What if "Office Services" were more like Open Source?

I have been exploring this concept of re-inventing collaborating in the office environment for quite a while because it bugs me the way we treat each other. Office Managers and their bosses, designers--professional or amateur inhouse resources, furniture and fixtures sales people and the cleaning providers, all treat each other with benign suspicion. So we stick to what we know and play it safe instead of smart.

Why can't we be passionate about the office environment as an incubator for productivity instead of a sterile, unimaginative and cold place? Why do we spend oddles on money on furnishings and stuff that ends up cutting creativity and interaction? Why do we spend a lot of money on office renovations and then pretend that it makes sense to let it deteriorate without planned maintenance or give it over to the lowest bidder? Why do design, installers, and cleaners let this go on unchallenged? Is this what your business image is worth?

(My inspiration for this rant came from an article I read a few years ago and just came across again by blogger Paul Graham. You should read this--especially his middle section on Workplaces if you are responsible in any way for designing, operating, maintaining or cutting the checks for office environments. It will challenge your paradigms.) If I ever get sucked into working with clients in this kind of interchange I will either fire the client or myself. Life is too short!

In the terminology of office services the "office" is a real focus, but the "service"??!!? ...not so much. The work that B2B service companies do has been largely relegated to packaging and processing perceived value without any real relationship of real value. I have had several negative experiences in the last two months getting "service" from our copier supplier Pitney Bowes. This experience is because of two factors:

• ServiceMaster specified the acquisition as a "necessary-evil" transaction with walls to a meaningful, problem-solving relationship (our fault, which will become clear below)
• Pitney Bowes has acquiesed to impersonal sales and service. We have had three sales reps from this company in the last 8 months, none of whom seemed to know our buying history and whose sales script was nicely packaged and full of "bloat-ware" jargon.

When we enter service with each other as a "necessary-evil" we think we are protecting ourselves in a guarded, "Win-Lose" negotiation. What we end up with is ALWAYS going to be "Lose-Lose."


"Win-Lose" = "Lose-Lose"

Purchases avoid reality and hold their cards to their vest and choose the best contract from a group of providers who all guessed at the real needs and prayed they were right. Providers do not get the best knowledge about the context and impact of service. Answers to problem-solving questions come from clients like, "its all in the RFP," or "your the expert, you tell us."

Providers act guardedly as well, trying to calculate risk in "wasting time" with the prospect based on how likely they are to buy who end up choosing from a list of suppliers who gave it their best guess. Answers to implementation questions come from providers like, "that feature isn't available on the package you bought, it costs extra" or my favorite--"Jane Smith doesn't work for us any longer and your file information is incomplete, but I would love to have you new consultant come and visit you to get a clear picture of your needs." OUCH!!!

When I have received tremendous service in the past it has been for only two reasons--and 9.5 times out of 10 they are connected--and they are 1.) the environment was set up for success for both parties and b.) the parties were brilliantly prepared for and enjoyed creating results.

I remember having lunch last October with three of my ServiceMaster colleagues at The Keg restaurant in west Toronto. They were regulars and on a first name basis with the host and the server. I got a lesson in what it means to serve. The whole operation of "lunch" was set up to deliver a relaxing flow of comfort, humour, suggestion, anticipation of need, sensory fulfilment, accuracy, superb quality, satiation and candour about the quality of the experience for them. How is this a model?

Both parties were well prepared in advance of the interaction with a common value of quality, time and cost of service that would exactly meet the needs of purchasers while providing for the growth of the provider. The casualness in the relationship was based not on laxness, on the contrary; it was based on the absolute commitment by the entire service system to deliver value. Both parties relished the interchange and the evaluation of service afterwards. Measurement of each transaction provided the truth in the moment that ensures trust in the relationship and continuous improvement.

If you want an office environment that is always clean, comfortable and productive these values are critical. We would love to be a part of your service ecosystem to deliver an Open Source office service.

Co-opetition with Janitors, Quality Processes and Backed Up Toilets

This post will blend together some of three of the themes I've been thinking about this week: "Quality Process," "Co-opetition with janitors," and "Helping Clients Succeed." By the way, the "helping clients succeed" thinking that I have referred to a few times in this blog is the creative property of The Franklin Covey Sales Performance Group. The process is a principled approach to helping clients BUY what they really want and need instead of trying to manipulate them through sales strategy. They have some fantastic free tools, books, podcasts there as well from the people who brought you The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.® Public Disclaimer: Ken Walker is a happy alumni of Franklin Covey Canada, Ltd.


I've been collaborating with a new client that has some issues that are very common in smaller workplaces--protecting their company image and budget when you don't want to become (or need to become!) a cleaning systems expert. If your title is a variation on "Office Manager," this would be you. They are a innovative design-build and sales company in the home mobility industry; bringing creative, functional and well-engineered accessibility solutions to consumers so they can stay in their homes longer. Their office is compact and professional and a blending of sales, product design studio, administration and showroom.

The client had a flood last week from a backed up water line into their washroom that disrupted the office for several days. She has dealt with professionals from cleaning restoration on water damage, her evening janitor, and a commercial specialty cleaner all trying to help her solve her immediate and future cleaning needs. (Thanks to Paul Patterson at ServiceMaster of Hal-Dart Disaster Restoration, BTW.)


"Helping Clients Succeed" -- When the Toilet backs up into the Showroom


They have carpet that is part of the functional showcase for their products while at the same time providing comfortable footing and aesthetics to the office staff. And the engineers and modellers work in the pre-production area just outside an internal door in the plant area. Oh yeah, the manufacturing gets done there as well with some traffic walking in from that environment. And the sales people come and go throughout the day. Did I mention they have street access to the salt and sand loading parking lot?

This is a demanding office environment to keep well maintained and looking exceptional to customers. We were talking about what it will take to keep up appearances, in a tight delivery time-frame, within a reasonable budget. Remember project management constraints of Good, Fast and Cheap?

My client had just got an unplanned education on the wonders and risks of plumbing, the science of water-borne pathogens, insurance claims, building engineering, crisis management, negotiations, alternative dispute resolution, space planning, office re-modeling, salvage vs. corrective vs. maintenance cleaning systems and creative ways to answer the phone. Don't you wish you were Deanna? Now her management team want to deal with the overall appearance of the office. Deanna is motivated, purposeful and newly aware that there is more to "clean" than initially meets the eye. As a service partner my role is to help her meet her objectives:

• Great office appearance and a healthier inside environment
• Protecting the lifespan of carpet, flooring and furnishings
• Not breaking the bank
  
  

Co-opetition with Janitors

As a smaller office environment they don't have a full-service janitorial firm five nights a week cleaning their offices. I have alluded to the benign disrespect that janitors get from us in doing what they do to keep the office basically clean. The pay sucks, the hours suck, career advancement isn't a major prospect, and turnover of colleagues runs on average about 250% a year. Its hard to be them. Its also not nice to get surprised by "interesting" water flowing over carpet and vinyl tile. Day-to-day dust, grime and removing the garbage this is not.

It became apparent that our services were going to be helpful to meeting the above objectives--somewhat adding to what the janitors were doing for her and somewhat in competition with their business aspirations. We are two companies trying to maximize client value; but eyeing the same cleaning budget.

Heavy, specialty cleaning should not duplicate basic housekeeping functions, but bring extra service knowledge and skill to bear. The challenge to this is in routine vacuuming of the carpet. I would LOVE to be able to help the janitors get more money to invest is decent vacuuming equipment and training to do it right. Industry studies tell us that up to 80% of soil can be removed be effective vacuuming on a daily basis in a program that included good soil trapping matting in the entryways. A very large part of what my service techs do is dig out dry imbedded soil before its gets wet from cleaning and turns into mud. Then we do wet cleaning to remove spots and the "stickier" soil that builds up in the fibres.

The same issue occurs with resilient flooring like vinyl tile. Floor finishes today have amazing science behind them to protect the floor surface and be much easier for maintenance except for ingrained habits and beliefs. In my client's case, Deanna is paying to have the floors stripped and refinished far too often (4-6 times per year) instead of investing in a manufacturer-approved maintenance regime. Which leads us to Quality Process.


Quality Process Starts with a Value Map


My client solves problems for their end-users through elegantly simple engineering of household furnishings and appliances to bring comfort, confidence and dignity. That is not a bad set of values to apply to process for their own environment--and yours.

In the cleaning services industry providers rush in with often dated or untested "solutions" and then build a system that entrenches waste, or Muda, if you follow Lean Thinking. In Lean--a very valuable process improvement framework that compliments 6 Sigma quite nicely--the greatest break throughs come by making sure waste stays out of the process from the very beginning.

What is the biggest waste in office cleaning for Deanna (and you and me)? It is the dry soil that tracks into the facility when it shouldn't.

The second biggest waste is letting it spread and break down creating fine particulate dust.

What do you value in cleaning? Most of us value the assumed effort in cleaning process. Why not identify what to PREVENT and then map it out and test it. That is exactly what we at ServiceMaster have been learning and sharing with our programmed carpet and hard floor maintenance programs. In Canada alone we now have over 3000 businesses under carpet maintenance. And the janitors sometime don't like it.

They can get mad at us because the "add-on" cleaning projects are something they feel entitled too even if the competency is a little shaky. But they shouldn't. Because I tell my clients, like Deanna, to give them more money for better equipment, check out their training and reap the benefits.

What does your "Clean Map" look like? If you're intrigued give me an E-mail with a brief scenario of your situation and I'll get a network of local suppliers working with us on a prevention program for your office. And hopefully no "back ups" to inspire action.

Best regards,

Ken

Quality Carpet and Furniture Cleaning: Why high standards matter

"Good" is the enemy of the Best

One of my early objectives of the re-launch of ServiceMaster of HRM Commercial is to be certified as a ServiceMaster Clean QC2 business; a Quality Commercial Care specialist. As a growing small business this is a big undertaking with extensive training, systems assessments, quality audits and eventual Green Belt certification in 6 Sigma, our company's international quality standard. Why? Because meaningful standards matter.

A large number of our clients are ISO registered, many others are involved in global trade and service that requires them to provide assurance of rigorous quality. Caring about you, our customers, requires us to think with your needs and goals in mind and align our resources to give you what is promised. EVERY TIME. To help our clients succeed, we aspire to meet and exceed those standards. This is what excites me about coming to Halifax with this business model.


State of the Carpet Cleaning Industry in Halifax

The Good carpet cleaners in the Region cut their teeth on residential carpet cleaning and are more "at home" there. The soil issues, moisture problems, job scope and carpet construction are completely different. The truck-mounted equipment that excels in homes for deep cleaning aren't particularly useful in an office tower and are overkill for maintenance cleaning. These providers may have a lot of experience and quality systems addressing the needs of "A" class office space but it is their sideline.

The Bad carpet cleaners for consistency are the janitorial providers in your building. In nearly a dozen years of working with clients I have observed the struggles of janitorial providers keeping good staff and training them to take care of the basics, let alone manage the client needs of specialty cleaning. Part of this is your fault folks; paying minimum wage is at the heart of the problem and in our society we don't value janitors.

The Ugly carpet cleaners are the one's who want to learn on your job. There are a lot of hopeful entrepreneurs who enter the carpet cleaning business every year. Check last year's yellow pages compared to this year. The equipment costs aren't that high and for "in-and-out" cleaners learning on the job isn't hard--unless you are the client. "Good enough" gradually improves with practice.

There are no other "commercial only" specialty cleaning businesses in Halifax. ServiceMaster started segmenting markets with dedicated franchises 30 years ago. In Canada there are now Commercial Specialty Cleaning businesses in every major market. Quality is easier to manage when you have a clear client focus and know that market. That is what the QC2 program is all about.

Our value propostion as a commercial specialty cleaning firm is to provide best-in-class operational excellence without compromise. Aside from the core values of ServiceMaster that guide our business, the actionable principles give us the transparency to serve with integrity, professionalism and fun!

We are able to focus EXCLUSIVELY on the unique needs of commercial leasehold tenants and owner-occupiers. We are not a "division of" a Restoration business, a residential carpet cleaner or a janitorial provider. Our clients do not have to address our services through a property manager like a janitorial firm, or through and insurance adjuster like a restoration firm, or a "in-and-out" technician whose mindset of a care is a lowest price residential cleaning.

Over the next few months I will be updating on progress as we make our way to QC2 certification so that we can serve you better.

1Q: Helping Clients Succeed

ServiceMaster Clean of HRM is in the rather mundane field of office furnishings cleaning for tenants in buildings. We aren't creating a life-saving medical product or a breakthrough environmental resource that will cut greenhouse gases by 80% (although we are cutting our carbon footprint 30% this year). We make offices cleaner and we keep them cleaner. So what do we do to make life better and more productive for our clients?

We all want to make a competitive impact in our careers, to solve problems and enjoy the rewards. In any B2B company its easy to start asking the question "who will I sell to and what will they find compelling about what I have to offer? It's a natural question. It's also the wrong question.


In our inter-connected world it's not about "me."


It may become eventually become about "us;" but only if you can convince potential clients that you really, really care about "them." Not the canned "what keeps the CEO/CFO/CIO/VP awake at night" spiel that was pre-packaged in the latest industry "solutions" article. And don't talk about "partnering" or any other "verbing" of an unrealized noun. The one question that matters in B2B relationships is "how can I help you, help your clients succeed?"

This is hard work. In our business we help keep client environment's clean, but we really do something else. That something else differs from client to client.

For one of our professional services clients, what we really do is provide a pristine 30,000 square foot image brand--like their letterhead and business cards--and maintain it (their appearance) so that it always looks pristine. "Their" clients come for audits, advice and succession help, and those folks care a lot that these people are professional. For this client we are helping them keep trust with their customers by supporting their brand promise.

Another client has a different but equally important image to portray in their industrial sector business of heavy equipment and marine engines. They supply some of the most durable, reliable and abused equipment and services on the face of the earth (and "in" and "under" the earth!) We maintain their office environment to the very high standard that they promise to their customers. With their facility they are in effect saying "its OK to come in with dirt all over your boots, its designed to be maintained and we'll take care of you." We are helping this client keep the promise of quality, trustworthiness and reliability.

I'm also working with a large government service integrator serving Canada's military services. The Integrator firm has been ISO registered with three separate standards for years and are a part multi-billion dollar Canadian services firm. So is their biggest competitor. In its own way I can justify how cleaning service can be significant for this project but that is only part of the story. How the place looks affects morale, yes. But I am in my client's sandbox. What we are building together is a service eco-system to help our mutual client focus on their core mission better. Consultant Dave Pollard has helped me clarify my intentions and actions in creating a business that adds value to a whole greater than itself.

My client's work involves a lot of suppliers--most of whom are oblivious to each other. How we can all of us in this ecosystem help this customer save their resources for their mission? Innovation and reducing variation in maintenance services are what we are striving for. New systems that save time and money in the life-cycle of the fixtures and finishes. I'm exploring wax that "tells" the user when it is approaching the point of no-return on wear. Incremental and continuous improvement of cleaning products and services save money and time in retrofits. That means more available time in service. That saves lives and protects our sovereignty. What this customer--the ultimate customer--does with our collective work really matters.

How can ServiceMaster Clean help you, help your clients succeed?

Carpet Maintenance vs. "over cleaning"

I had a meeting yesterday with a client we acquired with the business in early November 2006. We have performed a couple of monthly program service visits, have talked on the telephone a few times and they are a national account and had some questions. These are good reasons to meet.

They are a multi-national financial services company (we are fortunate to have a large sector representation in Halifax) and had questions about the carpet maintenance program; what we were cleaning, how often, why and for how much. Straight up questions. A great client.

We discussed what their goals were for the appearance of the facility, protecting their hefty investment in carpet tiles and I was in sales guy mode. Anticipating objections and probing for clues as to what "hooks" would re-attach us to the client's value perception--I was radar up and scanning the words and emotions and body language. I have been trained to do that in sales school and I'm pretty good at it.

Finally after about 7 minutes the Centre Manager blurted out "How do I know that you aren't over cleaning this place with all this extraction cleaning?"

Then my "duh-O-meter" went off. I'd been making this conversation about ServiceMaster (which means me!) and not the client. This is--by the way--a better thing to happen during the visit rather than afterwards when mulling over the meeting like happens too often. When I stopped worrying about my image as a sales guy protecting a commission and concentrated on the client and the point of carpet maintenance, which is the client's image, perspective came back. We had that splendid experience of GETTING REAL with each other and understanding what preventative maintenance is about. Preventing problems!

Frequency of cleaning tends to resonate with us from the subconscious. Mom did heavy spring cleaning at home so lets clean the carpet in the spring. Not a bad thing, mind you. It’s just that your office and your childhood home don't have the same conditions. And chances are pretty good that your firm spent more on carpeting the office than Mom and Dad paid for that house. And clean, fresh and healthy mean one thing at 27 Ward Cleaver Crt and something very different when you are trying to keep clients and employees healthy, happy and favourably impressed with your company.

If you are looking at your office environment objectively you have to take a long hard look at the carpet and see what a statement it makes about your business. Even new carpet after four or five months gets spots and stains and those "tell-tale" traffic patterns of light soil. If you have been in the same space for a few years and haven't had care beyond the "magic wand" vacuum cleaning that your janitors provide then you may have already started fantasizing about new carpet in that trendy rusty orange colour. Is that you? You have a 10 year warranty on carpet and here you are at year 2.5 and you think its gross and I want to change. Accounting isn’t so romantic.

Unless you purchased a radically wrong trendy colour and pattern you probably made the right choice a few years ago, OK? Take a deep breath, relax, take another sip of Fair Trade coffee (don't spill it though!!) and think objectively about every-single-other-thing in your facilities that gets abuse. Most of them have some form of preventative maintenance. The copiers. The HVAC system. You know the list. Even your decor gets refreshed with new art from AGNS sales and rentals.

Like my client above, you think about your company's image; and then the image of the jittery guy in IT who drips Fair Trade java every other trip from the staff room. ...And the demonic bike courier that Justine at reception flirts with twice a day but who tracks mud in your front entry. ...And the fact that 100, or 300 or 800 feet walk over the same areas every day. That can be heavy soil to deal with.

So give some thought to restorative cleaning where it is needed and when. You don’t have to clean everything at the same time—this isn’t your car. Vacuuming can probably stand to be improved, and low moisture interim cleaning can give you a great appearance all year around in 89% of your office. And yes, that 11% that gets the most abuse won’t “ugly out” so fast if you have those areas cleaned to the level the soil is. A professional can tell you—and show you—what soil is accumulating and how to design a maintenance program that gives you the 10+ years of your warranty with great looking office appearance.

Ken

Listening to the Voice of the Customer in our Six Sigma Culture

What We Heard Our Customers Say...

SECURITY IS THE #1 CONCERN

Security issues are a growing concern to the customer. Technicians who
can be trusted in the office day and night and who understand office
security issues are key.

EXPERIENCED STAFF AND GUARANTEED SERVICE ARE KEY

Customers wanted to be assured that the specialty cleaning service
company that they hire provides experienced and well-trained staff,
responds quickly to needs and stands behind the service they provide.

PROFESSIONAL IMAGE IS THE KEY REASON FOR CLEANING

Although other reasons such as a healthier environment were considered
important, image was deemed as the main concern.

GET THE SPOTS OUT

Although we know the damaging impact of heightened soil level in carpets,
this is not an issue of primary concern for our customers. It is the spots
and stains that they see and expect us to properly deal with.