Clean Up Time

It has often been said to us by larger organisations such as retailers, building societies, and multi-National Companies that they can’t deal with a local Company because Head Office insist on dealing with one National cleaning Company.

The benefit to them, so the story goes, is that it saves an awful lot of time by only having to process one invoice and speak to one Company.  So the accounts Dept have only one Company to enter on the computer processing system and one invoice to pay.

Let’s say there are 100 outlets all being looked after by the one cleaning Company.  At ten of them the service being provided is unsatisfactory, for what ever reason.  What does the manager of the branch do?  No doubt complain to the operatives first, then the area supervisor, then the area manager, and then to head office of his own Company that the cleaning operation is failing and that it could be having an adverse effect on the public perception of the Company.

Now what does head office do?  First complain to the person they dealt with in the beginning, then to the CEO at the top, and if still unsatisfactory what then?  These national Companies will all want at least a year’s contract, so tied in till the end of that at the very least, and what of the 10 unsatisfied branches.  Simply they will be unhappy till the contract is terminated.

But if it is terminated, what about the 90 other branches who were quite happy with the service they were getting, now the risk is being run that some of them will be unhappy with the new regime.  So time has been saved by processing one invoice, but time wasted at branch level and head office dealing with complaints.

We are local, no long line of supervisors and managers to get to someone who will rectify things, a principal of the company at the end of the phone and no contract to worry about.  The branch manager to deal with the local Company to free up head office and ensure the branch is as clean as required … and in addition, it will cost LESS.