Episode 89: Do You Blame Quality Control Problems On Your Cleaning Technicians?
Isn't it frustrating when a client calls to complain about the quality of cleaning? After all, you take the time to train employees, and you even train your supervisors on managing quality control. So why does it keep happening?
If you find yourself blaming your quality control problems on your cleaning technicians, you'll want to watch this video for tips on how to break the cycle.
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Episode 89- Video Transcription
Here is a scenario that happens quite often in cleaning companies: A client calls your office to complain about the quality of the cleaning. So you or your supervisor visit the location and and are surprised to discover several problems with the cleaning. You go the the cleaning technician responsible for cleaning that space; tell them everything they're doing wrong, and then tell them to do a better job from now on. A month later the customer calls back to say it was better for a while but now there are problems again.
Has this ever happened to you? What's really going on here? And why do these problems seem to keep recurring? First of all, simply telling an employee to do better and to pay more attention to the quality of cleaning they're providing is NOT going to improve the situation. That's because this is not the root of the problem. Instead of just telling your employees to do better, dig deeper into the situation and look at what went wrong and why.
In most cases there is an underlying system breakdown. Did you give your employees adequate training? Do they understand WHY they need to do certain cleaning tasks and WHY they need to do them a certain way? Do they have the right equipment and supplies to get the job done efficiently?
I've seen cleaning technicians given cheap, ineffective vacuums and cleaning tools that just don't work very well so you end up with poor results. Do they have enough time to get the job done in order to meet the customer's standards? Make sure your time estimate for cleaning is accurate for what needs to be accomplished.
It all starts with you, the owner. It's your responsibility to make sure you have adequate systems in place and to provide ongoing training for your employees. And if you have supervisors that do the training, you must ensure they use your system for training and that you work with them to continually look for ways to improve your systems. Be sure to check in on their training regularly to make sure they haven't deviated from your system -- I've seen this happen all too often, with the owner frustrated that their employees aren't being trained in the way they thought.
In addition, you must have a quality control follow up system. Without follow up, you have no way to measure the effectiveness of the cleaning you are providing. And you certainly don't want your clients doing your quality control FOR you! It is not their job after all, to let you know there is a problem with the quality of cleaning at their location. It's your job and your supervisor's job to have a handle on the cleaning at every location. And if you find yourself surprised at the poor quality of cleanliness at a client location, then you know you have work to do with your supervisors because they should never allow the conditions to get this way if it's their responsibility to make sure the customers are satisfied.
Have you ever experienced this scenario? What do you do to ensure it doesn't happen again? Share your thoughts by posting them in the Comments section below.
