Office & IT
Utilising technology can set new standards in commercial cleaning
Niall Moffat, CEO of Spotless Commercial Cleaning
may seem an unlikely alliance but, over the last two years, this scenario precisely describes one of our closest supplier relationships.
A In the commercial cleaning
industry, one which is not renowned for embracing cutting edge technology or adopting new forms of innovation, I believe Spotless has really pushed the boundaries in partnership with a Glasgow-based app developer Streamba to produce a better way of communicating with our clients. What resulted from this alliance is the development of the Spotless App, an innovation which has transformed the way we do business and has also greatly enhanced our clients’ experience of engagement with us as one of their important service suppliers.
With close to 1200 employees, 50 managers and over 1000 client sites up and down the UK from Stornoway to Southampton, capturing business critical information and improving communication both internally and externally was becoming increasingly challenging within our business. Our previous work methods involved large volumes of paperwork often accompanied by delays in processing. This caused frustrations, both internally and externally, and was inefficient in terms of maximising new business opportunities.
It was becoming clear to us that to grow our business and improve the client experience there needed to be a significant change around managing and communicating issues, focus areas and opportunities. Applying modern and accessible forms of technology to the solution seemed obvious but the real challenge was just how we went about doing it.
The inspiration came in the form of an existing app called ‘Aroundme’ which captures and highlights key, consumer facing businesses in a user’s immediate location such as cafes, restaurants, banks
40 office & it
commercial cleaning business coming together with an innovative app development company
and garages. It inspired me to think how we could translate its functionality into business use so our managers could, at a glance, assess client requirements and also tap into new business prospects in their respective areas around the UK.
Working with Streamba, we developed an app which can capture business critical data and management information and, at the same time, improve the speed and level of communication to our client base. In addition, utilising the ‘alerts and notification’ functionality of this technology ensures that the correct people are immediately notified of required actions or made aware of information which is pertinent to them. In an industry where response times expectations are exceptionally high, this use of technology really drives increased client satisfaction.
The Spotless App is structured around what we call our SPOT plan, ensuring a focus on safety, profitability, outstanding quality and training, and it helps our managers capture crucial information within these areas. As well as improving the ease of access to information the app has also significantly reduced paper flow across Spotless.
By using mobile technology not only have we made life significantly easier (and more fun) for our managers, but the outputs of our service delivery are now instantly visible to our clients via their own portal. With cleaning
services normally taking place either late at night or very early in the morning, our managers can capture relevant service delivery data via the app and provide immediate and unprecedented levels of accountability and transparency for our clients.
I believe the development of the Spotless App shows that technology and innovation do have a key role to play within traditional businesses like ours. Applied creatively, technology can not only enhance communications between suppliers and clients across the facilities management sector, but it can be a valuable management tool which empowers people and enables them to operate in a far more efficient manner and, in time, help increase their personal satisfaction in the job they do. What’s not to like?
The challenge for the FM sector as well as the wider businesses community is to ensure that technology is used as a means to an effective and efficient end. Identifying the problem – such as poor communications, ineffective record- keeping, lack of financial accessibility for key people, etc – must always be the starting point for developing technology-based solutions. It is vital that the ultimate outcome addresses that initial problem and that the supporting technology is also appropriately scaled for the people who will most rely on it.
www.spotlessclean.co.uk
Building & Facilities Management – March 2015
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