North American Sweeper - February 2023

BOOTH #1418

CEO & PUBLISHER

Gideon W. Smith

SENIOR EDITOR

Katherine Nolan

ADVERTISING

Tracy Rodean

Phoenix Global Media Inc.

P.O. Box 235, Stockton New Jersey 08559 866-418-4400 phone 973-532-0319 fax sales@nasweeper.com

North American Sweeper Magazine is published by Phoenix Global Media Inc.

Copyright 2020 by Phoenix Global Media Inc.

All rights reserved.

CREATIVE DIRECTOR

Melissa Kennelly

EDITORIAL MANAGER

Heidi Karpinich CIRCULATION

Noah Aiden

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Opinions expressed in editorial submissions contributed to North American Sweeper Magazine are those of the individual authors exclusively and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of North American Sweeper Magazine, its staff, its advertisers, or its readership. North American Sweeper Magazine assumes no liability or responsibility toward independently contributed editorial submissions or any typographical errors, mistakes, misprints, or missing information within advertising copy.

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• No CDL required to operate

• Simplified and more intuitive operator controls

• Improved productivity with dual, 42” side brooms creating wider sweep path

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A & G: THE ROAD CLEANERS

32 Years of Successful Growth and Operation

More than a quarter of a century ago, Abraham Tsherna founded the A&G The Road Cleaners LTD company on a simple business philosophy. That premise is that customer service is the key to success, and after 32 years of successful growth and operation, A&G is the existence proof of his theory.

For A&G, the standard is, as they say, “Complete customer satisfaction.” In reality, that’s a tough standard to live up to. After all, there will almost always be one customer who refuses to be happy, who believes mistakes can’t be remedied, or who just wants to complain. In the street sweeping business, the answer generally is that you stay on the job until the customer likes what they see, and with A&G, that’s ground zero.

STREET SWEEPING IN A TOUGH MARKET

Curbside beautification in Toronto, Canada is not an easy market to get a foothold on. The visibility and the curb appeal of a business are among the most important

continued on page 10

In the street sweeping business, the answer generally is that you stay on the job until the customer likes what they see, and with A&G, that’s ground zero.

assets local-level businesses have. As any such business owner in that city knows, the customer has a lot of options, and if your parking lot looks dusty and the one next door doesn’t, then you can guess who’s getting the business that day.

Obtaining a competitive edge in an industry and market like that means you need to take customer service to the next level. So how does A&G do it?

A&G’S ABOVE & BEYOND SERVICE LIST

Having a comprehensive list of “can-do’s” is a good start, and that’s where A&G really shows its strength. After all, suppose you’ve swept a parking lot and the customer isn’t happy. Suppose, further, you haven’t got the tools needed to deal with the mess they want to be cleaned up or the detail they want attended to.

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page 12

Keystone Plastics has been manufacturing the industry’s leading replacement brooms for street sweeping and road construction since 1954. At Keystone we believe in reliable quality and strive to make the heaviest, longest lasting brooms in the industry. We also believe the only good broom is the one that arrives to you as promised. Contact us to find a distributor near you.

What do you do? You either call a 24/7 equipment rental service and eat your losses or drive away, hat in hand. A&G’s long list of services reduces the risk of this scenario to a minimum.

• Street & Parking Sweeping

• Street & Parking Flushing

• Power Washing / Water Supplies

• Sewer Cleaning & Hydro Excavation

• Tilt, Load & Float Services

• Municipal Snow Plowing Services

• Dump Trucks

• Disposal Bins

• Site Cleanup

• Water Trucks

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...call a 24/7 equipment rental service and eat your losses or drive away, hat in hand. A&G’s long list of services reduces the risk of this scenario to a minimum.

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Anyone who knows much about the road cleaning and street sweeping business knows most of these services are par for the course for a business like A&G. But what’s not obvious is the fact that there’s so much overlap between these services as to approach overkill. This is where A&G gets interesting, where the company’s strong customer service angle wins the day.

The way to deliver robust customer service capabilities is to have more than one way to accomplish the same task. For a street sweeper/ washer company, this means building functional

The way to deliver robust customer service capabilities is to have more than one way to accomplish the same task.

redundancy around sweeping. To this end they have;

• Street & Parking Sweeping

• Street & Parking Flushing

• Power Washing / Water Supplies

• Site Cleanup

• Water Trucks

The above services are designed to accomplish the same task. But they do it in different ways, hitting the problem from different angles, and using different tools and materials. So if one service doesn’t complete the job, the next one

will. It’s a bit like using a Swiss Army knife for a single task. If one tool doesn’t do the trick, you have at least four other ways to tackle it.

So, a more complete analysis of A&G would be to say that they offer multi-faceted street cleaning plus;

• Tilt, Load & Float Services

• Municipal Snow Plowing Services

• Dump Trucks

• Disposal Bins

But, of course, that’s not all. They also have Sewer Cleaning & Hydro Excavation. This is

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generally far from the to-do list of the average streetsweeping company. It is A&G’s final ace in the hole, ensuring that no customer goes unsatisfied.

You might be thinking that all this variable angling for a strong customer service value proposition is coincidental. That does happen in this industry, but A&G themselves say,

“No other road cleaner in Toronto can match the breadth of our offerings, which now includes [...]”

In our opinion, that conclusively shows that they know what they are doing and they are doing it on purpose.

THE PHILOSOPHY OF ROBUST CUSTOMER SERVICE

Every business needs to have a customer service philosophy built into the fabric of the organization. For many street-sweeping organizations, that means

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repeating work as a matter of course. This is where A&G rushes into the gap. Rather than relying on a single value proposition, they have a handful of them ready to deploy.

As Abraham Tsherna would tell you, “We have multiple solutions ready to deploy.” If one does not do the trick, you utilize the next and proceed until you’ve exhausted your options or the job is done.

But of course, that’s not the end of the customer service cycle. It ends after the customer says he is satisfied. That means when you get that call where they say you missed something, you can go two ways. You can throw up your hands in exasperation, or you can say, “Oh yeah, we have something for that.”

A&G takes the latter, and its growing customer base shows it.

Sources https://www.theroadcleaners.com/

SPOTLIGHT INDEX

SWEEPRITE ANNOUNCES SALES AND SERVICE AGREEMENT WITH Z&S PLATINUM SWEEPER SALES AND SERVICE

Breslau, Ontario Canada, January 18, 2023 –Sweeprite a Merit Manufacturing Company is pleased to announce our formal marketing, sales and service agreement with Z&S Platinum Sweeper Sales and Service of Rockville, Maryland.

Mr. Dekelbaum brings to our team decades of experience in the power sweeping industry as President of Quiet Sweep. Quiet Sweep is a leading maintenance supplier serving businesses and government agencies in the U.S Capital Region for over 20 Years.

Mr. Dekelbaum is a well-respected member of the North American power sweeping industry. He is known for his extraordinary depth of knowledge in both broom and air power sweeping technologies. His tireless focus on providing the very best in customer service is legendary in our industry and we’re proud to have him on-board.

Mr. Colin Zhao, President of Sweeprite is pleased to announce our formal representation agreement with Mr. Steve Dekelbaum President of Z&S Platinum Sweeper Sales and Service of Rockville, Maryland. Mr. Dekelbaum will represent Sweeprite in Southern New York State, New Jersey, Southern Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Washington DC, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee and North Carolina. Z&S Platinum Sweeper Sales and Service will also provide parts, general maintenance and warranty services to Sweeprite’s growing legacy fleet Python and SuperiorRoads sweeping machines operating along the East Coast of the USA.

If you’re looking for either a new Sweeprite sweeper or perhaps parts for your older Sweeprite , Python or SuperiorRoads units, please contact Mr. Steve Dekelbaum:

Z&S Platinum Sweeper Sales and Service

7428 Westmore Road, Suite A Rockville, Maryland 20850

Phone: +1 240-832-5063

Sweeprite is a division of Merit Manufacturing Inc. which proudly manufactures and assembles its sweepers in Breslau, Ontario, Canada.

For further information, please contact Dario Manti at sales@meritsweeprite.com

Are you adequately reaching your target audience? Ever been tempted to start up a LinkedIn profile, Facebook page, Twitter account or Pinterest account but not sure where to get started? You’re in the right place! Starting a social media account for your business doesn’t have to be scary or difficult and can help you quickly and efficiently connect with your community. Let’s get started!

WILL SOCIAL MEDIA HELP GROW MY BUSINESS?

This is the million-dollar question, but the answer is usually “It depends.” Companies that sell directly to consumers may have a better idea of how to reach specific audience segments via social media, but what about those companies that work primarily with other businesses? Social media can still be a powerful tool for community outreach and help grow your sales. What’s vital is that you select the right social media accounts, the timing of your posts and engagement and the tone that you’re setting for your audience.

SOCIAL MEDIA 101 FOR SMALL BUSINESSES

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CHOOSING A SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM

B2B (businesses selling to other businesses) have unique challenges when it comes to social media. Unless you’re selling through a distribution network and trying to drive end-consumer engagement with your product, more traditional social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest may not be the right option for growing your business. Instead, look to LinkedIn, GlassDoor and other business-oriented social platforms to help drive traffic to your website and present your company as a knowledge leader in your space.

CREATING THE RIGHT MIX OF CONTENT FOR YOUR AUDIENCE

Companies that only promote their own products or services through their social media channels are unlikely to get a great deal of engagement from their audience. Instead of the company providing education or training about their products and the industry in general, this type of self-promotion by a business feels very self-serving to the reader. Companies that are successfully interacting with their audience by providing new information or training in a way that is beneficial to the reader are likely to see the long-term benefits — as well as shorter-term sales growth.

Customer retention rises as your readers become more engaged, and that starts with ensuring you’re sprinkling nuggets of helpful or educational information along with your product sales or service details. Gurus in social marketing recommend an 80/20 split for your social media presence: 80% of your content should in

some way benefit your readers, with only 20% of your content offering a promotional slant or introducing new products.

HOW OFTEN SHOULD YOU POST ON SOCIAL MEDIA?

You know where you want to spend your time posting content and what type of content you should use to engage your audience. Now, how often do you need to post? Fortunately, social media platforms can also be viewed as modern search engines, so focus on creating content that is relevant and evergreen — or valuable both now and in the future. Since your social media presence grows over time, there’s no need to go overboard and create an unsustainable strategy for your social posting.

In general, companies can post to B2B social media

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You know where you want to spend your time posting content and what type of content you should use to engage your audience.

INDUSTR Y NEWS

1-2 times per week and still see positive growth in their presence and brand over time. Social media posting is not a “right-now” strategy but rather one that will drive continued growth for your business.

Getting started with social media doesn’t have to feel overwhelming. Consider starting small and growing your presence as you become more comfortable with the platforms and see how your audience engages with

your brand. It’s important that you have an individual dedicated to proactively answering any questions that are posted on your social platforms or sent via any messenger applications. When potential clients reach out to you via these channels, they are often testing your customer service levels and response times! Most importantly, have fun with your social interactions, provide value to your readers and focus on education as opposed to self-promotion and you’re sure to grow your business with your investment in social media. Want more information, including tips and tricks? We created the North American Street Sweeper magazine for you! Subscribe online here for free: http://www.nasweeper. com/subscriptions/

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Consider starting small and growing your presence as you become more comfortable with the platforms.

5 Ways To Help Workers Overcome Difficulties

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Average workplace problems often cause increasingly serious consequences for employees and business owners when allowed to continue unresolved over a prolonged period. Greater costs in lost productivity and quality, runaway turnover rates, brand damage, etc. are some essential risks of leaving employees’ issues unattended. Fortunately, there are effective ways pavement sweeping business managers can gain control over serious situations that are causing widespread high stress.

Naturally, employees experience personal and jobrelated issues that can impact performance. Insisting that people simply keep their problems to themselves is not realistic. Their personal problems blend with workplace difficulties and vice versa. Stress levels escalate, job focus is compromised, priorities become confused, and working relationships are impacted. It’s a chain reaction.

EFFECTS OF PERSISTENT STRESS-INDUCING WORKPLACE ISSUES

Temporary stress (acute stress) normally does not cause serious effects on health or job performance. But, persistent stress (chronic stress) due to coping long-term with problematic circumstances can result in adverse mental and physical health conditions, poor work performance, and serious impacts on the business.

Consider what happens to people who are struggling to cope with functioning under persistent high-stress conditions at work. Job-related stress can lead to serious mental and physical health effects that can negatively impact the individual’s work and personal life and relationships.

These conditions often lead to declining work performance, loss of teamwork, diminished quality, soaring turnover costs, and other extreme effects. Those can ultimately severely impact individuals and their families and the business.

WORKERS’ RISKS OF HEALTH IMPACTS FROM JOB STRESS

Unsurprisingly, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) data indicates that a percentage of U.S. employees say

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INDUSTR Y NEWS

health effects, for example:

4 Anxiety

4 Fatigue

4 Depression

4 Diabetes

4 Obesity

4 Cancer

4 Heart disease

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4 Suicide

4 Other extreme health effects

that their workplaces are very or extremely stressful. That condition is not conducive to sustained success for a worker or the business. Some negative effects to people who are coping through long periods with high-stress home and/or workplace conditions can lead to serious

SPOTLIGHT INDEX

BUSINESS LOSSES DUE TO WORKERS’ DIFFICULTIES Workers’ problems coping with difficulties at work reportedly cost U.S. American businesses more than $300 billion annually on average. In problematic circumstances at work, home, in the larger economy, environment, culture, etc., the impacts on workers’ stress levels,

Workers’ problems coping with difficulties at work reportedly cost U.S. American businesses more than $300 billion annually on average.

motivation, energy levels, and concentration affect their mental and physical states and can lead to:

4 Reduced productivity

4 Reduced quality

4 Increased absenteeism

4 Increased turnover

4 Diminished employee satisfaction

4 Diminished customer satisfaction

4 Increased group healthcare premiums

4 Damaged brand

4 Reduced profit margins

4 Other serious business impacts

HOW TO HELP EMPLOYEES THROUGH DIFFICULT PERIODS

Here are some actions you can take to help employees and yourself stay focused in the workplace during

prolonged periods of internal or external difficulties that elevate stress levels in the team:

1. Be Aware of Workers’ Stress Levels.

Owners of growing commercial pavement sweeping companies are typically working long hours and maintaining a high pace. Naturally, workers’ anxieties may not be noticed amid so many more immediate concerns. Stay mindful of employees’ stress levels and sense of engagement with their roles and the company.

4 Make regular opportunities for each worker to have a free dialogue with their manager.

4 Provide means for workers to give their input and feedback regarding working conditions and their employee experience.

4 Maintain their awareness of support resources that are set up to help them manage their issues, For

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example, emphasize your open door policy for workers to communicate with management, or access to an outsourced HR agent, or the company’s EAP, etc.

2. Enable and Encourage Destressing

Self-Care Practices for Employees.

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In difficult situations, the body produces stress hormones that subside when people regain a sense of ability to resolve or successfully manage their situation. Business managers can help team members by attending to some essentials for better stress control:

4 Provide routine quick sessions on prioritizing, managing time, and organizing.

4 Require people to take time off for recharging and prevention of burn-out.

4 Implement destressing practices at work, such as stretch breaks.

4 Allow some amount of flex scheduling, working from home, etc., if possible.

3. Adjust Your Expectations of Employees, as Needed.

A common cause of extreme and damaging stress for employees is continuously struggling in futility to meet excessive expectations at work. To avoid the unnecessary consequences to people and your business, recognize your team’s actual capabilities. Evaluate your goals and expectations and adjust them to match that reality. Represent your values and the employer brand you want to develop. Unrealistic job demands cause losses due to employees’:

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difficult situations, the body produces stress hormones that subside when people regain a sense of ability to resolve or successfully manage their situation.

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4 Ongoing frustration and feelings of defeat

4 Sense of hopelessness about goals

4 Loss of confidence in their ability to achieve set goals

4 Disengagement from work role and the business

4 Damaged relationships between employees

4 Lost trust for and loyalty to the company

4 Feelings of employment insecurity

4. Model Good Self-Management for Your Team.

4 Create a well-stocked, comfortable area for breaks.

4 Upgrade the appearance with paint, furniture replacements, etc.

EVALUATE THE MENTAL AND PHYSICAL WORK ENVIRONMENT

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Employees can benefit from your example of selfmanagement in adversity as they develop their own responses to their personal and job challenges. See the Additional Resources section below for a link to the insightful Harvard Business Review discussion of workplace self-discipline.

4 Maintain a positive outlook during difficult times.

4 Take time off from work regularly to avoid fatigue.

4 Do not give way to anger or other emotions in the workplace.

4 Model the healthy habits that support physical and mental coping skills.

5. Correct Problems in the Physical Work Environment.

Fundamentally, it is harder for most people to do their best and feel their best in an environment that is detrimental to an optimistic attitude and company pride. Correcting conditions in a  poorly organized and maintained workplace can help workers feel much better about their jobs and the company.

4 Declutter, clean, and organize the workplace.

4 Improve dysfunctional processes.

4 Organize paper and electronic file systems.

4 Maintain reasonable noise levels.

4 Update tools and equipment.

4 Set up quiet, private space for doing more complex tasks.

4 Provide as much flexibility in staff schedules as possible.

Overlooking too many stressful issues and poor conditions in the workplace subjects employees to prolonged excessive stress. That can naturally be expected to produce unwanted outcomes for an employer: lost talent, dysfunctional teams, poor productivity and quality, customer dissatisfaction, and shrinking profits. Failing to help employees who are coping with difficult stressors inevitably becomes management’s top concern, either before or after it reaches a critical point for the people and the business. To mitigate rising stress levels, managers can reprioritize, and redirect the team’s focus, and take other, more problem-specific measures to guide the group back on track and regenerate enthusiasm, engagement, motivation, commitment to the company’s mission and vision, and employee satisfaction. Using the above five suggestions can help with those objectives.

It may seem counterintuitive to some managers to prioritize the needs of the workers over the goals of the business. But, the two cannot be meaningfully separated in that way. Prioritizing the core needs of the people on the team is a bedrock business principle for developing and maintaining the enduring high-performance team that an organization needs to succeed long-term.

Additional Resources

Here are some excellent resources for general information about helping employees manage challenging circumstances at home and/or work:

https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/99-101/default.html

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5081153/ https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/stressmanagement/in-depth/stress-symptoms/art-20050987

https://hbr.org/2017/06/leadership-takes-self-control-hereswhat-we-know-about-it

https://businesscollective.com/7-things-great-managers-doto-support-their-employees/index.html