1. Delivering Consistent
National Services at
Multiple Locations
David Carrithers
September 2010

2. Why A Spirit Of Serving Customers Matters?
"UNITED BREAKS GUITARS"
9,100,000 views
http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local-beat/United-Breaks-Guitars-a-Smash-Hit-on-YouTube.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YGc4zOqozo

3. My Views Of Customer Service
Supporting Over 60,000 Buildings

4. Another Name For This Conversation…
Silence is not golden.

5. The Struggle Between…
The Needs of the Local Teams and National Brand
The Business and the People
The Rules and the Relationships

6. Does Your Brand Say?

7. But Your Teams Are Delivering?

8. Customer Retention
Why Businesses Lose Customers
Source: American Society For Quality

9. Service Profit Chain
Linking Employees and Customers

10. Share What A Bad Experience Can Mean?
 Have you ever had poor customer service?
 People not living up to their commitments?
 Not recognized or listened to?
 What they said didn't match what they do?
The Friendliest Store In Town

11. What Is The Customer
Buying?
We Need To Ask The
Field Teams?
Case Example

12. Facilities Services & Customers?
? ?

13. Gaining Alignment

14. Answer the question:
What Is The Customer Buying?

15. When You Hear Strategic Relationships
What Comes To Mind?
 Employees?
 Peers / Site Team?
 Subcontractors?
 Clients?
 End Users (our Clients’ Customers)?
 Internal Customers?
 External Customers?
 Industry Associations & Contacts?

16. 16
Are They Buying?
Materials Handling?
Concrete?
Project Management?
Cheap Construction?
A Buddy?
Estimating?NO

17. 17
Relationship Words…
To exceed our customers expectations by providing high
quality, responsive construction and facility operations services
with empowered professional employees.
Build relationships that withstand the test of time by keeping our
promises and honoring our commitments.
Customer Satisfaction is the Measure of Our Success!
Our Clients Are Buying Our Mission
The Client Wants A Relationship That Performs…

18. What Our Clients Are Buying?
 Professional Customer Service with repeatable, predictable and
positive outcomes
 Different kind of construction relationship Not Status Quo
 Responsive, safe solutions and innovation
 Construction experts that can be trusted to do what is right &
watch out for the client’s interest first
 Responsive and timely communications
 Transparency in decisions, work, results
 A flexible resource pool and experience base
We Must Live Our Mission And Values!
YES
13

19. Customer Focus Of Our Brand
Centennial Objective: Driven to provide solutions
that allow our customers to look like heroes and
remove the conflict & stress out of construction
projects.
To be the trusted advisor of our clients.

20. National Brand Service Levels
 Clear Brand Guidelines
 Everyone Understands The Mission
 The Right Customers
 Survey Plus (+) One on Ones, Stop Bys, etc.
 Refresh, Renew, Review

21. Start Thinking About Customer Satisfaction?
Searching
For The
Perfect…
Customer

22. Better Marketing Attracts Right Customers
?
?
?

23. 23
We have Strategic Relationships on multiple fronts (employee, clients,
subcontractors, partners) and encounter them every day. For the purpose of this
presentation we are focusing on Strategic Relationships with our current
customers. Our premise: Those contracts with excellent customer strategic
relationships achieve higher gross margins.
Relationships At Heart Of Value Statement

24. 24
Relationships Define Us
Our Competitive Advantage

25. Tools To Help CS Culture Take Root
Zero
Punch
List Club
4.0
Club
100%
Club
Customer
Service
Stand Downs
One On One
Sessions
Customer Satisfaction
Surveys
Stories
We Share
New Employee
Orientation

26. 26
Continually Evolving Customer Focus
Program Alignment System for Success
Welcoming New Clients

27. How Do You Listen?
A Crash Class
In CS For Me

28. When Things Go Wrong
http://www.hulu.com/watch/5528/kitchen-nightmares-theres-a-fly-in-myeverything
Be Honest With Yourself – Look Around You, Respond!

29. Simple Things Matter
•How To They Want To Communicate?
•What Kind of Reporting Do They Need?
•Review a Sample Scope
•Review a Sample Project Proposal
•Review Billing With Them, Get A Sample Of What
They Like/Want
•Review the Customer Satisfaction Process
•Find Out Who Else in Their Organization Needs to
Be Aware Of the JOC Program
•Find Out if There are Training Needs
•Review a Safety Plan
•Ask Them To Describe a Successful Relationship
Show Them You Care
Ask Them Questions & Listen

30. How We Respond
Positive, Passionate and Engaged!
Centennial Must Stand Out As A Different Kind-Of Construction Company

31. Customer Satisfaction Is Owned By All

32. Customer Service For Service Teams
 A Culture Of Service
 Decision Making Close To Customers
 Not Just Responding – Thinking For Them
 Training Efforts To Improve Skills
 Rewards Programs To Drive Behavior
 Everyone On The Team Responsible For CS
 Empowered To Make A Difference
 You Are Not Alone – Reach Out For Help
 Check In With Customers – Different Than Day to
Day Teams

33. 33
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
4
CSS
Average
2006 2007 2008
Highest 10
Lowest 10
We looked at the 10 highest and 10 lowest Gross Margin % contracts in 2006,
2007 and 2008 YTD (volume above $2M) and compared them with their
Customer Satisfaction Survey Scores.
Strategic Customer Relationships Drive Success
Relationship
Value GAP
So What Do You Think The Difference Represents Between The Top & The Bottom?

34. Found In Customer Satisfaction Data
 Hard skills drive higher overall customer
satisfaction scores until @ 3.7
 To get 3.7+ rating, need to concentrate on
the softer skills:
 Attitude and cooperation
 Communication
 Honoring commitments
 Value for money
 Office staff management
[From a correlation analysis of 748 surveys covering 4 years]

35. Key Thought
The Soft Stuff
Is
The Hard Stuff
It Starts With
Communications!

36. Listening To Your Customers’ Suggestions
 See the big picture.
 Ask yourself, "Is this a onetime event, or
indicative of a trend?”
 Think strategically about your customers'
businesses, find ways to help them cut costs
and increase profits.
 Go beyond supporting the physical building, or
selling your services, make yourself valuable
to your customers as an advisor.
 Be a student.

37. The Things that Customers Want
Source: "Customer Retention in a Week", Jane Smith
Customers will come back if:
 Your keep your promises
 You are willing to help
 You inspire confidence
 Your treat customers as individuals
 You make it easy for customers to do business with you
 All the physical aspects of your product or service give a favorable
impression

38. Oh The Nail..

39. Remember…
Silence is not golden.

40. Thank You!
David Carrithers
Maritz, Inc.
david-carrithers@earthlink.net
707-484-3620