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Document the problems, get walkthroughs from candidates, compare written scopes, then give notice only after the new provider is confirmed — overlapping the calendar so the first new visit follows the last old one. Done in order, there is no gap.
Switching cleaning companies feels risky — a service gap means overflowing trash and unserviced restrooms while your staff watches. Done in the right order, the risk disappears. Here is the playbook.
Step 1: Write down what is actually wrong
Before calling anyone, list the recurring failures: which areas, how often, what happened when you reported them. This list becomes the priority section of your next scope — and it keeps you from switching into the same problems with a new logo.
Step 2: Check your current agreement
Find the notice period and any term commitments. Thirty days is common. Note the date you can cleanly exit, and work the rest of the timeline backward from it.
Step 3: Get walkthroughs, not phone quotes
Any provider worth hiring will walk your facility before pricing it. Use the walkthrough to test the relationship: Do they ask about your problem list? Do they talk scope, or just price? Will an owner or accountable manager be reachable after the sale?
Step 4: Compare written scopes line by line
Tasks per area, frequency per area, exclusions, consumables responsibility, issue-handling process. A proposal that will not commit these things to writing is a proposal to have the same arguments again next year.
Step 5: Sequence the handoff
Give notice only after the new provider is confirmed. Overlap the calendar so the new company’s first visit lands immediately after the old company’s last. Handle logistics in writing: keys and codes returned by the old provider, new access procedures documented, supply closet inventoried, alarm company updated.
Step 6: Set the feedback loop before night one
Agree how issues get reported and how fast they get corrected. The first two weeks are calibration — a good provider expects punch-list feedback and treats it as scope-tuning, not criticism.
The one-page timeline
Week 1: document problems, check notice terms. Week 2: walkthroughs with candidates. Week 3: compare written proposals, select, confirm start date. Week 4: give notice, document access handoff. Transition day: old provider’s last visit, new provider’s first. Weeks 5–6: calibration feedback, scope adjustments in writing.
A switch handled this way has no gap — and usually no drama. If you want a walkthrough and a written scope to compare against your current service, that is exactly how we start every engagement.
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