Let’s be honest for a moment. Who is the most visible representative of your property's management, who are your brand ambassadors?
It isn't you. You’re in the office, handling lease renewals, and dealing with board requests. It isn’t your maintenance lead, who is busy responding to work orders.
The most consistent, daily representative of your property’s promise to its residents is the person pushing a vacuum down the main hallway. It's the person wiping down the stainless steel in the lobby. It’s the team responsible for the fitness centre, the mailroom, and the elevators.
And if you’re still thinking of that team as just “the janitors,” you’re making a strategic mistake. You’re managing a vendor when you should be cultivating a team of ambassadors.
For decades, property managers have been taught to treat cleaning as a commodity. You get three bids, pick the one in the middle, and hope for the best. The relationship is transactional. You have a checklist of duties, and the vendor is supposed to check the boxes.
But this approach is the root cause of so many problems.
A vendor relationship encourages a "not my job" attitude. The goal is to complete the list and go home. A revolving door of new faces is common because the work is treated as interchangeable labour. These individuals have no connection to your property, your residents, or your standards. They are, by design, outsiders. And your residents can feel it.
An ambassador, on the other hand, understands they represent something bigger. They aren’t just cleaning a gym; they are upholding the value of a key amenity. They aren’t just wiping a counter; they are maintaining the first impression of a resident's home. They take ownership because they are treated as a vital part of the building's success, not as a disposable line item.
When you have a "vendor," you get vendor-level problems.
You get inconsistent service because a new person has to learn the nuances of your building every few weeks. They don’t know that the west-facing windows get streaky in the afternoon or that the third-floor trash chute needs extra attention on weekends. You, the property manager, end up managing these details yourself.
When you cultivate "ambassadors," you get a different set of outcomes.
You get stability. You see the same trusted, professional faces day after day. Your residents feel more secure. The cleaning team learns your property's rhythms. They start to spot a flickering light in the garage or a scuff mark in the hallway and report it before a resident has to complain. They become a proactive part of your asset management team, not just a reactive cleaning crew.
This isn't a fantasy. It's the direct result of partnering with a company that invests in its people and understands their role is about more than just cleaning.
Shifting from a vendor mindset to an ambassador mindset isn't just about making your life easier. It’s about protecting your investment and driving financial results.
Think about resident retention. Residents with a high-quality lease don't typically leave over a reasonable rent increase. They leave because of a thousand little frustrations. They leave because the gym is never quite clean, because the hallways feel dingy, or because they feel management is unresponsive to the small details that make up their living experience.
A team of cleaning ambassadors directly tackles this. They create a clean, cared-for environment that makes residents proud to live there. This drastically improves retention. And every lease you don't have to turn over saves you thousands in marketing, painting, and lost rent.
Now think about property value. A building with a reputation for being impeccably maintained can command higher fees and achieve better resale values. That reputation isn't built from a flashy brochure; it's built day by day, in the hallways, elevators, and common areas. Your cleaning team is on the front line of building—or eroding—that reputation.
It’s time to change the question. Stop asking, "How can I get the cheapest price for cleaning?"
Start asking, "Is my cleaning partner providing me with labour, or are they cultivating ambassadors for my community?"
Look at your current situation. Do you have a stable, professional team that takes ownership, or a revolving door of strangers just checking boxes? Does your service partner talk about their training programs and retention rates, or just their hourly rates?
Your cleaning crew is the living, breathing embodiment of your management’s standards. Treat them as the brand ambassadors they should be, and you’ll stop managing complaints and start building real value.