State of the Industry: Commercial Cleaning
Facility managers and facility maintenance companies have been feeling the pressure lately with the COVID-19 pandemic. Most notably, the demand for professional cleaning services has been extremely high. While many in the commercial cleaning industry have offered cleaning services, businesses are now in need of deep cleaning and disinfection services to rid their facilities of all possible contagions. Let’s examine exactly how the industry has been impacted by the pandemic, any resulting innovations, and how these insights can help you.
Preliminary Impacts
Pre-Covid there was already a growing demand for commercial janitorial services. The commercial cleaning industry is a mature market and was expected to continue to trend upward in the next few years.
Of course, the pandemic and resulting health concerns meant that businesses (at least those that remained open) needed cleaning services to ensure their facilities were safe for employees and customers. There was a slight drop in demand those business sectors that closed their doors due to stay-at-home orders. On the other hand, some industries demonstrated a higher demand for cleaning services.
For example, many industries, like grocers, corporate offices, and restaurants, may have already used commercial cleaning services, but now need more intensive disinfection services as well as standard cleanings. Many companies have come out with protocols specific to fighting coronavirus, especially when many businesses began to reopen.
Outside of demand, many commercial cleaning businesses had trouble establishing protocols for dealing with Covid. The government regulations, guidelines, and policies were almost constantly in flux.
There was also a drastic increase in demand for cleaning and disinfecting products, like disinfecting wipes and hand sanitizer. In fact, in March you couldn’t even find most disinfecting products in stores. This was a combination of supply chain issues and extremely high demand.
Present-Day Methods
We saw some waves at the beginning of the pandemic, but now that businesses have reopened, commercial cleaners and janitorial services have their work cut out for them. But what does this look like right now?
Of course, there is still a demand for more frequent and aggressive disinfection of facilities. And with numbers on the risearound the country we can expect this demand to only increase.
Technological Innovations
One unique innovation to rise out of the pandemic is the electrostatic sprayer. If you’ve flown in these past few months you may have seen a video from the airline highlighting their disinfection practices. Many of these videos featured the electrostatic sprayer, most notably those by Delta airlines. The electrostatic sprayer uses electrostatically charged solutions that an electrode inside the sprayer atomizes. This creates a disinfecting mist that coats and aggressively adheres to surfaces evenly, even in hard to reach places. This allows for a quick and efficient disinfection system.
In addition to clean surfaces, many businesses are considering how to keep the air clean. The best way to filter your air? An up-to-date HVAC system. An updated HVAC system will ensure that your air circulates regularly and that fresh air flows throughout your space. If updating the HVAC system isn’t in the budget this year, it is advisable to keep windows open as much as you can. Circulate fresh air to filter out contaminated air.
Commercial Cleaning Trends for 2021
There are several growth opportunities for commercial cleaning companies in 2021. The first is that the industry is positioned perfectly to continue to educate clients and others about how to keep their businesses open in a responsible and safe way. This a great way for commercial cleaning services to position themselves as thought leaders. Secondly, commercial cleaning services can continue to examine what new industries they can serve. Everyone is need of disinfection and cleaning services—this is a huge opportunity for growth!
For all businesses, no matter your industry or niche, it is important now more than ever that you adopt an attitude of transparency. Be honest with employees and customers about how you are disinfecting and cleaning your facility. You can actively share online and on social media what cleaning company you are partnering with. This demonstrates to customers and employees that the business is invested in their health and safety. It is also a marketing opportunity for the cleaning service.
Business is booming for commercial cleaning services and there are still more opportunities for growth! Innovations such as the electrostatic sprayer and more efficient HVAC systems have made facilities safer and easier to clean and disinfect. Looking to the future, the commercial cleaning industry can continue to educate the public about best disinfecting practices while partnering with businesses to create healthy and safe spaces for everyone.