Sustainability and service flow contribute to customer experience

I dare say that sustainability has been one of the strongest and most influential trends of the millennium. It has been said that sustainability is a license to operate. But if the customer experience is found lacking, companies may eventually find themselves in a very challenging position.

Looking back at Lindström as a company, I would venture to say that Lindström’s business model is deeply rooted in sustainability and circular economy. In the 1920s, Lindström was the first in Finland to begin renting textiles.

Global sustainability trends push companies to take a circular economy to the base of their operations. We are not an exception. Today, Lindström offers a full range of textiles as a service. Our textiles are designed to be easily repaired and durable. Most of the textiles can also be reused after primary use. Here´s an example. When our textiles reach the end of their lifecycle for instance in hotels, they get a new life as absorbent mats which can then be rented to other customers. This is a smart way to save resources and raw materials. To top this off, our maintenance operations are always energy-efficient and resource-saving. Lindström has thrived developing and offering sustainably produced services that help our customers reduce their environmental footprint.

Different countries and cultures have own approach and maturity level when it comes to sustainability. Lindström operates in 24 separate markets in Europe and Asia, all of which are slightly different environments in terms of sustainability. Generally speaking, however, much progress has been made in recent years. For example, in areas where there is no sufficient local infrastructure, such as a properly functioning sewage network, Lindström has built its own local solutions to ensure that operations are carried out at a sufficiently responsible level. Over the past few years in huge markets such as China, Lindström’s customers have begun to take a keen interest in our ways of being more environmentally friendly.

Lindström has been in business since 1848. Apparently, quite a few things have been done right over the years. Along with sustainability, an equally important factor for Lindström and our customers is the service flow. When the flow is good, it inevitably also means service is efficiently delivered. Efficiency contributes to sustainability, smarter use of resources and, of course, a smoother customer experience.

And here’s how this particular piece of philosophy is put into action at Lindström. An important element in creating the right kind of flow is to work closely with our customers. This way we can identify the customers’ needs and develop just the right kind of services. Here digital solutions have played a big role in recent years: Integrating transparency and real-time solutions into our services help our customers offer better, smoother and more sustainable services to their own customers.

Lindström’s customers are companies that use our services. But essentially all service end-users who use bath towels, sheets and workwear provided by our customers are the real customers. These consumers are the ones who will ultimately determine how well our customers succeed and how Lindström succeeds. In the end, they will also determine how sustainable the services and products we all use are.