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How long have you been in business?

It takes little more than good intentions and a mop and bucket to start a cleaning business, but it takes far more to run a professional, sustainable company.

As a result, the failure rates for the industry are staggering. 50% will go out of business within the first year.

By the end of the fifth year, nearly 90% will have closed their doors for good.

This is not to say you should not consider hiring a cleaning service that is newly formed(we all start somewhere), but generally, the longer a company has been in business the more likely they are to be around in the future.

Our answer: Since 1985. Same family, same office in Barrington, for over forty years.

Are you insured? What happens if something in my home is broken or damaged?

Proper insurance (at least one million dollars in coverage – two million is better) is vital.

An uninsured company will absolutely be cheaper, but when the finish is eaten off your wood floors, your stainless-steel appliances are scratched, or your grandmother’s vase is broken, they are also the ones who will not be able to afford to compensate you for it, leaving you to foot the bill.

When hiring a cleaning service, always verify insurance coverage with the company’s insurance provider.

Ideally, there should be a written policy in place regarding procedures for dealing with breakage/damage.

Ask to see it.

Our answer: Fully insured and bonded, for your protection and ours. Ask us for confirmation and we will send you the details.

Do you carry workman’s compensation insurance on all of your employees?

Ask for proof of coverage on every employee, not just a verbal yes.

If a cleaner is hurt while working in your home and the company does not carry workers' compensation, the exposure can land on you.

The risk is highest with an independent cleaner, because you may be treated as the employer.

Our answer: Yes. Our cleaners are our employees, and we carry workers' compensation on them.

How do you prescreen your employees?

Does the company check references?

Perform criminal background checks?

Are they willing to provide proof?

If they are an independent cleaning person are they willing to provide you with a copy of their own background check at their expense?

Our answer: Every cleaner is a background-checked employee of ours — not a subcontractor and not a gig worker.

What does your training program consist of?

The turnover in the industry is high, and many services are just desperate for “warm bodies” to throw out there and get the work done.

It is not uncommon for new hires to get very little training or no training at all.

The best companies will have formal, documented, on-going training programs.

This helps ensure consistency in quality and reduce the turnover of the staff who clean your home.

Our answer: Paid, hands-on training before anyone works in a home on their own, and continued training on the products and equipment they use.

Can you provide me with a written checklist of tasks to be performed?

This is extremely important to know before hiring a cleaning service.

Different companies have different ideas of what a basic service consists of.

It is important to know exactly what you are paying for, and know you are truly comparing apples to apple when making a final decision.

Some of the more common areas of potential confusion are dishes, stripping and making beds, laundry, a high dusting of ceiling fan blades, high reach window sills, handling of children’s toys, and the handling of the trash throughout the home.

You can save yourself a lot of potential grief by getting written specifications upfront.

Our answer: Yes — our full cleaning checklist is published on this site, room by room. Nothing is hidden behind a quote.

Do you have a formal quality assurance program in place?

What methods does the company use to measure quality on an ongoing basis?

Do they perform regular quality checks, mail surveys, leave behind comment cards, or do follow-up phone calls?

If so how frequently?

Do they have a specific person in charge of quality assurance?

Our answer: Yes, and it is more than a promise to try harder. A questionnaire goes out by text or email the moment your cleaning is finished, while it is fresh. Our cleaners clock in and out through an app that is location-based — they cannot clock in or out from anywhere but your home, so the time booked is the time spent. New hires stay with a trainer who re-checks their work until they can work on their own, a supervisor spot-checks jobs in the field, and after your first clean we follow up personally to make sure it was right.

What happens if I am unhappy with my cleaning?

Some cleaning services only offer a specified percent off your next service if you are displeased.

If you are dissatisfied and they won’t fix it, why would you even want to use them again?

A reputable service should come back immediately and do whatever necessary to fix the problem or be willing to offer you your money back.

Our answer: Tell us within two business days and we come back and re-clean that area at no charge. If it is still not right after that and the fault is ours, you get a refund — full or partial, depending on what happened. That is what our 100% Satisfaction Guarantee means.

Who provides the equipment and supplies?

Look for a company who provides all of their own supplies and equipment.

Employees are less likely to misuse (Windex on granite countertops, green scrub pads on the stainless-steel stove, etc.) products they are familiar with and trained to use.

Additionally, providing supplies for your cleaner can easily add hundreds of dollars a year to your total cleaning bill due to the high volume of product used in a thorough cleaning.

Our answer: We do. Our teams bring their own supplies and equipment, and they are trained on the ones they carry.