CarpetBossPro Blog — Commercial & Property Managers

The Carpet Checklist as Proof of Work on Commercial Accounts

Photos show what the carpet looked like. A checklist shows what the tech actually did. On commercial accounts, where the client is rarely on site, the two together are the complete record of a visit.

Photos Show Results, the Checklist Shows Steps

Photos are covered in Before-and-After Photos for the Property Manager: Proof From Every Commercial Carpet Job. A photo of a clean hallway does not tell a facilities manager whether the hallway was pre-vacuumed, whether the traffic lanes were pre-treated, or whether furniture was put back the right way. The checklist does.

For a commercial account, that matters because the people paying the bill are often a step removed from the carpet. An office manager answers to an owner. A property manager answers to dozens of owners. A school facilities person answers to a district. Each of them needs to be able to say, with confidence, what was done.

The Checklist in the Tech App

Every job in the CarpetBossPro tech app comes with a carpet cleaning checklist the tech works through on the phone:

• Walk-through with the customer (or the site contact)
• Small furniture moved
• Pre-vacuumed
• Pre-treated traffic lanes
• Spots and stains treated
• Pet odor treatment, when it is on the job
• Carpet cleaned
• Upholstery, area rug or tile cleaned, when it is on the job
• Stain protector or deodorizer, when it is on the job
• Carpet groomed
• Furniture back on blocks or tabs
• Final walk-through with dry time explained

The items that only apply to some jobs, like pet odor treatment or stain protector, show up only when they are on the job. So the checklist matches what was sold, and the tech does not have to skip past items that do not apply.

The Details That Close It Out

Along with the steps, the tech records:

• Rooms cleaned. Which areas were actually done on this visit.
• Estimated dry time. What the tech told the site contact, so nobody walks on wet carpet and nobody is surprised.
• Stains that did not come out. Written down instead of left for the client to find.
• A condition. Good, Needs attention or Repair recommended.
• A note for the customer. Anything else the client should know.

The office sees the finished checklist on the job as soon as the tech completes it.

Walk-Throughs When Nobody Is There

The checklist starts and ends with a walk-through. On a residential job, that is the homeowner. On commercial jobs, the site contact might be a security guard, a maintenance person or nobody at all. Teach techs to do the walk-through with whoever is there, and to note in the customer note when nobody was available: “No contact on site. Dry time and two remaining stains noted here and in photos.”

That note, plus the photos, is the walk-through for the manager who reads it the next morning.

Proof When Questions Come Up

Commercial clients ask questions months after the fact. “Was the second-floor hallway done in March?” “Why is there still a stain by the copier?” “Did you put the chair mats back?” With a checklist on every job, the answer is a matter of opening that address's job history and reading it. Rooms cleaned shows whether the hallway was on the visit. Stains that did not come out shows the copier stain was noted. Furniture back on blocks or tabs shows the furniture was handled.

That turns an awkward call into a quick one, and it shows the client you keep records they can rely on.

It also helps when an account changes hands on the client side. A new office manager or a new property manager inherits your account with no idea what you have been doing. A job history full of finished checklists and photos gets them up to speed in a few minutes, and makes it much less likely they go shopping for a new vendor.

A Training Tool Too

Checklists also help you as an owner. When a new tech starts running the night route alone, the checklist keeps them on the same steps your experienced techs follow. When the office reviews completed jobs, a checklist with missing steps is easy to spot and easy to coach. Consistency from tech to tech is a big part of keeping commercial accounts, which is covered in Keeping Commercial Carpet Accounts Year After Year.

The Complete Record

A finished checklist, before-and-after photos, the condition and the note together make a complete record of every commercial visit. It sits on the job, ties to the address and backs up every line on the monthly statement. Condition ratings and stains that did not come out get a closer look in the next guide. For the rest of the commercial tools, visit the CarpetBossPro commercial carpet cleaning software page.