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One of the main drivers of customer satisfaction in hotels and resorts is cleanliness. SouthCoast Services Company has spent over 20 years honing their service processes in temporary staffing for housekeeping (hospitality cleaning), stewarding and engineering positions. Their dedicated, highly trained staff, will make a marked difference in the cleanliness level of your property.
They handle the cleaning tasks for you in every area including your front lobby areas, guest and employee restrooms, back of house service hallways, kitchens, restaurants and spas. They also specialize in carpet cleaning and hard floor care including stripping and waxing and marble maintenance and restoration.
Recently we sat down with Art Hagopian, their President, to learn more about his business, his experience in the hospitality industry and why he chose Fusion Workplaces in Palm Desert.
What do you do for the company?
As President of the company, I did it all in the beginning. However now my focus is mainly on growing the business, so sales and marketing are my main priorities. I also work closely with Christina Rosas (also pictured) who is our Director of Operations, while we get things ready here in the valley.
How did you get started in the hospitality industry?
I was able to purchase a franchise back in 1996. One of my first customers was a hotel and I fell in love with the hospitality industry
What made you fall in love with the industry?
The people. The people that worked for the types of businesses I interacted with were very honest and forthcoming. Their heart for service and serving others was mainly what did it for me.
What is something about SouthCoast Services that most people do not know?
What most people may not know is that we have more accounts than companies with a national presence. There are national companies here in San Diego and Coachella Valley that do not have nearly as many accounts as we do. Also, the majority of individuals we hire are Spanish speaking, in fact, 99.1% of them are Hispanic. The other .9% is from Haiti.
Where do you see SouthCoast Services in 5 years?
I have a very realistic goal of seeing us in more than eight cities with well over 2500 employees.
What will you have to do to achieve that?
We need to cement our presence in the 2 markets we are currently in (San Diego & Coachella Valley), and not open anything new until then. Our marketing department needs to get to a point where we are out making sales calls from their efforts. Right now, we are getting new accounts based on word of mouth. We need a marketing team to spearhead the new growth. We have also found that we need a strong HR department to achieve that solid foundation we are looking for.
Tell me about yourself?
I was born in Argentina. My dad is Armenian and my mom Lebanese. We moved to Mexico when I was 8 in 1978. My dad owned an a-Cellulose processing plant while we were there. I was sent to Military school in St. Louis, MO when I was 15 years old. I got a scholarship to go to Berkeley to study business. My plan was to finish and go back home, but I never ended up going back. I continued on to get my Masters in Business Administration at USC, and from there bought my first franchise. In between, I have held positions with National companies as General manager to make sure the businesses I owned stayed strong.
Other than work, do you have any hobbies?
I compete in CrossFit competitions – I also do bicycle racing. I am very competitive by nature.
What are you passionate about?
I am very passionate about helping people at risk, especially young mothers fleeing from domestic violence. I am involved in 2 different charities that support my passion, and I am a board member of both of them. The first one is called Project Reach World which helps prevent human trafficking out of Burma and Thailand.
Also, Casa de Luz out of San Diego has a charity I am involved with for women who are fleeing domestic violence. They help them with the transition by giving them a place to stay, education and job opportunities. It is very fulfilling to be a part of something that happens all too often.
Why did you choose the Coachella Valley as your 2nd location for growth?
Because the busy seasons are opposite between San Diego and Coachella Valley thus making it for a perfect 2nd location.
More specifically, what was it about Fusion Workplaces that made you think it would help your business?
We spoke to other executive office suites here locally and they were not as inviting or responsive as Fusion Workplaces Palm Desert. I’ve always been of the school of thought that if you can’t tell me how much it is, it is too expensive. If we have to meet in person, then its too much. It was affordable and we could see ourselves here for the inevitable future.
