Building a high-performing cleaning company takes more than a solid brand name. It requires disciplined leadership, a clear vision, and a commitment to doing things the right way. Those principles have guided Scott McClymonds as he has grown Office Pride into a trusted provider for some of Northwest Arkansas’s most well-known organizations.
McClymonds (pictured left) came to the contract cleaning industry with 25 years’ experience in banking, including more than 15 years as database marketing manager for Arvest Bank. It’s a background he believes has enabled him to gain the confidence of larger clients like Walmart and the University of Arkansas. “Of course, our management team has been sensational,” he adds. “They are incredibly dedicated and consistently perform at a high level."
But to serve the Northwest Arkansas market and count locally based Walmart as a trusted client is quite the accomplishment. “The Northwest Arkansas economy is dominated by Walmart, JB Hunt Trucking, Tyson Foods, and the University of Arkansas,” McClymonds says, noting that seemingly everything has been built up around those businesses and shaped Office Pride’s work. “Over time, we have evolved into a company that serves campuses … corporate campuses, medical, university, large auto dealers, private schools, local property management companies, [and others].”
Office Pride has become particularly adept at working with large professional facilities management teams. McClymonds and his team understand the stress such teams are under and have developed a number of different services to keep their buildings in great shape. “Our entire marketing and networking focus has been built on the facilities manager avatar we serve, so we are hyper-focused on serving that niche,” he says.
How the BSCAI Mentor Program Helped Fuel Growth
McClymonds says BSCAI’s Mentor Program has helped him and his business immensely over the years, starting with a connection to Greg Batterton, president of Reliable Cleaning Service in Indiana. “He and I hit it off at a few industry events, then he became my mentor,” McClymonds recalls. “It was good to work with him because he was far enough ahead of me to provide a really clear roadmap looking to the future, but not so far ahead that [I couldn’t] understand. We still shared some common challenges, and he did a good job preparing me for the next two to three years of growth.”
Success indeed followed. “We actually went from about $980,000 to $1.7 million in one year,” he touts. “From a math standpoint, that was primarily driven by two large customers: an auto dealer with nine buildings and Walmart corporate offices. In both cases, those customers were in our backyard, but we hadn’t pursued them. I didn’t know Walmart was even a possibility,” McClymonds says. “Yet through some very intense networking, relationship building, and creative service providing, we have become a trusted partner of theirs. I carefully developed relationships with key members of their facilities management team to build significant trust with them.”
McClymonds sometimes laments that, by not “swinging harder” earlier, “I may have been subconsciously and inadvertently holding them back. Ouch!” His Office Pride team proved they were clearly ready for the big challenges.
McClymonds is now in his second BSCAI peer group. “The first was a good start and allowed me to learn from a very experienced member, as well as giving me the opportunity to lead as the facilitator,” he says. “The current group is [made up of] business owners a little more aligned with my size, challenges, and goals. I feel like we push each other pretty hard and learn a lot from each other. I have made friends in each group, and we have really enjoyed meeting each other in person at BSCAI events.”
He says the key with any peer group is to be “other-centric. You need to pour into the other members, not just sit back and collect information. Take the lead!”
Discovering a Level Playing Field
Office Pride has been a member of BSCAI for six years now. In some ways, the time has just flown by. McClymonds can still remember his first impressions of the association. “When I first joined, I was eager to learn but may have been a bit reluctant to speak with CEOs of larger companies because I was ‘just a little guy,’” he says. “I quickly learned that nobody cared about the size of anyone’s business, and the ‘big guys’ were very approachable and willing to help.”
He singled out BSCAI Executive Vice President/CEO Chris Mundscheck and his team for being especially open minded about new and better ways to serve members. “Chris and his team are quite approachable, eager to listen, and eager to do whatever they need to do to make BSCAI ever better for its members,” he says. “I think more than BSCAI changing, I appreciate the way it has changed me.”
Charting a Path for Long-Term Success
McClymonds is excited to see his team grow as they continue down a path of success. He’s putting people over profit, set on creating an environment where his employees can thrive while also best serving the customer. From there, he’s confident that profit will fall into place.
McClymonds is assured that BSCAI will be there with him on every step of this journey as well. He marvels that many young members now ask him for advice: “Considering I didn’t even know this industry existed 10 years ago, and now am being asked for advice, it encourages me that BSCAI provides such a robust open forum where people can learn from each other,” he says.
As the association looks ahead to the future, having just celebrated 60 years, McClymonds is ready to be part of what comes next, particularly around the industry’s changing needs and advancements in technology. “Seeing young entrepreneurs take advantage of this educational and relational opportunity [through BSCAI] is really encouraging to me,” McClymonds says.
For those early in their career or just getting started with BSCAI, McClymonds is a proponent of being hands-on. “Keep good company with other members who can help you. Don’t sit on the sidelines! Attend the events and engage other members,” he says. “Join a peer group and get a mentor. There is really no reason to go it alone. If you focus on those relationships, you can piggyback off other people’s successes and failures so you don’t have to make everything up yourself.”