“ If your inside operations can’t keep pace with the flow of traffic and orders, it can be disastrous.”

CleanItSupply.com is a wholesale janitorial supply company which is a fast growing business with headquarters located in Jeffersonville, PA. They remain as committed as ever to providing their customers with top quality service and discounted janitorial supplies, restaurant supplies and office supplies.

MO: How did you get your start in the janitorial supply industry?

Dan: I grew up in a family owned commercial janitorial cleaning service business that my father sold in 2005. I always believed in do what you know and you’ll be successful. So, I after all the years of actually using cleaning products, and being in the trenches of everything cleaning related, I had enough experience to speak on the subject as an expert. So the idea of selling the products online that I knew much about could be a lucrative concept. With this idea at hand, I launched CleanItSupply.com in 2006.

MO: What’s one marketing strategy that’s worked really well for you?

Dan: The very first marketing strategy was to approach any and all business contacts I had to let them know the new business I was in and how I could help them. The people I reached out to were those whom I believed already trusted me, recognized my expertise and I thought would give me a shot at their business. This effort enabled me to begin sales and recognize some small profits of which I reinvested into what I would call my first real internet marketing strategy. With these profit, I reinvested into the website and search engine optimization (SEO). The SEO practices back in 2006 was like black magic and once you figured on how to favored by the search engines, the phone began to ring the emails came pouring in.

MO: Can you elaborate on how you’re constantly investing in new technologies that can enhance the customer experience on your website along with customer service?

Dan: Yes, we’re constantly investing in new technologies to make the customer experience on the website better. If a visitor becomes frustrated or can’t find the product or information they are looking for, you’re likely to loose their confidence and they will bounce. In addition, we repeatedly splash our web pages with trust signals and customer service signals that we’re here if you need us. We always answer the phones live without any phone prompts. Customers want immediate satisfaction and our team is standing by to help. Technology can help us with customer service tools such as live chat, bulk order request form, estimate shipping, ask a question form, track my order tool or our quick order tool. All these do-it-yourself features add a level of customer service and useful information the visitor is likely looking for.

MO: Why do you think that controlled growth is the key to your success?

Dan: This is really important. If you grow too big too fast something is likely to suffer. And that “something” is usually customer service. With the ability to scale internet marketing at a quick pace, it’s not difficult to overwhelm your customer service department. We take great pride in training every new customer service representative so that they represent our company in it’s greatest light. We can’t just have Betty the LifeTime operator standing by to tell you she or he doesn’t know the answer to the question or is unable to help. That’s not customer service. I can’t put enough emphasis on how important controlled growth can be to a business. If your inside operations can’t keep pace with the flow of traffic and orders, it can be disastrous. And for us, our reputation is our single most important asset. If you have a good reputation, the sales and income figures always follow.

MO: What inspired you to host your first Splash and Dash Flash Clean-Up this past fall? Can you talk about the turn out for the event and if the results met your expectations or hopefully exceeded them?

Dan: Wow, this event was just awesome! And we had so much fun with it. In September of last year, the Philadelphia Inquire newspaper had published an article and noted “[Love Park’s” dowdy appearance is both a failure of city maintenance and of users’s pride in a Philadelphia symbol.” We felt this would be a great opportunity to share with local organizations the results of a what a volunteer flash clean up crew could do in a very short period of time. This effort demonstrated that flash clean up teams can make a significant difference in the overall appearance of a community park or public location. In addition, hopefully change the view in which the general public views these parks and cities such as Love Park.

We were extremely please with the turnout of the event. We didn’t count every head present at the event but could only estimate between 50 and 70 people attended. It’s funny because even when I count the number of people in the video for the still photograph, I remember seeing many people still cleaning and collecting trash. The number turn out absolutely exceeded my expectations and that just goes to show how many people embraced the idea.

MO: I know that you are a company that is attentive to the needs of your customers. Can you share an example of when you were able to improve your business based on customer feedback?

Dan: Absolutely. We always listen to our customer s. That’s really important to us. If you listen to their needs and concerns or problems, you can adjust your business to adapt or be more proactive about the issue. There are many examples of how we improved our business from our customer’s feedback. One example is when you have requests to carry certain products, product lines or manufacturers. When you hear this more than once, it’s time to source a supplier for those requests. Another example is when customers would be concerned how long would the ship time be and how much shipping costs. For that we addressed two pieces of technology to display “Product ships in X days” and an “Estimate Shipping” tool to take a more proactive approach to the anticipated questions.