How to overcome the challenge of competition? The challenge to change

1. Introduction

This project is based on the name change that had to be carried out by a Catalan cleaning company integrated in the sector since 1972. This change did not simply mean a change of name but a change in company philosophy. The expansion of its service divisions was the trigger that gave rise to the need to expand its market and expand its service lines.

Grupo BN was a group of cleaning companies with coverage in Catalonia and the Community of Madrid and the main provincial capitals of Spain.

In Catalonia it was known by the name of Ben-Net, Neteges i Manteniments, S.A. and in the Community of Madrid and the rest of Spain, such as Grupo BN Madrid, Limpiezas y Mantenimientos, S.L.

Since 2010, the company has been increasing its service divisions, covering not only the cleaning sector, but also expanding its services, creating 4 different divisions.

1.1 Divisions

• Hygienic cleaning: Since 1972, Ben-Net, Neteges i Manteniments, S.A. and Grupo BN Madrid, Limpiezas y Mantenimientos, S.L., dedicated to the cleaning and maintenance of buildings and premises.
• Auxiliary services: Creation of a new company in 2010, Grupo BN Outsourcing, S.L. with the aim of allowing group clients to outsource certain tasks or jobs to ensure that they devote all their efforts to the main activity of their business. As: warehouse personnel, delivery men, forklifts, replenishes, etc.
• Technical cleaning: May 2012, Acquisition of the client portfolio, assets and absorption of direct and indirect personnel of the company specialized in technical clean-ups of CALITEC (Catalana de Limpiezas Técnicas), a company that belonged to Grupo Gaherma, S.L. As: melting furnaces,  tanks, paint booths, etc.
• Integral maintenance: subcontracting to carry out services to Grupo Gaherma, S.L., completing a range of services with small and medium repairs of air conditioning, electricity, plumbing, painting, carpentry, masonry, and plumbing.

2. Body

All these changes generate the entrepreneur, expansion concerns, needs to adapt to the environment and the possibility of expanding the market. One of the most important and vital points to make this change is the corporate image of the company.

The market must relate the image of the company with the services it offers. That is recognized not only as a cleaning company, but also as a service company: facility services.

Throughout this project, I will explain how this change was designed and made, both internally, for the workers of the company Ben-Net / GrupoBN, and externally.

They have had to break with a vision in time of 40 years of service within the cleaning sector. This has not been easy, Ben-Net / GrupoBN has always been characterized as a family business that has expanded at the regional level with the dedication and effort of all its workers.

We are talking about a Catalan company that maintains the vast majority of its indirect staff (president, managers and administrative staff) with a similar seniority to the beginning of it. It has not only meant a change of image, but of mentality and attitude.

It was a job that lasted 6 intense months and was launched on September 1, 2012.

Need for change. Ben-Net / GrupoBN hired the services of a professional in the world of Communication and Marketing. Together with the guidelines of the General Directorate of the company, the following points were analyzed:

• Study of the company, sector, competition
• Analysis of the needs of the company, sector and competition
• Proposals to change the logo
• Design of the new corporate presentation of the company
• Elaboration of a commercial guide model for the realization of large accounts negotiation projects.
• Unification of the writing style, format and writing of all company personnel. Internal and external documentation (letters, emails, fax, business cards) and emails.
• New designs in uniforms and the mobile park.
• Design and implementation of a mail signature model adapted according to position and functions for all company personnel.
• Design of a new Web page.
• Proposals for improvement to change at the level of company philosophy, attitude, professionalism, adapt the change of the company to the working staff

After many hours of research, analysis and results, four  development blocks were obtained to work and make the appropriate changes in the company. Market and competition, corporate image design, computer media and internal communication.

The current market situation was studied at that time. The results that Ben-Net / GrupoBN obtained when it submitted to bidding  public or private tenders were very negative. Ben-Net / GrupoBN could not compete with the rest of the service companies; it was very difficult for it to gain an important position in the sector. Although the quality of its services was outstanding in the cleaning sector, it did not have the credibility to offer all its divisions because the projects it presented did not have the professional level of design and writing that was required to be able to compete.

A design company was hired to work with the communication technician and the company management in the new corporate image of the company: the logo.

Different alternatives were proposed playing with the unified name of the company and in Spanish: "Grupo BN", the technical description of the definition of service company "facility services" was added in the English format, the circle where previously was the person cleaning and changed the colour from blue to red vermilion.

2.1 Grupo BN

With the unification of the two names of the company and the election in Spanish, it offered us the possibility of entering the national market avoiding political reprisals that the Catalan market can generate in some clients.

2.2 Facility Services

The fact of taking the description in English enhances the name of the company and levels it professionally with the competition.

2.3 Circle

The circle that in the previous logos would appear to the left of the image is maintained, replacing the person cleaning by the letters BN.

2.4 Colour

The logos in their origin were created in blue, whose colour represented cleanliness, hygiene and disinfection. In turn, the colour blue is a fresh, calming colour and is associated with the mind of the most intellectual part. The blue colour is linked to the key words loyalty, trust and truth.

This idea of tranquillity was changed by the strength represented by the colour red. This colour symbolizes power and is associated with vitality and ambition. It provides self-confidence, courage and an optimistic attitude towards life. The colour red is linked to the key words attraction, love and passion.

With this change, the expert in Communication and Marketing wanted to contribute to the new image that external force that the logos of the company Ben-Net / GrupoBN lacked.

It was decided that the word “Grupo” should appear in lowercase and grey  to highlight the red circle with the initials BN in white. In this way, when the view is fixed on the image, it focuses on the central point and facilitates the memorization of the logo by linking a red circle with the company.

With the election of the new corporate image of the company, we proceed to make the change in all the stationery items that the company uses. The printing company is talked and the new letter, envelope and card formats are designed.

A signature format was designed for the emails and the appropriate instructions were given to unify the type of writing:

• Typeface: Arial
• Size: 10/12

At the level of the locker room of the personnel direct to the client, they changed:

• The cleaning staff's robes
• The trousers, T-shirt and vests of the specialist staff.

The mobile park changed the design of the stamping of:

• Commercial staff cars and supervisor
• Vans and Cranes of the specialists

In the same way that little by little the new design was adapted to the basic procedures of the company, the web design was entrusted professionally  adapting the format, the form and the new philosophy to the Web.

At that time the company had two  web pages, in which the four  divisions were related (www.ben-net.es and www.grupobn.es). These webs were not strong enough to reach the demand of potential clients, since their strong point was cleanliness and if the demand requested outsourcing companies, integral maintenance or technical cleaning, although positioning of the webs was optimal, the results obtained were very low, since at first glance they did not relate the company advertised as a service company, facility services.

More than a change or adaptation, a new web page was created, which was far from the original ones. The domain of the web of the company for  the Community of Madrid was taken advantage by the equality in the name and the objective of the company was obtained: to generate visits with possibility of business in the service sector.

Currently it has been decided a Marketing strategy to maintain both websites active , that of the company of Catalonia (www.ben-net.es) and the new one that covers the entire national territory (www.grupobn.es).

Through the internal controls of the company the number of visits of the Ben-Net page has been studied, and still has entries of budget requests, generating business opportunities in the cleaning sector.

Having a well-elaborated and positioned web is one of the priorities of the company. The investment in the positioning paid in AdWords, returns the investment in business routes giving the possibility to those who consult the web to request a quote or communicate with the company through the contact telephone. This investment is controlled and managed by the  professional web of the company along with the Management of the same.

Together with the team of our company providing the management software, the new changes were adapted to the system in order to generate the own documentation, such as invoices, delivery notes, offers, contracts, receipts, work parts, etc.

On the other hand, the four  new divisions created were incorporated within the commercial process of the management program, making it easier for commercial consultants to prepare offers and budgets according to the type of service requested by the client.

With this management and creating the necessary auxiliary tables for each division, the operating department can classify the working hours in function with the professional operator personnel for each service.

This point was vital and of great importance for the company and especially for the operational department, since until the time of the change, many times it was necessary to use a manual and less technological system to be able to control the hours carried out by the workers, with a very high margin of human error.

For a service company, such as Grupo BN facility services, S.A. the treatment of the workers is fundamental and an error in a pay sheet is an annoyance for the worker and a confrontation with the company, which was unnecessary, but sometimes occurred. Today we can say that they are already corrected.

Greater control in the operational processes and data entry increases the degree of professionalism and reflects latently with the client. The documentation received at this time is clear and concise, easy to understand and with an improved image.

As a last and fundamental step, all the personnel of the company were informed with a general meeting about the reasons for the change, the new company philosophy, the new forms of stationery, cards, web and the adaptations of the management program.

It was communicated to all customers and suppliers of the company by email and ordinary mail, giving a brief explanation of the reasons for the change and the effects they implied at the level of our fiscal data, which in this case only involved the change of first name.

3. Conclusion

Since September 1, 2012 the new name change project was launched, the results have been very favourable for the company. All the actions given have been carried out according to the established and the guidelines set by the professionals who have accompanied us in this new project.

Feedback has been obtained with the client, in accordance with the established objective. The doubts of the President and the Executive before the rejection of the oldest clients in the face of the change have dissipated. The fear was that the oldest customer who had as provider of their cleaning company turned to a more prestigious company but at the regional level, it was thought that the cordial, familiar and close treatment would disappear becoming a more impersonal and less treated close to the one I had always had.

But it has not been that way. The added value of this company has always been the quality of treatment and service and with this new philosophy the only thing that has been altered has been, to the satisfaction of its staff, the increase in the level of its turnover and a greater number of specific request entries for each division; without changing at any time the treatment and effectiveness in the service.

It has been managed to clean up the image of the company, renew it, update it, give it prestige and make it visible as a current, dynamic company and always looking for an optimum quality.

The veteran staff that at first looked surprised and distrustful of all the actions that were gradually being taught in the company, has taken a turn of mind and has been convinced that changes are good when there is a good base and a suitable study to start them up.

In summary I can say, as an involved and hardworking part of the company, that the effort has been important but that the results have been satisfactory both professionally and personally, since it has allowed me to meet very professional people who have taught me to see the world of Communication and Marketing, not only from the most theoretical part, but from the practice.

The first commercial offers presented to important national companies were approved and are now part of our client portfolio; this personally makes me feel very pleased with my part of involvement in the change.

Six years later as a grupo BN facility services, we can be proud of having achieved our challenge.

A NEW IMAGE AS A MOTOR OF SURVIVAL AND RENEWAL OF THE COMPANY'S PHILOSOPHY