Running a commercial cleaning business means you’re going to deal with customers on a regular basis.
Most of the time, those interactions will be smooth and professional. The work gets done, the customer is happy, and everybody moves on with their day.
But every now and then, that changes.
Sometimes it happens with a long-term account. Other times it happens right at the beginning with a brand new cleaning customer. They may call with a complaint about one issue, several issues, or just a general feeling that the building doesn’t look as good as they expected.
That’s part of the cleaning business.
No company is perfect all the time, and you’re not going to prevent every complaint. But you can reduce a lot of problems before they ever start by learning how to manage customer expectations the right way.
That begins with communication.
One of the smartest things you can do in your cleaning business is explain to the customer what they should realistically expect once the work is completed. When you do that up front, you prevent confusion later on. It gets both you and the customer on the same page, which is where good business relationships usually begin.
And when customers know what to expect, they are far less likely to assume something is wrong when it really isn’t.
This is especially important in commercial cleaning because every building is different. Some offices have been maintained fairly well. Others have been neglected for months. Some accounts just need steady ongoing service. Others need a lot of catching up before they ever begin to look consistently clean.
Let’s say you pick up a five-day-per-week office cleaning account that has been poorly maintained for a long time. Dust is built up, floors are dingy, corners have been ignored, and the restrooms are far from where they should be.
In a case like that, it’s wise to tell the customer ahead of time that the facility may need some time to come around, unless a deep cleaning or initial cleanup is part of the agreement. Depending on the size and condition of the building, it could take a week or two to get everything looking the way it should.
If you don’t explain that up front, the customer may look around after day two and think your company isn’t doing a good job.
That’s not always a cleaning problem. Sometimes it’s simply an expectation problem.
From the customer’s point of view, they hired a cleaning company, and in their mind the place should look great immediately. They usually don’t see what condition it was in before, or how much ground has to be made up. They just know they’re paying for service and want results.
That’s why you always want to look at things through the customer’s eyes.
The same idea applies to one-time cleaning jobs. Maybe you’re cleaning a vacant office, a move-in or move-out property, or a building that has been heavily neglected. In those situations, you may need to explain that certain surfaces may improve, but not look new.
For example, a faucet may still appear stained after cleaning. Woodwork may still look worn even after it’s been washed. Bathroom tile may come clean, but still look old and dated. Floors may improve a lot, but still show age, scratches, or discoloration.
That doesn’t mean the cleaning was done poorly. It just means some things are worn out, damaged, or permanently affected by age and use.
As you gain more experience in the cleaning business, you’ll get better at spotting these things quickly. After a while, you’ll be able to walk through a facility and make a pretty accurate judgment about what kind of result is realistic and what is not.
That knowledge is valuable.
It helps you price jobs better, explain your service more clearly, and avoid misunderstandings with cleaning customers. In many cases, a short conversation before the work begins can save you from a long complaint afterward.
That’s really what managing expectations is all about.
You’re not trying to “talk around” problems. You’re simply being honest, professional, and clear about what the customer can expect from your commercial cleaning service.
And the better you get at doing that, the fewer headaches you’ll have.
You’ll probably still deal with an unhappy customer once in a while. Everybody in the cleaning business does. That comes with the territory. But many complaints can be avoided when you take the time to educate the customer before the job starts.
So here’s the bottom line: if you want fewer complaints in your cleaning business, do a better job of setting expectations early. When the customer knows what’s realistic, the entire working relationship gets easier.
That’s good for them, and it’s definitely good for you.