It’s Not the Approach That Drives Success. It’s Always the People.

I prefer to deal directly with my contractors.

If I had a dollar for every time a facility manager made that statement, I’d be cycling through the hills of Umbria, the sunlight on my back, and the scent of cypress in the air. On the surface, eliminating subcontracting seems like a straightforward path to improved R&M performance. And if you’re fortunate enough to find contractors whose owners are also are the actual field technicians, congratulations. However, if your experience is like most and two roles are required to carry out your work order, account manager and field technician, you’re not really dealing directly anymore.

In most cases, it’s not you and me…it’s you, me, and them.

An account manager has a common role in managing any multi-site retail or restaurant client representing even a moderate level of work order volume. For self-performing or subcontracting, their job description remains the same: to expedite the successful completion of each service call or project. That includes fulfilling the role of coordinating with the field technician who will be on-site to resolve the issue and communicating with the client on updates. And that’s what levels the playing field.

Whether working in tandem with a co-worker or a service partner (subcontractor), the duo is dependent upon the same quality performance from one another. The formula for customer satisfaction remains the same for both circumstances and each role needs to be executed properly. It’s a myth that third-party maintenance companies cannot perform at the same level as their self-performing counterparts. So long as you have two quality individuals fulfilling their half of the equation, the logos on their shirts are irrelevant.  Every organization’s ability to consistently perform these key functions depends on their success at attracting talented account managers and tradespeople, which directly results from investing in good sourcing practices and ongoing training. I have yet to see any data that proves hiring in-house versus subcontracting ensures better results. It’s all on a case-by-case basis, even within the same organization at times, and neither formula guarantees anything.

Different approaches, but the expectations are the same.

It’s never going to be the platform that solves your challenges. Success is always going to be contingent upon the people on the other end of your service ticket. It’s their actions that will determine what approach works and doesn’t work – not whether they are subcontracting or self-performing. And as long as the standards are met, the rates are competitive (a whole other fallacy that we’ll address in a separate blog), and they’re disciplined to say no when they’ve reached their limit, then that’s the deal you should be seeking directly.