FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions:
What about your pricing?
For Janitorial, we use state of the art software to price out our bid. This software uses ISSA standards calculating the time it takes to perform a specific cleaning task in a given square foot area. We calculate our cost by the man hour based upon the ISSA time it takes to clean, then we add our overhead (supplies, fuel, etc.) and add our profit to calculate our bid. Our software is the industry standard and takes all of the guess work out of the costs. We have even had potential clients impressed with our detailed bid package who were interested in the process of how it was done.
What is your typical process for working with a new customer?
We get excited about new customers. We treat each client’s facility like it is our own work place. We are meticulous about the cleanliness of each of their buildings and usually do much more than we agree to do in our original agreement. For example, during flu season, without fail, we disinfect each phone, keyboard, mouse, light switch, door knob, each time we clean, even if it wasn’t in the original bid. Since we specialize in floors, we meticulously buff/polish all tile floors more often than most companies do. This is our standard that we have for every current and new customer.
What education and/or training do you have that relates to your work?
Our Company leadership represents more than 20 years in the cleaning industry. We have countless hours of training for carpet cleaning, vct maintenance, grout and tile maintenance, and janitorial cleaning.
How did you get started doing this type of work?
As the owner of AFC, I got started working part-time cleaning at my high school while I waited for my ride (i.e. my mom to pick me up). While in college, I started a Janitorial company to help pay the college bills. I started a second company, AFC, ,to supplement our income, and now it has grown to be an S-Corp company with several employees.
What types of customers have you worked with?
We have worked with schools, churches, restaurants, medical facilities, office buildings, warehouses, retail stores, etc. We work with some companies who have multiple locations spread throughout the state of Indiana. We can scale to fit any need a company may have.
Describe a recent project you are fond of. How long did it take?
We have done several projects recently that we are proud of, ranging from post-construction cleaning of a new AT&T store of the future in Greenwood, IN, to post-construction cleaning of a Marco’s Pizza in Peru, IN, to stripping and waxing and polishing floors at a Village Pantry Store in Muncie, IN, to waxing floors at American Gas & Welding in Indianapolis, IN. We also are responsible for cleaning 30 Walgreen stores twice every month in the Indianapolis area.
What advice would you give a customer looking to hire a provider in your area of work?
There are many cleaning companies to choose from, many being perfectly capable to do basic cleaning tasks in your facility. You want to choose one that has a good reputation for what they do. For example, do they carry General Liability, and workman’s compensation insurances? Can they provide you with written references and valid contact information of past clients who were happy with their work? While price is always a concern, many good cleaning providers won’t be the cheapest bid you receive as they have to actually pay insurance premiums each month or quarter which in the case of our company costs $760 per quarter, however, it is worth the cost knowing that we as a company are covered, our employee’s are covered, and most importantly, our clients are covered. We also pay a little more in insurance premiums so that we can put each of our client’s as direct benefactors on our insurance should there ever be a need for a claim.
What questions should customers think through before talking to professionals about their project?
As a former facility manager at a private school for 5 years, I have experience hiring vendors and cleaning companies to clean our school. I conducted several walk-throughs and sat through many presentations. I was looking for a company that could convince me that they were capable and had a management structure in place that could handle any issue that might come up. I wanted peace of mind knowing that the cleaning company hired trustworthy people to clean our school, especially being around children. We were not interested in taking the lowest bid on any job, because you usually get what you pay for in the service industry.
