More Than Elbow Grease Required

"With rags and a bucket full of soapy water," a person won't get very far in the business today, says Thomas Michael Baggeler, founder of Clean Customer Services Management, one of the largest custodial providers in the former German capital.

After years of maintaining offices in some of Germany's most prestigious companies, including Deutsche Telekom, Baggeler was tired of the usual array of disinfectants. He began to look for different ways to improve his service, to set him apart from the competitors.

The answer was Feng-Shui, a traditional Asian teaching stressing wellness and harmony. It's adherents often refer to it as a way of life, an art or a science, that strives for balance between the individual and the environment. Baggeler became an expert in Feng-Shui and started to apply its teachings in his work.

Mopping up with rose oil

Starting next year Baggeler's customers will be greeted with a refreshing and energizing scent when they enter their spick and span offices. Instead of the conventional detergents, Baggeler's cleaners will use all natural ingredients from scented oils.

"The smell of roses opens up the heart," Baggeler maintains -- a characteristic certainly desirable for any over-stressed and under-appreciated worker. And for more vitality at the work place, the chief custodian recommends dousing the office with specially energized water. It has a rejuvenating effect on the organism, he says.

Lest his customers write him off as a charlatan, Baggeler points to the bottom line. Applying Feng-Shui cleaning methods does not make him any more expensive than the run-of-the-mill competitors, he says.

"We will not raise our prices," Baggeler adds. Instead, he hopes the extra service his company provides will attract new customers. Companies are only successful, he says when their first goal is the satisfaction of their customers.

In the meantime the new Feng-Shui advocate will be instructing his 1,200 employees in the benefits of scrapping the disinfectants.