Cleaning professionals are under mounting pressure to work faster and more efficiently to meet customer demands. This can be difficult in a time of labour shortages, budget restraints, and intensifying public health standards. As within many industries, however, commercial cleaning leaders are rising to the challenge and growing their businesses with the support of technology.
“The pandemic reinforced the demand for clean and hygienic environments, and that led building owners and managers to lean even heavier on their cleaning partners,” says Chris Coulter, enterprise sales consultant with Aspire Software, noting, “The expectations are high, but tech can lessen the load.”
A single source of truth for businesses
Managing janitorial teams across disparate properties is no small feat. Doing so effectively requires visibility into all activities at all moments, which can be difficult to achieve with old-school, analog processes.
“Visibility is extremely important, especially today when a cleaning company may be working with many contracts and need to confi rm their employees are hitting expectations,” says Coulter. “But if you’re working off of static whiteboards, physical notes, and end-of-day reports, you’re likely not getting the whole picture.”
Understanding this, Coulter says one of the greatest strengths of Aspire’s own janitorial business management software is the ease with which it collects and streamlines data from job sites into one digital platform. This provides users with a holistic, real-time view of their operations as it applies to inventory, budgeting, scheduling, workflow management, and other key functions.
“The whole design philosophy around tech like ours is to give our clients the tools to run their business with confidence,” Coulter adds. “By having access to ‘one source of truth’ on a computer or mobile device, they can easily look up where their employees are and what they’re doing at any point in time. And, if problems do come up, they can respond in the moment rather than find out at the end of the day.”
Improving communication and sales opportunities
There are benefits to staying connected on the job. Here again, tech has a role in giving janitorial crews the means to connect instantly with their teammates on-site or in the office via apps on their mobile devices. Using mobile communication tech in this manner keeps everyone working on the same page and ensures vital information is passed to the right people at the right time. Moreover, it reduces the risks of miscommunications and delays that can crop up when relying on paper-based notes and reports.
“There are also the upsell opportunities to consider,” adds Mark Layton, enterprise sales consultant with Aspire. “For instance, you might have a day porter who sees that the client’s kitchen floors really need to be redone but forgets to mention it at the end of their shift. Through a platform like ours, they can open the Aspire app on their device, tag that potential job, and send it to someone on the team who will follow up with the client.”Backing decisions with hard dataWith greater visibility comes the opportunity to enhance service delivery. Here again, there is value in using digital tools that can collect and assess data across multiple teams in multiple locations.
It’s also about driving better team performance, Layton continues. Through a janitorial business management platform, companies can collect, assess, and track all evidence (e.g., photos, videos, reports, etc.) from site inspections in one secure, cloud-based location. This enables the company to spot where employee training or intervention is required.
“At the end of the day, this is still a people-driven business,” he says, adding, “Labour is such a critical part of a janitorial contract, so anything you can do to support teams and incentivize performance is valuable.”
Property managers also love their numbers. Herein, Coulter notes that service providers who can back their performance with hard data stand out from the competition: “It’s one thing to have glowing testimonials and a solid bid, but there is a definite advantage to coming to a client with cold, hard data showing how you can deliver on every one of their needs.”
A competitive eco-advantage
The push for greener, more energy-efficient building operations is at an all-time high. There is a competitive advantage for commercial cleaning companies who can demonstrate they have their clients’ eco-interests at heart.
“That goes back to having the data,” says Coulter. “If you can come to the client with a report showing that you’re using eco-friendly chemicals, equipment, and processes, that will give you an advantage.”
Promoting better work/life balance
There can be a reluctance to invest in tech. Even when the benefits of stronger efficiency, visibility, and data-driven business decisions are clear, some companies may still be hesitant to take the digital plunge. It’s during these discussions that Coulter, Layton, and the Aspire team reiterate the work/life balance that comes with any tech upgrade.
“A lot of cleaning business owners spend way too much time in the business versus being on the business,” Coulter says. “When I see this, I ask, ‘What price are you willing to pay to have the freedom and flexibility to manage more and worry less? What would you pay for the ability to go on vacation and only have to look at a simple dashboard with all your business metrics on it to know that everything is running smoothly?’”
“We can all benefit from stepping back and working smarter, and technology like Aspire gives you the opportunity to do that,” he adds.
Learn more about Aspire’s business management platform at aspirejanitorial.com or by calling 866.727.7473.
