Seeing and Acting on the Truth

Life can be frustrating! I guess that's a statement of the obvious but I feel the need to share some of the frustrations we have in our business. I've shared them with the Lord so many times recently that I don't feel comfortable bending His ear again. So it's your turn! Hang with me, I think there are some important points at the end of this blog.

At Sparkling Image we deep clean public restrooms. It's hard to describe what "Deep Clean" means so I generally ask people to look at pictures of our work. If you haven't seen our Before and After pictures before, they are available on our main web site (www.SparklingImageOhio.com) in the Before and After section (enter the Women's Room door). In short, we detail the restroom the way you would expect a car to be detailed. Every nook and cranny (grout lines, air vents, drains, etc) is scrubbed until it's CLEAN. It takes us months to train new employees to this level of attention to detail. It's NOT an easy thing to do! Look closely, really closely, at the next public restroom you go into and there's my proof.

No other janitorial service provides this level of focused effort. You can't send your dishwashers into the restroom and tell them to clean to our level. Even if you, the owner or manager, wanted to clean the room yourself you couldn't clean it as well as we can. You don't have specially designed products for various surfaces, you don't have the equipment we've invested in, you don't have the expertise that comes with doing one thing (deep clean restrooms) 40 hours a week for years and years, and you probably don't have the passion for cleaning that we have. After all, cleaning restrooms is what we WANT to do and it's what we feel God wants us to do!

Now put yourself in the position of one of your employees or customers. Would you like a restroom that's been thoroughly scrubbed by professionals or one that's been sprayed and wiped by an 11th grader at the end of his shift (or sprayed and wiped by anyone)? It's not a hard question so give an honest answer! OK, pretty close to 100% of you said you want the professionally scrubbed and CLEANED room to use. You're more comfortable in that room. You feel safer. If you had your kids with you you would feel even more safe.

OK, now put your owner/manager hat back on and consider your company or organization vision/mission/goals for a minute. What do they SAY about your employees and customers? Generally they SAY that your employees are your most important asset, that customers are your top priority, etc, etc. As a leader it is your responsibility to serve those two groups. You recognized that obligation when you wrote your vision/mission/value statements. All organizations do! This applies whether you are leading a business, a school, a church, or whatever.

What gets in the way of putting those beliefs into action? If you know that people prefer the professionally detailed restroom, and you are there to serve them why would you ever decline the deep cleaning service? Excuse #1 is the cost. OK, the service isn't free, but what does your customer/student/member cost? What is your budget for the health and welfare of your employees? If they are your top priority it's hypocritical to say that you can't spend money to protect them from H1N1, MRSA, E-Coli, etc. Do you do that with your family? Be honest about what your top priority is!

The value of our Sparkling Image service is so crystal clear to me. I can see the results, I can see the satisfaction in the eyes of our customers (and their customers and employees). You can't get it anywehere else. Yet a large percentage of potential customers reject our service. This is inspite of their professed adoration of their customers and employees.

I shared this frustration with Nancy the other day and, like she usually does, she helped me find the lesson in the training we're getting. She said "you think you're frustrated, think how God must feel? He's been trying to share the truth with us for thousands of years!" She's absolutely right! He wrote it all down for us, sent His Son to tell us, and reminds us through His Spirit on a regular basis and we still are sinners. My frustrations about rejection are so small compared to how He must feel when we reject Him.

On the other hand the analogies in what He has taught us are very important. We all feel like we can "do it ourselves" instead of relying on the creator of the universe to care for us. We believe that the cost of following our Lord is too high, but it's also true that we get what we pay for! We SAY all of the right things on Sunday (our mission/vision/values statements) and then act in a completely different way Monday through Saturday. And in reality, we place money before God despite what we say on Sunday. It's sad, but it's part of life in this age.

The good news is that we know the ending of the story! We have a God who loves us despite what we do at times and He's got our back. He sent His son to demonstrate the perfect example of servant leadership. He washed the feet of His disciples, He spoke directly into people's hearts and cured them of their afflictions, He died on the cross for our sins. Pretty good example of putting beliefs into actions if you ask me. Note to self: pray for God's help in taking action in accomplishing His will this week.