5 Steps to Find the Right Cleaning Service For Your Vacation Rental
A Cleaning Service You Can Count On
Cleanliness is crucial for success in the vacation rental industry. Guests are highly sensitive to cleanliness, and a poorly done clean can significantly impact their experience and reviews.
That’s why it’s so crucial to find a cleaning service that’s right for your vacation rental. Not every cleaning service will offer the type of deep cleaning that you require, so we’ve written a guide to help you find the perfect service for your short-term rental needs.
#1. Define Your Cleaning Needs and Expectations
Not every cleaning service was created equally, especially when it comes to companies that specialize in short-term rentals. Unlike traditional cleaning services, AirBnBs and the like require closer to deep cleaning: changing the linens, getting in every hard-to-reach spot, cleaning behind appliances, etc.
So before you look into what services you’d like to hire, it’s essential that you define your needs and expectations. Write out a few sentences about what your perfect cleaning company would offer so that you know exactly what you need from your prospective company. Later on, we’ll also draft a list of questions to help you interview services, and this will help you to figure out what’s most important for you and your vacation rental.
#2. Research Companies Online and Read Reviews
The next step towards finding your perfect cleaning service is to take some time to research companies online and read reviews to see how others have fared. If a company seems to offer great prices but has a ton of bad reviews, that doesn’t bode well, so try to find a balance between value and reputation. Start a list of those companies that stick out to you, and go through the reviews to see what others thought.
Any standard you set for cleaning will ultimately be one that reflects back on you, so it’s critical that you do your due diligence, taking time to research who you will be allowing onto your property and seeing if they’ve done a good job in the past. This will help you to eliminate a few bad apples from your list before you’ve ever had a bad experience with them, saving you future time and energy.
#3: Come Up With a List of Questions to Ask Potential Cleaning Services
Next, you’ll use your writeup of your needs and expectations to draft a list that will help you to interview your prospective cleaning companies. Here’s a few questions you might want to ask them:
Do you specialize in cleaning vacation rentals?
What is your process for cleaning vacation rentals?
Do you have a crew large enough to clean multiple rentals at a time?
Can you perform quarterly deep cleaning of each property that goes above and beyond the normal short-term rental cleaning?
Once you’ve drafted your list of questions for prospective companies, you’ll have a better idea of how you want those questions answered. This will help you a ton come interview time.
#4: Reach Out to Local Connections for Insight
Finally, in your search for prospective cleaning companies to clean your short-term rental, we’re getting close to the end. This step is optional if you don’t have many local connections to the short-term rental industry, but it can be incredibly helpful. Reach out to your local business connections for insight into the best cleaning services in your area.
Even if your business buddies happen to be in a different industry than vacation rentals, they still might know a cleaning company that is local and offers good services. You never know until you ask, right? So take some time to message your friends in the area and see if they have any ideas for cleaning services that will be worth spending your money on. Pay special attention to any cleaning company recommendations that also appear on your own researched list–these are the ones that you’ll be interviewing.
#5: Interview and Choose the Perfect Cleaning Service For Your Rental
It has come time to take a look at your list and check it twice. Go down your edited list and call each company, posing the questions you wrote down earlier. Once you’ve interviewed each of the companies you’ve researched, you’ll likely have a candidate that already stands out. The way that they answer each question is important, but also pay attention to those that seem too busy to talk–those will be crossed off of your list.
At the end, it’ll usually be clear who you should go with for your cleaning service. Usually they’ll be the company that answers your questions easily and diligently, without any kind of hassle involved. These are the kinds of the companies that you want to work with anyway–those looking to build long-lasting relationships and partnerships with their customers.
Find a Cleaning Service Shouldn’t Be a Worry
The level of cleanliness in your rental reflects back upon you as a host and owner, and hiring the right cleaning company to represent and meet your standards is an important aspect of short-term rental management. However, not every owner has the time to interview local cleaning companies or write down lists of questions that they need answered. That’s where LocalVR comes in–with our short-term rental management service, you won’t need to worry about a thing when it comes to cleaning and maintenance.