The Eyes of the Customer.

I have been out on an account many times, looked around and thought the building looked clean. Then when I talk with the customer, they see things differently. Usually it’s small things that are easy to fix. Many times, the issue is some little, specific thing that no one probably notices besides this customer. Does that mean it isn’t important? How you and I see the building is far less important than how the customer sees a building.  At Stathakis we refer to this as "Customer Focus" and think it is important enough to be one of our Core Values.

One of the most important parts of customer service is responsiveness. Responsiveness is the idea that when a customer communicates something to us, we respond and react to their suggestions or request. This kind of customer service makes people feel listened to and important. Think about your own experiences as a customer. Do you have a restaurant where you go and the server already knows you like hot sauce or extra ranch and brings it out with your meal before you even ask? Or a barber that remembers exactly how you like your hair cut. Maybe an auto repair shop that you know does a good job even when you are not there to watch. On the other side, how many of us have felt like a customer service person doesn’t care at all about what we want or need? It’s a terrible feeling when you think someone doesn’t care and then you have to give them money!

No one likes to hear from a Supervisor that a customer wasn’t happy with something but remember the customer is looking at things from a different perspective. When a customer tells us they want something done different or better, they’re giving us the chance to make them happy by communicating exactly what they need. Being responsive to a customer’s needs doesn’t mean that we stop dusting because a customer is more obsessed with shiny floors. It means that we make the right choices on where to concentrate our efforts with limited time resources. We always clean for health but can focus on some of the details that are important to our customers. After all, the customer knows their building best and what the occupants appreciate most.

How do you know what is most important to a customer when you never actually see them? You talk to your Supervisor. Supervisors have the inspection reports generated from the Day Time customer walk-thrus. Customers also openly communicate such details in the Communications Log Book. Make sure you respond to the customer in the Log Book to let them know you are handling their request. These kind of details can change daily, weekly, and monthly so it is important to stay aware of how the customer sees things. This is a big part of responsiveness and it takes good two-way communication to see through “The Eyes of the Customer.”