Here in Arkansas, my state has pretty much completely opened back up -- with new restrictions of course. Last week, I took my teenage daughter to her pediatrician’s office to get some past-due bloodwork done. The doctor’s office had new requirements, starting with phoning in when we arrived then waiting in our car for them to call us when it was time to come inside.

After Abby and I sat in the car listening to music and watching cat videos for 45 minutes, I decided to call the front desk again to see how much longer we'd have to wait. The receptionist had a panicked tone as she put me on hold. A few minutes later, the nurse came out, her voice shaky as she apologized profusely because our name had gotten misplaced. I assured her we were fine, but her tears swelled up a bit, as she fanned her gloved hand in front of her face trying to keep them from falling. “It’s just all this new COVID-19 stuff is so hard."

This “Covid-19 stuff” is hard – on everyone. But businesses especially have a whole array of new regulations they have to put into place to survive, and a big part of that relates to cleaning. And for many businesses, that is really hard.

New Regulations Bring New Opportunities

The good news is that the new regulations for businesses come with new opportunities for professional cleaning contractors. That's what Tanya Weger of Madison Window Cleaning recently discovered when she saw first hand how hard cleaning every day really was. Covid-19 hit right around the time that they moved to a new 13,000 square-foot facility, complete with offices, a huge shop, and three bathrooms. At first, Tonya and her husband Kash were cleaning and sanitizing their new facility for about two hours every night, and it was exhausting. In fact, by seeing first hand how many high-touch areas there really are in a business, they decided to add high-touch area sanitizing using Clean and Shine to their list of services.

Cleaning businesses can now come along side these stressed-out businesses and help lighten their load. Here how:

• Be Proactive. The cost to add our Clean and Shine sanitizer to your window cleaning bucket is minimal, but it can help provide peace of mind for your customers, as well as help reduce the spread. A proper sanitizing of windows may take a little longer, but not that much if you do it wisely. And, you may decide to up-charge for the service.

• Be Aware. I’ve mentioned this before, but pay attention to your state’s guidelines and watch to see which types of businesses are opening when. This is a good time to start targeting them for cleaning and sanitizing services. Also, make sure you reach out to your past commercial clients to let them know of any new sanitizing services you may have added and to remind them you are there to help when they are ready for your services. And if you see a need they may not have thought of, point it out.

• Be Safe. While there are differing opinions when it comes to wearing masks, the fact is that your customers want to feel safe when they allow you to come onto their property. You also want to do everything within reason to protect your employees as well. At the very least, you should have your team wear disposable masks and carry/use hand sanitizer. You should also encourage employees to stay home if they or someone in their household is feeling ill, and you may want to consider taking their temperature at the beginning of the day. You may even want to check your customers’ temperature before you allow your team to enter their home.

• Be Kind. These are stressful times for everyone, and life is likely not going to be the way we knew it for quite a while. People – including your prospects and customers – are having to adjust. A little kindness. A little patience. A little effort to put their minds at ease and help make their jobs and life a little easier can go a long way to building lasting relationships.

As always, we at J. Racenstein are here to help.