Is “data” a four-letter word in your book? In the day-to-day struggle to Get Stuff Done, collecting and using data can take a backseat to… pretty much everything. It’s never going to be the most urgent thing on your plate.
But it is one of the most important. So don’t just live with a guilty, nagging suspicion that you should really be collecting more data. And don’t collect lots of data, and then never bother to dig through or use it. Instead, find a simple way to get the information you need… and then have us analyze it for you, so you can learn from it at a glance. It’s smarter decision-making, simplified.
Why collect data?
Yes, business owners and managers need good intuition and the ability to feel out how things are really going. But intuition can only take you so far.
When they’re collected correctly, numbers don’t lie. They’re not friends (or enemies!) with anyone on your staff. They offer an unbiased, high-level perspective that’s impossible for any one person to feel out.
Data will also help you spot problems and trends much faster—before your customer complains, or a staff member points out the problem, or it gets too big to ignore. And data can reveal some of the easiest ways to improve your quality and efficiency.
Another big advantage of tracking your quality through data: You leave a paper trail. This can give you peace of mind—because you know for sure how things are going at your facilities. And it gives your customers an increased sense of transparency and lets them know you’re on top of things. That’s why many of our clients bring up OrangeQC and their quality control programs in meetings with potential clients.
How do I collect data?
For the janitorial industry, getting quality control data means doing inspections. Inspections are how you get hard numbers around how often your team is hitting your quality standards for any given site.
We’re a little biased here, but we truly believe that OrangeQC is the best way to collect this data. Why? Because the best inspections are the ones that get done. OrangeQC’s inspections can be done one-handed on the inspector’s own mobile device. No remembering to grab paper forms, no logging into complicated software programs, and no confusion over who’s supposed to do what.
What do I do with my quality control data?
You can collect all the data in the world, but if it just sits there, it’s a waste of time. Make sure you’re getting all the value you can from the data you collect through inspections.
Your data should do three things for you:
- Alert you to specific problems right away. If your team forgot to clean a restroom, or someone tracked mud all over the freshly scrubbed floors, you want to know now, so you can fix the problem immediately.
- Identify trends and opportunities over time. Spotting trends can reveal low-hanging fruit to help you improve your quality. If it turns out the windows aren’t cleaned to your standards half the time, you can remind your team of the right procedures. Or maybe a certain restroom needs to be cleaned more often. When you know where your problems are, you’ve also found your biggest opportunities.
- Help you keep clients and win new bids. As you respond to issues quickly and watch your trends, you’ll see your quality improve—and you’ll have the numbers to prove it. Talk to your current clients about the trends you see and let them know you keep an eagle eye on quality. And when you sit down with a prospective client, show off the charts and numbers that prove your team is committed to quality. (Read more about how to impress your current and prospective clients with great quality control data.)
Analyzing data takes work—but OrangeQC does the work for you. If an inspector notes a problem, we flag the inspection and open a ticket so the right people can jump on the issue. Our dashboard lets you see trends at a glance, while our more in-depth reporting reveals trends for specific line items and more.
We automatically compile custom reports you can download for meetings with clients, too. If you haven’t checked out the “Reports” tab in OrangeQC recently, give it another look. We’ve made some improvements so that reports are even easier to use… and have even more valuable data.
If your team uses OrangeQC, you already know how we empower your team to do quality control right. If you haven’t given us a try yet, be sure to start your free 30-day trial and see for yourself how refreshingly simple quality control can be.
