A recent survey conducted by AlturaSolutions Communications reports that nearly 57 percent of distributors believe the second half of 2013 will be better than the first half. Nine percent believe the remaining months of 2013 will get worse, while 35 percent do not expect any major changes either way.
 
According to these distributors, the market segment that has shown the greatest sales improvement this year over 2012 was “private offices” (41 percent). This was followed by:
• Hotel/hospitality (19 percent)
• Health care (18 percent)
• Government (5 percent)
• Unspecified “other” segments (which made up the balance)

The survey also asked distributors what market segments have declined compared to 2012. At the top of the list was education (33 percent), followed by government (24 percent). Making up the remainder were, in this order, hospitality, health care and private offices.
 
“We were interested in finding out what add-on services end-customers are now asking of jan/san distributors,” says Leah Runge, marketing director for AFFLINK’s eLev8 process. “While a quarter of the distributors said the main add-on service they are asked to help end-customers with is floor care, the second-highest category (23 percent0 was workloading. This is something we are increasingly focusing on with our members and their end-customers.
 
Workloading is a technique that allows cleaning workers and facility managers to more accurately determine staffing levels, costs, and cleaning needs in order to maintain a facility in the most cost-effective manner possible. ISSA now includes workloading as part of its Cleaning Industry Management Standard (CIMS) program.
 
“We were also pleased to see that most of the distributors (40 percent) said more end-customers are purchasing new equipment instead of repairing old machines,” adds Runge. “This is significant and shows that many end customers have greater confidence in the future as well.”