It pays to cultivate relationships with facility managers

By Dave Stafford

Mike landed a multi-year contract for flooring at a county facility. For the first several years, the facility’s funding was abysmal, so sales remained low. However, he continued to make regular calls, update samples and keep in touch with the facility manager. Finally, money became available and projects commenced. Over the next several years, Mike’s contract brought in more than 2.5 million dollars in sales. While Mike’s company had a term contract, so did three other companies. Much of his success was attributable to his rapport with Fred, the facility manager. Mike delivered, and Fred looked good to his bosses. Everyone was happy. Establish the right rapport with your facility manager, and it could be worth millions of dollars in sales.

DETERMINE THE NEEDS OF YOUR FACILITY MANAGER
The facility manager wears many hats: hand-holder, psychologist, firefighter, maintenance expert and leasing agent. He is also supposed to be an astute purchasing agent, a superb project manager and keeper of all the answers for everyone. Some are gifted in their role, others not so much. He’d like less stress in his life and hopes you’ll make him look good to his boss. This is true whether he works for a high-rise building, a healthcare facility, a mammoth airport complex or a sprawling government installation.

The first step is to learn more about the facility manager, his strengths and weaknesses. Ask around and determine his reputation, or just ask him what he expects of you and what’s important to him. Ask something like: “Joe, what can I do that will provide the most benefit to you?” I asked this question to a prospective client. His face lit up and he said, “Damn good question! Respond when I call with a good price and deliver on time with no hassle. That simple enough for you?” Yep, I got it, and did business with him for years.

Others will be more opaque and force you to peel back the layers of the onion. It always helps to talk about your experience within the facility manager’s field. Highlight some case studies with similar clients where you were able to solve some problems and cure headaches with minimal fuss. “One of my clients had a tenant that needed new carpet and had the money to fund the purchase. However, he could not afford the loss in production downtime while the flooring was installed. Our solution was to use carpet tile with an installation method that allowed small areas to be laid during the evening. Without disruption, each area returned to service the next day.”

Are you a member of any associations or groups to which the facility manager belongs? Maybe he is active in a property management association or the local chapter of a facility manager’s association. Some will place great store in your connection with others in their preferred association.

What is your track record with other facility managers? Can you safely name drop? Do you have some solid references to which you can refer? You need to have their permission to do this, but it is quite effective. Some may even be willing to take a phone call and act as a specific reference for you or for a certain type of delivery and installation.

How can you make his life easier and less stressful? To open up that conversation, ask him about his favorite “job from hell.” Every facility manager I know has at least one story that’s just so painful, so filled with problems, such a complete disaster that he will never forget it. Get him to tell you what went wrong and why it happened the way it did. That may open the door for you to talk about your five-point checklist for providing on-time delivery, exceptional installation and flawless signoff.

ESTABLISH CREDENTIALS AND DEMONSTRATE EXPERTISE
Go in armed with several examples for areas similar to his facility make up. It may not do much good to talk about your high-rise office building experience with a manager responsible for 20 different school building locations. Of course, there is some common ground in solving certain problems. “Todd, I notice you have some beautiful terrazzo floors in your main entrance area and large rental mats. Have you ever considered a custom mat system? I’ve worked with two building managers to design a specialized mat system to reduce or eliminate slip-and-fall accidents, one of them an insurance company.”

Look for examples that will demonstrate your expertise and underline your credentials in industry-related areas, too. Perhaps a quick-turn tenant build-out where you coordinated your crews for an accelerated after-hours work schedule to finish on time, or the successful completion of ten different school projects for a facility manager during a six-week period, or a county library project done with rave reviews from the head librarian that resulted in seven other projects.

What is your specialty and how will that apply to him? Perhaps you do a lot of business within the occupied office space environment or significant work in quick-turn tenant build-outs. Do you have a niche business dealing with problem substrates or liquid applied flooring?

Certifications gained by your personnel and a commitment to training are important to mention as well. “Our lead installer is a CFI Masters II level certified installer, one of three in our metro area.”

Outline your internal procedures for processing orders, quality control, jobsite delivery, installation management and oversight, change orders, invoicing or other in-house checks and balances.

Explain your internal administrative set-up with project managers, supervisors, coordinators, estimating, dispatching and emergency coordination. Illustrate by example how you will handle unexpected problems, emergency requests or unusual situations. Mention any special services: “When all else fails, here is a number monitored 24/7,” for example.

TIPS FOR WINNING HIS NEXT PROJECT
Even though you did a bang-up job on his last order, don’t assume he’ll automatically think of you for the next one. We’ve all made that mistake and missed out on a sale. Be eager for other business and let him know that. Tell him, over and over again, how much you value his business and how important he is to you.

Demonstrate your interest in his plans and goals. “Mark, I know your school system is growing, so what’s on the drawing board? What do you have coming up for next summer, anything we could put my name on?” I asked with a smile. Mark grinned and said, “Just make sure you keep your prices within reason at contract renewal. I have an idea you’ll be asked to extend its term.”

Prove you can deliver in a pinch. “Dave, I’ve finally found a tenant for that small space on the ninth floor, but I have to deliver by next Friday. I need carpet, something in beige. Can you do it?” I was happy to say we could, since I knew I had enough 26-ounce commercial loop pile in stock. “Sure, we’ll take care of it.” And we did, picking up a much larger job on the same floor in the process.

Focus on no-hassle performance, high quality delivery, inspection and timely closeout. Nobody likes a whiner or a “change-order bandit.” When you ask for more money, make sure it’s a worthwhile request and reasonable. Do the work, fix those minor items before they become an issue and button up the job.

Follow up with your facility manager after the project or project series with a thank-you note. Ask if there is anything else to be done that might have been missed on final inspection. If so, take care of it promptly. Then follow up at least monthly. Perhaps a phone call to see how things are going, if there’s any other work on the horizon, or to let him know about new products. It wouldn’t hurt to schedule a quarterly face-to-face meeting to update him on your company and alert him to new offerings—one more opportunity to broach the subject of new work.

BUILD A RELATIONSHIP THAT SURVIVES PERSONNEL CHANGES
Work to make him an important reference and an advocate for you. With permission, use his company as a reference on your website or in print media.

Make friends with his assistant and his boss; meet others in his company. If possible, attend company or association functions or provide tickets to baseball, hockey or football games.

Find out about birthdays and important events (talk to his assistant). This time of year is a good time to drop off a bottle of wine for the holidays or a box of fruit or tray of candy for the office.

Work like hell to make his company a priority for flawless delivery. Offer to make a presentation on an industry topic and bring lunch. A PowerPoint slide show and handouts will keep everyone’s interest. Also make regular sales calls to talk about new product ideas.

With any facility manager, the goal should be to maximize your opportunities. Is your pitch one dimensional, only offering one or two items? Or are you selling a myriad of products and services? One company started out doing specialized cleaning and ended up selling a complete menu of installed products and design services. Another flooring company now offers complete interior remodeling project management from bid to closeout. Others have increased their bottom line by adding related services such as emergency and restoration cleaning. All have discovered that selling to a previous client is a lot less expensive than finding a new one.

Your importance to the facility manager is in direct proportion to understanding his problems and finding ways to solve them. Ask the questions and listen to the answers.

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