Do You Provide Service or Satisfaction?

customer serviceHere’s a problem shared by many cleaning contractors when it comes to customer loyalty. While they provide an acceptable service for their clients, they often do not take it to the next level, ensuring true customer satisfaction—and thus customer loyalty, one of the ultimate goals of any contract cleaning or service business.

“Acceptable service” essentially means you are simply meeting the expectations of your agreement with your client. “Satisfaction,” however, requires taking the level of service above and beyond the service agreement.

Achieving a Customer Satisfaction

So how do you get to this higher level of customer satisfaction and loyalty? One of the first things you must do is engage with your customers. Now, today we hear the term “engage” quite a bit, especially as it refers to reaching customers through social media. But that is not what I mean here.

What I mean is face-to-face customer interaction: for example, doing walk-throughs with your clients; suggesting ways your clients might improve their facility operations; discussing ways they can save water, energy, reduce waste, or promote recycling; and suggesting additional services that can help make their facility cleaner and healthier.

Going from service to satisfaction by way of face-to-face customer interactions is an issue in any service business, but it becomes more complicated in professional cleaning because most of our work is done in the evening after our customers have already headed home for the day. But that is no excuse for not meeting with your customers. The worst thing you can do, especially as it pertains to customer satisfaction and loyalty, is to essentially disappear and not be seen. It is very important for the customer to see you and meet with you and for there to be ongoing customer engagement.

This should sound like a reasonable suggestion for most contract cleaners, and it is one that is vitally important. Several years ago, Allegiance, a Utah-based customer feedback and loyalty firm, conducted a survey to determine the difference between service and real customer satisfaction. They found that engagement is necessary because it results in an “emotional bond or attachment . . . and it develops as a result of . . . repeated and ongoing interactions.”*

Establishing a Service Culture

Recently, an acquaintance told me that he decided to look for another housecleaning service. His current vendor was OK, but they were “just doing the job.” He had met with some of his vendor’s cleaning people, and he could feel a lack of enthusiasm in the staff.

He was referred to another service and was surprised right from the start with the level of service. The service’s cleaning professionals would send him text messages, reminding him they would be coming to his home at a certain time; they took detailed notes of the cleaning needs of the house; they thoroughly discussed what kind of work they would do each visit; and, most important, these words were put into action. “These folks were cleaning oriented and people oriented,” said my friend. “And their positive attitude has been reflected in their more detailed work.”

So, how do we develop cleaning-oriented and people-oriented custodial workers? In most all cases, these skills have to be taught. Along with learning how to clean, cleaning workers must also learn basic customer service principals and the importance of their role in providing service that goes beyond the call of duty, to actual customer satisfaction. And this is not a one-time training. Customer service excellence is attained and maintained with ongoing training. This is how a true service culture takes root.

We should note that, as this service culture evolves, one of the best ways to foster its growth is to recognize individuals or teams that have made a significant contribution to customer satisfaction. And this should not be done just with words. It is far better and more effective for those given such a distinction to be awarded a certificate or plaque that can be displayed proudly.

These strategies are designed to transform an acceptable cleaning service into one that provides true customer satisfaction and, with it, customer loyalty. Along with the steps discussed here, there is one more thing that is vital in making customer loyalty a reality: achieving customer satisfaction must be a business priority. After all, this is a reflection of who you are and what your business is all about.

 

Segura & Associates works with all types of organizations helping them operate their facilities in a healthier, more sustainable, and more efficient manner. Click here to contact Segura & Associates

 

* “The Difference Between ‘Satisfaction’ and ‘Loyalty,’” ABA Bank Marketing, by Bruce Clapp, March 1, 2008.