Get to know Siva Kugathas
Meet Siva Kugathas, a finalist in this year’s BFA HSBC British Franchise Awards.
Say hello to Siva Kugathas, owner of ServiceMaster Clean AAA.
The business, which provides expert contract cleaning services across swathes of the UK, has been shortlisted for the Business Builder award at the BFA HSBC British Franchise Awards 2024 after winning Franchisee Trailblazer and People’s Choice awards last year.
Here’s everything you need to know about him.
Who is Siva Kugathas?
Siva Kugathas purchased ServiceMaster Clean Contract Services Guildford in 2017 as a resale from an existing franchisee.
At the time, the business turned over £50,000, but in a matter of years, he has transformed it into a shining star in his multi-million-pound, multi-territory empire.
As an astute businessman with 20 years of experience in franchising for brands like KFC and Pizza Hut before buying his ServiceMaster Clean franchise, Siva knew the success that could be achieved through investing in a successful franchise.
Using the ServiceMaster Clean model and thorough strategies that combat common hurdles in the cleaning industry, Siva has transformed a good business into something great.
He has been ambitious from the start, with an initial goal of creating more job opportunities and rapid growth within the local area.
His practices around employee mentorship, customer satisfaction, ‘celebrity service’ and employing a dedicated sales team allowed him to transform his business into a bastion of success.
Initially doubling the size of his operation in just 18 months, he has also acquired 18 further territories in 7 years. As a top-performing franchisee, he is committed to exceeding client expectations and driving the business.
Creating a staff-centred work environment
Siva knew that to transform his business, he needed to transform his staff.
Cleaning is an industry that holds staff at its core, but staff turnover is notoriously high at an average of 400%.
Therefore, since 2017, Siva has implemented multiple initiatives to improve employee well-being and retention to motivate his staff’s investment in the success of his operation. Initially, he implemented senior-level staff bonus schemes alongside a quarterly bonus scheme for all full-time employees.
He also created a sponsorship scheme whereby at least two management staff can study any course in an area of their choice to support their growth and development.
He regularly holds social events for management and full-time cleaning staff to boost morale and cultivate team spirit. This reduced staff turnover and meant Siva recruited over 150 employees last year.
Staff are spread across his territories from Canterbury to Scotland, with offices in key areas led by Siva’s centralised oversight from Guildford and supported by a team of area managers. Through the mentorship scheme, senior staff have achieved accountancy, bookkeeping, admin and secretarial skills, and executive leadership qualifications.
Five regional managers appointed last year have progressed from cleaning or area supervisor roles and over half of area managers were promoted from cleaners.
This is unusual in the cleaning industry, not only because cleaners do not progress within a company due to the lack of internal structure to support their growth, but they also don’t usually stay in any one company for too long.
By contrast, many of Siva’s staff have been with the business for many years, and his staff has grown from 17 employees to over 900 today.
His employee growth includes being one of the first franchisees to introduce a dedicated salesforce.
This has allowed him to win new business on the back of ambitious targets, with many salespeople winning six-figure contracts and each one pulling in a monthly average of 25 contracts, breaking records in our franchise network and demonstrating the success of investing in staff and encouraging their commitment to driving business success.
Customer Mania
Siva’s business transformation has also been supported by his ‘Customer Mania’ mantra and commitment to delivering “celebrity service” as he strives for every customer interaction to be memorable for all the right reasons.
This can include sending personalised video messages instead of emails to make initial points of contact and ensuring all clients are treated the way Siva would treat one of his celebrity clients. This recently included going above and beyond by providing over 2,500 hours of cleaning to a client for a special event.
This has impacted Siva’s top line and customer satisfaction, as measured on-site through TellServiceMaster and Smiley Forms, and evidenced through his excellent Net Promotor Scores of an average of 88.5 in the last two years, compared to an industry average of 40.
When he began in 2017 and 2018, scores were good at 31 and 22%, but have dramatically risen through the transformations Siva has made in his approach, despite the complications of the pandemic.
Transforming client relationships
Siva’s strategies have also involved transforming customer and client relationships, as this is the central tenant of his service. He knows people buy from people, and happy people buy from happy people.
Transforming his work environment into one where his staff can thrive has placed them in the perfect position to grow sales and deliver a personalised service through regular client meetings. The business practices Celebrity Service with all customers, ensuring they go above and beyond through highly personalised service and seeking regular feedback.
These points of genuine relationality have improved connections to and the satisfaction of customers tenfold, as evidenced by the improvement of his NPS scores.
Siva’s Successes
Siva has demonstrated the success achievable under the ServiceMaster Clean franchise model and in an industry with no ceiling.
With the attitude and ambition to galvanise staff behind a common goal, Siva has already achieved his aspiration to be the top-performing franchisee in the ServiceMaster Clean Contract Services network by 2023.
Want an award-winning cleaning service?
If you are in Guildford, Bracknell, Heathrow, Slough, Woking, Luton, Watford, Canterbury, Dover, Colchester, Ipswich, York, Doncaster, Lincolnshire, Aberdeen, Inverness, Stirling or Carlisle and would like to benefit from a cleaning service from a multi-award winning business, call Siva and his team today on 0800 047 1747.
Or, nationwide, find your nearest ServiceMaster Clean Contract Services business to learn more about our services in your area.
