CINCINNATI, Feb. 1, 2010 – Procter & Gamble Professional®, the
away-from-home division of Procter & Gamble, today released the findings of
its “Cleaning in a Down Economy” survey, which revealed that 85 percent of
surveyed cleaning professionals have adopted a “doing more with less” approach
in response to current economic conditions. P&G Professional launched the
survey to gauge how decision makers managing in-house or contract cleaning
services in the health care, education, retail, commercial, foodservice and
hospitality industries have reacted, and adapted, to recent business
conditions.
The findings point out that cleaning service managers have
often had to tackle the same amount of labor with fewer employees, placing
increased demands on staff productivity and cleaning efficiency. Many managers
have been forced to streamline operations, with 76 percent reporting being
under pressure from upper management to keep operating costs down over the last
six months. To address these demands, nearly nine in ten respondents have made cut
backs, including staff reductions. While these cut backs have not been easy, 97
percent of the decision makers surveyed feel they have been able to effectively
keep expenditures down. In fact, more than nine in ten respondents using this
“doing more with less” approach are likely to do so even after the economy
improves.
“Managers in charge of cleaning services were faced with
belt tightening activities at the same time as the H1N1 outbreak,” said Matt
Koloseike, customer development manager, P&G Professional. “To meet this
challenge and ensure the effectiveness of their cleaning program, decision
makers maximized efficiencies across the entire breadth of their operations,
including getting more out of their staff and the products they purchased. We
found the past year has opened a lot of cleaning professionals’ eyes to the
efficiency benefits of simplified cleaning routines and effective, multipurpose
products – both of which are core components of the cleaning solutions, and
philosophy, that P&G Professional brings to its customers.”
When it comes to increasing efficiency and delivering cost
savings, the importance of product selection was particularly noted, with 22
percent of respondents highlighting “products that get the job done right the
first time” as most helpful when it comes to performing their cleaning
services. Surprisingly, the survey also found that in spite of constrained
resources, cleaning professionals primarily judge the value of a product based
on its quality and effectiveness (56 percent) and versatility of use (36
percent) rather than its price point (5 percent).
Survey Highlights:
- Nine in ten (90 percent) cleaning product decision makers
would rather find ways to perform their services more efficiently than raise
prices for their customers or clients.
- Over
two in five (41 percent) respondents feel being as efficient as possible with
current resources is what is most vital to their business right now. In fact,
35 percent think keeping customers happy is more critical than other fiscal
matters like growing the business (10 percent), keeping all staff members
employed (6 percent) or making a profit (3 percent).
- More than six in
ten (61 percent) of those willing to spend more on a product would do so if it
enabled employees to work faster by getting the job done the first time.
Additionally, 43 percent would spend more if the purchased product could
replace multiple cleaning products they currently use.
- Eighty-one percent of respondents do not think having
more cleaning products in their arsenal will lead to getting the job done
right.
- The biggest hurdle for cleaning providers who are not
performing at their best is having to train staff on how to properly clean (68
percent). With a high staff turnover during tough economic times, this is
likely to get even more difficult.
For businesses and managers seeking to increase efficiencies within their
cleaning program, P&G Professional will host a Webinar on March 3, 2010
titled, “Streamline Your Cleaning Operation.” Led by industry veteran David
Frank, the Webinar will feature the benefits of a simplified cleaning routine
and solutions for deploying a more efficient cleaning program. For more information,
visit www.pgpro.com.
