I meet hundreds of potential customers each and every year, who are all looking for the same thing….. A reliable cleaning company that can provide “Value for Money”, not just at the beginning but throughout the length of the contract. This sounds easy to achieve, but it actually takes serious investment and commitment to building a strong operations team. So where do sales fit into this “Value for Money” ethos that our customers are so eagerly demanding. It’s easy…. and it all starts with making sure we listen!
I am extremely lucky in the fact that Edwards provides me with the flexibility to work with each and every one of my customers as an individual, rather than pigeon holing everyone into the same category. This is such an important thing to have from my point of view, because each and every premise I visit is completely different in its requirements. Yes…all my customers want reliability, continuity and above all great management. As well as Edwards there are lots of cleaning companies that can provide this, with years of experience and a brand name that everyone knows. What makes us different, is our ability to tailor make each contract to suit each customer providing that secret ingredient of “Value for Money”.
When I meet for the first time with any potential customer, I don’t want to sit down and tell you exactly what we can provide. I sit down and ask you what you what you have been getting and what you are looking for from a cleaning company. From then on we build the contract around our customers and their building users rather than supplying them with a contract to suit our needs. Schedules are created for every cleaner, highlighting every task down to the smallest detail. The attention is in the detail and the detail is what has kept our customers with us year after year. The smallest of things can be built into our contracts, which can provide a huge amount of ease to our customers. Knowing that we are attentive and have our customer’s best interests at the forefront of everything we do, means that we are building long lasting partnerships rather than just being another supplier.
The rules haven’t changed over the years, industry greed has blurred the vision of what it means to have a customer for life. Edward’s ethos has always and will always be to provide all our customers with “Value for Money”. Every customer I meet is individually assessed and the solutions I provide are based on their needs, not on what makes life easier for us.
My role is harder as a result, because a lot of hard work goes into each and every quote I provide. It does makes the No’s a lot harder to stomach, but when the Yes comes in the satisfaction is overwhelming. Knowing that our operations team will take all my hard work and continue to apply that throughout the years they are with us.
Please don’t just expect the basic service from your cleaning supplier, there are some of us that would jump through hoops to have you as a customer.
Jodi Davidson
Business Consultant
