When companies with multiple sites in different locations have a centralised management, they often decide to consolidate suppliers. But using a national cleaning company isn't the hassle free upgrade it might appear to be.
What is ‘supplier consolidation’? Let’s take an education authority, for example, which runs 20 schools across the UK. Instead of using smaller commercial cleaning contractors near each school, with consolidation, the procurement team would decide to give all 20 schools to one national cleaning company.
We’re all aware of the risk of ‘putting all of your eggs in one basket.’ Yet that’s exactly what happens when you “streamline” your cleaning contract and consolidate it.
What you think you're going to get:
- Big shiny national cleaning company
- One point of contact
- Standardised cleaning processes throughout the site(s)
- Centralised knowledge
- Consistency of staff
- Accountability
- Simple administration processes and procedures
Big Shiny National Cleaning Company
They can be big and shiny because their main focus is on their profits, rather than on you.
You’re not a valued customer, you’re an account number on someone’s spreadsheet. A percentage on their P&L report.
One point of contact
Yes, one person will be responsible for overseeing all of your sites.
It won’t matter how far your sites are from each other, or how different they are, or whether the contact has ever even visited it to see what it needs. They’ll still be in charge of it.
Standardised Cleaning Processes Throughout the Site
We agree that systems and processes are key to getting things done properly. But shouldn’t that system be one that works for you, rather than for your supplier?
National firms operate like machines. It’s one way of working. Things get done the way they say they’ll get done.
If your cleaning needs a different approach (and believe us, we’ve yet to find two sites, let alone two companies, that want things done in the same way), good luck trying to get that to happen.
When you work with a local cleaning company, the management will know your business as well as the cleaner does. The team will know your building inside out. They know when the lights flicker, which room always gets dusty, and exactly which employee is annoyed by that cobweb that always appears in one corner! And they’ll use that knowledge to do a better job.
Centralised knowledge.
Can your one centralised contact, based miles away from your business, really have the knowledge about your business and your location that you need them to have?
Try telling a national cleaning company about a strange route to get to the building, a temperamental alarm system, or the pipes that freeze in the winter if you don’t leave the water running (just that tiny bit we’re not wasteful!).
They’ll nod politely, write it down, and send an email to whichever poor cleaner happens to be nearest, passing the problem on to someone who might not even be able to solve it.
Your local cleaning companies already know these quirks, because the boss is local too, so they’ll visit, look at the problems and communicate the solution to the whole team.
Consistency of Staff
You wish!
Nationals love rotation. They’ve got cleaners jumping around different sites like they are on a bouncy castle. One day you get Steph, next day it’s Steve, then mysterious “cover cleaners” that seem to change every few days.
Local cleaning companies will send the same people, on the same days, at the same times. We want them to get to know your building, your needs and you. We understand how valuable consistency and continuity are – for you and for us.
Accountability gets lost in the corporate maze
Just because you’ve got one point of contact with a national contract, it doesn’t mean that they’re the same person who will take accountability for what’s going on.
If (When) something goes wrong, the national cleaning company will raise it with the regional manager, who needs a two week discussion with the operational manager, who escalates to the person who’s on annual leave until mid-July.
When you work with a local company? You ring the office. You speak to someone. They fix it. All sorted. Quickly.
Simple administration processes and procedures.
Yes. Simple for them.
Because they’re working with hundreds of different sites, they’re the ones who define the processes and the procedures. They want things to happen quickly so that their people can fit as much into their day as possible. Changing things up for individual clients takes longer and eats into their profit margins.
So if something does go wrong, or you need to make a change, you might have to follow another lengthy process just to make that happen.
Local companies tend to be more flexible. Obviously, we want to make a profit too, but we want to work WITH our clients, not make things more difficult for you.
As we said, supplier consolidation sounds great, but in practice?
It’s not as efficient as you might want it to be.
If you think it’s important to have cleaners who actually show up, know your building, understand your needs, and don’t treat you like an item on a spreadsheet, you’re better off with a local commercial cleaning company that still know you and your cleaning needs. A local company won’t be operating from an “innovation hub” two hours away, armed with nothing but a KPI chart, but will be reliable, consistent, and have great response times because they’re local to Rugby and the surrounding areas.
If that’s what you want, then Get in touch with us at Solutions Services Ltd for a free, no-obligation quote.
If, on the other hand you still prefer the idea of an impersonal, one size fits all service, with people that care more about their bottom line than your business, we’re probably not the right fit for you!
