Updates from the Leading Association for the Cleaning Industry Worldwide

Creativity: Your Pathway To Success

More and more building service contractors are struggling to survive in these difficult times. Every day new problems arise that can impact the growth, profit and success of the business, including:

• Higher insurance costs
  
• Higher payroll costs
  
• More competition
  
• Lower compensation from customers
  
• Loss of business as a result of Strategic Sourcing Programs
  

Dealing with these issues often forces us to make some painful decisions. Should I work for less profit? Reduce my staff? Or should I just get out of the business? What can be done to survive?

First of all, understand that there is no easy solution, but there are changes that can be made in order to survive, and even grow your business. At the top of the list is creativity!

For those of us who have been in the cleaning industry for a number of years, it’s not easy to reconcile ourselves to the thought that we need to become creative. There are still many employers who are not using creativity to address the problems impacting their businesses.

Following are some creative ideas that may be implemented in your company.

Proposals
Over the years, have your proposal packages remained the same? When I was with Disney, I had the opportunity to review many proposal packages. I always separated the bids from the proposals. Which one do you submit? If your answer to any of these questions is no, then you might be submitting bids:

• Can you explain the plan for cleaning the facility to the prospect?
  
• Do you analyze the facility’s statistics and incorporate the needs of the prospect before creating a proposal?
  
• Do you provide a customized proposal for each prospect?
  

I can’t count the number of times I have seen contractors include work that was not applicable — to the facility — in their specifications (i.e., nightly cleaning of elevators in a single-story building). So, as you tour the facility or talk with the contact, make sure you comprehend which areas the prospect is satisfied and dissatisfied with. Note these areas in your proposal so you can address them when negotiating with bidders.

Diversification
You should also be creative in diversifying the services you offer prospective customers, as well as those you provide for present customers. Many contractors are experiencing reduced profit margins, but what better way to maintain or increase profits within the walls of our present customers than by offering additional services?

I mentioned that Strategic Sourcing Programs being implemented by your current customers may be a reason for some loss of business. Your customers have identified extreme cost savings by bundling services and using a single source service provider. Granted you probably do not provide security, mechanical, pest control, or landscaping services, but why not be creative and partner with a company (or companies) with a good reputation for providing those services?

Partnering and Alliances
Forming partnerships and alliances is another creative way to succeed in today’s business environment. Many contractors are losing business because they are not able to service regional or national accounts, or because they can’t offer diversified services.

I have met a number of contractors who say that because of their high quality of work, they have been offered the opportunity to clean an entire region of locations, but they did not have the ability to provide the same quality of service on a regional basis. Consequently, many times contractors lose the business.

Partnering with your employees is yet another good idea, because it enables you to take advantage of their creativity. If there is a need to increase productivity in order to absorb increased costs in an account, who knows the account activity better then the employees who clean on a nightly basis? They are familiar with the traffic patterns and the areas in which production can be increased. You will find that including employees in the equation makes for an easier transition, and they become an important part of the process.

Future
For those of us who have invested many years in the cleaning industry, it is sometimes easy to say we’ve had enough. But instead of passing the baton on to the energetic next generation, why not think in terms of raising the bar? Our experience combined with the energies of the next generation of contractors is a formula that can result in the creativity needed to be successful.

— By Ron Segura. Segura has been in the cleaning industry for more than 30 years. He is president of Segura & Associates, a consulting company that specializes in assisting companies on how to maximize profits in a downed economy. Contact him at 714-585-3986.