On the plus side of cleaning

Cleaning is an essential service, a commodity. But in a price-sensitive market, more and more clients are seeing the value of a premium product, says Carl Robinson, Marketing Manager of Nviro, making the case for ‘cleaning+’.

Cleaning is a commodity. When times are hard you cut back consumption, but you can’t go without. Safety, health and comfort – for employees, patients, customers, students or visitors – depend on cleanliness. As does the image and prestige of the building owner or occupier.

In recent years, although prices and margins were under pressure, cleaning’s commodity status shielded the sector from the heaviest impacts of the global crisis visited on some sectors of the economy.

But now the recession is behind us. Business confidence is rising. Cleaning frequencies have increased. Fewer companies are taking cleaning back in-house. Our sector’s growing (it is estimated the UK market grew by 3% last year, breaking the £5 billion barrier).

So, the future is bright, and contract cleaners’ prospects are gleaming like a freshly polished marble floor in the spring sunshine? Well, not quite.

In the public sector, the pressure on departmental spending budgets will be relentless for the next five years. Private clients too, rightly, continue to demand greater value and efficiency. Intense competition is unlikely to ease as more start-ups enter the fray.

However, at Nviro, our outlook is upbeat. A major reason is that cleaning – and hence, the market – is not homogenous. Standard, basic cleaning is a commodity, and the companies that provide it compete on price and are largely interchangeable, so can’t expect client loyalty.

But when a provider adds value and differentiates its service, cleaning is no longer a commodity. Our experience is that the appetite of facility managers and building owners for ‘cleaning plus’ – i.e, standard cleaning plus enhanced and complementary services – is growing.

This view is borne out by market analysts. Generic cleaning still accounts for the largest share of the market, but within a few years it will have dropped below 50%. Meanwhile, enhanced and specialist cleaning services will continue growing. Small niche specialists will benefit. As will large, multi-skilled providers able to integrate these additional services, while also exploiting economies of scale.

This is what we at Nviro are doing. There are many enhanced cleaning services to set the provider apart from the myriad of ‘one cloth cleans all’ contract cleaners. Sustainability is an obvious example.

Commitment to environmental responsibility – cleaning with a conscience – is a defining feature of what we do. Working with clients, we have replaced chemical cleaners with microfibre cloths and eco-friendly alternatives, without compromising standards of cleanliness. Clients increasingly specify greener cleaning to support their policies on sustainability and corporate responsibility.

This is part of the bigger picture – ‘strategic fit’ with the client’s corporate culture. A lot of lip service is paid to ‘partnership’ between clients and contractors. But when we truly understand and share a client’s commitment – to corporate responsibility, sustainability, safety, employee wellbeing or other values – we’re far better placed to meet these expectations and add value. This is how we build real, long-term partnerships.

For instance, employers concerned about staff wellbeing are keen to avoid allergens through chemical-free cleaning, or enhanced cleaning to combat bugs and microbes.

Clients also recognise the value to the bottom line from reducing or eliminating chemical use with eco-friendly substances, microfibre materials and alternative technologies. Reducing energy and water consumption, avoiding packaging and other waste is good for efficiency as well as ethics.

We also add value by integrating core cleaning activities with complementary offerings such as consumables, washroom services, crime scene cleaning, or a full periodic maintenance including floor stripping and resealing, and carpet deep cleaning.

While niche specialists already offer such services, they lack the economies of scale of a major cleaning company able to deliver specialised service at a substantially lower premium. Integrated delivery, using people already on site, provides a seamless service. Clients also have the reassurance of using a trusted, reliable provider for these tasks.

Delivering them effectively, however, also requires considerable investment in equipment and staff training. Indeed training is itself a differentiator.

By developing employees – to industry-recognised standards such as BICSc – we raise standards of professionalism not seen in the generic cleaning market. This approach also empowers cleaning operatives and increases motivation, reducing staff turnover.

Doing the right thing by the environment, developing staff, widening the range of specialist expertise we offer – these initiatives are a plus for cleaning and for clients.

www.nviro.co.uk

Published in Tomorrow’s Cleaning – June 2015