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By SCA Commercial Cleaning LLC | December 2024
We lose bids all the time. That probably sounds like a strange way to start a blog post from a company that wants your business but stick with me here because this is exactly what you need to hear before you sign any cleaning contract.
After cleaning commercial spaces across the DFW metroplex for years we have watched the same pattern play out dozens of times. A business owner gets quotes from five or six cleaning companies and picks the cheapest one. Three months later they are calling us because the cheap company stopped showing up or started cutting corners so badly that clients noticed. The owner ends up paying twice and feeling burned by the whole experience.
So before you make any decisions about commercial cleaning for your business let me share what we have learned on the ground serving businesses from Arlington to Irving and everywhere in between. This is the stuff the sales pitch never covers.
The Real Reason Cheap Cleaning Companies Fail
Here is something most business owners do not realize. Commercial cleaning has brutal economics. The companies bidding the lowest prices are not magically more efficient than everyone else. They are cutting somewhere and it is usually labor.
We have cleaned buildings after some of these budget companies and seen what happens. They send one person to do a three person job. They skip entire rooms and hope nobody checks. They use watered down chemicals that do not actually disinfect anything. We found one building where the previous company had not touched the break room microwave in what looked like months even though the contract specifically included kitchen appliances.
The math just does not work at rock bottom prices. A good cleaner in DFW makes fifteen to twenty dollars an hour which is what it takes to find reliable people who actually care about their work. Add in supplies and insurance and transportation and there is a floor below which quality becomes impossible. Any company bidding significantly under that floor is planning to cut corners from day one.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics the median wage for janitors and building cleaners in the Dallas metro area runs higher than the national average. Companies paying less than market rate cannot keep their good people which means constant turnover and inconsistent results at your building.
What Actually Matters in a Cleaning Contract
Forget about price per square foot for a minute. That number means almost nothing without context. A medical office needs different cleaning than a warehouse. A law firm in Coppell with high end finishes and client facing conference rooms needs more attention than a back office call center.
The questions that actually predict whether you will be happy with your cleaning company have nothing to do with price. Ask them who specifically will clean your building. Ask if those same people will show up every time or if you will get a rotating cast of strangers. Ask what happens when your regular cleaner is sick. Ask how they handle complaints. Ask for references from businesses similar to yours not just any references.
We had a client in Grand Prairie who ran a manufacturing facility tell us their previous company had four different crews in six months. Every new crew had to learn the building from scratch. They kept missing the same spots because nobody knew the layout well enough to clean it properly. The facility manager spent more time babysitting the cleaning crew than he did on his actual job.
Consistency matters more than almost anything else in commercial cleaning. A building that gets cleaned by the same crew every time ends up in better shape than one cleaned by whoever happens to be available that night.
The Insurance Question Nobody Asks
Quick question. Do you know if your current cleaning company carries general liability insurance? What about workers compensation? Most business owners have no idea and that is a massive liability sitting in their building every night.
If an uninsured cleaner gets hurt in your building you could be on the hook. If they damage something expensive and have no coverage you are eating that cost. The Texas Department of Insurance has clear guidelines about workers compensation requirements and you should verify any cleaning company you hire meets them.
We carry two million dollars in liability coverage specifically because we work in other people’s buildings with expensive equipment and finishes. That is not cheap but it is what responsible commercial cleaning requires. Any company that cannot show you proof of current insurance should not be in your building. Period.
DFW Has Cleaning Challenges Other Cities Do Not
Something we have learned serving businesses across the metroplex is that DFW has specific cleaning issues that generic national franchises often miss.
The red clay soil here gets tracked into buildings constantly especially after rain. It stains carpet in ways that regular vacuuming cannot fix. Buildings near construction sites and there is always construction happening somewhere in DFW deal with fine dust that settles on every surface. The summer heat means HVAC systems run hard which pulls more dust and allergens through buildings than you would see in milder climates.
Office parks in Mansfield deal with different issues than high rises in Irving. The corporate towers near Las Colinas have strict access requirements and after hours schedules that require careful coordination. A retail space near the Arlington entertainment district sees surge traffic during events that requires flexible scheduling. Cookie cutter cleaning programs designed for some other market just do not fit.
We have also noticed that buildings with hard water in certain parts of the metroplex need specific approaches for glass and fixtures. The mineral buildup is real and it takes different products to handle it than what works in areas with softer water. These are details you learn from actually cleaning buildings in DFW not from a corporate training manual written in another state.
What Your Employees Notice That You Might Miss
Here is something that took us a while to understand. The people working in your building every day notice cleaning quality before you do. They see whether the restrooms are actually clean or just look clean from a distance. They know if the break room gets wiped down properly or just straightened up. They feel the difference between a floor that was mopped and one that was actually stripped and refinished when it needed it.
A study from the Harvard Business Review found that workplace cleanliness directly affects how employees feel about their jobs. Dirty or poorly maintained spaces signal that management does not care about working conditions. People working in clean well maintained spaces report feeling more valued and more productive.
Your employees will not usually complain to you about a grimy microwave or dusty vents. They will just quietly resent it and mention it when they interview somewhere else. Cleaning is one of those background things that nobody notices when it is done well but everyone notices when it is not.
The Walkthrough That Reveals Everything
Before signing with any commercial cleaning company ask them to do a walkthrough of your space with you. Not a quick look around but an actual detailed inspection where they take notes and ask questions.
A company that really knows what they are doing will spot issues you did not even know existed. They will notice that your entryway mats are the wrong size for the traffic pattern. They will see that your break room sink has hard water buildup that needs specific treatment. They will ask about your business hours and when clients typically visit and what areas get the heaviest use.
If the walkthrough is rushed or the person seems uninterested in details that tells you how they will treat your building once they have the contract. We have won accounts simply because we noticed things during the walkthrough that competitors missed. One property manager told us the previous company never even asked about his high traffic conference room schedule. They cleaned it at random times and clients would sometimes walk into a room that smelled like cleaning chemicals.
When to Fire Your Cleaning Company
Every cleaning company will have an off night. That is not a reason to switch. But there are clear warning signs that the relationship is not working and waiting too long to make a change just makes things worse.
If you have complained about the same issue three times and nothing changes that is a systems problem not a one time mistake. If you cannot get a consistent answer about who is responsible for your account that is a management problem. If you notice they have started skipping tasks that were specifically listed in your contract that is a budget problem on their end that they are solving by shortchanging you.
We have taken over buildings where the previous company had clearly given up months before the contract ended. The business owner kept hoping things would improve but hope is not a cleaning strategy. By the time we started the carpets needed professional extraction because they had gone so long without proper care. The restrooms had buildup that required significant extra work to bring back to standard. The owner ended up paying more for remediation than they saved with the cheap contract.
How We Approach Commercial Cleaning Differently
We assign the same team to your building every time. Not whoever happens to be available but the same people who learn your space and your preferences and your schedule. When someone is out we have trained backups who know the building rather than sending a complete stranger.
Every building gets a detailed cleaning checklist specific to that location. Not a generic template but an actual list based on the walkthrough we did with you. We track completion and deal with any missed items before you have to ask.
We carry real insurance with real coverage amounts because we are professionals working in your building. We use commercial grade products appropriate for each surface and task because cutting corners on supplies means cutting corners on results.
And we are actually here in DFW. When you call you get someone who knows the area and can be at your building quickly if something comes up. We serve businesses throughout the metroplex including Arlington and Grand Prairie and Mansfield and Coppell and Irving because we have built our business serving this community not franchising from somewhere else.
The Bottom Line
Commercial cleaning is not complicated but it does require attention and consistency and accountability. The cheapest option almost never stays cheap once you factor in the problems that come with it. The right cleaning company becomes invisible in the best way. Your building just stays clean and you stop thinking about it.
If you are frustrated with your current situation or just want to know what professional commercial cleaning actually looks like we are happy to do a walkthrough and give you an honest assessment. No pressure and no obligation. Sometimes people just need a second opinion to know whether their current company is doing the job or not.
We have been doing this long enough to know that the right fit matters more than closing every deal. If we are not the right company for your building we will tell you. But if you are looking for reliable commercial cleaning from people who actually care about the work we would love to earn your business.
Ready to talk? Contact SCA Commercial Cleaning LLC for a free walkthrough and quote. We serve businesses throughout the DFW metroplex with the attention and consistency your building deserves.