The mark of a true professional is recognizing other true professionals, people to whom a job can be entrusted without having to worry about the particulars. For property management professionals this means knowing or being able to identify reliable contractors and maintenance services.
When you are looking to contract a professional carpet cleaning service, there are several specific questions you need to ask in order to be certain that the quality of service and results you will be getting are worth the investment. Make sure to do business only with companies who can give you satisfactory answers when you ask them any and all of the following…
What is Their Experience?
Don’t forget this step, and I only say this because it is surprising how often it’s overlooked or deemed unimportant. You would think that scrutinizing the portfolio of a potential subcontractor would be a natural thing to do. But as often as not, carpet cleaning services are contracted simply based upon a recommendation or a personal contact.
In order to make certain that you don’t make a mistake, you need to see the carpet cleaning company’s record – not only to confirm their quality of service and their capabilities, but also to see f they are a good fit for your business. Scour their portfolio for clients whom you know and can trust and look for recommendations from satisfied customers – preferably from those whose carpet cleaning needs are comparable to your own in terms of size and scope.
Do They Do Free Surveys?
Just like a general relies on intelligence data when plotting a winning strategy , so does a professional carpet cleaner rely on a survey. After all, any professional should strive to know as much as possible about the work that needs to be done – in this case, including but not limited to stuff such as the size of the surface area to be cleaned, the exact type of carpeting material and its state – before committing to it. This not only allows for a more customized approach that will utilize the available resources of both the client and the carpet cleaning service provider in the best possible way, but should also be crucial for proper budgeting and fee structuring.
If a carpet cleaning company is not keen on paying your facility a visit before providing you with a quote, they either don’t need your business that much (good for them!) or are not really as qualified to do it as they would like you to think. Doing a free survey is both common sense and good business practice, because the client can go over all potential concerns with the service provider and brief them about any details they deem particularly important.
Is Their Pricing Transparent?
This is a question anyone should be asking when hiring a service provider – and the catch is that you should not be assuaged by a simple “yes”. Not only should you ask flat out about any hidden charges or extras, but when being quoted fixed prices for carpet cleaning, you need to ask exactly what kind of service are you getting for that price and if there is another tier of service (with more powerful equipment or more expensive cleaners, for example) that the company has on offer.
Some less ethical companies could use a bait and switch to lure you in with low-priced service packages – only to demonstrate much more effective and expensive cleaning processes later on, hoping you will cave in under the pressure of not wanting to seem like you settle for cheap options. This is of course a breach of consumer trust and something to be detested – and could even be considered criminal.
Do They Do Scheduled Cleaning?
It doesn’t matter if you are a facility manager of a commercial building, an office manager in a bank or an executive housekeeper of a property – you most likely have a fixed budget and an ever fluctuating list of maintenance needs that never really seems to get shorter. Any scheduled maintenance is like an island in the stormy seas of pipe leakage, filled with loose tiling and peeling paint.
Hopefully, you also have an emergency budget set up for repairs and cleaning, but the thing is, carpet cleaning should not be relegated there. Scheduling it on a regular basis will not only be a key factor of maintaining your facility’s cleanliness and appearance, but it should also help keep your carpet under warranty and will ultimately mean smaller expenses in the long run.
Do They Do Redos?
Redos may sound like a thing to be avoided, but the opposite is true in carpet cleaning business. It is normal that some types of carpeting material as well as some specific conditions require a couple of treatments in order to really get the job done. It could be that carpets need another cleaning to get that ingrained dirt out, because they have not been cleaned for a long time. Or it could be that some areas were inaccessible when the first cleaning was carried out.
Whatever the reason, redos or call-backs should be something a professional carpet cleaning company counts on when determining the fee for their service, so a mark of true carpet cleaning professionals is that they offer to redo an area or an item that needs additional cleaning right after performing the initial procedure – even without clients necessarily knowing that there is a need for it or asking for it.
Can You Answer Me Right Away?
So just to be clear, you need to ask your carpet cleaning company all of these questions, and they should be able to give you a clear and positive answer to each and every one of them without deliberation.
The best approach is to schedule a face to face meeting, where all of this can be discussed and you can get a feel for their preparedness and the level of their professionalism. Of course, true pros will have those answers ready even if you simply send an inquiry. You can contact us at Geyen Group anytime for a demonstration of how professionals do it.
