Case Study: Innovating To A Better Value Proposition

THE CHALLENGE

G&K Services, a branded-identity uniform rental and direct-sales company, found itself losing customers to larger, more aggressive firms such as Cintas as the uniform business became more price-driven and less value- and service-focused. The team at G&K needed to find new ways to enhance their value proposition to current and future customers—or risk continuing to lose ground against the “big guys.

THE SOLUTION

Develop a future-state customer journey to include innovative new services and experiences that elevate G&K Services’ ability to deliver great value to customers.

THE GOAL

Create a new value proposition and customer experience that allow G&K Services to deepen existing relationships and acquire new customers, while also charging a price premium for new, differentiated services and experiences.

THE PROCESS:

Stone Mantel conducted a CX Journey Assessment and innovation study. The custom-designed methodology included the following activities:

• Internal Customer Journey Mapping Workshop

• Internal Experiences + Journeys Workshops

• Sales Ride-Alongs

• Delivery Tag-Alongs

• Business Account Visits

• Small-Group Customer Discussions

• 1:1 In-Depth Interviews with Customers and Prospects

THE RESULTS:

Quick Business Wins

The research results persuaded management to immediately begin implementing technology and process improvements that would increase productivity for their salesforce, delivery personnel, and clients.

Prioritized Opportunity List For Testing and Quantification

Stone Mantel worked with G&K management to create an objective set of criteria, based on existing KPIs, to rank identified opportunities by the potential return on investment. The top five opportunities were approved for piloting in the field.