Four Questions I Should Have Asked Before Hiring a Cleaning Company
This is a guest post from a colleague in the janitorial industry.
Before I ever worked in the janitorial industry, I managed a medical practice. Like most managers, I was constantly switching gears—handling staffing issues, scheduling challenges, budgets, and patient concerns. Cleaning was one of those things I simply expected to happen in the background. As long as the building looked presentable, I figured everything was fine.
When it came time to hire a cleaning company, my approach was basic: get a few quotes, check references, and pick the team that seemed trustworthy and affordable. I assumed that was enough. Later, after spending time inside the industry, I realized how much I didn’t know. The difference between a smooth, reliable cleaning program and one that causes endless frustration often comes down to asking the right questions early.
Here are four questions I wish I had asked from the start.
1. Who’s responsible for checking the quality?
I never thought to ask how quality control actually worked. It turns out that regular inspections and site visits are the backbone of consistency. Without them, even good cleaners can drift off standard, and small issues can grow into real problems. Active supervision is what keeps service levels steady week after week.
2. What kind of training do your employees receive?
Every company deals with turnover, but not every company manages it well. I didn’t ask how new cleaners were trained or how expectations were reinforced. A well-designed training process helps new team members learn your facility quickly and keeps service quality from slipping when staff changes happen.
3. How do you handle complaints or service issues?
No one’s perfect, and every client has unique needs. What matters is how a vendor reacts when something goes wrong. Do they respond promptly? Communicate clearly? Take ownership and fix it? The best companies have a simple, transparent process for addressing issues so you’re never left wondering what’s happening.
4. What do you need to know about our building?
The strongest partnerships start with curiosity. The cleaning company should want to learn about your schedules, priorities, and problem areas. Those details help them create a service plan that fits your building instead of using a one-size-fits-all approach.
Looking back, I realize I wasn’t just hiring people to clean. I was hiring a team to protect my time and peace of mind. A dependable janitorial company makes sure the little things stay invisible—so managers can stay focused on running the business, not chasing down cleaning issues.