Just Showing Up Isn't Good Enough

In the late 1980s, I took a job as vice president for a cleaning-product manufacturer. One of my new neighbors was director of environmental services for the local hospital, who invited me to attend a meeting of his professional association. What a break, I thought. By being introduced by my friend, I would surely have an inside track!

The meeting had about 50 people, but the vendors actually outnumbered the facility people. Needless to say, I didn’t have the inside track I thought I did. This didn’t make my ideas “bad,” but it demonstrated the challenges of translating a good idea into business success, and the value of timing and opportunity. Sometimes, just showing up isn’t enough to succeed, unless we can offer some unique value or meet some unmet need.

The same is true in contracting, where some companies have the inside track and continue to grow by claiming to be the oldest, biggest or cheapest. It’s actually hard to come up with a business description, value or need to fulfill that no one else has thought of, plus one that we can demonstrate to be true, and is important enough to get our potential customers to change.

We exist in a very mature industry, which among other things means we typically aren’t explaining why buildings should be cleaned. Rather, we are trying to convince customers to change from their current contractor to our company.

They have listened to sales people for years telling them how they could reduce their cost, but no one has talked to them about green. No one! As a matter of fact, the building owner/manager may actually be excited to finally have someone explain to them what all the commotion is about. Not only can green get you in the door, it creates unique value and addresses an unmet need.

Green cleaning standards
But, if you choose to employ "green" to differentiate yourself from the "we can reduce your cost" companies, please make sure you’ve done your homework. Green cleaning is simply defined as ‘cleaning to protect health without harming the environment.’ It is based on a limited number of nationally recognized standards in the industry, for cleaning chemicals, other chemicals, paper products and vacuums. These include standards from Green Seal for general-purpose, glass and washroom cleaners; the California Code of Regulations for other chemicals; the Environmental Protection Agency for paper products and can liners, and the Carpet & Rug Institute for vacuum cleaners.

For us to succeed, we have to clearly show customers something different. This is exactly what green cleaning represents. It’s new, so the timing is great, and it can be a unique opportunity for you to translate a good idea in business success.