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​For all businesses, making the right impression the first time and every time is paramount. Several things go into making a decent first impression on potential customers, partners, or employees, and the cleanliness of a workplace ranks at the very top of them.

Although the quality of a business’s ideas, products, services, and employees matter, as SCUDOre.com explains, the primary way people assess the business is through the appearance of the place where it does business. For humans, perception is reality, and you can control people’s perception of your business.

The way you present yourself determines the expectations people have of your business. A nicely dressed bad idea will win more attention than a brilliant idea that is dressed in dirty overalls. When people eventually realize the terrible idea, they will not automatically turn to a good idea.

The point is; how clean and tidy your commercial building is can hurt or help your business. The cleanliness of your premises and the kind of person you hire to clean it communicates a silent message about the quality of people who work in the building.

What kind of message is your retail space, office, warehouse, or factory sending out? What is the best way to approach the cleaning of your commercial building and ensure the best outcome for the businesses that occupy the space?

Every serious business should hire a professional cleaning service to keep its business premises clean. Your cleaner should be a strategic planner because of the impact of a clean building on the quality and volume of customers that visit your business.

Although the cleaner is not a member of your staff, their performance - the kind of environment they create - can impede the output of your employees and the success of the businesses in the building. That is why you must approach the process of hiring a cleaner for your property the same way you approach hiring employees.

The cleaner must understand your business’s goals and objectives and how the cleanliness of the premises helps the realization of that vision. They must understand how to keep the premises clean without disrupting your workflow. They must value timeliness and be thoroughly professional.

The only way to ensure that the cleaner has all these qualities is to hire a professional cleaning service. A professional cleaner can meet the unique requirements of a busy workplace. What does hiring a professional cleaning service do for your commercial building?

1.  Create a welcoming ambiance
The businesses in the building are not only competing with other businesses, but they are also competing with customers’ expectations. What frames customers’ expectations? It is the images and messages they see on TV and the internet. Your customers will arrive at your premises expecting the facility to match what they are accustomed to seeing online. The cleanliness and tidiness of the building are two things visitors will observe. A professional cleaning service can help your premises shine in these two areas.

2.  Boost employee morale and productivity
People’s surroundings have a remarkable influence on their emotional state. Cluttered spaces create anxiety and interfere with our ability to focus on tasks. Clean, spacious, and tidy rooms, on the other hand, help us to relax, as well as improve our creativity and willingness to work with others. A cleaner workplace means happier employees. Happy employees produce their best work, and they treat customers with respect and consideration. 

3.  Reduce the number of sick days
Professional cleaners will clean your building in a way that rids the space of bacteria, dust, pollen, and all kinds of allergens or pathogens. They know the right cleaning solutions and methods to sanitize surfaces. They will identify the hard-to-reach areas in your building where dirt and foul odors hide and clean them out. The result is a workplace where the employees are less likely to get ill. This will impact the bottom line positively.

4.  Make and save more money
Hiring a professional cleaner means you can focus on those aspects of your business that only you can do. Instead of spending your time looking over the shoulders of an amateur cleaner, you can spend time improving your core competencies. That gives you a chance to become better at what you do and make more money, as a result. Also, a professional cleaner will save you money by reducing natural wear and tear on your building and its content. That is because the cleaner will use cleaning methods that preserve the materials in the house while also removing substances that wear down the building.

Hiring a professional cleaning service puts you in complete control of your building’s cleaning needs. You will have all of the cleaning company’s expertise at your disposal. That means regardless of the cleaning challenges in your commercial building, you will always maintain a welcoming environment for everyone who uses the property.

Seasonal cleaning is daunting, but everything is easier when broken down into steps.  Check out this list to know where to start:

1. Before deep cleaning, start with organizing.  This will involve an overhaul of all your cluttered cabinets and closets, as well as an investment in organizational supplies.  Start in the kitchen, throwing away anything expired.  Sort your spices and dry goods, then move on to your perishables.  Refrigerator organization is the most important!  You don't want to run into two month old leftovers.

2. Gather supplies.   Make sure your vacuum has all its attachments, your duster is operational, you have plenty of clean rags and brushes, and all the right cleaners.  Household items like borax, baking soda and vinegar are affordable cleaning chemicals, and you can make your own all purpose cleaners.

3. Start high to low, focusing on the more public rooms first as they will need the most attention.  High dust, vacuum drapes and curtains, clean window sills and wells, clean baseboards.  Pick up clutter, spot clean spills, clean electronic screens.  Then make sure you get into the deep cleaning, leaving no cushion unturned.  Don't forget to clean smoke alarms and replace their batteries.  

4. Using the high to low method, move to the less public areas like the kitchen, bedrooms and bathrooms.  Go through your closets and dressers and donate unwanted items.  launder any linens that don't get much attention.  Rotate your mattress and put new sheets on the bed.  In the bathroom, clean the toilet basin, sinks, and bath tubs.  Polish mirrors and chrome fixtures.  Put some elbow grease into grout removal and mop floors.  In the kitchen, wash and put away dishes.  Vacuum the coils behind your refrigerator, change stove drip pans, clean the oven, sanitize surfaces and clean your dishwasher.  

5. Clean the outside: remove debris from the lawn, clean gutters, trim tree branches, prune shrubs and bushes, power wash decks, patios, siding, etc.  Dry out hoses, fountains, birdbaths and irrigation systems and store in a dry place.  Aerate the soil, feed the lawn, and protect any cold sensitive plants.

Elizabeth Carter--Office Manager, Country Club Janitorial.  

There are two types of people: tidy people and procrastinators.  Some of us find it easier to clean while they go, while others (like me) prefer to put cleaning on the backburner until it becomes, shall we say, “noticeable.”  But there is a reason seasonal cleaning is a tradition: clutter is bad for the psyche.  

Most of us know the feeling: that anxiety you get when you’re looking at a pile of laundry.  Stressful, right? That’s because clutter manifests itself both physically and emotionally.  Decluttering your home or work space has proven effects on reducing anxiety.  Feeling like things are in order reflects a feeling of wholeness and self-efficacy.  In addition to these benefits, it can also reduce the stress of family tension.

Proper energy flow of one’s personal space is rooted deeply in Chinese spirituality, but Psychologists have also studied these principles and their effect on psychological well-being.  This philosophy, Feng Shui, is more complicated than just the absence of clutter, although this is the most fundamental step to effective energy flow.  https://fengshuinexus.com/feng-shui-tips/feng-shui-treating-mental-illness/).  Feng Shui’s central philosophy emphasizes the balance of the five ancient Chinese elements: fire, water, earth, wood and metal.  When these five elements are in proper balance and objects are placed efficiently, Ch’i (also known as Qi), the flow of positive energy, is promoted.  Although there is no scientific backing to the flow of Ch’i facilitating well-being, individual principles of Feng Shui have been tested.  Color, sound, presence of natural light and absence of clutter all have profound effects on mood.

Through certain elements of Feng Shui, we can improve both our mental well-being and self perception.  Principles like decluttering, furniture arrangement and the selection of color and shapes in your decor can boost energy by engaging your brain in problem-solving skills.  This practice can also take your mind off of stressful thoughts and allow insights into external situations.  You are also improving your health by removing pollutants in the Feng Shui decluttering process.   You are cleaning things that could grow mold or bacteria (such as dirty dishes or trash) and removing dust particles and toxins from the air through the movement of objects.  Modern Feng Shui also focuses on the minimization of “environmental pollutants,” such as irritating sounds and noises that aren’t salient to your consciousness, but still have an impact on your mood.  

​Most notably, there’s that feeling of accomplishment you get when you spend your day cleaning.  You can physically see all the work you’ve done, which is a huge mood elevator.  Feng Shui may not have official scientific backing, but decluttering your home feels like wiping the slate clean of physical and psychological burden.