Every supplier I’ve spoken with wants to be a “partner” with their customers. It’s right up there with other cliches, such as “our service is second to none” and “our people are our greatest asset”.

However, because a saying is trite doesn’t mean suppliers want it any less. Suppliers want to believe a partnership means:

• Customers recognize suppliers’ service as more than a commodity
• Customers respect & value suppliers’ contributions
• Customers communicate openly & honestly with suppliers

Partnership by any other name…

Suppliers and customers have a partnership but it’s misunderstood. The cause of the misunderstanding is the interpretation of the “partnership”.

Suppliers hear “partnership” and think “equal”. Customers hear “partnership” and think one of three versions. Two of them “unequal” in the minds of suppliers.

3 Customer interpretations of partnership

Trading partners

This is the worst case scenario for suppliers. In this interpretation customers are traders and suppliers are undifferentiated commodities, swapped out for the lowest price on a whim.

Senior / junior partners

This is likely the most common form of customer-supplier partnership. Obviously, customers are the senior partners and suppliers the junior. As customers call the shots, suppliers can still recommend and implement improvements, savings and other changes.

Equal partners

This is the best case for suppliers as it confirms their most hoped for beliefs (recognition, respect and honesty).

The truth shall set suppliers free

Suppliers are best served by honestly determining which interpretation each of their customers is working under.

When it’s clear a customer is a trading partner, that may be a good time to “redefine” that relationship, which is a polite way of saying fire that customer.

Suppliers can turn a customer from a trader into the more common (and acceptable) senior / junior partner, but it may not be worth the effort.

In all partnerships, customers decide the what, when and how of partnership decisions, even as equal partners.

However,  suppliers with foresight can intentionally decide whether to go down a particular partner road and gracefully exit, or work to raise customer awareness of their value and contributions.

Here’s to supplying service with eyes open.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chris Arlen
President, Revenue-IQ

You know you’re under the front wheels of the contract cancellation bus when customers place you, their service supplier, in a poor light so they can come out smelling like roses.

That kind of customer-supplier relationship, and we’ve all had them, quickly makes gargantuan profits seem undersized for what you’ll endure earning them.

This post follows up “Blindsided by a Mental Model” and looks at some ways to help you avoid getting tattooed with tire treads. The following is based on reader feedback from that earlier post as well as from my years of receiving painful instruction from painful customers.

Let’s look at what you might to do to avoid all that pain:

• Before You’re Thrown Under the Bus
• When the Bus Arrives

Before You’re Thrown Under the Bus

There’s no time like the “before-service-starts” time to influence your customers’ mental model of service relationships. After all, you’re just beginning service: You don’t know them, and they don’t know you.

Here are some ideas:

• Make Explicit Your Commitment in a Letter
• Secure Customer Commitment to Issue Resolution
• True Up Your Understanding to Reality

Make Explicit Your Commitment in a Letter

In a comment to “Blindsided by a Mental Model”, Bill Todd wrote:

“I have learned over time that it is best to be up front about these issues early on in a customer relationship. If I have the opportunity, I like to speak frankly with the customer and then follow-up with a “commitment letter” describing what they can expect from us in terms of integrity, pricing etc. In the letter, I slip in how they can help us be successful in meeting their expectations.”

Bill’s idea of a “commitment letter” makes your commitment explicit. Using his idea, I’d suggest you keep this to a 1-page letter, highlighting the vital few areas only.

If you present it in person you’ll also have the ability to discuss in advance more sensitive issues that were too detailed to be included in the letter. Those issues may include:

* How do you deal with out of scope “surprises” from customer’s employees other than your contact

* How do you resolve a situation where your customer’s employee harasses one of your workers

Secure Customer Commitment to Issue Resolution

Consider adding an Issue Resolution Agreement to the back side of that “commitment letter”. The idea here is to explicitly show the customer how they should behave when they have an issue with your service.

I’ve mocked up an Issue Resolution Agreement (click here, or the thumbnail, for a PDF). Feel free to recreate your own version, changing whatever you see fit. Its purpose is to get your new customer to redefine their customer-supplier mental model. Hopefully, this spells out how issue resolution should / could work.

This mock up is for simple issues. You can always make it more complex or detailed depending on your customer. You may want to have one for simple issues and another for more complex resolutions.

Whatever you may use, it’s important your customer signs off on their understanding and acceptance. Signing anything makes it feel like a legal commitment. Although that’s not the intent here, that’s not a bad obligation for customers to feel they’re under.

As with your “commitment letter”, presenting and discussing your Issue Resolution Agreement in person is essential. When you both sign in the presence of each other you’re setting the stage for dealing with the real world in the future.

True Up Your Understanding to Reality

Customers see the world the way they see it. Period. That doesn’t mean that’s a forever perspective. As suppliers, we benefit by understanding there are customers who treat suppliers as if they’re in the 1950s – and there are customers who are more attuned to the new millennium – plus the majority of customers who are somewhere in between.

The point is, once we adjust our thinking and expectations we can do what’s needed, rather than fight against the way our mothers told us it would be.

When the Bus Arrives

As much as we’d like to avoid customers trashing us to save their skins, it’s still going to happen. When it does, consider the following:

• Bad Puppy! No!
• Lead by Example
• Cut ‘Em Loose

Bad Puppy! No!

Act at the moment customer behavior goes seriously sideways. Bring it up, there and then. Respond immediately and appropriately.

Like house training a puppy, customers will more fully see where they’ve gone astray if suppliers bring it up at the time it happens – rather than later when the context is no longer fresh in their minds (think puppy, carpet, newspaper…you get the picture).

Lead by Example

Show the customer how responsible business partners work with each other.

* Speak openly & forthrightly –> but always with respect & courtesy

* Tell it like it is –> but always with the recognition that it’s the way you see it. They obviously see it another way, and you can’t tell them they’re wrong, just that you have a different perspective. Who knows, your eloquence may help them see it in a new way.

* Once you say you’re going to do something, do it –> You probably already do. Doesn’t hurt to remind customers that you’re living up to your promises. Lay it out there so they can ponder whether they’re living up to theirs too.

* Seek win-win solutions –> It helps presenting their benefits first, then yours. But when describing how you win, indicate how your success enables on-going and continued successes for them.

Cut ‘Em Loose

In the final analysis, not all customers will come around despite your best efforts. So, if you’ve exhausted all avenues and have to come to grips with the fallout of firing that customer, go ahead and do it. Cut ‘em loose, graciously and without apportioning blame. Remember, sometime in the future that same contact may be with another company and have the opportunity of hiring you – so don’t torch the relationship. Just let them know you weren’t a good fit.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chris Arlen
President, Revenue-IQ

This is isn’t about a deranged runway exhibitionist. It’s about suppliers’ frustrations with customers’ behavior in service relationships. Does the following scenario sound familiar?

You’re a facility service supplier. You’ve been working with a relatively new customer for two, three, maybe four months. The customer contact may be someone new to you because this is a new account, or a new person in that position. Either way, your contact is an experienced property or facility manager.

And you’re feeling good about your growing relationship of trust and partnership. You’ve worked hard to ensure service quality has been wonderful. You’ve delivered; your contact has told you so.

The Earth Opens at Your Feet

Out of nowhere comes an email from your contact saying that unless an “issue” is resolved immediately they’ll have to put your contract out to bid early.

Issue? What issue? You see this person several times a week, if not every day and you haven’t heard about this “issue”.

On second look at the email you notice it’s been cc’d to their boss at their corporate office and to your boss at your corporate office.

Within nanoseconds you have radioed, emailed, text messaged all your operational staff and gotten the skinny on the so called “issue”.

You now meet your contact and bring them up to speed on their “issue”. It happens it wasn’t an “issue”, it was a “request”. One that was on schedule to be carried out as originally discussed.

You ask your contact respectfully why did they call you on the carpet, threaten you with cancellation, and cc: everyone’s bosses because of this “request?”

Their answer: It was intended to get your attention. They knew you would respond faster if they lit a fire under you.

As they walk away confident they’d behaved reasonably and logically, you worry about the dental bill from your teeth grinding. What’s just happened?

When Mental Models Get in the Way

Your contact’s mental model elbowed you into realizing they see the world, the customer-supplier world anyway, a whole lot differently than you do.

Mental models are sets of beliefs and values we use to make sense of the world and our part in it. They guide our behavior and decision making in solving problems and getting what we want.

When it comes to customer-supplier relationships we’d like to think everyone works from the same mental model. Not so, as we all have learned. Here’s a brief look at two sides of the same model.

The Supplier-Customer Mental Model

Suppliers would like to believe that in a service “partnership” their customers recognize and respect some universal truths for a strong relationship. Suppliers want both parties to interact with:

Open Communication

“Give it to me now so I can fix it, don’t withold information so it becomes bigger than it need be”

Honesty

“Please, tell me like it is, I can take it. How can I resolve it if you’re not telling me the straight story?”

Integrity

“Once you tell me you’re going to do something, I trust you mean it. You know I will do what I say.”

The Customer-Supplier Mental Model

Customers (some, most, few –> you choose how many) believe suppliers are adversaries to be bested in the course of business. They see the customer-supplier relationship as a zero sum game where they can only win if you lose.

Of course all customers don’t have this model. There are those knowledgeable customers that are well versed in supplier relationship management (SRM). They know how to get the most from their suppliers through collaboration and trust. But if you have only those types of customers, you wouldn’t be reading this.

So, for the sake of this post the following model is a brief look at how some customers see their relationship with suppliers.

Keep information close to the vest

“I’ll not tip my hand and give suppliers more leverage over me. They’d make too much profit, and that means I wouldn’t be getting as much as I could from them”.

Sugar coat it until the guillotine falls

“I’m not going to upset my primary supplier by telling them their failings. First, they should know where they are failing so I shouldn’t have to tell them. Second, if they take my criticism badly, they could cancel and leave me embarrassed. So, a little misinformation isn’t all bad. It helps keep them guessing and on their toes”.

Commitments to suppliers are flexlible

“I don’t have time to keep suppliers up to speed. If I have to make a change and it breaks a supplier commitment I’d made earlier, so be it. If that supplier gets mad, well then there’s always more suppliers where they came from. I’m the customer and I’m always right, even when I’m wrong”.

What Can You Do?

I’m sure suppliers would like all customers to have their mental models rewired to include:

• Open communication
• Honesty
• Integrity
• Win-win, instead of zero sum where one side wins at the others expense

However that’s the stuff of sci-fi novels, to rewire other people to our way of thinking. What we can do is use a model that works for strong personal relationships to better manage the customer-supplier mental model.

Next week I’ll share some thoughts about how suppliers might go about reshaping customers’ mental models, but first I’m curious to hear how you’d do it, or have done it. Specifically:

What do you do to “educate/train” customers to truly partner with you?

Let me know your thoughts or experience in comments to this post, or if you prefer anonymity you can email me your thoughts directly at carlen@serviceperformance.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chris Arlen
President, Revenue IQ

You may already have it – that is if you’re a contract service supplier.

From the first day you started service you’re a potential victim of incumbent-itis.

As you work diligently towards “wowing” your new client, you’re also on the road towards the first rebid.

And there will be a rebid.

There always is. In most cases there has to be because of procurement requirements. Or, over the years customers simply begin to feel it’s time for a change.

But you’re busy. You’re very busy:

• Delivering on your service promises
• Continuously improving your quality
• Responding to customers ad hoc changes & requests

You’re busy.

Then out of nowhere comes a slight whiff, a faint rumbling, a vague rumor your contact passes on to you. Yes, it’s true. Procurement is preparing to rebid your contract.

My contract? The one I’ve busted my backside to serve. Yup. Procurement has the bid process in their teeth. It’s cued up and in process. As soon as the RFP is sent out to bidders Procurement will drop the cone of silence around your contact. You won’t even be able to pick their brains for rebid insights. It’s too late.

Too late to do those things you wanted to do but didn’t have the time. Too late to position yourself against the oncoming competitive wonder promises. It’s too late to:

• Introduce that innovative new technology
• Share cost reductions realized from productivity gains
• Publish your successes to the upcoming decision makers

Now you’re faced with the dilemma of either proposing new ideas before the RFP process (trying to demonstrate your worth) or holding back those great new ideas to include in your rebid proposal.

What’s the answer?

Plan for the Inevitable

Begin working your rebid process before Procurement steps in. This means working backwards from the contract term date. You know when that is because you’re the incumbent.

Start 6-9 months before your contract expires, earlier if the contract dollar volume is large.

Pre-bid Goals

The goal is to avoid the rebid if possible. Ideally proposing a contract extension, possibly with incentives of cost savings or avoidance and/or additional value-added services.

If that isn’t possible and the rebid is going to happen, seek to:

• Raise your visibility internally among potential decision makers beyond your direct contact (i.e. Procurement, Safety, Legal, whomever is likely to be part of the decision team)
• Publish quantitative achievements (i.e. productivity increases, quality scores, etc.) during performance review meetings
• Include examples of your innovation, flexibility & responsiveness in performance reviews
• Provide examples of your continuous improvement, specifically process improvements in your service delivery

Save Some Thunder

Identify a number of “wow” initiatives and save the highest profile ones for the upcoming bid. Again, this is only if you’re unable to avoid a rebid process.

You’ll need to have enough “wow” factors to show your customer that they haven’t seen everything you can do. That you’re still bringing innovations and new ideas to them.

Avoid the “Why Didn’t You” Trap

Sometimes incumbents feel they can’t propose new ideas in the upcoming rebid. They believe their customer will ask them “why didn’t you provide that idea before?” Maybe your customer will ask you that, but they’re the ones putting your contract out to bid.

Of course you’ll have to answer their “why didn’t you” question, but only after you’ve made the short-list and are already moving towards reselection.

Once the contract is out to rebid, you, as the incumbent are freed up to address this as a new opportunity. It is a “request” from your customer for a “proposal”. This is the incumbent’s license to wipe the slate clean and get creative. Take advantage of that. Better to be seen as “out there” rather than being ignored as “same-old, same-old”.

Good luck. Rebids are a roller coaster, hopefully you enjoy the carnival. For more insights see “Would You Rather be Barbarian or Duck?“

There is no low hanging fruit. Not anymore. Only incremental improvements

You’ve tackled the low hanging and enjoyed the returns. That leaves only incrementals.

The good news is you have an infinity of ‘em – the bad news is your time and effort.

Who has the time? Your competitor does. The industry leader does. The newbie-upstart-taking-the-world-by-storm does.

Incremental Fruit is Project Management

Performing multiple job functions daily means you can’t see loading another one on your plate. That’s because you can’t see it. Project Management is how you see it. It’s how elephants are eaten (How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time).

Unfortunately, most of us say we have Project Management skills, but are continually waiting for the individual flotation device in the form of:

• new staff to come on-board
• increased funding for the new staff
• the improvement need to go away by itself

With an almost endless list of improvement opportunities Project Management makes the ones you choose to work on doable.  Real Project Management, not project management. I’m talking Microsoft’s Project software.

That begs the question: Which project?

Crowbar Leverage is Insightful Selectivity

You don’t have the luxury of selecting “easy, first wins” because those apples are gone. What you’re left with are projects that look like hard work. So, where to start?

Seek high ROI projects?

Selecting projects that provide the greatest ROI isn’t as easy as it first appears.

Not all projects are easy to quantify ROI. Think internal processes touching many business areas. Hard to put a number on all that. Then where do you turn?

Seek leverage opportunities

While not ruling out ROI as an indicator of which projects to tackle next, consider looking at those that can be quickly leveraged.

Those projects where you already have something in place, and just a slight improvement increases value noticeably.

This means you’ve really got to know your stuff: system,processes and politics.

You may see an improvement opportunity that can be quickly leveraged, but you lack the expertise.

Answer: outsource.

You may be an outsourced resource yourself. Why not vote with your actions that you too believe in the value of outsourcing. Bring in a professional. Why wait until the next millennium when you’ll have all the time in the world?

Justifying the Right Time that Never Comes

Beware the logical-sounding voice in your head. It may be true, or expediency telling you life is tough enough as is.

Unfortunately, it’s the outside events that occur seemingly out of nowhere that will make you smack your forehead saying “I had that on my list”, and thinking “but I was waiting for the right time to start”.

~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chris Arlen
President, Revenue IQ

An article in today’s New York Times describes a possible change in the way federal contracts are awarded, and it specifically calls out facility service contracts.

Plan to Seek Use of U.S. Contracts as a Wage Lever

The Obama administration is planning to use the government’s enormous buying power to prod private companies to improve wages and benefits for millions of workers, according to White House officials and several interest groups briefed on the plan.

By altering how it awards $500 billion in contracts each year, the government would disqualify more companies with labor, environmental or other violations and give an edge to companies that offer better levels of pay, health coverage, pensions and other benefits, the officials said.

Because nearly one in four workers is employed by companies that have contracts with the federal government, administration officials see the plan as a way to shape social policy and lift more families into the middle class. It would affect contracts like those awarded to make Army uniforms, clean federal buildings and mow lawns at military bases. (read the full article)

How might this effect Facility Service Contractors?

Is this good or bad for contractors, those going after federal contracts? Why?

Obviously, this is for federal contracts only….at the moment. If this change were successful with federal contracts, would city, county and state be far behind?

What about the private sector? Specifically high profile firms like those in consumer goods, banks and academic institutions. Their purchasing decisions already pay attention to maintaining a good public image.

I’ve started asking contractors what they think about this change and here’s the first response.

I think it would be great if we could all compete on an even playing field with hours, wages and benefits set in advance. I believe our company (IH Services) provides the type of work environment, management expertise and forward thinking that could get us more contracts in this environment. We do not have employment violations because we follow the rules, not like some of our competitors.

Taylor M. Bruce, Jr., President, I H Services, Inc.

What are your thoughts?

What do you think? Share your comments in this post. I’m very interested to hear your perspective on the future.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chris Arlen
President, Revenue IQ

Frequent buyers are your existing customers, those already under a base contract for an on-going service.

Base contracts provide revenue, non-contract services (aka project work, TAGs, etc.) provide profits.

Customers under contract are as close to a captive audience as contractors will ever get. You have a relationship, you’re already in their A/P system, and you have credibility (hopefully). Why not sell more of the profitable work?

Most contractors say they do focus on selling to existing customers. But you can bet it’s more of a piecemeal process. One that responds to customers’ requests rather than a proactive approach.

A World Class Frequent Buyer Program

Nordstrom doesn’t waste selling opportunities. It builds stronger, more loyal customer bonds by selling more  rather than timidly waiting around.

Nordstrom’s Fashion Rewards is an example of a world class frequent buyer program.

Yes, Nordstrom sells to consumers. Yes, they have tens of thousands of items to sell and millions of consumers to sell to.

But they recognize the lifetime value of customers. They recognize their need to capture as much of their customers’ spend as possible.

Worthy aspirations for every service contractor. A frequent buyer program must be:

• Formal & thought out, not someting tossed off between emails
• Branded & marketed with a name, logo, tagline & collateral
• Committed to the long-term with incentives for your sales staff, as well as customers

3 Keys to a Frequent Buyer Program

Here’s a quick look at three keys to help contractors build their own frequent buyer program modelled after Nordstrom’s Fashion Rewards.

1) Incentivize customers to make more non-contract purchases

How NORDSTROM does it:

Nordstrom’s Level 1 in their Fashion Rewards program provides customers $20 gift certificates for every 2,000 reward points earned.

Points are earned in Nordstrom purchases. They’re tracked and monitored using data from the Nordstrom credit or MOD cards. These are the only forms of purchase allowed in the program. (A MOD card is a Nordstrom card that direct debits from a customer’s bank account, just like a bank’s debit card, except the MOD is good only at Nordstrom. Customers voluntarily sign up for those $20 certificates.)

SERVICE CONTRACTORS can:

Easily track and monitor non-contract services as it’s included in your monthly billing.

Create a points system (like Nordstrom) or a dollar volume discount, rewarding total spend with lower per unit pricing. This is your Level 1 incentives.

Make it easy and visual for customers to tell what they’ve earned. Is that a quarterly email or printout with certificate?

2) Increase customers rewards for reaching higher purchasing levels

How NORDSTROM does it:

Customers reach Nordstrom’s Level 2,3, and 4 when their annual purchases reach a certain volume. For example, in addition to the $20 certificates, incentives at Level 2 include:

• Free trial size beauty products (no purchase needed)
• Nordstrom On Call to a Peronal Stylist for help with last-minute wardrobe needs, gift shopping, etc.
• Complimentary shipping for online or in store purchases (actually a charge with a $10 refund on the next statement,clever huh?)
• Early access to shop the Nordstrom Anniversary sale
• Invitation to the Private Holiday Shopping Party

SERVICE CONTRACTORS can:

For customers attaining specified purchasing goals, consider:

• Labelling the level attained, make it special, such as Most-Favored Client status, or Corporate Platinum level
• Providing a valued service free (possibly one the customer had never before used)
• Provide faster access to your account service rep, either through more frequent site visits, emails or calls
• Include customer contact on your firm’s Customer Advisory Board
• Invite customer to new product/technology demos your suppliers put on
• Invite customer to participate in service roundtables hosted by your trade associations

3) Plan customer incentives for specific times of the year.

How NORDSTROM does it:

Nordstrom has a yearly calendar identifying dates were double and triple reward points can be earned. These are in addition to regular purchases throughout the year.

These dates appear aimed at the slower summer season as well as increasing buying during retail’s high season over the holidays.

SERVICE CONTRACTORS can:

If there are identifiable purchase seasons, incentivize the off season, as well as the high season for those types of purchases.

The profitability of non-contract services will offset a volume discount offered.

And as importantly, the more services customers buy, the more they’ll value you as a service partner.

The critical part is to schedule out special times where your discounts are greater than usual. You need to get customers’ attention, as Nordstrom does with its Double and Triple reward points boldly marked on their collateral’s calendar.

Getting Started

Once a comprehensive Frequent Buyer Program is developed, branded and formalized, your ready to take it to your customers.

Customize a portion of the program for each contract customer. Make the minor changes to incentives, services, schedule and fees required for a particular customer. The goal here is to have a program that’s 97% static and 3% customized.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Chris Arlen
President, Revenue-IQ

U.S. immigration laws, enforcement and politics are tied up in an overwhelmingly complex knot.

Immigration touches all areas of society: the economy, publicly funded social systems, and universal human rights.

At a business level, immigration confuses and frightens workers and employers alike.

For low-wage service industries in particular, immigration is the tornado in the distance, a quickening wind now with an unknown future impact.

Here are a few observations for facility service contractors regarding immigration. (This is not legal advice, seek experienced counsel for that).

Customers & Business Competition

Contractors who play by the rules feel they lose business to shady contractors who break the law and sell at lower pricing.

But what if customers knowingly choose contractors who hire unauthorized alien workers and don’t pay taxes or overtime?

Aren’t they complicit with the bad contractors? Is there no justice for good contractors? Read on.

ICE gets Wal-Mart

Wal-Mart’s business is based on selling at the lowest prices. Unfortunately, it has a history of buying the lowest price too, without looking any further. ICE (Immigrations and Customs Enforcement) has enhanced Wal-Mart’s vision .

In 2001 ICE arrested 100 illegal immigrant janitors at Wal-Mart stores in 4 states.

In October 2003 ICE’s “Operation Rollback” arrested an additional 245 at 60 Wal-Mart stores in 21 states.

The 12 contractors that employed janitors for Wal-Mart plead guilty to criminal charges and paid $4 million to the government.

Wal-Mart, to end the ICE investigations,  paid a $11.2 million settlement to the Justice Department.

The story continued. Some of the illegal immigrant janitors arrested at Wal-Mart, filed a class action law suit against Wal-Mart claiming violation of the RICO Act. This long drawn out battle was started by Wal-Mart contractors paying flat amounts between $350-$500 per week for 7 days per week, 60+ hours per week, no overtime, no taxes and no time off.

These contractors were criminal, but Wal-Mart chose repeatedly not to know what they should have known.

Check out the many other ICE enforcement stories on their web site under NEWS, then select WORKSITE for the topic. Interesting reading.

FOR CONTRACTORS THIS MEANS:

• Know your current customers very well – they may be ICE targets, and you with them
• Do your homework on prospective customers – know who you’re committing to
• Always be rigorous in your I-9 practices
• Consider enrolling in IMAGE (ICE Mutual Agreement Between Government and Employers) to lessen the likelihood of I-9 violations

Immigration Enforcement Increases

In the last several years I-9 investigations are increasing. ICE sent out 652 Notices of Inspection (NOIs) on July 1, 2009, compared to 503 in all of 2008.

FOR CONTRACTORS THIS MEANS:

• A more level playing field for I-9 compliant contractors
• An increase in the possibility you’ll be investigated – but likely still a low probability
• Always be rigorous in your I-9 practices
• Consider enrolling in IMAGE

Some Customers Continue to Hire Non-compliant I-9 Contractors

This was the story with Wal-Mart, who has now converted to become a very rigorous vetter of their contractors and subcontractors.

However, there will always be customers who work outside the law’s intent and letter.

FOR CONTRACTORS THIS MEANS:

• Avoid those customers like the plague, because they are

Authorized Workers are Protected

When workers are I-9 eligible and verified for employment they gain the protection of U.S. labor laws.

Compliant contractors want all employers to comply with minimum wages, taxes, and over time pay laws.

FOR CONTRACTORS THIS MEANS:

• A more level playing field for customer pricing
• An employment market freeing you to spend your time more productively

Contractors in the Middle of Changing Compliance

Currently, I-9 compliance doesn’t require verifying the authenticity of individual’s identity document(s).

According to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services…

“All U.S. employers must complete and retain a Form I-9 for each individual they hire for employment in the United States. This includes citizens and noncitizens. On the form, the employer must examine the employment eligibility and identity document(s) an employee presents to determine whether the document(s) reasonably appear to be genuine and relate to the individual and record the document information on the Form I-9.”

Does the following phrase seem open to interpretation?

“…the employer must examine the employment eligibility and identity document(s) an employee presents to determine whether the document(s) reasonably appear to be genuine and relate to the individual…”

It doesn’t say check applicants name and social security numbers with the Social Security Administration.

But that’s one way to resolve the issue – by using E-Verify. It’s the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Social Security Administration (SSA) free online service to match newly hired employees’ names with Social Security numbers.

Heads up, E-Verify is not foolproof. There have been 0.3% of 6.4 million queries in 2009 that have resulted in “No-match”, meaning the names and numbers didn’t match, but later proved incorrect (this meant 19,200 people had delays in getting hired).

As a result, employers get “no-match” letters. And the DHS/SSA are continuing to refine the legal definition and intrepretation of the “no-match” letter program.

Their instructions on what an employer should do, and when, were challenged in 2007 in the U.S. District Court of Northern California.

As a result, it’s not always clear which protocol contractors/employers should follow.

FOR CONTRACTORS THIS MEANS:

• Confer with experienced counsel
• Follow the employer safe harbor procedures announced before the no-match rule was enjoined: (1) within 30 days of receiving a no-match letter, check internal records; (2) within 90 days, ask the employee to go to the SSA or the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to resolve the issue; and (3) within 93 days, complete a new I-9 form (use identification documents other than those that initially created the mismatch.)

But What About?

Here are several questions I’d like to hear from you about, anonymously if you’d like:

• What about your long-term employees that were hired before I-9 had gotten stringent –> Do you go back & E-Verify their SS#s?
• What about accounts where you have lots of employees who may or may not be authorized aliens –> Do you go back & E-Verify their SS#s?
• How would you hire new, eligible employees fast enough to backfill lost employees to I-9 investigations?

~~~~~~~~~~~
Chris Arlen,
President, Revenue-IQ

Everybody sells. Even your hourly paid janitor or security guard. Whenever they’re seen or approached by a prospect or customer, they’re selling your company.

Think about those 1,000s of interactions every day. And each one has the potential to gain you new business -or- send customers fleeing to your competitors.

Here’s a story that got me thinking about a practical way for you to add 10s, 100s, or 1,000s of salespeople, for free. Read on.

Story of a Lost Sale & Brand Erosion

The following story is true.

A prospect visited a 5-star hotel/resort in Arizona. Her friend had told her about a very romantic casitas (special suite) that she must stay in if she had the opportunity.

The prospect was given a tour of the hotel and saw the particular casitas her friend mentioned. It was true, it was romantic, it was special. She wanted it for her birthday holiday 6 months later in the year.

A week later she called to reserve the casitas. The desk clerk told her the hotel’s policy did not allow reserving a specific room. The hotel assigned rooms, not the guests.

The prospective guest was surprised, this being a 5-star hotel. She asked what was the purpose of the policy.The clerk didn’t know.

The prospect then offered to pay the entire 5-day stay in advance, $2,450 upfront, right at that moment. Still the clerk referred to the policy saying that wasn’t possible.

The prospect told the clerk she’d checked out the hotel to stay in a specific casitas recommended by a friend. And that she wouldn’t be happy staying in just any room. Her heart was set on that casitas. The clerk politely reiterated the policy.

As you can guess, the prospect hung up frustrated and angry, and without a reservation. The hotel lost a $2,450 sale, and much more.

That prospective guest, now an unhappy non-customer of the hotel wasn’t silent. That’s normal. She definitely decided never go there in the future. And she began telling her friends not to go to there. The number of potentially lost sales grew.

Back at the hotel, the desk clerk correctly followed the hotel policy, he did everything right. He was polite, attentive, used all the proper phone etiquette, except he…

…didn’t understand why the policy existed, therefore couldn’t share that with the prospective guest

…wasn’t empowered by the hotel to improvise in a unique situation

…didn’t realize his brief phone interaction lost the hotel a lot of money and reputation, and if the hotel’s business worsened, eventually it would not have a job for him

…acted like an hourly employee, rather than someone who helps keep his own job

Lessons from the Story

This got me thinking about sales and facility service contractors.

All those hourly employees of contractors have many interactions with prospective customers (think about the visitors to your customers’ sites and word of mouth)

Hourly employees, whether they’re planned to deal with prospects or not, do sell your company.

Why not train them to help your company’s sales and health? Rather than hurt it like the desk clerk in the 5-star hotel.

Here are some brief ideas on how to do that.

How to Add 100s of Salespeople for Free

1) Create a Sales Referral Program

This can be relatively simple or complex. The key is for transparency, integrity, reliability and speed.

Your program should only pay out after a referred prospect is a customer and their first check is received. You only pay your referrer if you’ve been paid, a cash neutral proposition.

It must be clear to everyone involved how things work, what needs to happen for money to be paid. This means a well documented plan that’s presented to all employees (hey, it’s a big deal).

It must be fair for all, and rigidly managed to published procedures (no signs of favoritism or prejudice).

It must be reliable and fast. It works against you if the program takes 2 months to pass on a lead and sometimes gets dropped (you’re generating leads here, and motivating for more).

2) Add Brief Training  on the Sales Referral Program

Add a 10-15 minute training for all new hires during their initial orientation.

You’ll also need to roll out the program to existing staff. This can be done in a combination of ways that may include:

• Payroll stuffers
• Supervisors presenting during break/lunch
• Managers presenting at all hands meetings on site
• On internal web site
• In employee newsletters

You may want to publish refresher notices every 6 months to keep the program on employees minds.

3)  Training Content

The following is a first, quick take on possible content. There’s obviously a lot more needed. You’ll create your own to fit the specifics of what you want accomplished.

“When someone (prospect) asks you about your company, do the following:”

Look the prospect in the eyes and SMILE

Tell the prospect you’d be happy to have someone from SALES contact them if they’d like

Ask for the prospect’s business card (if they give you one, write their name on the back, make a copy if you like, and pass the card to your supervisor)

The supervisor will send it to your company’s SALES contact (NOTE: all this must happen reliably & quickly, no later than 36 hours from prospect to COMPANY to SALES calling prospect)

Give the prospect your company’s phone #

Give the prospect the name of your company’s SALES contact (you?)

Thank them for considering your company

You may want to include training that lets employees know that almost everyone is a prospect, or can influence a prospect.

Reality Check – Don’t Expect High Volumes

These prospects have just happened to make contact with your hourly staff on site, before going to your web site.

So it’s unlikely you’ll be getting 100s of new leads this way. But even one pays for itself.

Any and All Interactions with Prospects Matter

Remember, that first contact with your company is crucial. It doesn’t matter whether it’s with your janitor or guard -or- with you at your tradeshow booth. You’re setting the tone for all future customer expectations. And prospects are already assessing if they want to do business with your company.

What have you got to lose?

Your hourly staff are already on your payroll. You’re already paying for 10s, 100s or 1,000s of salespeople. Take advantage of that, for free.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chris Arlen
President
Revenue-IQ

Image by Charlie Ambler
CC BY http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

March 16, 2009 Unhappy Janitors at Microsoft protest subcontractor’s cuts

This article points to the janitorial subcontractor’s staffing cuts and unhappy janitors because of increased workloads.

It made me wonder about our last blog post A Janitorial Fable on Mar 12, 2009.

I wonder if specifications were changed at Microsoft to reflect higher workloads.

I wonder what, if any, communications went to janitors and Microsoft end-users to reshape their expectations.

I wonder how the situation would’ve played out if the subcontractor had read Continents of the Contract Service World?

What do you wonder about?

(Disclosure: SBM Site Services is not a client of Service Performance. ABM Janitorial Services is a former client. 17 years ago, as Sales & Marketing Director for ABM Janitorial, Chris Arlen (that’s me) wrote the proposal that secured the Microsoft contract for ABM.)

Image by: Robert Scoble

~~~~~~
Chris Arlen
President, Service Performance

Technorati: Microsoft, janitors, janitorial workload