I was at a pre-bid meeting for a giant account; and, as always, everyone was sitting or standing with eyes down, stone-cold silent, pretending to be busy with high level, secret corporate stuff on their legal pads (they were mostly doodling). No one said a word except to whisper in the ear of someone they had arrived with, wearing a matching golf shirt, from the same company.
Absolutely no eye contact, only stolen glances by the men in the room at the one drop-dead beautiful, runway-model female sales rep one company thought was the key to sales (they were wrong).
An impeccably dressed man came into the room, obviously from one of the giant companies, who did not sit down but went around the room handing out cards, shaking hands, and introducing himself. You could tell this person was a pro, with his crisp, white shirt, expensive tie, and good suit. His name was Ed Rosenbaum. He was introducing himself to every single person in the room that was going to bid against him on this job.
This small gesture I have taken with me for over thirty years. Ed Rosenbaum was and still is a class act. Class, that illusive quality that always sets people apart in every crowd. From that lesson I have made friends with people with whom I compete with professionally, a few have become very close friends and a couple I have joined forces with and made money.
A few years later, I get the plum contract for a city’s Downtown Waterfront Developer. This was the kind of contract that turns ordinary hometown janitorial companies into skyscraper cleaning powerhouses. This was for all of their buildings. I very well understood the opportunity. I had and carved out a weekend during my second week in the building to make their marble lobby floor shine.
Knowing how to do marble, I cannot remember what possessed me to try something I never used before but a supplier swore was the latest and greatest. A powdered acid product was supposed to take half the time and produce twice the shine. The latest miracle product, for me to make my new client’s marble lobby floor look glossy enough to knock everyone out. I was set.
My miracle product turned into a nightmare and hour after hour, it just got worse. I did not make it home in the afternoon as planned, my floor team shuffled silently behind our machines until I called it quits about ten that night and sent everyone home. I stayed in the lobby, looking, rubbing, kicking, polishing, and trying to figure it out.
By midnight I am exhausted and all I can think of are activities that serial killers do at that hour all directed at my “trusted” supplier while adding up what the diamond grinding pads are going to run me on top of that day’s wasted labor. I did not even want to think of the meeting I would have to have Monday morning with the property manager. I had visions of her fainting and me loading up all of our equipment Monday night with one of the National company guys looking on smirking.
I was tired and desperate. I pulled over to a phone booth and dialed the home number to a competitor and friend. I wake him out of a sound sleep and he told me not to worry, not to bring my crew, but meet him at the building at seven the next morning.
That morning his truck pulls up at the back dock with him and two of his floor men. That afternoon the floor looks like new. He first had to repair what my miracle dry marble polish had done and after wiping the baseboards down, we leave. Now here is the part I want you to hear very loud and very clear, he would NOT take a dime I wanted to pay him. Not even for the labor of his two floor men.
When you are all alone running your janitorial business sometimes you feel horribly alone. I remember the long hours, not getting to speak with anyone but those I paid, those that paid me and those that were trying to sell me one thing or another. Day after day, week after week the feelings of loneliness mount up over time. It is one of the features of going it on your own. You won’t read about this in the magazines but it is true.
The truth is that every cleaning company is pretty much the same in what happens from day to day, the only difference is the size of the company diffuses the very same activities common to every operation among either a few or many people. One company owner who eventually failed told me that success in the cleaning business was in direct proportion to the owners distance from the toilets ( he was REALLY wrong ). In both the largest janitorial company in the world and the smallest, Monday morning means a phone call or these days, an email from someone who says “your people missed a trash can”.
For a detailed discussion on loneliness check with Dr. Phil or Dr. Laura but Ed the Janitor wants you to see the value of learning to create relationships with others in the business. Now not everyone is honest so you want to be careful whom you connect with. Some things competitors cannot discuss and some are even illegal to discuss but being able to pick up a phone and get another company owner on the other end sometimes can be very valuable for you as it has for me.
The ground rules are not unlike any professional or personal relationship, stick with people with integrity, keep your word, keep your mouth shut when appropriate, but open your mouth when necessary. OK, so I am going to get a little Dr. Laura on you and encourage you to do unto others, as you would have them do unto you. It is just plain good business.
Good competition is not bad for us but good for us. Makes us sharper and better at what we do. I love to compete with people who are honest. I have made money with people who I competed with more than once and I will again.
Here is an advanced strategy to grow your company. What if you and one of your competitors team up and create one stronger company? If you get around town selling, you learn who is who that you compete with. You know who has a focus on quality. You know who is honest and operates with integrity. What happens when one company that is good in sales gets together with one that has a strong operations group? What I am proposing will take a lot of work but can and has already been done with success.
These are days when creativity is going to drive growth but then it always has. What would happen if you were not all alone?
Ed
Ive bought several cleaning biz books with not half the benefit of reading all your posts and blogs. Ive been wondering why you are so generous with your vast experience and excellent advice to people who have the potential to be your competitors. Now I have an idea! Thank you thank you thank you.
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