Following last week's post, several people asked about paying straight commission to BSC sales people. That certainly is one way to pay although not used often in our industry.
I personally never used a straight commission structure or had anyone apply that knew anything about this industry that wanted a straight commission career with me. With a 90-120 day lead time usually needed to make the call, do the walk through, present the proposal and secure the signed agreement, the sales representative needs quite a cash reserve until worthwhile sales begin to be made. In addition, in the early months, if the representative comes from outside the industry, it may be difficult to get the sales at a consistently high level to provide any sort of straight commission income.
An exception, of course, might be that successful sales person you secure from a competitor that already has contacts. But then there is usually the issue of a non-compete contract that they have signed with their previous employer so you are unable to take advantage of the contacts they may have. By the way, I have been on both sides of non-compete employment contracts and am a firm believer in them if they are properly constructed. I offer absolutely no legal advice on them but am a believer in them.
A discussion on sales people would not be complete without a brief dissertation on vehicle allowance payments. I have used methods where I provided a car and also where the sales person provided their own vehicle and received a monthly allowance. In the words of the late New York Yankee manager Billy Martin when he appeared in the old Miller Lite beer commercials, "I feel very strongly both ways".
When you provide the car you are in control of the appearance your company makes and you can also be comfortable knowing the vehicle is properly insured as well as maintained if you are paying all expenses.
If the sales person provides their own vehicle, that assurance is not always there. You have to make sure they carry the proper limits on insurance and you need to keep an insurance certificate on file which sometimes slips the minds of even the best managers.
Gas prices are one of the most volatile parts of our economy so the entire discussion of whether the company provides the vehicle or the sales person provides their own is one that requires very careful research as it is a MAJOR investment.
As far as which pay structure to use, that is up to the individual company but I used successfully a salary plus commission program in harmony with one or more methods of executive brief and hit list mailings on a regular basis for support of the sales effort as well as periodic customer/prospect industry update luncheons.
I have on previous occasions discussed providing appropriate support to the sales people and then expecting them to produce. I think it is critical that you develop, with their input, weekly, monthly, and yearly expectations of the business you expect them to produce. I recommend an every Monday morning or Friday morning "sales meeting" to review where you are and the plans of where you are going. Good sales people hate meetings unless they are meeting a prospect, but keep in mind, your Operations and Human Resource departments need to know at all times what sales proposals are being delivered, the status of existing proposals, and which ones are a "definite maybe" to close soon.I personally had every Monday morning conference calls with each sales person in each city in which we operated. We limited them to 30 minutes each and found them to be very productive. We stayed on the subject of sales only. You see, they couldn't sell me anything and I wanted them in front of suspects and prospects as much as possible. Most professional, effective sales people will keep the Operations and Human Resource departments very busy.
As I close this discussion on compensating sales people, I want to emphasize the importance of a coordinated effort of the selling process. I know that I have mentioned it before but if you want to be really successful in your efforts you need to produce support in targeted mailings to specific markets you want to penetrate. You also need to target specific accounts within those markets with specialized mailings and meetings.
And don't forget, sales people are employed to SELL, not to send out mailings, do telemarketing, put together sales proposals etc. If they are not in front of prospects they cannot close a sale. Good sales people won't stay with you if they are asked to do all this support work. Bad sales people will love it because they then have an excuse for not making their sales quota. Which sales person would you rather have?
Don't forget our weekly pod cast at www.tripodcast.com. It's free and only takes about 5 minutes of your time each week.
Till next time.
Saturday, June 23, 2012
Thursday, June 14, 2012
HOW SHOULD I PAY MY SALES PEOPLE
I wish I had a dollar for every time a BSC has asked me that question. This area is one of the most discussed areas in all of cleaningdom. Do I pay salary only? Salary plus commission? Commission only? If commission, how much? So let's review a few compensation plans and give you my personal favorites and why.
SALARY ONLY
My opinion of this method is that if a sales representative wants a "salary only" position they are not confident of their ability to bring business in the door. If you agree to pay them in this manner you will almost always end up making them a "former" sales person and the only one who made any money was them. I strongly recommend this method not be used.
SALARY PLUS COMMISSION
Nearly all of the companies I have familiarity with use some variation of this method. It usually consists of a negotiated "livable" base salary plus a car allowance.
Determining the commission structure is usually the tricky part. There are probably about as many types of commission plans being used as there are sales people. Here are a few plans that I am aware of:
------The sales representative receives a percentage of the first months billing payable 30 to 45 days after the contract is started. The percentage can be anywhere from 15% to 40%. The important issue here is there needs to be a check and balance as to pricing of the contract. Many organizations require that before a proposal can be presented, the ownership, operations, and sales departments have to "officially" initial that they have reviewed and approved the pricing. If disagreements occur, they are discussed and then agreed upon BEFORE the presentation is made to the prospect.
------Here the commission paid is a percentage of gross profit that has been agreed upon, again by all departments prior to the sales presentation to the prospect. The amount of commission can be 1, 2, or 3 months gross profit or a percentage of 1,2, or 3 months gross profit.
This method has to have certain guidelines as to "is the gross profit amount agreed to before the sale or is it paid on the actual gross profit generated"?. The first method requires the Operations department to deliver what everyone agreed to whereas the second method pays the sales person on what the Operations department actually delivered. You can imagine the disagreements that can occur if the Operations department doesn't deliver what they agreed to deliver.
------This method pays a percentage of one months contract billing based on the actual labor performed in the second month of the contract AND the percentage will be different dependent on types of accounts sold. Here again, a requirement is that ownership, operations, and sales agree on the projected labor and selling price prior to the presentation being made.
The reason for the different percentages allows for the company to direct the sales department toward the types of accounts it wants in its portfolio. For example, if you are wanting to expand your industrial or medical account base you would increase the percentage of commission paid as well as increasing it on higher volume at acceptable lower labor costs.
I used this method for several years very effectively and it allowed us to increase our customer base AND DO IT PROFITABLY in the areas we wanted to grow. We paid handsome commissions but we also accomplished what we wanted. Our sales people liked it as well because it really focused them on the types of accounts to spend their time on. We paid almost nothing for retail and tenant occupied buildings because that was not our focus. We concentrated on owner occupied, industrial and medical facilities and the system work very well.
Because our company relied very heavily on selling consumables to our customers we also paid the sales person commission on those type of sales made to the customer for a certain period of time--usually 1 year. We did not ask the sales person to make calls to obtain the consumable sales. They were to negotiate that with the contract sale and then our operations department took it from there. This was a very nice add on, profitable business for us.
------This method pays an ongoing monthly commission for as long as the company has the account. This provides for the sales representative to receive 1,2, or 3 percent of the monthly billing with no more selling needed to that account. Some companies will ask the sales representative to make customer relations calls to justify the monthly commission. Want to start a real fight in your organization? Have the sales person make those calls. It creates havoc in the organization AND it keeps the sales person from doing what you are paying them to do---SELL.
Some companies use a variation of this system by paying a higher amount the first year, a lesser amount the second year, and then eventually phasing out the commission completely.
I personally am not a fan of the ongoing commission structure as I believe sales people can become complacent and "get comfortable" with their salary and ongoing commission. I firmly believe you pay an attractive commission one time and provide the appropriate support of the sales people and then expect them to succeed.
In a later blog we will discuss the management of sales people as well as you can manage a good sales person, but for now I want to emphasize that you hire sales people to SELL, not put sales proposals together or do mailings etc. You want them in front of prospects closing sales not in the office doing work that the support staff should be doing. The fact is, good sales people WON'T do it. They want to be out beating the bushes.
This subject could be discussed forever but we are going to stop here and as I said earlier we'll discuss other parts of sales and sales management in future discussions.
Don't forget to listen to our weekly free tripodcast at www.tripodcast.com. We enjoy doing them and hope they are helpful to you as well.
Till next time.
Determining the commission structure is usually the tricky part. There are probably about as many types of commission plans being used as there are sales people. Here are a few plans that I am aware of:
------The sales representative receives a percentage of the first months billing payable 30 to 45 days after the contract is started. The percentage can be anywhere from 15% to 40%. The important issue here is there needs to be a check and balance as to pricing of the contract. Many organizations require that before a proposal can be presented, the ownership, operations, and sales departments have to "officially" initial that they have reviewed and approved the pricing. If disagreements occur, they are discussed and then agreed upon BEFORE the presentation is made to the prospect.
------Here the commission paid is a percentage of gross profit that has been agreed upon, again by all departments prior to the sales presentation to the prospect. The amount of commission can be 1, 2, or 3 months gross profit or a percentage of 1,2, or 3 months gross profit.
This method has to have certain guidelines as to "is the gross profit amount agreed to before the sale or is it paid on the actual gross profit generated"?. The first method requires the Operations department to deliver what everyone agreed to whereas the second method pays the sales person on what the Operations department actually delivered. You can imagine the disagreements that can occur if the Operations department doesn't deliver what they agreed to deliver.
------This method pays a percentage of one months contract billing based on the actual labor performed in the second month of the contract AND the percentage will be different dependent on types of accounts sold. Here again, a requirement is that ownership, operations, and sales agree on the projected labor and selling price prior to the presentation being made.
The reason for the different percentages allows for the company to direct the sales department toward the types of accounts it wants in its portfolio. For example, if you are wanting to expand your industrial or medical account base you would increase the percentage of commission paid as well as increasing it on higher volume at acceptable lower labor costs.
I used this method for several years very effectively and it allowed us to increase our customer base AND DO IT PROFITABLY in the areas we wanted to grow. We paid handsome commissions but we also accomplished what we wanted. Our sales people liked it as well because it really focused them on the types of accounts to spend their time on. We paid almost nothing for retail and tenant occupied buildings because that was not our focus. We concentrated on owner occupied, industrial and medical facilities and the system work very well.
Because our company relied very heavily on selling consumables to our customers we also paid the sales person commission on those type of sales made to the customer for a certain period of time--usually 1 year. We did not ask the sales person to make calls to obtain the consumable sales. They were to negotiate that with the contract sale and then our operations department took it from there. This was a very nice add on, profitable business for us.
------This method pays an ongoing monthly commission for as long as the company has the account. This provides for the sales representative to receive 1,2, or 3 percent of the monthly billing with no more selling needed to that account. Some companies will ask the sales representative to make customer relations calls to justify the monthly commission. Want to start a real fight in your organization? Have the sales person make those calls. It creates havoc in the organization AND it keeps the sales person from doing what you are paying them to do---SELL.
Some companies use a variation of this system by paying a higher amount the first year, a lesser amount the second year, and then eventually phasing out the commission completely.
I personally am not a fan of the ongoing commission structure as I believe sales people can become complacent and "get comfortable" with their salary and ongoing commission. I firmly believe you pay an attractive commission one time and provide the appropriate support of the sales people and then expect them to succeed.
In a later blog we will discuss the management of sales people as well as you can manage a good sales person, but for now I want to emphasize that you hire sales people to SELL, not put sales proposals together or do mailings etc. You want them in front of prospects closing sales not in the office doing work that the support staff should be doing. The fact is, good sales people WON'T do it. They want to be out beating the bushes.
This subject could be discussed forever but we are going to stop here and as I said earlier we'll discuss other parts of sales and sales management in future discussions.
Don't forget to listen to our weekly free tripodcast at www.tripodcast.com. We enjoy doing them and hope they are helpful to you as well.
Till next time.
Saturday, June 9, 2012
WE HAVE TRAINED PERSONNEL
How many times have you heard the phrase "We have trained personnel" or better yet, how many times have you used it yourself? It seems to be the slogan for every BSC all over the world. Now, my question is this,
Since the initial training and orientation class (if you have one), when was the last time you had all of your line technicians go through a refresher course to assure they are doing the processes and procedures that you are telling the customer you possess? Many companies (yours?) put their new employees through an orientation and then put them in the field never to provide any additional technical training. So when your employee reaches the 3 year or 5 year time of being with you they have one hours training 3 or 5 years over. Sound at all familiar?
This brings me to the issue that many BSC's have. They hire a new employee, give them the orientation and some initial technical training and then put them in the field to work with and learn from an "experienced" cleaner. And more often than not, that experienced cleaner is one that has learned to do it wrong. Oh!, they really don't mean to do it wrong, they just got into some bad habits over the months and years and no one has corrected them and so their "wrong" way of doing the procedure all of a sudden becomes the accepted way of the company and the new employee becomes an expert at doing it "wrong".
My company instituted the every 6 month program for the very reasons listed above. We were a Team Cleaning company using exclusively back packs and those of you that do Team Cleaning the accepted way know that while it is a terrific way to do a thorough job in a fraction of the time needed for zone cleaning, it can also be difficult to implement. After instituting Team Cleaning, about 3-4 months into the program I began to do random visits to our buildings to see how the procedure was working in the field. To my amazement I saw some cleaning procedures I didn't recognize and frankly, didn't want to recognize. I wondered if these were the same employees that were at the initial training. The faces looked familiar but the cleaning procedures sure didn't. Anybody had that happen to them? Anyway, I guess this negative turned into a positive because it forced us into the on going every 6 month training process (more on this later).
You may have heard me say in a workshop or read in one of my books that "on the job training is a recipe for on the job failure". Not intentionally, but it just evolves if a company doesn't have an on going follow up training policy. That brings me to my next point,
If you have not already done so I want to suggest that you implement a program whereby each employee is required to attend a 2 hour refresher course in your main office or training center every six months following their date of employment. You can hold them at different times on different days to allow for the schedules of your employees, knowing that many have other jobs, full time. Pay them to attend and one good procedure is to let one of the "experienced" cleaners teach different segments of the training. This lets you observe if they have picked up any bad habits and allows for you to correct them. Always correct in a positive, helpful fashion and not in a "gotcha" attitude. I am of the opinion that you will learn that there are all kinds of cleaning procedures taking place out in the field that you weren't aware of. I surely learned that.
At the risk of sounding too elementary let me remind you of how we remember in a learning situation. We remember,
10% of what we read
20% of what we hear
30% of what we see
50% of what we see and hear
80% of what we say
90% of what we say AS WE DO.
So it follows that you will want to involve the class in the training and let as many of them as possible teach the rest of the group by saying AND doing a procedure. It really does provide for a better learning atmosphere. That is one of the reasons I suggest you have those "old timers" involved in demonstrating the various procedures because these are probably the ones you are relying on the most and you want to make sure they are doing it right. Remember, all of us learn one step at a time.
An additional thought---make the training fun. Give prizes for correct answers and get everyone involved. I have learned through the ages that giving prizes like cash or grocery gift certificates gets all the shy ones and those feeling like they were forced to attend involved in a hurry. Amazing.
So, how about it? Do you have a follow up training program or do you just train when they are hired and then train only supervisors after that? Remember, the cleaning techs are the ones doing the work that customers are paying for. How does your staff measure up. If you don't have an ongoing technical training program, now would be a GREAT time to begin. With all the new products, including green, on the market today, your employees need to have a thorough knowledge of how to use them and that needs to come from you, and not trial and error. Happy training.
Don't forget to listen to our every Monday morning tripodcast at www.tripodcast.com. You can sign up to receive a notice whenever one is published just by entering you e-mail address and clicking the orange icon.
Since the initial training and orientation class (if you have one), when was the last time you had all of your line technicians go through a refresher course to assure they are doing the processes and procedures that you are telling the customer you possess? Many companies (yours?) put their new employees through an orientation and then put them in the field never to provide any additional technical training. So when your employee reaches the 3 year or 5 year time of being with you they have one hours training 3 or 5 years over. Sound at all familiar?
This brings me to the issue that many BSC's have. They hire a new employee, give them the orientation and some initial technical training and then put them in the field to work with and learn from an "experienced" cleaner. And more often than not, that experienced cleaner is one that has learned to do it wrong. Oh!, they really don't mean to do it wrong, they just got into some bad habits over the months and years and no one has corrected them and so their "wrong" way of doing the procedure all of a sudden becomes the accepted way of the company and the new employee becomes an expert at doing it "wrong".
My company instituted the every 6 month program for the very reasons listed above. We were a Team Cleaning company using exclusively back packs and those of you that do Team Cleaning the accepted way know that while it is a terrific way to do a thorough job in a fraction of the time needed for zone cleaning, it can also be difficult to implement. After instituting Team Cleaning, about 3-4 months into the program I began to do random visits to our buildings to see how the procedure was working in the field. To my amazement I saw some cleaning procedures I didn't recognize and frankly, didn't want to recognize. I wondered if these were the same employees that were at the initial training. The faces looked familiar but the cleaning procedures sure didn't. Anybody had that happen to them? Anyway, I guess this negative turned into a positive because it forced us into the on going every 6 month training process (more on this later).
You may have heard me say in a workshop or read in one of my books that "on the job training is a recipe for on the job failure". Not intentionally, but it just evolves if a company doesn't have an on going follow up training policy. That brings me to my next point,
If you have not already done so I want to suggest that you implement a program whereby each employee is required to attend a 2 hour refresher course in your main office or training center every six months following their date of employment. You can hold them at different times on different days to allow for the schedules of your employees, knowing that many have other jobs, full time. Pay them to attend and one good procedure is to let one of the "experienced" cleaners teach different segments of the training. This lets you observe if they have picked up any bad habits and allows for you to correct them. Always correct in a positive, helpful fashion and not in a "gotcha" attitude. I am of the opinion that you will learn that there are all kinds of cleaning procedures taking place out in the field that you weren't aware of. I surely learned that.
At the risk of sounding too elementary let me remind you of how we remember in a learning situation. We remember,
10% of what we read
20% of what we hear
30% of what we see
50% of what we see and hear
80% of what we say
90% of what we say AS WE DO.
So it follows that you will want to involve the class in the training and let as many of them as possible teach the rest of the group by saying AND doing a procedure. It really does provide for a better learning atmosphere. That is one of the reasons I suggest you have those "old timers" involved in demonstrating the various procedures because these are probably the ones you are relying on the most and you want to make sure they are doing it right. Remember, all of us learn one step at a time.
An additional thought---make the training fun. Give prizes for correct answers and get everyone involved. I have learned through the ages that giving prizes like cash or grocery gift certificates gets all the shy ones and those feeling like they were forced to attend involved in a hurry. Amazing.
So, how about it? Do you have a follow up training program or do you just train when they are hired and then train only supervisors after that? Remember, the cleaning techs are the ones doing the work that customers are paying for. How does your staff measure up. If you don't have an ongoing technical training program, now would be a GREAT time to begin. With all the new products, including green, on the market today, your employees need to have a thorough knowledge of how to use them and that needs to come from you, and not trial and error. Happy training.
Don't forget to listen to our every Monday morning tripodcast at www.tripodcast.com. You can sign up to receive a notice whenever one is published just by entering you e-mail address and clicking the orange icon.
Monday, May 28, 2012
THE MID YEAR REVIEW
As we close out May 2012 and move into June we are also closing in on the halfway point of the year. If your company is on a fiscal year you have already passed the halfway point. So...how you doing on your projections and goals for this year? Let's take a look,
Sales---Have you reached the half way point in what you projected your sales would be? Are you on target with contacting the prospects you put on your list to focus on this year. Each year we would target a group of suspects that we wanted to become prospects and then customers. We would send them periodic "hit list" mailers that really got there attention and then we followed up with a phone call to ask for a 20 minute appointment to discuss how we could mutually benefit each other. We always kept that initial appointment to 20 minutes unless the they asked us to stay. In fact, I took my watch off and laid it on the desk and told the prospect I asked for 20 minutes and would not stay past that time unless they asked me too. I only had one person ever tell me my 20 minutes was up and I could leave. I did.
Our mailings ranged from a baby metal trash can with our message inside to a pill bottle with a prescription to contact our company for relief, to a small first aid kit for the summer sun and insect bites. All of these grabbed their attention and most always got us "in the door" for an appointment. Our book, Selling Contract Cleaning Services 101 describes in detail each of these mailings and their effectiveness. If you have not tried such a campaign let me recommend you start thinking about doing it. It works. We had a criteria established for a suspect to make our list such as gross volume, profitability projections etc. Not only are these mailings effective at bringing new business in the door they are fun to do.
Operations--How you doing on keeping your labor expenses on budget? Do you have a budget? Are you monitoring the labor costs EVERY DAY or do you just look at the profit and loss each month and then cry? If you have several accounts I am suggesting that you create a report EVERY DAY that will give you the over and under on each account. Looking once a month at the labor is to late. This is your biggest expense and you need to monitor it every day.
Now, how about your supplies? I realize this is a small amount compared to labor and many contractors don't really pay much attention to this item. But, if you are running 5% and the average is 3%, what could you do with an additional 2 points on your bottom line. Two percent of a $250,000 per year contractor is $5,000. Great shopping money or look at it this way. $5,000 will pay your expenses and then some to attend the annual BSCAI convention and ISSA trade show so you can learn more about your industry.
Speaking of money and the convention, have you checked into the BSCAI Purchase Advantage Program through NSA. From what I have seen it can save you SUBSTANTIAL dollars in your supply and equipment purchases. I picked up some price comparison information at the recent Executive Seminar in Scottsdale and was really impressed at the savings available through this program. I suggest you check it out at your earliest convenience by going to the BSCAI web site and clicking on the proper icon. They provide monthly webinars where you can get the information and see if it will work for your company. It's certainly worth investigating.
Looking at the numbers is not always fun but extremely necessary. If you aren't into budgeting I want to suggest that you work hard to establish one for the upcoming year. You will learn a great deal about your own organization. I went through the process every year with each one of my district managers and thought I knew what was going on but learned something new about my company every time I did the process. You'll also find that you get better at it each time you do it.
So check your numbers and your processes. If you're not where you want to be there is still time to make a u turn and get on the right track. This business is exciting as well as fun but does need your constant attention to make sure it is doing what you want it to do for you. Your future may depend on it.
Till next time.MAKE IT A GREAT DAY.
Sales---Have you reached the half way point in what you projected your sales would be? Are you on target with contacting the prospects you put on your list to focus on this year. Each year we would target a group of suspects that we wanted to become prospects and then customers. We would send them periodic "hit list" mailers that really got there attention and then we followed up with a phone call to ask for a 20 minute appointment to discuss how we could mutually benefit each other. We always kept that initial appointment to 20 minutes unless the they asked us to stay. In fact, I took my watch off and laid it on the desk and told the prospect I asked for 20 minutes and would not stay past that time unless they asked me too. I only had one person ever tell me my 20 minutes was up and I could leave. I did.
Our mailings ranged from a baby metal trash can with our message inside to a pill bottle with a prescription to contact our company for relief, to a small first aid kit for the summer sun and insect bites. All of these grabbed their attention and most always got us "in the door" for an appointment. Our book, Selling Contract Cleaning Services 101 describes in detail each of these mailings and their effectiveness. If you have not tried such a campaign let me recommend you start thinking about doing it. It works. We had a criteria established for a suspect to make our list such as gross volume, profitability projections etc. Not only are these mailings effective at bringing new business in the door they are fun to do.
Operations--How you doing on keeping your labor expenses on budget? Do you have a budget? Are you monitoring the labor costs EVERY DAY or do you just look at the profit and loss each month and then cry? If you have several accounts I am suggesting that you create a report EVERY DAY that will give you the over and under on each account. Looking once a month at the labor is to late. This is your biggest expense and you need to monitor it every day.
Now, how about your supplies? I realize this is a small amount compared to labor and many contractors don't really pay much attention to this item. But, if you are running 5% and the average is 3%, what could you do with an additional 2 points on your bottom line. Two percent of a $250,000 per year contractor is $5,000. Great shopping money or look at it this way. $5,000 will pay your expenses and then some to attend the annual BSCAI convention and ISSA trade show so you can learn more about your industry.
Speaking of money and the convention, have you checked into the BSCAI Purchase Advantage Program through NSA. From what I have seen it can save you SUBSTANTIAL dollars in your supply and equipment purchases. I picked up some price comparison information at the recent Executive Seminar in Scottsdale and was really impressed at the savings available through this program. I suggest you check it out at your earliest convenience by going to the BSCAI web site and clicking on the proper icon. They provide monthly webinars where you can get the information and see if it will work for your company. It's certainly worth investigating.
Looking at the numbers is not always fun but extremely necessary. If you aren't into budgeting I want to suggest that you work hard to establish one for the upcoming year. You will learn a great deal about your own organization. I went through the process every year with each one of my district managers and thought I knew what was going on but learned something new about my company every time I did the process. You'll also find that you get better at it each time you do it.
So check your numbers and your processes. If you're not where you want to be there is still time to make a u turn and get on the right track. This business is exciting as well as fun but does need your constant attention to make sure it is doing what you want it to do for you. Your future may depend on it.
Till next time.MAKE IT A GREAT DAY.
Monday, May 21, 2012
AND YOUR FACILITIES LOOK LIKE?
In my previous blogs as well as in my books and DVDs you have heard me discuss the importance of an ongoing marketing and sales program for prospective and current employees, as well as a systematic method of tracking the applicants. Another very important part of the selling process is the facility where you interview and process new employees, especially if you are in the cleaning business.
Stop reading for a moment and take a walk to the front of the building where you ask prospective employees to apply for a position with your company. When they drive up, what do they see? Nicely painted building, accurate well positioned signage, well lighted grounds, neatly mowed and maintained? Please make a note of any improvements that need to be made and who will make them promptly.
Next, walk in the door that applicants enter to complete their applications. Okay, so we have a few cobwebs hanging from the ceiling and we haven't had time to vacuum the carpet for a week but we've been busy starting a new large account. I understand completely but I want to remind you that if you are in the cleaning business and your business is to keep things clean, isn't it important that we begin at our own office so our prospective employees get the message loud and clear that we provide first class, quality, professional service and satisfaction to our customers and expect nothing less from anyone joining our team? You see, the prospective employee probably doesn't know you started that large account and so they judge your quality expectations by what they see in the application room.
This reminds me of one of my long time customers who also became a long time friend. Part of the customer satisfaction process was for me to do a monthly inspection tour with him which, if things went well, culminated with a lunch (I bought).
I should mention that this was a large industrial facility sprawled out over many acres and we cleaned the administrative areas, factory offices, lunchrooms, restrooms etc. with a sizable staff around the clock. When I would arrive for my monthly tour, my customer's first order of business was to walk to the main supply closet in the factory and check its condition. If everything looked neat and clean, mop buckets and trash barrels empty, mops hung up properly etc., he would say, "Ollek, looks to me like your crews are doing a great job, let's go to lunch". By the way, my part of the deal was I could not alert my crews as to the day I was coming. I kept my word on that issue although I sometimes wish I hadn't.
On the other hand, if he found anything out of order such as our equipment dirty or mop buckets standing full of water with a mop in them, we would spend the rest of the day walking the entire facility (without lunch). You see, his philosophy was if we couldn't keep a 20 by 20 supply closet clean, how in the world could we keep his large plant facility clean? Agree?
You see, it does hold true. If we can't keep our own facilities clean and inviting to our prospective employees, how in the world can we expect them to keep our customer's facilities clean? WE set the example in our office as to what we expect in the field.
It is also critical that the person greeting new prospective employees great them with a smile, thank them for coming in, and give them clear instructions on the process of completing the application and the ensuing interview. There should be no question that they are welcome.
Let me share some of my ideas as to how the application area should look in addition to being clean,etc.
First, I suggest you have a TV or other means of video playing continuously that talks about your company. If you don't have a full blown orientation video or sales video, a short welcome video done in house will do just fine running on a loop all day. Let me suggest if you have some training videos that you use, such as one on backpack vacuuming or scrubbing and recoating of tile floors, have it run as well. Not trying to make experts out of them while completing their application, but we want them to be fully aware of the business we are in.
We had large placards made with the outline of our line worker training program on them so as to give them an idea of what they could expect if they joined our team. And yes, we had it in different languages to reflect the different nationalities we had on our team. Made for full walls in some branches. Yes, some applicants walked out of the building after seeing what we expected but I would rather have them walk out of my building than out of a customer's building.
There are other inviting things you can do such as a popcorn machine for them and candy for the children if they come along with their parents etc. We always had an abundance of children come along with mom or dad to fill out applications. May as well make them feel welcome as well, as they may be future employees. Grocery stores learned this long ago by putting small carts in the stores so the children could push their cart along with mom and dads. They realize that these little ones will some day be grocery shoppers and I figured these little ones that came along with parents to fill out applications might just some day be a star team member for us.
I don't want to belabor the point but I cannot over emphasize the importance of presenting a clean, neat, and appealing first impression for people who enter you premises. Never know, a prospective or current customer just might decide to pay you a personal visit. How do your facilities stack up?
Don't forget to listen to our weekly pod cast at www.tripodcast.com. We try to keep them around 5 or 6 minutes so you can listen and get on with your day.
Till next time--MAKE IT A GREAT DAY.
Stop reading for a moment and take a walk to the front of the building where you ask prospective employees to apply for a position with your company. When they drive up, what do they see? Nicely painted building, accurate well positioned signage, well lighted grounds, neatly mowed and maintained? Please make a note of any improvements that need to be made and who will make them promptly.
Next, walk in the door that applicants enter to complete their applications. Okay, so we have a few cobwebs hanging from the ceiling and we haven't had time to vacuum the carpet for a week but we've been busy starting a new large account. I understand completely but I want to remind you that if you are in the cleaning business and your business is to keep things clean, isn't it important that we begin at our own office so our prospective employees get the message loud and clear that we provide first class, quality, professional service and satisfaction to our customers and expect nothing less from anyone joining our team? You see, the prospective employee probably doesn't know you started that large account and so they judge your quality expectations by what they see in the application room.
This reminds me of one of my long time customers who also became a long time friend. Part of the customer satisfaction process was for me to do a monthly inspection tour with him which, if things went well, culminated with a lunch (I bought).
I should mention that this was a large industrial facility sprawled out over many acres and we cleaned the administrative areas, factory offices, lunchrooms, restrooms etc. with a sizable staff around the clock. When I would arrive for my monthly tour, my customer's first order of business was to walk to the main supply closet in the factory and check its condition. If everything looked neat and clean, mop buckets and trash barrels empty, mops hung up properly etc., he would say, "Ollek, looks to me like your crews are doing a great job, let's go to lunch". By the way, my part of the deal was I could not alert my crews as to the day I was coming. I kept my word on that issue although I sometimes wish I hadn't.
On the other hand, if he found anything out of order such as our equipment dirty or mop buckets standing full of water with a mop in them, we would spend the rest of the day walking the entire facility (without lunch). You see, his philosophy was if we couldn't keep a 20 by 20 supply closet clean, how in the world could we keep his large plant facility clean? Agree?
You see, it does hold true. If we can't keep our own facilities clean and inviting to our prospective employees, how in the world can we expect them to keep our customer's facilities clean? WE set the example in our office as to what we expect in the field.
It is also critical that the person greeting new prospective employees great them with a smile, thank them for coming in, and give them clear instructions on the process of completing the application and the ensuing interview. There should be no question that they are welcome.
Let me share some of my ideas as to how the application area should look in addition to being clean,etc.
First, I suggest you have a TV or other means of video playing continuously that talks about your company. If you don't have a full blown orientation video or sales video, a short welcome video done in house will do just fine running on a loop all day. Let me suggest if you have some training videos that you use, such as one on backpack vacuuming or scrubbing and recoating of tile floors, have it run as well. Not trying to make experts out of them while completing their application, but we want them to be fully aware of the business we are in.
We had large placards made with the outline of our line worker training program on them so as to give them an idea of what they could expect if they joined our team. And yes, we had it in different languages to reflect the different nationalities we had on our team. Made for full walls in some branches. Yes, some applicants walked out of the building after seeing what we expected but I would rather have them walk out of my building than out of a customer's building.
There are other inviting things you can do such as a popcorn machine for them and candy for the children if they come along with their parents etc. We always had an abundance of children come along with mom or dad to fill out applications. May as well make them feel welcome as well, as they may be future employees. Grocery stores learned this long ago by putting small carts in the stores so the children could push their cart along with mom and dads. They realize that these little ones will some day be grocery shoppers and I figured these little ones that came along with parents to fill out applications might just some day be a star team member for us.
I don't want to belabor the point but I cannot over emphasize the importance of presenting a clean, neat, and appealing first impression for people who enter you premises. Never know, a prospective or current customer just might decide to pay you a personal visit. How do your facilities stack up?
Don't forget to listen to our weekly pod cast at www.tripodcast.com. We try to keep them around 5 or 6 minutes so you can listen and get on with your day.
Till next time--MAKE IT A GREAT DAY.
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
HOW GOOD IS GOOD ENOUGH
Last week we talked about letting others control your destiny. This time we want to discuss just how good is good enough.
Several years ago a friend of mine sent me some information on just good enough quality and even though it has been around for a while, I want to share it with you just in case you forgot it or haven't had the privilege of seeing it. So here goes,
99.9% QUALITY WILL RESULT IN...
**One hour of unsafe drinking water per month
**Two unsafe landings at Chicago O'Hare airport each day
**500 incorrect surgical operations performed by doctors each week
**19,000 newborn babies dropped at birth by doctors each year
**22,000 checks will be deducted from the wrong bank accounts in the next 60 minutes
**315 entries in Webster's dictionary will be misspelled
**18,322 pieces of mail will be mishandled in the next hour
**Your heart will fail to beat 32,000 times each year
I was always concerned that what if my heart quit beating those 32,000 times all in a row?
Let me take this concept a step further and include the phrase "we are done". If I walked into a building that we cleaned and saw the crew sitting and visiting 15 minutes or so before their shift was to end I just wanted to take them to lunch and buy theirs to go. You see, in the business of cleaning it is my contention you are never "done". There is always something you can do that will enhance the appearance of the facility and strengthen your relationship with the customer.
What really made my hair stand on end was if they told me "this is the first time we have ever finished early". Right! Maybe we need to look at the budgeted hours for the building and reduce them. Whoops, all of a sudden there are several things that need to be done.
Let me suggest to you that the next time you think the work you are doing for your customers is "good enough" or you are a supervisor or cleaning tech that thinks the job is "good enough", ask yourself, how many babies can a doctor drop?
On another subject, I just returned from the BSCAI Executive Seminar in Scottsdale, Arizona where I had the chance to interact with many BSC's and great vendors. If you were there you know what I mean. If you weren't there, let me suggest you make plans to attend the convention in Chicago, October 18-20. That, coupled with the ISSA trade show, the 17th through the 19th makes this the premier event to attend each year. Plan on it, it will be worth your time.
Don't forget our weekly free tripodcasts at www.tripodcast.com.
Till next time. MAKE IT A GREAT DAY.
Several years ago a friend of mine sent me some information on just good enough quality and even though it has been around for a while, I want to share it with you just in case you forgot it or haven't had the privilege of seeing it. So here goes,
99.9% QUALITY WILL RESULT IN...
**One hour of unsafe drinking water per month
**Two unsafe landings at Chicago O'Hare airport each day
**500 incorrect surgical operations performed by doctors each week
**19,000 newborn babies dropped at birth by doctors each year
**22,000 checks will be deducted from the wrong bank accounts in the next 60 minutes
**315 entries in Webster's dictionary will be misspelled
**18,322 pieces of mail will be mishandled in the next hour
**Your heart will fail to beat 32,000 times each year
I was always concerned that what if my heart quit beating those 32,000 times all in a row?
Let me take this concept a step further and include the phrase "we are done". If I walked into a building that we cleaned and saw the crew sitting and visiting 15 minutes or so before their shift was to end I just wanted to take them to lunch and buy theirs to go. You see, in the business of cleaning it is my contention you are never "done". There is always something you can do that will enhance the appearance of the facility and strengthen your relationship with the customer.
What really made my hair stand on end was if they told me "this is the first time we have ever finished early". Right! Maybe we need to look at the budgeted hours for the building and reduce them. Whoops, all of a sudden there are several things that need to be done.
Let me suggest to you that the next time you think the work you are doing for your customers is "good enough" or you are a supervisor or cleaning tech that thinks the job is "good enough", ask yourself, how many babies can a doctor drop?
On another subject, I just returned from the BSCAI Executive Seminar in Scottsdale, Arizona where I had the chance to interact with many BSC's and great vendors. If you were there you know what I mean. If you weren't there, let me suggest you make plans to attend the convention in Chicago, October 18-20. That, coupled with the ISSA trade show, the 17th through the 19th makes this the premier event to attend each year. Plan on it, it will be worth your time.
Don't forget our weekly free tripodcasts at www.tripodcast.com.
Till next time. MAKE IT A GREAT DAY.
Saturday, May 5, 2012
ALLOWING OTHERS TO CONTROL YOUR DESTINY
Today we complete our series on Focusing on Leadership. The last quality we want to discuss is,
DON'T ALLOW OTHERS TO CONTROL YOUR DESTINY--This is a big one. As a leader it is your responsibility to set the course of your company and your personal life. The culture of your company is your responsibility. Some of the ways you can control your own destiny or have others control it for you are...
Overall Customer Quality--While relationships are critical in the service business, poor quality of work will eventually destroy most any relationship. This means it is up to YOU to decide the standard of work that is acceptable. Even though you may have supervisors and managers checking the work and training (hopefully) the cleaning staff, it is still ultimately your responsibility. As a friend and mentor of mine once told me, "At some point you have to lift up the bull's tail and look him right in the eye". A bit crude, I admit, but it makes the point rather succinctly.
Let's take the issue of quality a step further. You can lose business even though you think you are doing a great job. Well, quality entails more than just the cleaning. It entails your entire organization and every encounter you have with the customer.
You see, it is my belief that quality is what the customer says it is. I know of many companies who do regular inspections and use a rating system of 1 to 5 or 1 to 10 or some even use a score card like in school. This building got an 88 this month or this building got a B this month or this building was 90% of the norm or 110% or the norm.
That is all fine and good but if the customer is not satisfied with the overall performance of your organization, it doesn't matter what your score is. I just was never a strong proponent of the kind of scoring that I mentioned above. I know that I had customers that required it and we certainly complied with their request because it fell under the umbrella of total customer satisfaction, but as far as I was always concerned, we either passed or failed. Now I know many will take issue with that rationale but isn't that really what it is all about? The customer is either happy or not. If they are luke warm or so so, they are unhappy about something and we better find out what it is. Luke warm or so so is just not good enough.
Managing Time--As you build your business, managing your time and the time of your staff becomes more and more critical. Many people are pulling you many different directions and your day can become one of frustration. Your time management is one thing you will struggle with constantly.
One area that requires your tight control is the actual cleaning budgets in each building. Let me emphasize you need to be monitoring these at all times and doing every 6 month account retuning audits. You will find as your crews become more familiar with cleaning a facility they learn where to reduce time and in most cases are not going to be forthcoming in telling you to reduce the time in the building.
One of my pet peeves has always been one of wasted time when we clean facilities. We live in a competitive environment and try to budget the time as accurately as possible and when we are wasting time in the building, chances are, something is not being cleaned to the level we committed to the customer.
Do you know that if you have 10 employees that waste 5 minutes a day and you pay them $10 per hour that equates to lost dollars of $2,520 per year. I am guessing you have some employees that waste more than that. Do you? If you go to my web site at www.consultantsincleaning.com and click on the DVD section and then click on the DVD support material icon you will find a complete chart on what 5 minutes of wasted time equates to at different pay scales and with different numbers of employees.
I remember showing this chart to a contractor at a BSCAI convention and it made him physically ill. You see, he had 3,000+ employees at an average wage of $15 per hour. That equates to $1,134,000 per year.
So there you have it. I know there are many traits and qualities to focus on in leadership. What I have shared with you are just a few that I consider paramount to success in our industry. Do you have some others? If so, add them to this group.
Well, I am off to the BSCAI Executive Seminar in Scottsdale, Arizona. Hope you are planning to attend. If you are, introduce yourself to me and let me know what you think of these sessions. If you like them, I am responsible, if you don't it must be someone else's fault.
Don't forget to tune into our free Monday morning pod cast at www.tripodcast.com.
In addition, in about 2 weeks we will be releasing our new training DVD entitled--Customer Relations Training For Supervisors and Cleaning Techs. This is an interactive DVD with the participants doing pen and pencil exercises to help them understand their important role in customer relations.
Till next time.
DON'T ALLOW OTHERS TO CONTROL YOUR DESTINY--This is a big one. As a leader it is your responsibility to set the course of your company and your personal life. The culture of your company is your responsibility. Some of the ways you can control your own destiny or have others control it for you are...
Overall Customer Quality--While relationships are critical in the service business, poor quality of work will eventually destroy most any relationship. This means it is up to YOU to decide the standard of work that is acceptable. Even though you may have supervisors and managers checking the work and training (hopefully) the cleaning staff, it is still ultimately your responsibility. As a friend and mentor of mine once told me, "At some point you have to lift up the bull's tail and look him right in the eye". A bit crude, I admit, but it makes the point rather succinctly.
Let's take the issue of quality a step further. You can lose business even though you think you are doing a great job. Well, quality entails more than just the cleaning. It entails your entire organization and every encounter you have with the customer.
You see, it is my belief that quality is what the customer says it is. I know of many companies who do regular inspections and use a rating system of 1 to 5 or 1 to 10 or some even use a score card like in school. This building got an 88 this month or this building got a B this month or this building was 90% of the norm or 110% or the norm.
That is all fine and good but if the customer is not satisfied with the overall performance of your organization, it doesn't matter what your score is. I just was never a strong proponent of the kind of scoring that I mentioned above. I know that I had customers that required it and we certainly complied with their request because it fell under the umbrella of total customer satisfaction, but as far as I was always concerned, we either passed or failed. Now I know many will take issue with that rationale but isn't that really what it is all about? The customer is either happy or not. If they are luke warm or so so, they are unhappy about something and we better find out what it is. Luke warm or so so is just not good enough.
Managing Time--As you build your business, managing your time and the time of your staff becomes more and more critical. Many people are pulling you many different directions and your day can become one of frustration. Your time management is one thing you will struggle with constantly.
One area that requires your tight control is the actual cleaning budgets in each building. Let me emphasize you need to be monitoring these at all times and doing every 6 month account retuning audits. You will find as your crews become more familiar with cleaning a facility they learn where to reduce time and in most cases are not going to be forthcoming in telling you to reduce the time in the building.
One of my pet peeves has always been one of wasted time when we clean facilities. We live in a competitive environment and try to budget the time as accurately as possible and when we are wasting time in the building, chances are, something is not being cleaned to the level we committed to the customer.
Do you know that if you have 10 employees that waste 5 minutes a day and you pay them $10 per hour that equates to lost dollars of $2,520 per year. I am guessing you have some employees that waste more than that. Do you? If you go to my web site at www.consultantsincleaning.com and click on the DVD section and then click on the DVD support material icon you will find a complete chart on what 5 minutes of wasted time equates to at different pay scales and with different numbers of employees.
I remember showing this chart to a contractor at a BSCAI convention and it made him physically ill. You see, he had 3,000+ employees at an average wage of $15 per hour. That equates to $1,134,000 per year.
So there you have it. I know there are many traits and qualities to focus on in leadership. What I have shared with you are just a few that I consider paramount to success in our industry. Do you have some others? If so, add them to this group.
Well, I am off to the BSCAI Executive Seminar in Scottsdale, Arizona. Hope you are planning to attend. If you are, introduce yourself to me and let me know what you think of these sessions. If you like them, I am responsible, if you don't it must be someone else's fault.
Don't forget to tune into our free Monday morning pod cast at www.tripodcast.com.
In addition, in about 2 weeks we will be releasing our new training DVD entitled--Customer Relations Training For Supervisors and Cleaning Techs. This is an interactive DVD with the participants doing pen and pencil exercises to help them understand their important role in customer relations.
Till next time.
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