WEEKLY EDITION June 27, 2018
PSAI Annual Survey Part III: The State of the Industry
By Karle en Kos, PSAI Executive Director
[Note: The following is the third of three articles reporting
on the findings of the PSAI's annual industry survey. To read
part I click here and part II click here .]
The third segment of our annual survey is intended to g ive
us a window into the current size and scope of our Members'
businesses and the most important issues on their minds.
Unfortunately, for a variety of reasons supplier members are
reluctant to share size and scope information, so our data
regarding compa nies is limited to operators.
The data show us that operating companies, in general, are
still rel atively small entities as compared to other industries.
Within the portable sanitation industry, however, we see growth at the top, probably as the result o f industry consolidation
over the past few years. On the other end of the spectrum, we see a large number of companies that are fairly small –
around 28% of firms have 250 units or fewer. A small number of respondents (3%) are still planning to enter the i ndustry but
have not done so yet; hence, they have no units at this time.
Customer Service Is Not Dead, It Is More Important Than Ever
By Emily Newbe rg, PSAI Membership Coordinator
Have you checked out the trends in customer ser vice lately? Google it and you might
be surprised to find most of the talk is about technology. With all the talk of Chatbots
and AI improving the customer service experience for today's consumer, companies
may feel compelled to invest in these just to sta y afloat. Naturally, this can lead to
divesting in the old - fashioned human - based interaction . So we need to ask, "Is the
person - to - person customer service role dead?"
Despite the help that technology has brought to customer satisfaction, there are many
r easons why staying focused on a strong and competent staff of customer service
representatives will benefit your business. Every customer encounter is unique, as are
the stories you'll hear from those of us who have been in the trenches. It's not enough
to Google search "what is good customer service" and expect to learn anything new.
Therefore, the following information is based on about one part current research, and
three parts my own 25 years of customer service experience.
Let us first acknowledge th at today's technology has indeed changed the customer
service role by adding more options. Today's consumers expect extremely prompt
service and without it, they will go elsewhere. But if they have chosen to place a phone
call, the old rule s of phone serv ice still apply.
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