The Complete Guide to Keeping Your Reception Area Clean

Having your office regularly cleaned is essential. Not only does it help prevent the spread of diseases, but it creates a pleasant space for both staff and customers to spend time in.

However, there’s one place businesses often neglect: their reception areas.

Dorset Commercial Cleaners have cleaned hundreds of office blocks across the South of England. In this guide, our experts explain why having a neat reception is important for your business’ reputation, and share some top tips for keeping your reception area spotless.

Why is keeping your reception area clean important?

1. It makes for a good first impression

Visitors in your reception area will most likely find themselves alone for several minutes, or even up to an hour. This gives them plenty of time to look around and start building an opinion of your business.

You can prepare for an important meeting as much as possible, but if your reception area is dirty or cluttered, your visitor won’t be impressed. On the other hand, a welcoming workspace will give you a better chance of starting the relationship on the right foot.

2. It enhances your employees’ wellbeing

When your employees walk into your office in the morning, they don’t want to be greeted by yesterday’s mess. A clean and tidy workspace will boost morale and reassure them that the business values their comfort and wellbeing. It will also remind them that they are part of something professional, important, and successful.

3. It reflects positively on you and your business

The cleanliness of your reception reflects on your entire company.

An untidy reception will make potential clients question your professional organisation skills, as well as the organisation of your business at large. It will also make people doubt the quality of your service - if your own workspace is neglected, how can they trust that the work you do for them will be up to scratch?

Top tips for keeping your reception area clean

Now that you know why having a clean reception is important, here are our top tips for making sure your reception stays a clean, comfortable, and pleasant space to be.

1. Give your reception a deep clean

If it’s been a long time since your reception last received a deep clean, now’s the time to arrange for one.

Although people usually spend less time in receptions, you’d be surprised how much dust and dirt builds up on surfaces.

Make sure your housekeepers are including your reception in their regular cleaning rounds. Bins should be emptied, counters wiped down, and floors mopped or vacuumed.

At Dorset Commercial Cleaning, we specialise in cleaning offices of all types. You can trust us to thoroughly clean all areas of your workspace, from its reception to its bathrooms, leaving it clean and fresh throughout the week. To get a competitively-priced quote on our services, call us on 01202 986700.

2. Declutter your space

A cramped, claustrophobic reception area will put your visitors on edge and make them doubt the professionalism of your business. To avoid this, you should:

• Remove anything that does not need to be there, like file cabinets or product samples. This will make the room look neater and more spacious, as well as make it easier to navigate.
• Replace big and bulky furniture with sleeker, smaller pieces. You could free up space by switching out a big corner sofa with two or three modern chairs, for example.
• If you’re really stuck for space, consider replacing your welcome desk with a mounted tablet for checking in. Not only does this save space, but it makes your business look modern and tech-savvy.

3. Refresh your flooring

Reception areas see heavy traffic, both from visitors and employees, and require frequent mopping or vacuuming to keep clean. A doormat will encourage people to wipe their feet before entering, making your floors easier to clean down the line.

Take a close look at your carpet or floorboards - do they look damaged or worn down? Do your floorboards creak when stepped on, or does your carpet look lumpy and hard?

If so, it may be time to have your flooring replaced. This will breathe new life into your room, and will let you swap out your current flooring style with something more modern.

4. Eliminate bad odours

Nothing clears people out of a room faster than a bad odour, and a reception area is no different.

Stale coffee and microwaved lunches leave behind a lingering smell that’s hard to ignore. To prevent this, forbid eating in reception and make sure the space is well ventilated, with plenty of access to fresh air.

You could even light a few scented candles to make the room smell nice - just make sure not to light anything too strong smelling, as this could be overpowering for some people.

5. Add conveniences

Once you’ve cleaned and decluttered your space, it’s time to enhance it with conveniences like:

• Bins
• Water cooler
• Coat rack
• Umbrella holder
• Magazines
• Hand sanitiser

This will help keep your reception clean and tidy in the future, as well as make it a more comfortable space for your visitors.

Get a quote from Dorset’s leading commercial cleaners

Whether your reception serves ten or a hundred people a day, our professional contract cleaners will make sure every corner is sparkling. Our highly trained staff will clean every nook and cranny of your workspace, so you can be confident visitors will get a great first impression of your business.

If you think your reception area would benefit from a deep clean by a professional commercial cleaning service, get a quote online or by calling us on 01202 986700!