Member Spotlight! Meet Bob Cole

Bob Cole is new to New Castle County and Delaware. Bob from Florida a year ago and immediately joined the Chamber. Bob shared that events were a great way to get to meet people in a professional and inform environment. Cole said, “I have developed great friendships in a short period of time.”

We asked Bob a few questions on what makes him successful with networking and ways he takes advantage of his Chamber membership.

What advice would you give a new (or current) chamber member? Give before you get. Don’t enter any Referral Group or Chamber event by immediately expecting to get more business. You must earn the trust of the other members before they will open up their contacts and recommend you. Also, use the services of your chamber members to test their services. And finally, do as many 1-1’s as possible to get to know people on a deeper level.

How has the Chamber changed the way you do business? Some of the classes offered provided better insight into various subjects, such as using LinkedIn or Constant Contact. Also, the Policy Makers events have allowed me to become much more knowledgeable and aware of the political landscape in Delaware than I have been previously.

How many years have you been in business? Jan-Pro has been in business for 23 years (1997) and Delaware since 2008. I have started seven different companies from the ground up, primarily in the facility services arena.

What motivates you? I get the privilege of helping our individuals start their own cleaning business and grow professionally. I have high-quality standards and am very competitive, so I like the ability to help build a local quality business with planned growth.

Why are you a Chamber member? As mentioned previously, the Chamber was a great conduit for me to get to know the Delaware Business Community. As I continue to be more involved, I know it will ultimately pay off for my business as well.

What’s an interesting fact about your business most people don’t know? In the janitorial industry, it is not unusual to have a customer loss ratio in the 50% + range in a year. Jan-Pro consistently is under 1% loss, and last year was .6% or 99.4% retention. Also, all of our cleanings are done by franchise owners, so we also do not have the employee turn-over others experience in our industry.

When you’re not working, where do you like to spend your time? I am very much into fitness, play golf when the weather is nicer, and, most of all, ride my Triumph Motorcycle when I can.

Thanks Bob, for being a valued member of the Chamber!