Mark Leviste changed franchises and countries — from the Philippines to Canada — where he is the go-to guy for ServiceMaster Clean of Edmonton, Alberta.
It took one year, 7,000 miles and one 12-hour flight to get Mark Leviste from ServiceMaster Clean in the Philippines to ServiceMaster of Edmonton in Alberta, Canada. Now, three years later, Mark is an award-winning customer service ace in the business owned by Cara Smith.
“I just can’t say enough about how great Mark has been for our business,” said Smith. “Everyone loves him and he gives every task his absolute best effort.”
Mark spent almost six years working for the ServiceMaster Clean licensee in the Philippines. When he and his wife, Carmie, decided to move to Canada, she went first. Under Canadian immigration law, Mark had to wait one year while Carmie worked and became a supervisor at her job. Meanwhile, Ding Doplayna, Philippines general manager, contacted Donna Infurchia, director of international support and franchise relations in Memphis, who sent Mark’s resume and Doplayna’s recommendation on to Edmonton. Mark arrived in Edmonton and joined Smith’s business in 2015.
“We are a commercial cleaning franchise focusing on commercial carpet maintenance,” said Smith. “Our techs maintain carpets nightly and are expected to haul equipment back and forth, in and out, up and down. Mark was hired into this role and started training right away.”
Customer service rep is born!
Smith was concerned that, because of Mark’s diminutive stature, he and the heavy, cumbersome equipment might not get along too well. Mark reported back pain after about three months, said Smith. “That’s when the lights came on,” she said. Mark, who has a degree in industrial engineering, was able to efficiently and expertly manage processes, customers and people. “Within weeks,” said Smith, “my husband and I looked at each other and said ‘jackpot’! Our new customer service rep was here!”
Smith said that employees and customers instantly fell in love with Mark and that his quiet, forward-thinking attitude earns respect. “He looks at every situation individually, comes up with plans and solves problems. He is unselfish and courteous and he gets the job done. We constantly get positive feedback from our clients. Mark is our ‘go to’ guy in front of every customer.”
Mark takes his customer service role seriously. Every morning, after carpets have been cleaned the night before, Mark calls the customers to make sure they’re happy. If anything is out of order, Mark personally corrects it. “On one job,” said Smith, “our tech cleaned a customer’s stainless steel refrigerator. The customer complained that the job could have been better so Mark went to check it out. He re-polished it himself and didn’t just make the appliance look better – he made it look so new that the customer was shocked.”
Mark’s ability to solve problems, work with customers, keep them happy and, as Smith says, “assume nothing,” make him a natural and a great fit at ServiceMaster Clean of Edmonton.