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Using Customer Feedback to Improve and Expand Your Janitorial Business

Matt Crowley

In today's competitive business environment, it's more important than ever for companies to prioritize customer satisfaction. For janitorial businesses, this is especially true, as cleanliness and customer service are integral to the services they provide. By actively seeking and listening to customer input, janitorial businesses can not only improve their services and increase customer satisfaction, but also identify new opportunities for growth and expansion. In this article, we will explore the various ways in which customer input can be used to improve and expand a janitorial business, and discuss the role of software in integrating customer feedback into a company's operations.

In this article, we will discuss:

  1. The importance of customer feedback in identifying areas for improvement within the business.
  2. The benefits of actively seeking and listening to customer input, including increased customer satisfaction and loyalty.
  3. The different methods that janitorial businesses can use to collect customer input, including surveys, focus groups, and online reviews.
  4. Using customer input to make meaningful changes to the business, such as adding new services or expanding to new locations.
  5. The role of software in integrating customer input into a business, including the benefits of using work management software.
  6. The challenges that janitorial businesses may face in collecting and using customer input, and strategies for overcoming these challenges.
  7. The importance of regularly collecting and analyzing customer feedback in order to continuously improve and adapt to changing customer needs.

Why is customer feedback important?

Customer feedback is crucial for identifying areas for improvement within a janitorial business. By actively seeking and listening to what customers have to say, businesses can get a better understanding of what is and isn't working for them. This can range from simple things like the cleanliness of the facilities to more complex issues like the overall customer experience.

For example, if a janitorial business receives multiple complaints about the cleanliness of certain areas, this is a clear indication that improvements need to be made in this area. Similarly, if customers consistently praise the professionalism of the staff, this is a strength that the business should continue to build upon.

In addition to helping identify areas for improvement, customer feedback can also provide valuable insight into the preferences and needs of the business's target market. By gathering feedback from a diverse group of customers, businesses can get a sense of what services and amenities are most important to their customers. This can be especially useful when considering the addition of new services or expanding to new locations.

Overall, customer feedback is an essential tool for any business looking to improve and grow. By actively seeking and listening to customer input, janitorial businesses can identify areas for improvement, better understand their target market, and increase customer satisfaction and loyalty.

What are the benefits of seeking customer input?

There are several benefits to actively seeking and listening to customer input, including:

  1. Increased customer satisfaction: By actively listening to customer feedback and addressing their concerns or complaints, businesses can improve the overall customer experience and increase customer satisfaction.
  2. Improved customer loyalty: When customers feel heard and valued, they are more likely to remain loyal to a business. Listening to customer input can help businesses build strong, long-lasting relationships with their customers.
  3. Enhanced product or service quality: By gathering customer feedback, businesses can identify areas for improvement in their products or services and make necessary changes to increase their quality.
  4. Increased efficiency: By listening to customer input, businesses can identify inefficiencies in their processes and make changes to streamline their operations and improve efficiency.
  5. Increased competitiveness: By continuously improving their products or services based on customer feedback, businesses can stay ahead of their competitors and maintain a competitive advantage in their market.

How can a business collect customer input?

There are several methods that janitorial businesses can use to collect customer input, including:

  1. Surveys: Surveys can be an effective way for businesses to gather feedback from a large number of customers in a short amount of time. Surveys can be conducted online, by phone, or in person, and can be designed to gather specific types of feedback, such as overall satisfaction with the janitorial services or specific areas for improvement.
  2. Focus groups: Focus groups involve bringing together a small, diverse group of customers to discuss a specific topic or product. Janitorial businesses can use focus groups to gather in-depth feedback on their services and identify specific areas for improvement.
  3. Online reviews: Online reviews can be a valuable source of customer feedback for janitorial businesses. Customers can leave reviews on the business's website or on third-party review sites such as Yelp or Google Reviews. Businesses can use these reviews to identify trends in customer feedback and make changes to their services accordingly.
  4. In-person feedback: Janitorial businesses can also collect customer input in person by speaking with customers directly or by setting up a suggestion box for customers to leave feedback.
  5. Social media: Many businesses use social media platforms such as Facebook or Twitter to interact with customers and gather feedback. Janitorial businesses can use these platforms to ask for customer feedback, respond to customer inquiries or concerns, and address any negative feedback in a timely manner.

How can customer feedback help make meaningful changes?

Using customer input to make meaningful changes to a business can be a powerful way to improve the customer experience and drive business growth. Here are some ways in which a janitorial business might use customer input to make meaningful changes:

  1. Adding new services: By listening to customer feedback, a janitorial business may identify a need for additional services that they can offer to their customers. For example, if customers consistently express a desire for more frequent cleaning or for specialized cleaning services such as carpet cleaning, the business can consider adding these services to their offerings.
  2. Expanding to new locations: If a janitorial business receives a lot of inquiries or requests from customers in a particular location, this may be a sign that there is demand for their services in that area. In this case, the business could consider expanding to that location to meet the needs of their customers.
  3. Improving customer service: If customers consistently express frustration with certain aspects of the business, such as long wait times or unresponsive customer service, the business can use this feedback to make improvements in these areas. By addressing these issues, the business can improve the overall customer experience and increase customer satisfaction.
  4. Updating processes or procedures: By gathering customer feedback, a janitorial business may identify inefficiencies or areas for improvement in their processes or procedures. By making changes to these processes, the business can improve efficiency and reduce the likelihood of errors or customer dissatisfaction.
  5. Modifying products or services: If customers provide feedback on specific aspects of the business's products or services that they would like to see improved, the business can use this information to make necessary changes to increase customer satisfaction.

How can software help integrate customer input?

Software can play a significant role in integrating customer input into a business by providing tools and systems for efficiently collecting, organizing, and analyzing customer feedback. Some specific ways in which software can be used to integrate customer input include:

  1. Customer relationship management (CRM) software: CRM software can be used to track and manage customer interactions and feedback. This type of software can be used to store customer information, track customer communication, and analyze customer feedback to identify trends and areas for improvement.
  2. Survey software: Survey software can be used to create and distribute customer surveys, gather responses, and analyze the results. This can be a quick and efficient way for businesses to gather large amounts of customer feedback and identify trends or issues.
  3. Work management software: Work management software such as TonDone can be used to track and manage customer requests or complaints, ensuring that they are addressed in a timely and efficient manner. This type of software can also be used to track the progress of customer requests or complaints and provide updates to customers as needed.

The benefits of using work management software to integrate customer input into a business include:

  1. Improved efficiency: Work management software can help businesses streamline their processes and improve efficiency by providing a centralized system for tracking and managing customer requests and feedback.
  2. Enhanced customer satisfaction: By using work management software to promptly address customer requests and concerns, businesses can improve the overall customer experience and increase customer satisfaction.
  3. Increased transparency: Work management software can provide a clear record of customer interactions and feedback, which can help businesses be more transparent with their customers and build trust.
  4. Better decision-making: By using work management software to collect and analyze customer feedback, businesses can make more informed decisions about the direction of their products or services.

What challenges will a business face collecting feedback?

There are several challenges that janitorial businesses may face in collecting and using customer input, including:

  1. Limited customer interaction: Janitorial businesses may have limited opportunities to interact with customers, making it difficult to gather feedback or address customer concerns.
  2. Lack of response: Even when businesses do have opportunities to gather customer feedback, they may find that they receive a low response rate, making it difficult to get a representative sample of customer opinion.
  3. Difficulty in implementing changes: Even if a janitorial business is able to gather valuable customer feedback, they may face challenges in implementing changes based on that feedback. This may be due to a lack of resources, time, or support from management or employees.

To overcome these challenges, janitorial businesses can consider the following strategies:

  1. Seek out opportunities for customer interaction: Janitorial businesses can proactively seek out opportunities to interact with customers, such as by conducting surveys or focus groups, setting up suggestion boxes, or engaging with customers on social media.
  2. Incentivize customer feedback: Businesses can incentivize customers to provide feedback by offering discounts, prizes, or other perks to those who participate in surveys or leave reviews.
  3. Analyze customer feedback carefully: By carefully analyzing customer feedback, businesses can identify common themes or issues and prioritize changes based on their potential impact on the customer experience.
  4. Communicate with customers: By keeping customers informed about changes that are being made based on their feedback, businesses can show customers that their input is valued and build trust.
  5. Seek support from management and employees: To successfully implement changes based on customer feedback, businesses may need support from management and employees. By involving these groups in the process of gathering and analyzing customer feedback, businesses can build buy-in and ensure that changes are implemented smoothly.

Why is it important to regularly collect feedback?

Regularly collecting and analyzing customer feedback is important for businesses because it allows them to continuously improve and adapt to changing customer needs. Here are some specific reasons why this is important:

  1. Customer needs and preferences evolve: Customer needs and preferences can change over time, and it is important for businesses to stay up-to-date on these changes in order to remain relevant and competitive. By regularly collecting and analyzing customer feedback, businesses can identify shifts in customer needs and make necessary adjustments to their products or services.
  2. Feedback can identify areas for improvement: By regularly gathering customer feedback, businesses can identify areas for improvement in their products or services and make changes to enhance their quality. This can help businesses stay ahead of their competitors and maintain a competitive advantage in their market.
  3. Feedback can help businesses understand their customers: By collecting and analyzing customer feedback, businesses can gain a better understanding of their customers and what they value. This can help businesses tailor their products or services to better meet the needs of their customers and improve the overall customer experience.
  4. Feedback can help businesses identify new opportunities: By regularly gathering customer feedback, businesses can identify new opportunities for growth and innovation. For example, customer feedback may highlight a need for a new product or service that the business could offer.

Overall, regularly collecting and analyzing customer feedback is an important aspect of maintaining a successful business. By staying attuned to the needs and preferences of their customers, businesses can continuously improve and adapt to changing market conditions.

Conclusion

In this article, we discussed how customer feedback can completely transform your business when used effectively. TonDone gives you an advantage in using customer feedback to transform operations and is a great way to begin collecting and implementing feedback from customers to expand and grow your business.

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