How to evaluate a cleaning vendor

Most cleaning RFPs come back priced within a few percent of each other. The

gap that matters is operational, and it shows up after you sign.

Use this checklist when you're comparing managed facility services proposals.

1. Make them name the crew

Ask the vendor to put crew names in the contract. Not just the account

manager — the people who will be in your building every night. If they push

back, that's the answer.

2. Ask what photo verification looks like

If the vendor sends "before/after" photos on request, that's not photo

verification. Verification is automatic, on every visit, with timestamps

and a tech sign-off. If they don't send it by 9am the next morning, you'll

be the one chasing.

3. Ask about backup capacity

When a crew member is out, who shows up? Get the answer in writing. The

vendors that say "we'll figure it out" are the ones that won't.

4. Ask for two references you can actually call

Not case studies. Not logos on a slide. Two facility managers whose phone

numbers you can dial. A vendor that's proud of their current work will send

those names inside a business day. A vendor that hedges, hedges for a

reason.

5. Ask for a single invoice

Recurring + periodic + project should roll up to one monthly invoice with

one COI on file. If you're getting four invoices for what should be one

program, you're paying coordination cost the vendor should be eating.

6. Sit through a walkthrough before signing

Anyone who quotes off a square-foot table without a walkthrough is going to

miss something. The walkthrough is how you find out whether the vendor

thinks operationally or thinks in line items.