Day cleaning has become very popular in recent years, and the stereotypical image of the solitary janitor mopping down a long, dark hallway may soon be a thing of the past. Making the switch from a nightly cleaning service has many potential benefits, but as with any major change, there will be some bumps in the road that you should prepare for.

In our industry today, we hear a lot about benchmarking. I have attended several conferences, where people asked me questions like, “Who are you benchmarking with?” and “What are you benchmarking?” My company performed benchmarking and learned a great deal from it.

A few years back, I heard an interesting quote related to my line of work as a merger and acquisition advisor, and it has stuck with me, perhaps more than any other. First, some context: I was in a closing involving the sale of a client’s business. The client, by all accounts, was a very successful businessperson that had started, built, and sold numerous businesses.

The late 1970s and early 1980s saw the birth of what soon became a phenomenon in the professional cleaning industry: the janitorial broker. A janitorial broker is someone who bids on the cleaning needs of all kinds of properties, from restaurants and schools to commercial office buildings, with the goal of securing the contract for cleaning these facilities.

Google's Zero Moment of Truth (ZMOT) is when a potential buyer picks up his or her laptop, smartphone, desktop computer, or tablet and starts searching for products and services. They educate themselves about their various options, which companies offer those options, and which business is most informative in their purchase decision.

As much as the industry has changed, many cleaning contractors find that the old-fashioned way of marketing—making cold calls, often by walking into facilities they wish to clean—is still an effective way to secure new customers. However, many cleaning contractors do not like this or any type of cold calling, and many more simply do not have the time to do it.