Winter is just around the corner and while there are people who enjoy what it brings, for business owners, it is a different story. Since time immemorial, business owners have dealt with the extra chores winter has brought, i.e. plowing out front lawns and parking lots, shoveling walkways, and ensuring icy areas are timely treated to avoid driving away potential customers. Unfortunately, glass windows demand extra maintenance too during winter, and neglecting commercial window cleaning can impact one’s business just as significantly.
The Importance of Having Clean Glass Windows during Winter
Window cleaning deserves to be a priority for your commercial establishment. Here’s why:
To keep your establishment appealing
While first impressions do not always last, they play a crucial role in making new customers and retaining old ones. Your business establishment’s external look can ultimately define how people will perceive your business. Landscaping and signage have vital roles to play but so does your windows. If, for instance, the latter is coated with grime, it might drive potential visitors away and eventually leave a negative impact on your business and overall sales. Maintaining your physical store and ensuring that your windows are as aesthetically pleasing is tantamount to keeping both a good-looking and functional business website; if a button fails, the game is over.
To keep a well-lit indoor area
To have clean windows mean you are also allowing the sunlight to flow inside your establishment. Not only can a regular commercial windows cleaning enhance your customers’ mood, but it can also highlight the beauty of your space as opposed to fluorescent lighting that gives an artificial or cold look. Welcoming the natural light will help your business keep its balance and good atmosphere.
To alleviate the mood of your staff
Customer service is vital in every business. How your staff treats your customers plays an equally vital role as the other factors in creating a good customer experience. Your staff’s mood is important. Studies have shown that workspaces with natural light can alleviate the mood and boost an employee’s productivity. This is something you can take advantage of for free. All it takes is a set of clear and clean glass windows which you can achieve by keeping up with your business’s commercial windows cleaning needs.
To extend the life of your windows
Glass windows are porous. Thus, when exposed to rain, dust, snow, and other natural elements, their strength can degrade over time. The windows weakening from the dirt and other particles that have accumulated would mean they will eventually break sooner or later and the aftermath can be costly. That said, you can actually save so much by keeping your windows clean, especially on the side that is exposed outdoors. Hiring a commercial window cleaning team may be costly but it is definitely cheaper than having to install new glass windows.
Commercial Window Cleaning – How Often Should it be?
While the goal is to make a good impression on your target market and one way to do it is by keeping your glass windows spotless, how often commercial window cleaning should be done relatively depends. Varying factors include:
- Location. Where your business is situated can say how likely and often your glass windows will attract dirt. If it is on the roadside or along a busy street, your windows will definitely need to be cleaned more frequently.
- Structure. There are architectural designs that can attract more dirt than others. If your establishment bears it and has inset windows, grime and dust are more likely to accumulate.
- Landscaping. As much as your landscaping can transform your area into a far more attractive one, it can also mean more dirt fields. Specks of dust can easily go with the wind and can end up landing on your window surfaces. Of course, you know what that means.
- Foot Traffic. The size of your store, your staff, and the customers that visit on a daily basis also play a factor in knowing how soon your windows become dirty and the corresponding window cleaning they need.
- Weather. Unfortunately, winter is one of the known seasons where grime, dirt, and mineral deposits left by water lurk more on windows.
Every establishment is unique in terms of proper window cleaning schedules. Some require it done weekly or biweekly, while others need it done monthly, quarterly, or even annually. The abovementioned factors play a role but the biggest determining factor to consider should be the type of business being held in a particular establishment.
Typically, most corporate buildings can stand without professional help in maintaining clean windows, thanks to their in-house janitorial team who do minor cleaning daily and general cleaning every one to two months. However, it is a different story in retail/commercial stores, restaurants, and healthcare centers.
- Retail Stores – This is where tight competition is present and thus, keeping a positive impression is crucial to keep existing customers and make new ones. In other words, if your business is in the retail industry, you will want to allot a regular budget for your commercial window cleaning needs. As foot traffic in these areas is high, experts recommend that the window cleaning here be done every two weeks at the most on top of daily spot cleaning.
- Restaurants – The types of guests being catered to in a restaurant also have a say in determining how frequently its windows need professional cleaning. For instance, if it welcomes children, fingerprints that are dirty and grimy are likely to stick on the windows. Here, spot-cleaning is necessary. Moreover, as restaurants are where grease and moisture are present, cleaning every two weeks done by a reliable commercial window cleaning company is also what experts advise, still on top of daily spot cleaning.
- Healthcare Centers – A sanitary, clean environment is what every healthcare facility must maintain for its core values and mission to align. Nobody will want to be checked up in a clinic with dusty or grimy windows. Thus, in this type of establishment, cleaning on a daily basis is highly necessary.
To ensure clean and spotless windows, only entrust the job to the experts. It matters just as much.
