ServiceMaster Guildford share their experience of having CleanLink as an integral part of their business.
ServiceMaster Guildford which launched in 1997, is a commercial and office cleaning business that operates in Guildford, Woking, Aldershot and the surrounding areas. They offer tailored services to a client base that ranges from large multi-occupancy sites to small local companies. The business has been using both CleanLink’s Site Manager and Mobile App since 2006 and in 2017 the business was bought by its current owner Siva Kugathas who had no experience of the CleanLink products prior to joining ServiceMaster Guildford. Under Siva’s guidance the business has seen tremendous growth, going from a £58k business to £5M with ambitions to grow to £10M over the next 4 years. The business recognises the role CleanLink has played in helping to deliver the growth and as an integral part of the business.
“We depend on CleanLink as their software helps us manage all our operations including payroll, invoicing and audits. First thing in the morning myself and the team open our emails followed swiftly by CleanLink Site Manager, which is now fully integrated into our daily work routines. We really couldn’t do without it!” Siva Kugathas, Owner at ServiceMaster Guildford.
One of the clear benefits of having CleanLink Site Manager is the efficiency of the payroll system. As a business that employees a lot of part time operatives, working unsociable hours to earn extra money, ensuring their hard-earned cash is paid correctly and on time is crucial. The industry is facing some significant recruitment challenges at the moment and keeping employees motivated is a high priority. Having CleanLink onboard has meant very few problems arising and when something has gone wrong, the CleanLink customer service support has proved incredibly helpful. The team knows the account very well and whilst they may not always have immediate answers, they swiftly respond with the information to resolve the issue.
In February this year the business faced one of its biggest challenges, with a ransomware attack on their server and they turned to CleanLink for help and support. CleanLink was able to restore much of the data loss, a service that proved invaluable. Following the incident ServiceMaster Guildford moved away from using a local server and are in the process of implementing the CleanLink Portal. As a cloud-based system the Portal will ensure all their data is fully protected and provide the business with a level of security they have not previously experienced.
More recently the business took over ServiceMaster East Lancashire who had already incorporated CleanLink into their business, having been the first ServiceMaster business to implement the software. The Guildford branch were astonished to learn how much of the CleanLink functionality East Lancashire were using vs their own processes which they are swiftly rectifying. They now send worksheets directly to operatives on the ground via their mobiles and they are starting to use Site Manager for ordering deliveries, simplifying the process. Orders will be put directly onto Site Manager, and all head office have to do is review the order and send it directly to their clients creating significant time saving benefits.
They currently only have one manager from the East Lancashire business using this function and the plan is to expand it across all 14 of their branches. The recruitment functionality is also being implemented as again as it will help save the business both time and money. A key challenge faced by ServiceMaster Guildford and the cleaning industry is increasing rates of no shows for job interviews. Managers often travel up to 2 hours for interviews and about 50% of candidates don’t show up. The recruitment functionality and CleanLink Portal will help to resolve this as it has the option to send application forms to candidates in advance, whereas previously the application form was completed during the physical interview. Now area managers can see via the portal who has signed the form prior to setting off. Where the process hasn’t been completed it could imply an interviewee is not that interested in the role which can be checked via a quick call.
“We have grown rapidly over the six years and at this point I believe I couldn’t have done it without CleanLink being embedded into the business as it is not only a payroll and accounting tool but also an operating tool. We know there’s more functionality we can implement which we are doing and if CleanLink was removed, we would genuinely struggle to run our business.” Siva Kugathas, Owner at ServiceMaster Guildford.
