Louisville, Nashville, Indianapolis, Cincinnati, and Lexington

Office:  502-538-8485  Sales Inquiries:  866-940-4198

 

Number two is that it could be a National company sales representative trying to show a local presence while seeking to make his quota in sales and commissions.

Either way this spells trouble for the consumer. You will hire the New Owner with a low price and no experience or knowledge. Then after about 2 hours of cleaning or after trying to strip your floors for their first time. They will be putting the equipment they bought up for sale on e-bay. Leaving a mess for me to come clean up again. Or you will find yourself buying a product that does not exist from a National Company or Franchise company. All the bells and whistles they sell you are never delivered. After two weeks all that new equipment is gone and some old stuff is in its place. You find yourself with a dirty building and you will not be able to locate the salesperson. Why? Because they have moved on to Nashville to do their dirty business. The new equipment is in the back of their van to use as a prop at the next building.

I call all of this "The Cousin Eddie Syndrome." Like family from out of town. They show up to eat your food, eat your candy, watch you're T.V., drink your beverages, and stay way past their welcome. Then leave your house a dirty mess for you to deal with. Hopefully you get on the phone and warn the rest of the family that Cousin Eddie is on the move.

2.      What's in a name? We are running into a lot of New companies with the same old people running it. They change their company name because they have used up any credibility they had with the old one. They still have the same people. The same philosophy of sale it, skim it, and lose it. It is a cycle they continue to use because all they change is their name. All it cost them is new letterhead and business cards. But the cost to you is enormous. You have paid for services that were not performed. Those that were performed like the stripping and waxing of your VCT. You now wish they had not done them.

3. Franchises like Coverall, JanPro, JaniKing are not in the cleaning business, they are in the franchise selling business and many of those franchisees are now in court suing these franchise companies.  Check the Federal Trade Commission reports on on-going class action lawsuits against these companies.

It is a shame and a disgrace to the cleaning industry to have things like this going on. You can help us in this effort to bring credibility back to this industry. Along with fair pricing for the work you ask to have performed. You can help by contracting only with companies that have a proven track record over many years. Contract with a company that has Local references. Contract with a company that will work out a fair and equitable cost for their services.  Contract with a company that will be here today, tomorrow, and next year. We have been here for over 20 years with the same name, same owner, same standards today as we had 20 years ago.  

 I report these things to you to help you make a good decision. You or your company has spent a lot of money for your facility. You deserve to have a hard working company look after it for you. Shouldn't you have a company that looks after your building like they own it? Shouldn't you be more than an account number for some company in Chicago, San Francisco, New York, Dallas, Atlanta, and oh yes the UPS store? Or just being a sales goal and commission for a salesman? We say yes you should be. That is why you need a company like ours. We look after your property like we own it.

Mike Underwood 
Owner  

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"Don’t Be Fooled"

The cleaning industry is literally going down the drain. Let me take a moment and explain what I am referring to.

National and Franchise companies have started charging prices that we have not seen since the late 1980s and early 1990s. It is the only industry that is “Lowering” prices. I am amazed at how this can be. When cost have doubled or even tripled since that time. I have been an owner in the industry for nearly 22 years and the fact is that they can’t, unless they are selling trash removal only, it cannot be done with any measurable level of quality.

Minimum wage has increased from 3.35 in 1990 to 7.55 in 2010

Cleaning chemical costs have risen 45%

Equipment costs have risen 29%

Insurance rates have sky rocketed

Tax rates have continued to rise above the wage increase

Nationals and franchise companies have even begun including tile floor cleaning and maintenance within the cleaning specifications. How can this service be free when the cost of wax has doubled in price the last 2 years?

With the cost of doing business in 2010, how is it possible that they can perform any measure of quality when it comes to cleaning at 1980's price scale?

It makes you wonder; are they paying cash payroll? are they using illegal labor? Are they using cleaning chemicals at all? Do you ever wonder why the office staff is always sick? Are allergies and influenza an issue in your facility or office?

What kind of equipment do they have? Are they adequately insured with workman's comp and general liability?

The truth may be that you are being set up for what the cleaning industry refers to as a Trash and Dash.

With all of the items mentioned above an essential part of the Cleaning Industry, how then could cleaning costs continue to fall?
Although you may be paying less, you are getting much less cleaning done than you think. After all, they still have the cost of doing business and making payroll if they are a legitimate business. So what gets cut from the cleaning program? The client does. Yes, that is right, you.

That pretty much sums up how National and Franchise companies will fool you into believe that they can deliver everything with nothing.

Then National companies and franchise companies are dealing in volume. As soon as you sign a cleaning contract they are selling others, trying to replace you when you cancel. They know you’re going to, and they plan for it.
Example A;

"Large National Cleaning Company Inc" has 100 facility contracts in Kentucky. The average profit of each location is $1000, which is $100,000 a month. They know that within 6 Months, most if not all, will cancel their contract. Meanwhile, in that 6 Months time they have grossed $600,000.00. When you cancel, they move on to the next facility.

Every few years they change their names in one way or another. One company recently added “Health Based” to their name. The only thing healthy, is their bottom line. They also have “Cleaning Concepts” on the company name, getting them to clean anything would be an entirely new concept.

Franchise companies make their money by selling business franchises to the unsuspecting and often untrained consumer. You contract cleaning services with the franchise company, then they sell your account to a Mom and Pop startup. When you aren't happy with the cleaning, you call to complain. After repeated complaints, the franchise company sells your account to yet another Mom and Pop who bought a franchise. They continue to make money from sales, rather than cleaning.

National companies make their money in volume sales.

Century makes money solely on Customer Retention.
Call us and find out about our Budget Friendly Cleaning programs:

Century’s Essential Six
Century’s Express Package
Century’s Express Deluxe

Learn why most clients have been with us for 6 years instead of just 6 months.