Add-on services for commercial cleaning businesses
Specialty services help cleaning companies improve margins, increase revenue, and build long-lasting relationships with customers.
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Specialty cleaning services are those beyond the scope of standard janitorial service. These add-ons turn custodial teams into building service contractors and help them build deeper relationships with clients by meeting more of their janitorial needs. Building a menu of specialized services also creates the opportunity for more revenue per customer.
Types of commercial cleaning service add-ons to offer
Not all specialty services require an equal investment of training, time, and equipment. When you consider your options, you’ll want to look at both investment and demand. Ask yourself:
- What are your clients already asking for?
- What tasks and services do they bring in other teams to do?
- What would it take to be able to meet the customer’s needs?
Window cleaning
Window cleaning has one of the lowest barriers to entry as long as you can clean the windows without requiring scaffolding. It’s also a lower-risk option than services such as floor stripping, where mistakes can ruin surfaces.
Day porter service
A day porter is on-site during your client’s business or operational hours, available to help with the day’s messes. Day porters have a very different job to after-hours custodians. They should not just be doing the cleaning you’d regularly do at night but with people around. They need excellent customer service skills and an ability to balance competing priorities.
The biggest challenge for teams looking to add day porter services is the pressure it puts on your staffing process. If your day porter doesn’t show up, that has an immediate effect on the customer. On the flip side, adding day porter services gives your staff another path for advancement on your team.
Specialty floor services
This is a big category with vastly different equipment needs, training requirements, and risk, depending on the type of floor. Options include:
- Luxury vinyl tile or concrete scrubbing: This is a great starting point for floor care.
- Carpet encapsulation and extraction: While relatively accessible, carpet care requires an investment in specialized equipment.
- Hardwood and specialty surfaces: Stripping and refinishing floors requires specialized training and carries high risk, as improper techniques could cause damage.
Disinfection services
Disinfection is cleaning at the microbial level. While your regular custodial service likely already involves some level of disinfection, you can offer additional regular disinfection of high-touch surfaces as an add-on. Team members handling disinfection products need extra training on the dwell times and application methods of the products you use.
Air quality testing and control
People are becoming more aware of the effects of air quality on health and comfort. Techniques such as dust sampling and residue testing can help you measure air quality for your customers to determine what improvements they might need.
Surface testing
Surface testing reveals the effectiveness of cleaning and disinfection processes. One of the most common methods for custodial teams is adenosine triphosphate, or ATP, testing with a specialized kit or device. Surface testing is common in healthcare environments, as well as in places that serve vulnerable populations, such as childcare centers.
After-hours and emergency services
Nothing will cement your relationship with your clients more than being the company they turn to when things go wrong. The simplest way to begin offering these services is to provide a number for clients to contact you if they need additional cleaning services outside of scheduled hours, such as for graffiti removal or cleanup of mud tracked in during an equipment delivery.
Event services
These are services for large meetings, conferences, open houses, or other events. It could be as simple as setting up furniture for a meeting or as complex as managing setup and cleanup for a big sporting event. Consider the kinds of events your clients host and how you might be able to support them.
Benefits of offering add-on cleaning services
Adding specialty services is an efficient way to grow your cleaning business. Teams often add these services in order to:
- Increase revenue: Many of these specialized services have a higher profit margin than traditional janitorial services. Because you’re already sending staff to the building (and possibly managing things such as keys or security codes), adding services for an existing customer is more efficient than adding a new cleaning customer.
- Improve customer relationships and retention: Specialty services deepen your customer relationships. The customer is more likely to bring complaints or problems to you rather than switching you out for another company.
- Provide training opportunities to staff: If you have cleaning staff who want to extend their responsibilities, offering training and opportunities in specialty services can help you retain your best people.
What to consider before offering add-on cleaning services to commercial clients
It’s tempting to just say “yes!” whenever a client asks if you offer a certain service, but be sure to look before you leap. Questions to ask include:
- Who on my team is already equipped to provide this service?
- What additional training will my team need? Will everyone need the training or only specific people?
- What tools and products does this service require?
- Can my team perform this service during regular service hours, or will we need additional building access?
- How frequently will the client need the service?
- Are there any services we won’t include?
- Are we confident we can deliver the same level of service for the add-on that we do for the primary cleaning services?
Make add-on cleaning services easy to manage with OrangeQC
Building service contractors and all types of teams use OrangeQC to track and manage quality for their services. Work order tickets and customizable service checklists simplify all your team’s work within one mobile platform.
If you’re interested in seeing how our tools can streamline your team’s workflow, we’d be happy to meet for a video call and walk through how everything works together.
FAQs
How do I decide which add-on cleaning services to offer first?
Consider the needs of your current customers and the investment involved in offering those services. You can also talk to others in the cleaning industry to hear about their experiences with different types of services. OctoClean Media has a great video on how to increase profits with add-ons that tackles this topic.
Should I bundle add-on services with standard client cleaning contracts?
Yes. Your contract should lay out your core services as well as any add-ons so that customers can clearly see what is (and isn’t) included. The worst way to add a service is to surprise a customer who thinks you’re already doing it.
How should I price add-on commercial cleaning services?
Ideally, you can leverage a bit of economy of scale to offer a competitive rate, with dedicated teams offering the specialized service, while still maintaining a good margin. Be sure to account for any additional travel time, equipment, or staffing that the extra service requires.
How can I introduce add-on services to existing clients?
Don’t assume your clients know what you offer. If you have an account manager in charge of client relationships, they can mention your additional services when they check in with clients. You can also use email and social media to promote these add-ons.
More resources
Understanding Cleaning Standards
Understanding cleaning standards Cleaning standards create a common language for custodial teams and their clients to talk about expectations and performance. Last Updated Jump to a section: Sign up for a free trial Get a demo Facility cleaning standards might be set by a commercial cleaning client, outlined in an
Janitorial Quality Plan
What is a janitorial quality plan? A quality plan is your team’s playbook for meeting expectations and improving service. It’s a written document that defines requirements and the processes that your team will use to meet or exceed them. Last Updated Jump to a section: Sign up for a free
ISSA CIMS Standard
CIMS is short for Cleaning Industry Management Standards. This ISSA-run
APPA Custodial Service Standards: The 5 Levels of Clean
APPA custodial service standards APPA’s custodial service levels provide a common benchmark for measuring cleanliness. Originally created for use in educational facilities, the levels are increasingly being used outside of education because they are detailed and precise. Last Updated Jump to a section: Sign up for a free trial Get