Creating a successful partnership with your FMS provider.

Let’s be honest: as anyone in business knows, a facilities issue almost never takes place during business hours. Whether it’s a power failure, a cleaning crew that did not show up for service, a water leak or some other problem, it’s bound to happen outside of typical business hours. In fact, it will normally occur when you have three store associates that have called in sick, when you are at your busiest, or when the external conditions make fully functioning mechanical assets a necessity.

Avoiding problems where possible and troubleshooting to get back on track without store downtime involves a major commitment to communication from both the retailer and their facility maintenance service provider(s).

Before we move on it's important to note that we have evolved as one of the top national facility maintenance companies in recent years, because we have focused on what we do best. For 25+ years we have excelled with small box retail facilities management, and high velocity national special projects where we are only on site for a very short amount of time.

We also try to stick to objective tasks, rather than subjective ones. If you were to poll all of the facilities managers in the USA, I would expect that the number one problem they reported was related to cleaning and janitorial work. This is such a difficult job as it is dirty work, has extremely inconvenient hours (especially for people trying to raise children), and is very subjective. We all have differing opinions of what is acceptable as far as cleanliness goes, and this often leads to business disputes. With this in mind, we have focused on objective tasks, where there is no gray area. For example, the pipe is fixed or broken, the light is on or off, and the lock either works or it doesn't. This is where we excel, and where we focus our time.

We’ve found that it’s critical to use the best and newest technologies to enable our project managers to deliver world class customer service. The partnership quotient is also of critical importance and we must remember that we are a critical extension of our client’s facilities team.

Our job is to understand how our corporate culture affects theirs, and merge the two seamlessly to ensure the customer experience is on point. That doesn’t mean we don’t have a healthy debate with our clients prior to implementation – while we always strive to examine the business through their eyes, we also bring our own experience and knowledge to each conversation. And those discussions usually result in a best practice that saves everyone time and money, as well as enhancing the in-store experience for associates and guests.

In terms of repeat work, clients bring their own unique standards to managing a facility to meet their brand expectations. Some managers request certain services performed more frequently within a given time frame, while others require a less rigorous schedule. For example, through our scheduled maintenance plan, we can arrange this service for the entire year, so the store manager can proactively plan for the occurrence.

Nearly all of our partners' stores have their fire and life safety inspections during the first quarter. The store managers know that this is when they are going to occur, so that can be prepared and don't end up paying double, when a local technician walks in off the street. That being said, we are always prepared for the occasional last-minute emergencies or change to that schedule.

When those rare occurrences do take place, these relationships, commitments to service and both a 24/7/365 call center and local presence, help keep a store and a job on track. For example, if a location loses power, it requires an electrician’s service – right then – to avoid any loss in business. As part of our Service Level Agreements (SLA), we have designated response times for specific repairs, and we will be out to the site within a specific time-frame, whether that’s at 5 p.m. or 5 a.m, weekday or weekend. These SLAs can be customized by client, service category and other factors to ensure we are always meeting the expected completion times, while also effectively managing their maintenance and repair budget.

We pride ourselves on our attention to detail and efficiency which minimizes the in-store disruption allowing our clients to focus on their core business. This would be impossible without thorough and frequent communication and collaboration. Our team uses multiple tools to connect our network, and religiously uses checklists and punch-lists to ensure things don't fall through the cracks. Integrating this technology with RAZOR, our proprietary CMMS, has allowed us to take things to the next level, and now allows our clients to have just one point of contact for all their M and R needs.

While technology is an important asset to keep these client nuances up to date, customer service is the next piece of the puzzle. Each client has an account manager who becomes an extension of their team, with someone from our office available around the clock. We also have site superintendents in various locations around the country to help vet, coach and train our vendors when needed. We have travelling, self-performing work crews and remote project managers all over the country covering all regions and time-zones, giving our clients flexible scheduling and the highest quality of service possible.

But we have to do more than ensure that a vendor or in-house team member is there; he or she must be properly equipped and capable of executing the work. Royal has always been an early adopter of technology, believing that we should use every tool available to communicate better with our clients. We believe so strongly in this that we went ahead and created our very own CMMS, which can be tweaked to meet each of our partner's unique needs.

This database connects our office, with the field, and the client, and provides visibility to project progress. RAZOR also allows facilities directors to track assets and get up to the minute trends on spending, service calls, and energy efficiency, as well as being used to store specifications, plans, and site photographs.

Whether we’re dealing with clients in various vertical markets or our vendors, workflow management — and all management – is all about partnerships and communication. RAZOR allows us achieve this and has provided us with the platform needed to grow to become the respected and reputable company we are today.

Fed up of just being a number, and being kept in the dark about job progress? Feel that you can't trust your project management partner and that they are constantly trying to cover their tracks? Feel like you are paying for a filet mignon, but receiving a hamburger?

Make the change today, and contact Royal Services, your new full service, facility maintenance company. We want to find out more about your company, what you are searching

for, and then we will be able to help you get there.

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