Customer Services and Cleaning

Industrial Cleaning Machine Manufacturers’ Association Website 

The Business Services Association Website

In a market such as cleaning the demand for cleaners is greater than the supply, but this cannot be used as an excuse for poor service. Maintaining an excellent level of customer care through courtesy, good timekeeping, reliability, competency and honesty, is an inexpensive method of keeping ahead of the competition.

There are 5 acceptable measures, which offer an excellent guide to customer service.

• Tangibles: - These are the physical aspects of the service and include staff and the way in which they are presented; the appearance of the companies premises; the quality of the products and certification to provide clients to prove their capability.
  
• Reliability: - Whatever service has been promised to the customer through the company's mission statement should be delivered consistently and precisely. Recruitment of trustworthy staff that are discrete is important. A well staffed reception desk for large companies or a helpdesk for out of hour's information service. A website for information and feedback would also be a good idea.
  
• Responsiveness: - The promptness of service and the willingness of the staff to be of assistance are paramount to good customer service. The confidence a customer has in the knowledge, courtesy and professionalism of the service will build their trust and encourage loyalty and the retention of their business. Training of staff should be ongoing and further encouragement through pay initiatives, hiring the right staff and man management will encourage the staff to work well, gaining experience and continuously striving to provide a higher level of satisfaction.
  
• Assurance: - Is the knowledge, courtesy and professionalism that build a customer's trust. Ensuring staff are knowledgeable about the company's policies and procedures required that the company invest in effective training initiatives. Other incentives such as paying appropriately, coaching effectively, measuring accurately and rewarding often are critical success factors for developing knowledgeable employees who can resolve most issues on the spot.
  
• Empathy: - A caring, personal service where employees are polite and courteous makes a customer feel special and valued and is, therefore, more likely to retain their business. Keep records of their activities with the company, log all praise and criticism and work on feedback they provide. Through these records you will be able to develop a more personalised service, without prompting, thus exceeding their expectations.
• Staff should be able to deal with complaints if no supervisor is available.
• Most cleaning work is undertaken out of office hours, ensure that staff abide by this and do not interfere with clients' business.