Professional carpet cleaning can often be overlooked when planning your company’s annual budget. Like the old adage goes, “you never miss carpet cleaning until stains appear on the floor in the front lobby of your office.”
But by then it’s too late and all you can do is call a professional service, that will charge you an arm and a leg for an emergency call… Either that, or there is a high chance that they will come at their earliest convenience – not yours.
Professional carpet cleaning companies are pretty busy what with scheduled cleaning services and people incessantly spilling their lattes all over the floor. There is a lot of work to be done and fast – nobody wants carpet cleaning people cluttering up the entrance to the company HQ.
Therefore, your best option is to think ahead (which is, of course, sound business advice in any case, whatever your business is). This goes double for such seemingly less important things like scheduling regular carpet cleaning, because less important stuff is easier to overlook, and then we are right back where we started, at the first paragraph.
Budgeted and scheduled commercial carpet cleaning is the only surefire approach for your facility to always be in top condition for your clients, employees or tenants and provide them with a pleasant and clean environment.
Here is what any facility manager worth their salt should do in order to secure budgeted and scheduled commercial carpet cleaning services, outlined in five easy steps:
1. Contact a commercial carpet cleaning company
Your best choice if you want to never again fret about your floors being in pristine condition is to have a contract with a commercial carpet cleaning specialist.
There are sure to be several top quality firms listed in your local directories – and if you are in the West Florida area, please don’t hesitate to contact us at Geyen Group South anytime, by phone or email, or through our website. Give yourself and your facility a chance to see in action the expertise that stands behind the advice.
Our best reference comes from our years of experience with all sorts of commercial clients, managing the appearance of various types of facilities.
OK, so once contact has been established, the commercial carpet cleaning company will set up a meeting with you, preferably at your office, i.e. the space that needs their attention and then it’s on to step 2!
2. Meet to review office/facility space
This is the time and place to discuss particulars of your scheduled carpet cleaning needs. The carpet cleaning company representatives will have to scout out the entire space, take note of the type of floor plans, appraise the state of the carpet and decide on what type of systems to use, among a myriad of other technical things.
But more importantly, the two sides should use this opportunity to get to know each other, seeing that for commercial carpet cleaning service providers this is their “first impression” moment. There is no second chance for this, so they must step up their game and display their approach to doing business as well as their professional ethos.
After all, this is where everyone involved makes the first step in what is supposed to become a long-term partnership that will benefit both sides, and make your life easier. This could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship and you are bound to see us the carpet cleaning company representatives really soon, see under step number 3.
3. Proposal time
If it sounds like marriage, it’s because it should be like marriage in certain respects. What we as commercial carpet cleaning providers offer – and what any facility manager or head of office should expect – is a long-term commitment with strictly delineated obligations, based on clear agreements and mutual respect.
Therefore, a professional carpet cleaning company will take its time – but no more than a week – to work out a proposal that fits your specific needs, suited for the space in question and within the limits of your budgetary scope.
This proposal should be delivered in person and the carpet cleaning company representative should be there as it is reviewed, in order to help clarify any points if needed or to answer any potential questions about what the offer entails.
Of course, the world is a shifting place and nobody can guarantee with absolute certainty that there won’t be any deviations, but defining the conditions for those deviations to be acceptable is something that can and should be covered from the get go.
Once you have thoroughly studied the initial proposal, it’s time to make the decision. Usually, by now you already know whether you want to employ this particular carpet cleaning company – or whether you want to employ any carpet cleaning company, for that matter. So, let us assume that everything has gone over smoothly (because in our experience, it must go smoothly).
4. Final proposal submitted for next year budget
This part is where true collaboration really begins. If the carpet cleaning company proposal needs adjustment, it is up to you to provide the input and oversee the entire process which should result in the final proposal.
Then, depending on your internal procedures, this final proposal is submitted to relevant decision-makers, to be included in next year’s budget. And finally, the end is in sight only when…
5. Proposal is signed off on and carpet cleaning services are scheduled on
Ultimately, this may seem like a lot of work for something pretty basic like having your carpets clean, but for anyone with some experience in facility management (or any kind of management, for that matter), doing it actually serves to save both time and money for you personally as the manager or for your organization down the line.
Nothing beats having clear and established procedures and guidelines for task resolution and this applies to facility appearance management as well.
Well, nothing except maybe having spotless carpets all over your facility and looking good.
