The Results are in: Facility Managers are Tired of Dealing with Multiple Vendors

In a survey conducted in February 2020, it was found that of the nearly 270 facility managers polled, almost all of them would prefer to have a single vendor manage their maintenance and cleaning services.

In this analysis of the survey, we will breakdown its results and discuss how OpenWorks effectively provides the integrated facility management services and single point-of-contact to meet the demands of overworked, overstressed facility managers.

Facility Managers Want Improved Efficiency

Almost 80% of survey respondents reported that they currently manage 6 or more service vendors. In fact, 13.4 percent of those surveyed indicated that they managed 21 or more different vendors! This means that for those respondents at the upper range, they may need to contact 21 or more vendor representatives to determine who is responsible for any issues that may arise.

The time involved in managing this many contacts and relationships is hard to fathom. Addressing any single issue will involve multiple emails, phone calls, and back and forth with many vendors in a process that could take hours or even days to resolve. Facility managers can be of much more value to their company when they don’t have to spend extra time chasing down multiple vendors and attempting to communicate with each of them.

Less Time, Less Money, and Improved Communication

The survey respondents were asked to rank the relative importance of saving time, saving money, consolidated billing, and having a single point of communication with their facility vendor. From the results of the survey, the following themes were apparent:

1. Saving Time was Priority Number One. Over 31% of survey participants ranked saving time as their biggest reason for wanting to consolidate their many vendor services into one partner.
2. Cutting Costs was Critical. Saving money was a close second with 27.1% of those surveyed ranking it as the most important benefit to vendor consolidation.
3. Consolidated Billing Took Third Place. At 20.8%, the convenience of a single invoice was another significant improvement for facility managers.
4. Single Point of Communication Is Very important. Over 20% of those surveyed ranked having a single point of communication as the most important factor in switching to a single integrated vendor.

What are the Essential Qualities of a Consolidated Facility Services Provider?

The group of facility managers who responded to the survey were asked to rank various qualities of combined facility service providers in terms of relative importance. The highlights of the responses to this question are:

• Facility Managers Value Consistency and Reliability Highly
• Consolidated Services Providers Need to be Flexible and Adaptable to Facility Manager Needs
• Vendors Need to be Efficient, Professional, and Use Sustainable Practices
• Knowledge of the Field and Incorporation of Best Practices is Important to Facility Managers

Bottom Line

From the results of this survey, it’s clear that facility managers desire a solution to the problem of having to manage multiple vendors. OpenWorks is very much ready and able to provide the facilities management services to help create flawless working environments that keep tenants happy.

For more information and to get an estimate, connect with us here.