Keeping all outside areas clean and properly maintained is becoming increasingly recognized as an important element of successful business property management. Studies have shown that cleanliness ranks as a top factor in determining where people shop, and external cleanliness is seen by many as equally important as that of the interior of the building.

Gauging customer loss due to having unkempt grounds is harder to pin down, however, than doing a similar assessment for a business’ interior. The number of people who choose not to patronize a particular business establishment or mall because they ‘don’t like the looks’ is almost a complete unknown, since it is a choice made by many before they ever park and come inside.

In today’s highly competitive market, business property managers can’t afford the tarnished image caused by cutting back on exterior grounds maintenance, and regular sweeping is arguably the most important component contributing to overall looks. Following are some of the many reasons why it is so important to retain a sweeping contractor on an ongoing basis:

• Outside parking areas are where business owners hope their
  potential customers will derive an initially favorable ‘first
  impression.’ The appearance of the outside area also projects an
  image of how the rest of the facility will be operated. If the
  exterior maintenance is slipshod, then potential customers might
  well expect the internal cleanliness and other affairs of the
  mall or business to be poorly run as well.

• People like to patronize the successful. Clearly, all businesses
  would choose to have a clean parking area, all other
  considerations aside. The unwillingness or inability to keep a
  particular area cleaned projects an image of not being
  successful.

• Shopping centers are finding maintenance of market share to be
  an increasingly competitive proposition. It’s virtually
  impossible to develop or retain the desired competitive edge if
  the grounds on the exterior of the business are unkept.

• Even the most beautiful landscaping is negated by a parking lot
  cluttered with debris. If the parking area contains debris which
  might puncture a tire, people hesitate to venture in, due to the
  potential for tire damage.

• Correct management of storm water runoff is a big factor for
  owners of parking areas today. Sweeping is a Best Management
  Practice (BMP) for storm water runoff, and a structured sweeping
  program can help to ensure the business is doing all it can to
  minimize pollutants in its storm water runoff stream.

• When a parking area is clean to begin with, shoppers are less
  likely to throw trash out of their cars when they come to shop.

• Sand, dirt and other trash are abrasive, and will shorten the
  useful life of pavement, as well as the length of service time
  of any seal coating, striping, etc.

• The professionalism of the local business community at large is
  a composite of the individual images projected by each of the
  businesses within it. When people have several places in a
  particular neighborhood or township where they feel comfortable
  shopping, traffic is increased throughout the entire general
  area.

• When a parking area remains unswept for a long enough period, it
  will attract rodents and other potentially disease-carrying or
  dangerous animals.

• Keeping litter picked up reduces the chances of slip-and-fall
  injuries, as well as the business property’s potential liability
  in any resultant lawsuits.

• When dirt is allowed to stay on pavement, it quickly starts
  deteriorating the paving material. This is especially true when
  enough dirt collects to start plants growing, since their roots
  cause cracking in cement and asphalt. Replacement costs for
  pavement far exceed the routine expense of sweeping.