Techniques To Survive An Economic Storm discussion of products and services can follow. face some cutbacks is the customer serv-ice department, closely followed by the training department. Both of these services are critical during tight times. Customers have limited resources and are looking for service providers that offer quality products and services. You may notice that some large retailersʼ customer service departments are shrink-ing, causing subsequent long lines, and interestingly, some are not enjoying suc-cess in the stock market. If you are considering saving money by cutting your customer service department, be aware that you could be at risk. During tight times, all segments of the industry need to empower and expect cus-tomer service departments to excel. use our services or products just because they did before, without providing consis-tent follow-up and customer service. We expect the business because we had it before, weʼll have it today and it will be there for us tomorrow. Far too many K-12 school, college and university facilities management divisions are reaping the tragedies of this strategy — they have been outsourced. Likewise, BSCs have lost accounts because of indifference. The paradigm is changing from “what was good yesterday will be good for tomor-row,” to “whatever was good yesterday is not necessarily good for tomorrow as we are expecting more for less.” What can we do to enable our cus-tomersʼ success? The answer to this question is the deter-minant of the success of our businesses. The ability of our companies and organi-zations to survive tight economic times is very much in our hands. CM Adapt To Change Far too many in-house providers continue to provide custodial services using the equipment and processes of the past. This has been noted with BSCs as well. The successful operation will utilize cut-ting-edge technology to provide efficient and cost-effective services. In an environment where we are being asked to do more with less, the survivors will be the companies and organizations that change now. Gone are the days of the traditional mop and wringer. Sophisticated microfiber products and touchless cleaning systems are now main-stays that are advancing the industry. Can-do Attitude An attitude of indifference is probably the killer symptom. Too often, we expect our customers to Customer Service It seems that too often, during tight eco-nomic times, one of the first divisions to Circle Product Information no. 202 on page 32 24 CM/Cleaning & Maintenance Management ® • October 2009
CMM – Archives Oct 2009: 24
