LIKE EVERYTHING IN LIFE, THERE ARE PROS AND CONS.
TODAY, WE’LL BE GOING OVER WHETHER YOU SHOULD USE A LARGE CONTRACTOR OR SKIP THE MIDDLEMAN AND HIRE THE COMPANY DIRECTLY.
Firstly, this is similar to the employee vs sub-contractor article (see here for reference), but is different in that we’ll be discussing what function does the company you’re hiring serve. There are some companies who are contractors and whose sole purpose it is to find and secure cleaning contracts, then pass them off to other companies (cleaning companies like us, except we don’t accept those contracts because that’s not our way of doing business.)
So what we’ll be covering in this post are differences in companies who utilize employees vs contractors as far as the hiring structure that the company who will actually be doing the cleaninguses, though there are a lot of similarities.
LETS FIRST LOOK AT THE PROS OF A CONTRACTOR.
1)The company you’ll speak with will most likely be very professional, after all their sole purpose is to secure contracts (something we never use). The salespeople and customer service people will probably be very professional, friendly and helpful as well.
2) If you need multiple services performed, they can find the best companies for each service needed.
Example: You’ve recently expanded or moved to a new home/building and want one point of contact for your cleaning, floor care (and possibly even maintenance; HVAC, plumbing, electrical, etc.) You can contract these companies to use their network to find a company to serve each role. (Though they might be different companies… speaking of which…)
CONS:
1) You have little control of who they send. You hired them for their expertise, so they’ll send who they think will do the best job (well, hopefully. See point #2).
2) The contractors have absolutely no control over the training or precision of your cleaning (or other needs). If you have multiple locations or a large facility, you might get different companies. This can create uncertainty and potential confusion when a mistake happens (who do you speak to, what company did it, will they handle it with professionalism and grace or will they play the blame game?) Plus, there’s no guarantee each company will perform equally.
3) You may not get the best value. The “general contracting company” (I know that’s more of a construction term, but we’ll borrow it for this example) is a business after all. And their goal is make money, so they may not send the most qualified company, instead they could send the company willing to do it for the lowest price (making sure the contractor gets the best spread possible). We have been solicited by these companies before and the price they are willing to pay for services is far below what any respectable company would accept (see here why that’s important!). Their appeal is often giving you a low price from their cheap labor but, if you’re reading this blog, then that means you’re not always looking for the lowest price and you know that a company that pays minimum wage for a labor intensive job like cleaning will not deliver the same quality and expertise as a company that pays twice minimum wage (like us!).
CONCLUSION:
It just depends on what your needs are. Obviously, your best bet is to find companies to service each need you’ll have (for each location), but we understand that can be difficult and that’s why general contractors exist. Just make sure you screen heavily, and know where your money’s going.
OR JUST USE US 🙂
We plan on expanding to a full service company over the coming years offering everything from cleaning, housekeeping, personal assistants, lawn care and maintenance services, all utilizing employees so we can consistently ensure the quality, training and professionalism from our technicians that you have/will come to expect.
If you’re ready to experience the precision cleaning only a company utilizing employees can guarantee, then click the button below to book your FREE, No Obligation quote today.
Cheers,
Matt
P.S. I feel like this goes without saying, but I want to point it out anyway so that we’re fully transparent. We are an employee based company. Obviously we want you to just come to us versus using a contractor as it benefits us and we’ll have more flexibility in working together.
That being said, there are legitimate cases for you to use a large contracting firm, in the end we want to present you with all you options we can think of so that you can make the informed choice. Because in the end, no matter who you choose, what’s most important your needs and wants are meet. Have a great day!
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