Quality Control. Why It's So Important.

It's no secret that every business needs new sales to survive, but many fail to realize the importance of what must happen after the sale. Effective account management and quality control is critical to the success of every cleaning business and here's why. Once a business becomes large enough account managers are needed to foster the newly formed relationships with customers. These personnel are responsible for quality control which includes managing employees, meeting with customers on a regular basis and performing inspections to assess the condition of the facilities.

Although cleaning is not generally considered strenuous it is manual labor so employees are needed to perform the work. Other industries can rely on equipment and machinery to do the work of people, but not so much in the cleaning industry. Sure, there is automatic equipment that can boost production rates, but this equipment must still be operated by actual employees which leads me to my point. Effective employee management is imperative for success. Employees are the people that represent your business who will ultimately affect your reputation by the work they perform. Their work must be scrutinized to assure they are delivering what was promised. On another note, managers must be conscious of how much time the employees are working to assure they are not consistently going over the budgeted time that was quoted to do the job. Sometimes there are circumstances where extra time is needed, but if it is not kept in check it can seriously cut into profits. This is also why it's important to quote each job properly. If employees don't have adequate time to do the work service issues and turnover will result and the account may be lost.

Providing the customer with "face time" is another element of quality control and key to effective account management. Even if there may not be any serious issues with service, the customer always appreciates seeing the account manager whether it is for a scheduled meeting or an unannounced inspection. They need to know they're important and that their business is valued after the sale. A customer that feels like a little fish in big pond may end up going elsewhere if their needs are not being met. It's not always about the product or service offered or even the price. In business relationships matter. Failure to recognize the importance of building strong relationships with customers will undoubtedly result in lost business and a tarnished reputation.

The most obvious feature of quality control in the janitor service industry is a site inspection. These inspections are typically performed by the account manager to assess the condition of the facility and the work performed by the employees. Checklists are often used to grade specific areas using a point system. Reports can be given to the employees and/or customer contact outlining areas where improvement is needed. It's always better to tell the customer when there are deficiencies than vice versa because at that point it may be too late. The customer usually appreciates the contractor's honesty and proactive approach to resolving issues. Customers know service won't be perfect with any janitor service company so they will often grade on how responsive they are when problems do arise.

At Central Maintenance we strive to meet the needs of every customer every day, but that couldn't happen without our account managers and an effective quality control program. In an industry where the service we provide is largely performed after business hours it's important that our customers know we're here for them when they need us. Quality service leads to happy customers and a good reputation which often leads to more customers. Check out our Central Quality Assurance program on our website at http://www.centralmaintenance.com/cqa.php

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