How to Respond to a Customer Who Doesn’t Think You Cleaned Units as Scheduled

Customers consider clean and sanitary portable restroom units a priority, which is why maintaining your service schedule is essential. Part of your reputation depends on the condition of your inventory, your response to customers, and how they view your business. Avoid potential problems by being proactive in employee training and communicating with your clients. PROs who explain their cleaning and documentation process early on experience fewer customer service issues. Take the time to review your guidelines so you’re prepared for a customer complaint before it happens.

Communicate Verbally and in Writing

Misunderstandings occur due to lack of clarity. Eliminate this by providing each customer with information regarding their unit’s cleaning schedule. Give a separate document listing service dates, or highlight this information in the contract. Help clients understand how you determine the amount of service needed. Point out that overuse results in less overall cleanliness, which makes it crucial for customers to provide correct information. Informing customers about the dates of cleaning helps manage their expectations, but you need to take it a step further.

Explain Your Process

As a PRO, you’ve come across those clients who are nitpicky or feel a need to go over your work. Run through what your employees do during a scheduled cleaning and how they document the service. Let your clients know if you use GPS tracking in your trucks, leave behind a flyer after service completion, or document in an inventory system. A customer wants assurance that you stay on top of maintenance and oversee staff. Explaining your process shows clients that you value their business enough to ensure that the job gets done correctly every time.

Go Over Your Employee Expectations

Even the best employees have days where they breeze through their duties. Double check that all employees are following the proper cleaning procedures. Make sure that staff understands your process of documentation and the need to add additional comments. It’s especially important to note if a unit appears to be overused or needing more than regularly scheduled services. Let employees know that they are your eyes in the field, so it’s imperative that they point out potential problems, both to you, as the owner, and by documenting their concerns on paper and with photos.

Documentation is Key

Avoid arguments between yourself and employees, or customers and staff, by documenting what gets done during servicing. Many PROs use a simple sign-off sheet listing units by serial number and location. Leave room for employee initials, dates and times, along with space for additional comments. Other portable restroom companies go a step further and create a cleaning checklist for employees, requiring them to initial each completed task. Request that your employees document problems and finished work by sending a photo back to the central office. Track service and maintenance history of each unit so it’s easy to refer to later.

Use Technology to Provide Proof of Service

We all know that sign-off sheets can be altered or incorrect. Technology helps track your service and maintenance schedules. Use photographic evidence by including time-stamped pictures of each service in an online inventory system. Alternatively, use apps like Fulcrum’s Portable Restroom Service App or the Portable Sanitary Toilet Cleaning Checklist Mobile App by GoCanvas to track service from the road. The more ways you document a completed job, the easier it is to nip a customer complaint at the get-go.

Address Complaints Immediately

Even the most reputable companies end up dealing with a customer who disagrees with them. When the problem arises, respond that you understand their dissatisfaction and that you’ll look into it immediately. Then, pull up your documentation. Assess the situation to determine if the unit is overused or if an employee is at fault. Visit the customer site and look at the current condition of the portable restroom unit. Come prepared to clean the porta-potty yourself. Your response and quick action help preserve your reputation.

Avoid future issues by ensuring that your employees follow the cleaning and documentation process and your clients know what to expect. A PRO’s response to unhappy clients affects reputation and future business, so it’s essential to have a plan of action in place for complaints. Portable restroom operators who thoroughly document scheduled maintenance and address problems by going to the site face fewer arguments over the cleanliness of serviced units.

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