How to Choose a Facilities Manager: The Questions you Need to Ask
The facilities manager you choose will have a significant impact on how your building looks, how well you attract and retain tenants and on your overall costs. Slick advertising and a great sales pitch do not always add up to a successful relationship, so how can you tell if a facilities management brand is right for your business and building? Checking references, looking at buildings the facilities management company currently handles and asking the important questions below can help you determine if you’ve found the building management brand that is right for your needs.
9 Questions to Ask Any Facility Management Company you are Considering
What services do you provide your clients?
You may have a wishlist of items you want a facility management company to handle, and the brand you are considering should provide as many of your needs as possible. When you get many services from one brand, you spend less money overall and your building runs more efficiently. When your provider offers a large lineup of options, then they can use integrated facility management techniques to lower your costs and ensure you get the best possible results.
How long have you been managing buildings?
While everyone starts somewhere, you should not be the facilities management company’s first client. Businesses that are learning to care for a facility learn a lot on the job – and everyone makes errors in the beginning. Choose a brand with solid experience to ensure your team is up to the job. New brands and even brands that are making the jump from residential to commercial cleaning won’t have the systems in place to handle the demands of a large facility.
How many facilities do you currently manage?
Ideally, the team you are speaking to is experienced and busy, but not overwhelmed. A brand experiencing extreme growth could also have some growing pains that impact the level of service. One that is not that busy could be out of date on training and the latest approaches to integrated facility management. Ideally, the brand you choose should have sold experience and local clients — but not be overwhelmed.
May I speak to a current client?
Asking for references is a great idea, but if you just ask vaguely for someone to talk to, you never know what you’ll get. Asking for a current client to speak with ensures you get up to date information and that you speak to someone currently using the services. An outdated client may have had a different experience or even been managed by a different team, so speaking to someone who is current ensures you have the right details to make a decision.
What would happen if I had a flood/fire/HVAC breakdown?
The answer to this question should include specifics. “We’ll fix it” or “We respond right away” is not good enough. When you work with a facility manager, one of the first things they should do is come up with a comprehensive plan for emergencies, from problems with your physical structure to power outages, plumbing emergencies and more. Without a plan, your business could be interrupted and your facility could be rendered unusable while the facilities management company tries to sort things out.
Who do I talk to when I have a question?
What happens if you have a problem, question or need something done? Is there a single person to call, or is there just a general voicemail box? Ideally, you should have a single contact point– one person who can get to know you and your needs and take care of any questions or concerns you have. A single contact person ensures you never have to hunt around for the right person to talk to or wonder who to call when something goes wrong.
What specific work will you be doing?
Before you call a facilities management company, you should have an idea of the services you need — and a list of those that would be nice extras. From security to high tech monitoring, comprehensive cleaning and maintenance and HVAC services, you should be able to find every service you need from a single provider. Hiring multiple providers costs you more money each month and you’ll have multiple contact points and processes to keep track of, too. The brand’s list of services may just be the scope that they offer — you should know exactly what specific work is included in any estimate or proposal you receive.
How can I tell where I stand with compliance and legal issues?
The facilities management brand you are considering should offer regular and easy to understand reporting on all aspects of your services, so you can always see exactly where you stand. Full and transparent reporting helps you budget for upcoming services and even capex expenses and ensures your information is always available when you need it. A brand that does not have a reporting plan in place, that does not have a convenient online portal or that does not make these details available lacks transparency — and you’ll never know where you stand.
Can you help with NABERS and other important compliance issues?
Your NABERS rating is a measure of how well you’re using natural resources and energy. The better you are at conserving these and running efficiently, the better your NABERS score will be. Any facility management company you are considering working with should have a sound strategy for improving and maintaining your NABERS rating as part of their overall plan. If this is missing or does not have a sound strategy, you may have to work on this yourself — or you could end up with a poor rating.
Get the Right Building Management Solutions for your Business
Ask the right questions and you’ll find the right facility management team for your building from the start. We’re always delighted to share our processes, successes and references so you can be sure you know your facility is in good hands. Contact us today to discover our comprehensive lineup of building management services and what our unique approach to facilities management can do for you.