3 Reasons You Should Not Hire A Commercial Cleaning Franchise

When interviewing a potential commercial cleaning provider for your office or building it is important to look past marketing materials and the person who represents the cleaning company. When gathering bids from janitorial firms it is likely that one or more of your estimates will come from a cleaning franchise. So, should you hire a janitorial cleaning franchise or a local privately owned commercial cleaning company? Whether it is a Franchise or a locally owned cleaning company, they both have their own unique set of core values and track records. Here are three reasons why you should not hire a commercial cleaning franchise.

1. Cleaning times and Production Rates

Cleaning times are better known as production rates in the commercial cleaning industry. A production rate determines the number of hours the company will spend cleaning your facility. This calculation usually determines not just the quality of cleaning you receive, but the consistency at which the cleaning company performs the tasks they were contracted to do. Janitorial Franchises don’t use their own employees and have no way of knowing or controlling how many hours are actually spent cleaning. The Franchisor determines the price, but it will be up to the franchisee to determine how many hours they will spend cleaning your facility. This means you will typically receive less hours of cleaning from a franchise than you would from a locally owned cleaning company.

Privately owned companies hire their own employees and can monitor their hours to make sure they are spending sufficient time cleaning. According to federal trade commission Janitorial Franchisees typically pay half of what the contract generates in revenue to the Franchisor in fees. Janitorial Franchises do not profit by spending more hours cleaning your facility. Franchises profit by selling your contract and collecting fees from the franchisees.

The graphic below illustrates where your janitorial cleaning dollars will go.

A chart showing how janitorial franchises spend tpward cleaning — Janitorial franchises compared to local cleaning companies

2. Standardized equipment and processes

Janitorial Franchises have no way of knowing or controlling the type of equipment and supplies that are being used because they aren’t providing the service themselves. After signing a cleaning contract with a janitorial franchise, it will be up to the franchisee to provide the appropriate equipment and chemicals to service your facility. That means the company you are paying is not responsible for and does not directly supply or use the equipment to clean your facility. This typically leads to less than adequate cleaning supplies to perform the cleaning tasks they were contracted to do.

Privately owned companies purchase their own equipment and supplies and have direct control over what their employees are using to clean your facility. This means you will typically find better equipment and appropriate chemicals in your janitors closet with a local privately owned cleaning company. Reducing germs, eliminating odors and keeping your workspace healthy all depend on the equipment, chemicals and processes that are used when performing the service. When interviewing commercial cleaning companies make sure to ask what type of cleaning equipment and supplies they will be using and who is responsible for providing them.

A chart that highlights the three main differences between janitorial franchises and local cleaning companies

A Chart that illustrates why you should not hire a commercial cleaning franchise

3. Quality control and Supervision

Privately owned cleaning companies supervise and inspect their own employee’s work. They can monitor their own staff to make sure they are complying with cleaning best practices. Franchises have little control over the quality of work performed by the cleaning crews because they can’t supervise or monitor the cleaning crews themselves. Franchises have no control over who is hired to clean your facility. Instead, they sell you cleaning contract to a cleaning franchisee. This represents a major challenge for these companies. They cannot have their teams’ clock in and out when they are at your facility which prevents them from supervising and having a reliable quality control system in place.

Supervision and accountability will make the difference between your company receiving a quality and consistent service verse one that has your employees complaining about the cleanliness of your office and having a revolving door of franchise cleaning crews. When you hire a privately-owned cleaning company with a quality control system and supervises its own employees you will get a better janitorial service that comes with more time spent cleaning and better equipment.

Ultimately, when your gathering bids and thinking about hiring a commercial cleaning franchise it is important to understand the differences between the most commonly found cleaning companies. Janitorial franchises and local privately owned cleaning companies are very different from one another. So, should you hire a commercial cleaning franchise?