Maintenance programs Archives

5 Tips to Keep Your Workplace Clean

Posted Thursday, June 28th, 2018

Did you know that if you have a 9 to 5 job, you’ll spend one third of your life at work? It’s true! That means keeping your workplace clean and inviting is just as important as maintaining a clean home. Do you wish you had some ideas on how to keep your workplace clean? A sanitary, organized and comfortable workplace will have a positive effect on productivity and on your employees’ mindsets. Even if your workspace is closed to the public it is important for team morale to maintain a space people are happy to come to everyday. And consider your business’s reputation; customers react better to a clean and organized workplace. It’s easy to get so caught up in day-to-day tasks that office cleanliness slips to the wayside, so here are 5 tips to keep your workplace clean!

1: Make A Cleaning Maintenance Plan

The best way to protect your carpet (and the investment you made in it) is to schedule regular professional carpet cleanings. Dirt and small debris are tracked in every day by your staff, and continued buildup of even the tiniest particles can damage the individual carpet fibers. Regular cleanings will keep your business looking and smelling great. For a small business with only a few employees, yearly cleanings would probably suffice. A larger business or a public space with heavy traffic would benefit from more frequent cleanings on a commercial cleaning maintenance plan.

2: Protect Your Investment

Many professional carpet cleaners offer additional products to protect your carpets. Take advantage of these products! 3M Scotchgard provides additional protection to your carpeting. This is perfect to apply to cubicle areas, break rooms, or areas with heavy traffic such as your lobby.

3: Don’t Forget About Air Quality!

Out of sight, out of mind, right? Air quality is not usually brought up in a conversation about cleanliness, which is why your HVAC system could be the filthiest part of your business! Your air duct system works around the clock to keep your staff comfortable. Over time, dust, dirt, dander, and other contaminants like mold and mildew will accumulate and circulate throughout your building. Keeping your air ducts clean will help your employees who suffer from allergies stay healthy, and the person responsible for cleaning will spend a lot less time dusting. In general, your office will feel much fresher and be a healthier environment for employees and customers alike.

4: Keep Cleaning Products Accessible – To Everyone!

Don’t keep all the cleaning supplies behind lock and key! Even if you have someone who handles general cleaning make the supplies accessible to everyone. Disinfectant wipes are easily kept in office drawers and are perfect for wiping down a desk, keyboard, phone, and most other surfaces. Having these wipes accessible can greatly reduce the spread of disease! Swiffer dusters can also easily be stored in a desk drawer and are perfect for dusting those hard-to-reach places – like behind the desk and up near the ceiling!

5: Provide Organization Options

One of the first steps to creating a clean environment is to reduce clutter. Built up clutter can make even the cleanest and tidiest environments seem messy even though they are not! The best way to reduce clutter is make it as easy as possible to keep your workplace clean. Clean work spaces improve productivity, which is important for team health. It is also much harder for dust and grime to build up on a clean desk than one covered in piles of paper. Provide your employees with desk organizers and encourage them to maintain a clean and organized desk. You may be surprised at how excited people are about organizing their personal workspace!

The office reflects the culture and work ethic of the people who occupy it. Disorganization can result is distraction, disrupted productivity, and eventually chaos. If the staff doesn’t pick up on it your customers will! Using these tips to keep your workplace clean will help will help your business make the right impression on staff and customers, new and old. And remember to lead by example!

Modernistic has been helping Michigan businesses stay clean and organized for over 45 years! To learn more about our commercial cleaning maintenance programs, call us today or click here.

You Have To See It To Believe It

Posted Monday, June 11th, 2018

When we say we’ll get your carpet, upholstery, tile, and air ducts clean, we mean C-L-E-A-N! Check out these awesome before and after photos of the level of clean you can expect from Modernistic, and you’ll see why Michigan businesses have been choosing us for over 45 years!

From small one-room offices to giant NBA arenas, Modernistic has been helping keep Michigan businesses clean for over 45 years. Click here to see how we can help your business look its absolute best.

How a Commercial Cleaning Maintenance Plan Will Save You Money

Posted Wednesday, March 28th, 2018

There are so many factors to consider when running a successful business that it would be impossible to ever cover them all. Because of this, some issues, such as repetitive cleaning for your carpet, tile, or upholstery, can get pushed off as less important. However there are several reasons that getting your business on a commercial cleaning maintenance plan can benefit your long term growth.

The most obvious reason to be on a commercial cleaning maintenance plan is keeping your business clean. Appearance is the first thing many customers notice when they enter a business and having stains in the carpet, grout lines, or seats can negatively shape their opinion, regardless of the quality of the actual services performed. Having a clean workspace will show customers and employees alike that you take pride in your business.

Most businesses receive much more foot traffic than the average home and, guess what? They get dirtier much faster as well. While all carpeting and upholstery will eventually begin to wear with age, having it regularly cleaned will help prolong its life. Having professional cleaning done every month, or even every few months, removes the buildup of dirt before it gets deep into the fibers of your carpet and upholstery. For further protection, 3M Scotchgard can be applied after the cleaning to help prevent stains. This topical product safely coats the surface of the fabric to help prevent stains and dirt from setting in, making spots much easier to remove.

It’s not only dirt that can reside the carpet of your business. Allergens like dust mites and even mold spores will build up over time, causing allergies and promoting illnesses. Professional carpet cleaning removes these allergens and sanitizes the carpet to promote a healthy work environment. After all, a healthy worker is a happy worker (and one that doesn’t miss time!)

Scheduling repetitive cleaning can benefit your business in many ways; whether it’s improving company image, prolonging the life of your property, or protecting the health of your employees. Many of our cleaning maintenance customers find that the biggest benefit isn’t any of those. Letting us worry about keeping their office clean means it’s one less thing on their plate. That way, they can focus on what they do best: running their business!

If a commercial cleaning maintenance plan is right for your business, contact Modernistic today for more info.

4 Ways to Make a Great First Impression with Customers

Posted Friday, February 16th, 2018

What reaction will your customers have?

Have you ever walked into a restaurant, looked around, and immediately thought “There’s no way I’m eating here”? They lost your business because they didn’t make a good first impression. Maybe it was the décor, or nobody greeted you when you walked in, or there was that weird smell, but you knew right away. A potential customer will decide within 11 seconds of walking into your business whether or not they like you. Those 11 seconds are critical – you only get 1 chance at a first impression, which will greatly influence whether or not they do business with you. No one wants to lose out on sales, so here are 4 crucial ways to help your business make a great first impression with customers.

1 – Optimize your website and train your employees to answer the phone

Often the first point of contact that customers will have with your business will be on the web or over the phone. Make sure their experience is a good one that leaves them with positive feelings about your business. An out-of-date website or a confusing phone system will discourage customers from visiting you in the first place.

Is your website…

Easy to use?
Customer-focused?
Modern?
Engaging?

When a customer calls in…

Is there a live person answering the phone? Are they knowledgeable and friendly?
How long do they have to wait on hold?
Do they have to navigate a phone tree?

A customer’s experience online or over the phone will often decide if they visit you or one of your competitors. Consider writing a script for your employees who answer the phone, and make sure your business’s information (like address and phone number) is up to date and consistent everywhere a customer can find it online.

2 – Make sure your lobby is clean and well-lit

Your entryway should tell a customer everything they need to know about your business. The lobby is the “point of no return” for a customer. They’ve made a decision to seek out your business and, at the very least, committed to getting more information about you. Your lobby should reward them for that decision and commitment, giving your customers no reason to second guess themselves. That means your lobby should be orderly, welcoming, and above all, clean.

Orderly – Does your customer know where/how to get help? Having a receptionist to guide potential customers is key (see #3)

Welcoming – Does your lobby put people at ease? The décor, the lighting, the building materials all play a part in helping customers feel relaxed. Did you know that watching fish swim around in aquariums helps reduce heart rate and blood pressure? It’s true!

Clean – Are your floors, upholstery, walls, etc. free of dirt and stains? Nothing says “I don’t care about my business and, by extension, the problems of my customers” quite like stained carpet and dirty upholstery. It’s important to have a professional maintenance plan not only to impress customers, but to protect your investment – and your bottom line.

3 – Have a good receptionist

“You only get one chance to make a good first impression, and yours may be in the hands of the receptionist”

-Harvey Mackay

A knowledgeable, friendly receptionist will go a long way towards making a good first impression with customers. As the first employee a customer sees, they are essentially the “face” of your business; it’s important they represent you in a positive, confidence-building way.

Your receptionist/greeter/face-to-face marketing liaison (whatever you want to call them) should also know the ins and outs of your business. When a customer has a question or an issue, they will feel much more confident about your business if the first person they bring their problem to knows what to do to help.

4 – Have marketing info readily available

If a customer has decided to walk into your business to get information, have that information – and more – available to them! Be ready to make the most of every opportunity. Give them reasons to choose your company, or highlight additional products/services you offer, or why they should add on to their current service. This can be done through printed pieces, handouts, displays, or even your expertly-trained receptionist/greeter/F2F Mkg Liaison. Not only is this preparation professional, it helps maximize each customer who walks through your door. Fortune favors the prepared!

So there are the 4 crucial ways to make a good first impression with customers. Are there any other ways to impress your customers and build confidence with potential clients? Of course! Take a look at your business through the eyes of your customer and try to put yourself in their shoes. Look for ways to improve their experience and leave them feeling at ease, confident, and overall positive about you. After all, in the words of one of our favorite authors:

“A good first impression can work wonders”

–J.K. Rowling

From two-room offices to 20,000-seat stadiums, Modernistic has been helping Michigan businesses make a great first impression with customers for over 44 years. Click here to see how we can help your business look its absolute best.

5 Ways to Prevent Traffic Lanes in your Carpet

Posted Tuesday, July 25th, 2017

Who doesn’t love a professional carpet cleaning? The fresh smell, the feel of revitalized carpet under your feet, the relief of being rid of those unsightly spots; Our customers certainly appreciate how pristine their floors look after we’re done cleaning them, and one of their most pressing questions is how to keep them that way. Here’s what we tell them.

The Problem

Have you ever used that orange soap? That industrial-grade, gritty, no-nonsense soap you usually find near a slop sink or auto shop? If you haven’t, it’s got a rough texture that scours whatever you’re cleaning. It does a great job of scrubbing dirt and soil off your hands specifically because it’s so gritty. Your carpet experiences the exact same thing when it gets dirty.

Up close under a microscope, dirt particles look a lot like broken glass. They act as an abrasive, scouring and grinding against whatever they come across. The unfortunate thing is your carpet isn’t nearly as resilient as your hands! Dirt will cut up and wear down carpet fibers, which don’t heal like human skin.

Over time, walking over dirty carpet will grind those particles into the fibers where you step, resulting in wear patterns in your traffic lanes. Not good! Once wear patterns form, that’s actual damage; all the cleaning in the world won’t fix damaged fibers!

The best thing you can do to keep your carpets looking great for years is to prevent traffic lanes from forming. Here’s how:

Get the dirt off your feet – Use door mats on any door that leads outside, and make sure to use them! You can also make it a habit to take off your shoes when inside. No dirty shoes, no dirt getting into your carpet.
Keep your hard floor surfaces clean – Dirt sticks to carpet, but it slides right off hard surfaces like hardwood and tile. Keep these floors clean, and you won’t have to worry about transferring soil to your carpets.
Vacuum frequently – Depending on the foot traffic your floors get, you’ll want to vacuum frequently and (most importantly) regularly. High-volume businesses especially should vacuum carpeted areas daily to keep them looking their best.
Have your carpets professionally cleaned – Since carpet fibers do a great job of hiding dirt, professional hot-water extraction cleaning should be scheduled regularly. Even if your floors don’t look soiled, dirt could still be hidden away, damaging carpet fibers and creating those horrible wear patterns.
Apply fiber protection – After a professional cleaning, applying a fiber protector like 3M Scotchgard™ Protection will help repel dirt and stains, creating a barrier that will help keep the soil from destroying your fibers.

With these tips, you should be able to form a maintenance plan that will help keep your carpets wear-free throughout their lifetime. If you still have questions, or would like a plan from the pros, contact Modernistic for all your carpet maintenance needs!

Why You Should Outsource Your Office Cleaning

Posted Wednesday, October 19th, 2016

Why Savvy Mt. Pleasant Companies Outsource Their Cleaning

We know Mt. Pleasant companies fit a lot into the workday. Unfortunately, the byproduct of all that work is dirt – dirty walls, dirty floors, dirty drapes, dirty furniture. It’s might seem like your company has the resources to handle all that dirt in-house. Here’s a few reasons why it’s better business not to.

Uninterrupted Maintenance

When that seasonal flu sweeps through the office, you have enough to handle without wondering who is going to clean the floor. Professional cleaning services are committed to consistently caring for your facilities, so you never have to worry. They have a qualified pool of substitutes for holidays, sick days, or when employees just have to attend that family function.

Cost-effective

Cleaning services assuming their own operating costs. This means your company doesn’t need to budget for equipment and supplies, recruiting qualified maintenance staff, or adding more employee benefit packages. All of this lets your company focus its resources on the thing that really matters – growing your business.

High Standards of Cleanliness

When you outsource your office cleaning, you should hire people who make it their job to adhere to the highest industry standards. They will track recommendations for methods and products, as well as observe any regulatory guidelines regarding sanitary conditions. They train their staff to provide the safest, most effectual, and thorough cleaning possible.

Protecting Your Company from Legal Liability

Industrial cleaning can be a hazardous occupation, and requires a tailored insurance policy. If your company cleaners are in-house, you shoulder the burden of providing that insurance. You could also potentially face any litigation related to workplace accidents. By contracting your cleaning services instead, that company will assume liability and cover the costs of additional insurance.

Access to Specialized Maintenance Services

Do your office carpets need cleaning? When was your HVAC system last serviced? Are you prepared to deep-clean that high ceiling? Chances are, even if you assemble an in-house janitorial team, your company will still spend time and money hiring outside cleaners for certain jobs. When you outsource your office cleaning to a qualified company you will be able to select from a wide range of services. And you will see better prices than shopping for each individually.

Call Modernistic to Keep It Clean

Modernistic is ready to create a custom plan with your business to keep that factory floor sparkling, either with regular maintenance or an annual deep clean. Contact us, and take advantage of our quick simple scheduling, top of the line equipment, and years of expertise.