GETTING TO THE BOTTOM OF CLIENT PERCEPTIONS
What do your clients really think of you? Contract cleaning and soft services specialists
Facilicom UK chose to take a different approach to assessing client satisfaction and identifying future requirements. Giles Wheeler, Operations Director at Facilicom, explains more.
In the Netherlands and Belgium, Facilicom runs a management trainee programme for recent graduates. The programme encompasses working in a position at Facilicom for four days a week, with the other day used to develop personal competencies and take part in company-wide projects.
When there was an opportunity for two of the trainees to come to the UK to run a customer satisfaction project, I jumped at the chance. The project gave the participants the chance to hone their skills, while it gave us the chance to ensure that our perceptions of our customers were the right ones. We understood that although we regularly ask our customers what they think, this was a chance for them to open up if they weren’t already doing so. Speaking to ‘young professionals’ from our company conducting a marketing project can take any sensitivities out of the situation.
The project was devised, developed and carried out by Tessa Van Meerten and Nick Geutjes – both of whom are now working full-time in the Facilicom group. They agreed that the questions should cover aspects of why people chose to work with us, what made them stay and what they’d be looking for in the next five years of working together.
Tessa and Nick contacted several of our larger customers, including ones in FM, food services, property management and chemical manufacturing. They conducted 20 interviews and then produced a report and presentation on their findings.
CONTRACT PRICE
ISN’T EVERYTHING The primary finding was that, contrary to many people’s belief, price was not the over-riding factor in deciding who to award contracts to. I would, however, suggest that it’s not that clients have
52 | CONTRACT CLEANING
open chequebooks or bottomless pockets, but more that within certain budget ranges price isn’t the top motivating factor in contract decisions.
At the contract award stage, the human touch (the relationship) and operational excellence were key. Clients told Tessa and Nick that “The contract is only as good as the people you are working with,” and that they’d heard “lots of promises from other companies, but we don’t believe them.” This really shows the importance not just of first impressions, but also following up meetings and calls appropriately.
When examining why people renew contracts and stay with us, price became even less important, but the amount of involvement we had with clients became more significant. One client said “I want to be taken seriously, and I see the commitment of Facilicom and its management,” while another commented, “I can’t say that Facilicom only has one unique selling point (USP), but familiarity was a decisive factor.” If people have been getting the service they want at a price they are willing to pay, why would they change? Making sure the relationship is working makes the difference when turning short term relationships into longer ones.
INNOVATION BUILDS
CONFIDENCE When clients were asked about their longer-term expectations, then involvement became crucial. When working together over time, clients expect to see a greater partnership. Contractors need to fully understand their clients and go that bit further to ensure successful working. Communications, operational excellence and the like are taken as read. The client knows they will get these and is looking for the contractor
to innovate and improve not just its own service, but the client’s too.
“You’re our expert when it comes to cleaning, tell us what can be improved,” said one. Another client said, “The more initiative you use, the more confident we are about the future.”
EVALUATION Thankfully, we weren’t majorly surprised by any of the findings, but the project was a useful confirmation that we are moving in the right direction with our clients. We have a focus on understanding our customers and building relationships, especially in the early stages. Our contract managers also look to improve overall service and make a beneficial impact for our clients’ businesses.
It was a useful exercise though, as it demonstrated our commitment to our customers and gave them an extra way of feeding back to us, so that we can improve the way we work with them even more.
Tessa and Nick have also found the process beneficial both for their self-confidence dealing with higher level customers and to reflect on the variances between the UK and European markets. Our clients were also impressed by their interactions with Tessa and Nick, further boosting perceptions of our company.
GO BEYOND It’s easy to rely on generic and task- based evaluations and reports, but these tend to review previous actions rather than shaping future ones. Exercises like this one ensure that we can live up to our strategy to preview rather than review operations and relationships and get to the heart of our customers’ companies. That way we don’t have to ask how they are feeling as we’re all part of the same business.
www.facilicom.co.uk twitter.com/TomoCleaning
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70
