Brad Drummond is Chief Operating Officer of Aramark Uniform Services and Refreshment Services – leading providers of uniforms, facility supplies and food beverage services. He is responsible for operations with nearly 15,000 employees with more than 300 distribution and market facilities across North America and revenues in excess of $2 billion.
Brad joined Aramark in April 1999 as a Vice President of Business Development and advanced with increasing responsibilities to Senior Vice President of the Western Region for the Uniform business, Executive Vice President of Aramark’s Healthcare and Education business units and President of Aramark’s Uniform Division before he was promoted to his current role in 2014.
Q: What makes Aramark Uniform Services a unique organization?
A: We may be an Industrial Laundry company, but we consider ourselves in the people business. We pride ourselves in providing our clients with great customer service with the goal to enhance their employee and customer experience; essentially making their business run more smoothly. As a company that has been in business since 1976, we have been able to innovate new ideas, stay on top of market trends, and build a repeatable service model so that we can deliver consistent service every day, at every client location.
Q: As a company that prides itself in customer service, what kind of support do you provide your customers?
A. When it comes to customer service, we provide our clients with a dedicated support team that they can depend on for excellent service every week.
Since we are a service based industry, we believe that it’s important for our customers to build meaningful, long lasting relationships with our employees who serve them on a weekly basis. We are lucky enough to be able to offer this benefit to our clients because our dedicated Route Sales Representatives average a 10 year tenure with the organization. They are truly the heart of our business delivering consistent dependable service week in and week out, making it easier for our customers to focus on running their business. For general support, we have centralized customer service agents who are committed to responding to concerns by close of business, with a goal to resolve requests by or before the next scheduled delivery.
We believe accountability is a key to success, so to help ensure we are doing our best, we conduct regular customer satisfaction surveys which help us track our ability to provide great service and keep our clients happy.
Q: What new products and services has Aramark Uniform Services introduced this year that would be beneficial to shop owners?
A: Our newest product launch that I am excited about involves an extension of our long standing relationship with the world’s leading performance workwear brand, Dickies. In April we launched a new line of automotive performance apparel called the Dickies Shop Series. Dickies designed the new collection based off of feedback they received from workers in the automotive industry, so it features flex fabric for comfort and mobility, plus it’s stain resistant and hardwearing. The new line offers styles for both men and women in multiple colors that include work shirts and polos, multi-pocket performance shop pants and jackets.
Q: How can Aramark Uniform Services help auto repair shop owners achieve their goals?
A. As our name would suggest, we offer uniform rental, and laundering services to our clients, but we’re much more than that. We understand the challenges business owners’ face, so we build our services around helping our clients run their business smoothly.
We currently service 18,000 auto repair shops so we understand that when it comes to the auto repair business, building trust is key in customer retention and referrals. In fact, through recent survey results, we found that 60% of automotive repair customers surveyed were more likely to trust a technician in uniform*. That’s where our services can help. Aramark Uniform Services makes trust-building easier. From the moment a customer walks through the door, our uniforms go a long way toward saying what your shop is about, with a style that speaks to your standards.
Our customized uniforms help our clients elevate their professionalism and build a brand identity to help differentiate themselves from the competition.
When it comes to building brand, we provide logo’d floor mats which not only help with safety and keeping the floors clean, but they also help showcase their brand to the world. Shop towels are another product that we launder and deliver weekly because we understand that having clean towels ready to go helps our clients and their employees focus on running the business instead of running the washing machine. Last but not least, our grit soap and hand sanitizers help ensure that when a customer walks in the door, our clients are ready to greet them with a firm hand shake.
These days, customers are looking for more than a repair — they’re looking for peace of mind. Our services conveniently deliver a professional look that communicates confidence and authority.
