Executive Insights: Scott Carson, Director of Sales, Diversey

Scott Carson has been with Diversey for over 17 years serving in several roles. Currently Scott leads the BSC Key Accounts Team working with contractor customers nationwide developing programs to fit their market needs.

What are some trends you see developing in the building service contracting industry?

Labor constraints and challenges are having a huge impact and reshaping our industry right now.  BSCs are struggling to find and keep workers at the front line and supervisory level as the labor force has shrunk from the impact of the pandemic. Many are getting extremely creative to recruit and retain. As suppliers to the industry, we have to accelerate our efforts to help reduce the need for labor.  We need to re-think every cleaning task and ask, “How could we have done this with less time and effort and still delivered great results?”

Another critical trend is the evolving ‘return to the office’ dynamic. Every day we hear reports that often seem to be contradictory about how much of a return will happen and how fast.  While that plays out, BSCs are actively looking to expand into new markets that aren’t as negatively impacted by office occupancy.  Markets like Education, Healthcare and Retail and niches within each are sources of new revenue that enterprising BSCs are successfully selling into now. They need suppliers to be engaged in delivering insights and support programs to help accelerate that expansion. Companies like Diversey that have well established portfolios of customers in these new BSC markets are well positioned to be solid partners in that growth.

How would you describe your leadership style?

I would say ‘collaborative’ would be a good descriptor.  I am fortunate to have a strong resource pool within Diversey. Tapping into expertise is key to quickly diagnosing challenges and developing solutions. Being engaged with teams of customers and colleagues solving problems and growing the business is the most fun you can have at work.

What is one challenge you’ve experienced in your career, and how did you handle it?

Finding balance between work life and personal life is the ever present challenge.  Keeping work and career goals in focus while actively raising two boys with my wife isn’t easy but it’s a key to happiness. And now of course we’re all being bombarded by information via technology that all seems intent to distract us constantly. There’s no perfect ‘instruction book’ for maintaining balance so I guess we’re all learning on the fly.

Any advice for new BSCs coming into the industry?

Focus on developing relationships with your customers, employees and key supply partners.  Learn to listen actively, try not to interrupt, ask clarifying questions not interrogating questions; check on them often and be their go-to resource for advice and solutions.  Take advantage of the knowledge you can gain from industry peers and organizations and your suppliers.  Learning from successful leaders is a great way to help you create a solid plan focused on growing your business.  Last but not least - change is constant so be open to new ideas, be prepared to pivot and stay positive.

What is the best piece of advice you’ve received in your career?

Try to understand the people around you and what really makes them tick. This one piece of advice has helped me both personally and professionally.

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Scott Carson, Director of Sales, Diversey