W EEKLY EDITION JUNE 5, 2019
What to do When the Customer Wants
Ninety Day Service Intervals
By Karleen Kos, PSAI Executive Director
Last week a Member called wit h just this problem. A government contractor for an installation in a remote
area informed this longtime portable sanitation provider they'd be re - issuing an RFP and asking for 90 - day
service intervals. The customer reasoned that since the installation is little used and remote, the units
wouldn't fill very fast and there was no need to service more often. So they wanted to go from 30 - day
servicing intervals to 90 - day servicing intervals. The PSAI Member was between a rock and a hard place.
He didn't want t o lose the contract, but he also didn't want to provide service under those conditions. He
tried to educate the customer, but he kept getting pushback because there is no standard that explicitly
says, "Ninety - day service intervals are a bad idea and break laws." The Member asked us for help.
As the PSAI works toward shifting the image of our industry, we look forward to helping Members and
their customers sort out situations like these. We can't make the customer see the light. But we can
provide a lette r on PSAI letterhead addressing the issues at hand, and we can serve as an unbiased
resource for both the customer and the Member. If the customer makes a better decision, everyone wins.
If not, a record has been created so that the consequences of a short - sighted choice are solely on the
customer's side of the street. That allows us to follow up and help to shift perceptions when things unravel
later.
We don't know what the outcome of last week's letter will be, but we'll be ready to work with the Membe r
and the community of people who would be affected by this decision.
Read last week's letter starting on page 5 . Do you have similar struggles in your market? Let the PSAI
know and we'll do our best to help.
P AGE 2
CONTINUED ON PAGE 5
