In talking with building service contractors over the course
of this spring and summer — for the official business of article research, or
just to catch up — I’ve found the general sentiment is that BSCs are doing a lot
more for a lot less. Whether they’re losing accounts to lower bids, witnessing
customer bankruptcies, experiencing cash flow issues, or dealing with major
service cuts, one thing is for sure: it’s harder than ever to hang onto
profitable accounts.
One BSC I recently spoke with said his company’s making half
of what it was bringing in this time last year — and that revenue dive is not
for lack of trying. In fact, BSCs are bending over backward to retain accounts,
and are finding it more and more difficult to say no to requests and
propositions that even six months ago they would have passed up. For example,
this BSC has purchased pieces of cleaning equipment, something he never would
have done in the past, in order to keep long-term accounts that otherwise would
have been farmed out to another contractor.
Is this a commonplace customer relations conundrum? Have other BSCs experienced similar situations, in which customer demands are more difficult to say no to than they used to be? How far are contractors going to keep customers?
Posted
08-31-2009 3:01 PM
by
Lisa Ridgely