Consumables + Program!

Let me start off by admitting that I struggle with this hot potato. The question of who is going to buy, track, budget, and stock the consumables in a building is one worth asking. We often get confusion on what our commercial cleaning company offers and we do our best to distinguish between cleaning supplies and equipment VS building consumables. See our explanation below:

Cleaning Supplies / Equipment

When you hire our company to clean your office building, we supply our own cleaning agents, chemicals, rags, vacuums, buffers, trash cans, and other supplies to perform the job. We prefer to have our own so that we can train everyone on the same products, and because we keep things simple, this procedure protects your carpets, windows, and floors from getting damaged. We’ve learned from experience that when we commandeer janitor closets, there are multiple supplies, liquids, and tools that we don’t want intermingled with our own. We make a point to distinguish and label our own supplies and equipment to avoid confusion or use of customer items. Our Janitors know not to use a product that isn’t in our caddy or introduced during training. I’ve made it virtually impossible for our staff to destroy a customer’s floor, carpet, or surfaces because most of our chemicals are neutral, harmless, and non-abrasive. 

     Equipment like buffers, burnishers, and carpet extractors can often take up the customer’s closet space, so we make a point to only keep the essentials in there. Another rule we try to implement is keeping things off the floor and supplies put on shelves and against walls so that customer closets are neat and tidy. 

Consumables

What are consumables? They are, simply put, paper products and hand soaps that are needed to maintain a restroom. Paper towels, toilet paper, seat covers, tampon bags, trifolds, are all poly-paper consumables necessary for your office or customer restrooms. Hand soaps, whether for a dispenser or hand pump, are also a product necessary to wash hands. Other consumables which are often forgotten are trash bags. We make a point to inform all customers that they’ll need 33-gallon small trash liners for all individual receptacles at each desk, break room, and entryway. We also request larger 60-gallon bags for gathering up trash into our big rolling barrel each night/day. 

Delegating Supply Order 

Now that we understand the difference between cleaning supplies provided by the vendor, and consumables provides by the customer, we can discuss the option of having these consumable orders delegated. If a customer requests that we pay for their building’s consumables, I often ask for an emailed receipt of their last few orders to get an idea of pricing and usage; it’s a great track record of what to expect. It also allows us to shop around for better deals if the customer isn’t fussy about where they get their products. One thing to note here is that we do not pay the price of consumables without an up-charge. Each facility is different, but we typically add 25% on large consumable orders with a minimum $100 service fee. Our company will monitor, order, restock, and pay on behalf of the customer with this service. 

Thanks for ready! If your office or facility wants to add this Consumables+ plan to your cleaning services, reach out to a sales rep at our office for a quote at (406) 590-1987. We’re here to make your life easier.

Mickey Dayton

Chairman & CEO

Priority Clean LLC

406-590-1987

“Bringing Value Back to the Cleaning Industry“