one facility that look like they are each for completely different buildings?

How do you compare commercial cleaning companies if the wording and descriptions in their quotes don’t seem to have anything in common?

This is a real problem for facility managers when trying to get the best value for their dollar.

Do you go for the lowest price not understanding that it may not cover even the essential cleaning services you need?

Maybe you pick a premium-priced quote thinking you will get a more professional cleaning company… and later you find out that the company doesn’t even have experienced cleaning staff?

This is a common problem when the management doesn’t take care of its employees so there is a lot of employee turnover. They can’t keep good employees, so their costs go up because they have to compensate for the mistakes of beginners.

Commercial Janitorial Company Pricing Factors

Labor costs
Insurance
Taxes
Employee benefits package
Direct costs like cleaning supplies, toilet paper
Equipment costs
Training costs for employees
Management fee
Profit

Janitorial Quotes – Factors You Need To Consider

One of the best things you can do to make the job of comparing quotes easier is to be clear in your own mind what kind of services you are looking for. Here are some idea starters:

What type of building is it?
What kind of business you operate?
What are your building’s traffic and use patterns?
Where is your facility located?
What are the labor costs in your area?
What scope of cleaning do you need?
Do you have any special requirements?
Do you need landscaping services?
Do you need parking lot maintenance?
Do you need general building maintenance from time to time?
Do you need a cleaning service that can be available during the day time?
Do you have special projects or interim needs?
What frequency of cleaning do you want?

Provide Your Janitorial Service With Solid Information So They Can Give You A Solid Quote

Tell them the total square footage of your building
Break the square footage of each flooring type (carpet, hardwood, cement, marble, etc.)
How many people typically use your building during the day?
How many people use the building in the evenings?
Are people using the building on weekends?
Are there regular “special events” that need to be built into the quote?
How many washrooms are there?
How big are the washrooms?
What did your previous cleaning service miss or failed to do?

This type of information will help commercial janitorial services estimate how much cleaning supplies they will need. They can establish budgets for trashcan liners, toilet paper, paper towels and hand soap. If you have different flooring types, they can budget for time, materials and employees with specific expertise.

Remember to prioritize your “wants” and “must-have’s”. Some companies may be able to give you a price break on services of more value to you. In other cases it might be too expensive to include some services on a regular basis, but becomes affordable on less frequent basis. For example, you may get your hardwood floors waxed every quarter instead of once a month.