The first quarter of 2019 has been an innovtive quater for the cleaning industry. As coordinator of multiple teams of professional cleaners in west London, I see how technology has been changing our industry for good. The trends in the cleaning industry in 2019 are focused on increasing employee productivity while improving the quality of our services — all for making our corporate and private clients happier and boosting profitability.
IoT Cleaning Tools and Smart Technology
In the last years, we’ve seen a revolution in the market of professional cleaning products and equipment. And the best is yet to come with more innovative trends in the cleaning industry in 2019.
Besides smart-cleaning machines, the future belongs to data-driven tools. Most of these will use the Internet of things, to provide cleaning teams with valuable information about the status of towels, paper, or soap in dispensers. This type of smart equipment can help us serve our clients better. Moreover, we get to maintain high hygiene standards by merely accessing our interactive dashboard from a smartphone.
In the next years, we could see a new wave of products and services entering the markets on a large scale. Such as voice-controlled toilets or vacuum cleaners with environmental recognition systems. Also, we’ll see more robots cleaning large areas in spaces like supermarkets or warehouses.
Smart tools can speed up all cleaning operations, leaving employees with more time to dedicate to manual tasks. Our clients will get more for the same prices–better cleaning, in less time, and with less effort.
Reactive Cleaning
Smart technology introduces the concept of “reactive cleaning”. What does it mean for cleaning companies and their clients? Innovation in the industry enables contractors to manage cleaning operatives easier, by moving them around based on every building’s needs.
In simple words, companies use real-time data to organise their activities based on the reality in the field. We can say goodbye to traditional cleaning schedules, which are less effective. Customers benefit from better services, as janitors deliver more value for the same money.
Apps to Track Employee Performance
The trend of using apps to track operations has been on the market for a couple of years now, and it will explode in 2019 and beyond. A cleaning company in central London, for example, can use smartphones to track staff and monitor their activity of every cleaning team, regardless of the location in which they operate.
Real-time monitoring and reporting mean less time wasted by employees and by extension faster turnarounds from the cleaning teams. People focus more on their tasks when they know they’re being tracked, which leads to an improved service delivery process.
Higher Qualifications for People Working in the Industry
Currently, workers operating in the cleaning industry hold lower levels of qualifications than employees coming from other sectors. While only 13 per cent of the workforce across the economy is level 1 or 2, in the cleaning industry, as much as a third of the workers have low qualifications.
Things are about to change, and 2019 is going to represent a milestone for better-qualified janitors. According to the British Cleaning Council, the industry will witness a shift towards more people getting higher qualifications. The market research has shown that by 2024, half of the workforce will hold at least a level 4 and only 4 per cent of the employees will have no qualifications.
Eco-Friendly Cleaning
Sustainable, eco-friendly cleaning has been the challenge for most professional cleaners in London and the UK. There’s no quick fix, but the trend in the cleaning industry is to minimise the impact of our operations on the environment.
It’s a team effort that includes efficient cleaning products, smart cleaning tools, and the right qualifications to control the use of resources in the field. We should go beyond changing old chemical products with new ones in line with industry legislation. Eco-friendly cleaning includes reducing the consumption of power and water, as well as using equipment that doesn’t affect air quality and extends the life of surfaces.
Flexible Services
The trends in the cleaning industry affect cleaners in multiple ways, even more as they also change customer expectations. Businesses that want to thrive in 2019 and beyond should provide clients with seamless possibilities to order and pay.
Customers should be able to book cleaning services directly on the website. Or, to use chatbots to get more information about specific services. Also, pre-authorized payment methods make another type of the services that clients expect from a cleaning company.
Transparency, too, is a critical factor for getting new customers. For instance, people are looking for websites that allow them to schedule flexible cleaning hours and have a price quote online within seconds.
Social Media
With almost 40 million social media users in the UK, professional cleaners can’t ignore the power of social networks for creating a coherent brand marketing strategy. Social media channels like Facebook, Instagram, and even LinkedIn can help a cleaning service provider to develop trust with potential clients. Plus, they’re excellent tools for building awareness and brand recognition.
Social media allows us to change the way people look at our services and increase awareness about the importance of janitors for everyday life.
In 2017, only 60 per cent of companies in the UK were using social media for growth. Many of them didn’t get social media right (we were one of them). 2019 will make more cleaning companies turn to social to benefit from a solid online presence and gain trust.
Trends in the Cleaning Industry in 2019
Technology and cleaning services go hand in hand for the benefit of service providers and their clients. These trends in the cleaning industry help professional cleaners improve their services to provide impeccable clean homes, offices, and any other property.
The more cleaning companies invest in keeping up with technology, the higher their chances to deliver excellent cleaning services for the right prices.
Want to know more about how Posh Cleaners uses technology to enable collaboration between staff members and make difficult jobs more manageable? Give us a call, and we’ll tell you how we’ve managed to increase productivity for the benefit of our clients.