About HOTT

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE and WHY


  • 1. How long has HOTT Associates been in business?
      • We have been in business for 13 years, as HOTT Associates was founded in 1996. We are very stable financially, and would be happy to discuss this issue further if you need more detailed information.

  • 2. What is our Organizational Structure?
      • HOTT is a Chapter S Corporation.

  • 3. Are you a Franchise?
      • HOTT Associates is an independent entity, unaffiliated with any other company and/or parent company. HOTT is not a franchise.

  • 4. Locally owned or National?
      • HOTT is locally owned, headquartered in downtown Cleveland.

  • 5. What is the structure and size of HOTT?
      • HOTT Associates consists of about 110 employees, depending on the week in question. Our office staff consists of three full-time persons and one part-time person; all of the rest of our employees are “field personnel”.

  • 6. Who are HOTT’s Key Staff members?
      • See the ‘HOTT Staff Profile’ Tab.

  • 7. Who works at HOTT Associates?
      • HOTT’s staff is second to none. Our staff is mature: the average age of a HOTT employee is about 45 years old. We are ethnically diverse: 1/3 of our staff is of European descent, 1/3 of the staff is of Spanish descent and 1/3 were born and raised in the United States. We are legal: all of our employees have the proper paperwork and ID’s to be eligible for work in the US. Our staff is also very experienced. The average tenure of a HOTT employee is 4.2 years, and we retain over 85% of our employees each year. And finally, our staff is well paid; our average hourly wage is more than $1.00 per hour higher than the average cleaning wage in Cleveland.

  • 8. HOTT Associates Hiring practices
      • At HOTT, the hiring process is very simple. Our owner, who is the head of operations, interviews and hires each person. While this may seem cumbersome, we believe the opposite is true. By hiring the right person the first time, we save the time and money of not hiring two more “wrong” persons. We, therefore, save our customers the agony of seeing a parade of new employees come and go from their office until the right person is found, and we save time not filling out paperwork and taking persons on and off the payroll. Hiring is more consistent because we do not have multiple persons looking for different traits when hiring personnel. At HOTT, we promote from within and with referrals. In fact, we give our employees a $50.00 bonus for each “referral” that makes it through their probationary period. To complete the hiring system, each employee is given a company handbook as soon as they become a HOTT employee.

  • 9. Is HOTT a Minority-owned company?
      • HOTT Associates is not an official, minority-owned company. HOTT’s staff is, however, over 65% women.

  • 10. What are HOTT’s billing procedures?
      • The normal, routine invoices are generated the first week of each month. Quick Books software is used to produce a professional invoice, and to facilitate financial reporting and open-invoice tracking.

      Project invoices are sent out bi-weekly after the payroll has been completed. These invoices include a detailed, computer-generated backup, to make it easy for our customers to understand and pay their bills.

  • 11. Cleaning Experience with Medical Facilities
      • Our experience in medical facility cleaning is extensive. We clean six facilities (medical offices) that total over 300,000 s.f. In addition, we clean a 135-bed nursing home that totals more than 120,000 s.f. More importantly, our results at these facilities are excellent. We have cleaned in five of these buildings for more than five years, including one facility where we have cleaned for over 10 years. In addition, we are experts at working with the medical staffs (and accompanying personalities) at these types of facilities.

  • 12. Cleaning Experience at Schools & Day Cares
      • We do have experience in these facilities. We currently clean Magnificat High School. At Magnificat, we have engineered a total system for cleaning a school. We would be happy to discuss this with you.

  • 13. Office Cleaning Experience
      • HOTT currently cleans more than 2 million square feet of office space, of varying types. We clean headquarters, research facilities, government offices, medical offices and public areas.

  • 14. Do you have a list of Local References?
      • See the ‘Our Clients’ tab.

  • 15. What services are available from HOTT?
      • See the ‘Services’ tab.

  • 16. What features make HOTT outstanding?
      • Mature, carefully-chosen employees who care about our customers and who take their jobs seriously. In addition, as we noted in #7 above, our cleaners are paid well. The results are amazing: our rate of absenteeism is very low, below 3% per day. At HOTT, our mature crew is at work, every day.

      We Engineer the cleaning plan; we plan to succeed. We execute the plan well and we carefully inspect the work. Then we improve the process via Kaizen.

      HOTT’s Operational model:
        • For the competition, the modus operandi is that the supervisor is the backup cleaning crew.

        • Why? Because at the competition, the absentee rate is over 10% per day (double or triple HOTT’s rate!). This translates into one simple fact; their supervisors have to clean almost every day.

        • At HOTT, our supervisors are hired to train the crew, to interface with you (our customer), to inspect your facility and to make sure every worker has the tools needed to do their job.

        • This is what our supervisors do, every day. This is a tremendous benefit for you, your tenants and also for HOTT.

      Our customer service is way beyond what the competition provides; we are readily available, we return messages and e-mails promptly and we solve your problems effectively. Please ask our customers, for they will all tell you a similar story about working with HOTT.

      Proven results speak for themselves; we have very few complaints and HOTT has never lost an account due to quality issues.

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REASONS TO CHOOSE HOTT ASSOCIATES, INC. AS YOUR SERVICE COMPANY

We are an Ohio Company providing Janitorial and related Services utilizing

"The Engineered Approach to Cleaning"

This unique method results in high-quality housekeeping at a reasonable price

HOTT listens to prospective clients to determine:

    * Their needs & preferences 
    * The problems they have experienced with other companies
    * Their priorities and price requirements
    * What they expect from a contractor

HOTT develops the cleaning plan using layouts and complete on-site inspections. These analyses provide our experienced staff with the data to be used in computer-aided work loading of the areas to be cleaned. The result is a plan that includes the time to clean the facility, as well as the equipment and materials required to meet the cleaning standard. Finally, HOTT customizes the plan to accommodate the client's economic needs.

HOTT installs the engineered schedules utilizing one-on-one training. HOTT insures the quality of cleaning with a documented inspection system. Then HOTT's experienced staff follows-up to resolve concerns and questions promptly.

HOTT's management team has over 74 years experience providing housekeeping services. This team consists of an Industrial Engineer, a Certified Professional Housekeeper and a Registered Nurse. We are "hands on" and involved in all phases of service to our Clients.

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Customer Service

HOTT was created to do things differently and better. HOTT views its customers and employees differently than other companies. At HOTT, we have successfully integrated small business “community” with large business “professionalism”. HOTT cares about all members of its family.

HOTT sees Engineering as the key component to providing the proper staffing, procedures and materials needed to solve your Service needs.

HOTT's corporate structure and staff has been designed to provide Prompt Response to unforeseen needs.

HOTT has the Management Expertise to meet both your current and future needs.

At HOTT, your Quote is prepared by the same personnel who will implement the engineered cleaning plan. We do not have a commissioned Sales Department, completely isolated from operations, preparing your quote.

HOTT's excellent service lets you forget about cleaning your facility, and allows you to concentrate on your other numerous duties. If and when a problem does occur, our customer service is second to none!

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HOTT ASSOCIATES STAFF

Maria Peicu is the President of HOTT which she has owned for over 13 years. She is a Certified Professional Housekeeper with more than 24 years experience in Cleaning Management. This experience, coupled with her dedication and professionalism, continues to guide HOTT’s steady growth. Maria’s excellent hiring and personnel skills are a key component of HOTT’s success. She has amazing empathy for her customers and knows well how to best serve them.

Brian Schindler is a graduate Industrial Engineer who has worked as Vice President at HOTT for five years. Brian worked with the former owner, Howard Ott, at two major cleaning companies, from whom he learned in detail the "Engineered Approach to Cleaning". Since that time, Brian has held positions as Cleaning Manager with a national company, as Plant Manager at a metal fabricating company, and also is part owner of a powder coating company.

Dianne Kish heads up Administration at HOTT, where she has worked for nine years. She brings to HOTT the knowledge and experience gained in the accounting departments of a major US bank, a major Real Estate Developer, and a leading janitorial company. She is HOTT's self-appointed Ambassador of Good Will, for she brings good humor to all she encounters.

Edward Stephens has been employed by HOTT Associates for more than 12 years. His cleaning experience began when he served as a sergeant in the Army, where his eye for detail served him well. Since that time, he has been a part of the cleaning industry for more than 30 years. Ed has extensive experience in all phases of carpet care, hard floor care, routine cleaning and construction cleaning. Ed has been the manager in charge of Construction cleanups for the entire duration of his tenure at HOTT.

Judy Riemenschneider joined HOTT in 2005, where her zeal for cleaning is second to none! Her career as a Registered Nurse provided valuable experience in the cleaning and sanitizing of medical facilities. Her duties at HOTT include part-time sales, contacting customers, assisting in account startups and helping develop procedures for cleaning in medical facilities.

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