The same certificate, sent for the fifth time this year
A managing agent emails: before your next visit, please upload your current public liability certificate, your method statement for the block and the training certificates of the operatives attending. A school asks for the same insurance certificate and something different: a signed copy of their contractor rules. A facilities company's supplier portal says your accreditation has expired, and your work orders are suspended until you upload the renewal.
The documents exist. They are in an email from your broker, a folder on your laptop, a photo on a cleaner's phone and a filing cabinet. Each request means finding the latest version, checking it is in date and sending it in whatever way the client wants. The accreditation renewal came through weeks ago; nobody uploaded it.
Documents expire, clients ask differently, and nobody owns it
Commercial clients have their own supplier rules, and each one asks in its own way. Small window cleaning firms have no one whose job it is to keep the file current.
- Documents are stored in several places, in several versions.
- Expiry dates for insurance, accreditations and training are not tracked.
- Each client wants different documents, sent in different ways.
- Method statements and risk assessments are written per site and hard to find later.
- Supplier portals suspend work when something lapses, often without much warning.
What your documents should say, and what insurance or accreditation you hold, are for you, your broker and your advisers. We make sure the right current version reaches the right client.
Suspended work orders and time lost to paperwork
A lapsed document in a client's portal can stop work orders arriving, which is income lost for a reason unrelated to the quality of your cleaning. Every request that takes an hour to answer is time taken from the round. And a client who has to chase you for documents starts to see you as a riskier supplier than you are.
One document store that knows what each client needs
We build a document store for your business, often using storage you already have, such as Microsoft 365 or Google Drive, with a thin layer on top.
- Every document is stored once, as the current version, with its type, issue date and expiry date, and older versions archived.
- Operatives' training records sit on each person's record, with expiry dates.
- Each commercial client has a profile listing the documents they require, how they want them (email, portal upload, their own form) and when they expect updates.
- Reminders go to you ahead of each expiry, and again when a renewed document needs sending to clients who require it.
- When a client asks, you choose the client and the documents are gathered in one step, ready to email or download for their portal.
- Site-specific method statements are stored against the site, so the latest one is always the one you send.
| Request | Today | With the document store |
|---|---|---|
| Insurance certificate | Search email for the broker's PDF | Current version, one click |
| Training records for today's operatives | Ask the cleaners for photos | On each operative's record |
| Accreditation renewal | Uploaded late, if at all | Reminder to send to every client that needs it |
| Site method statement | Which version is latest? | Stored against the site |
| New client onboarding | A day of gathering | Pack assembled from the store |
Requests answered in minutes
Clients get what they ask for quickly and in date. Portals stay green, so work orders keep coming. You know weeks ahead what is about to expire. And onboarding a new commercial client becomes a matter of choosing which documents to send, rather than a day of searching.
On a normal week, the only document work is the occasional reminder: a training certificate expiring next month, or a client asking for their annual update. Both take minutes.
Is document admin catching you out?
- You search email every time a client asks for your insurance certificate.
- A client portal has flagged something of yours as expired.
- Operatives' training records are photos on phones.
- You are not sure which method statement is current for each site.
- Onboarding a new commercial client takes a day of paperwork.