What kind of relationships do building managers have with their building service contractors?
DH: I would say they typically would have a strong working relationship, and would want to grow it more. We’ve seen this industry change from “they’re my vendor, do my work” to a partnering attitude. Certainly, there are exceptions; it’s tough to get away from bidding out the contract every two or three years. But typically, they want to build relationships with their contractor partners. Most property managers feel they’re tied in with their janitorial contractors to provide customer satisfaction inside their buildings. CP: How do they accomplish this? DH: My No. 1 piece of advice for contractors is communication — good news, bad news, indifferent news. It all needs to be communicated quickly and often, and in the best manner that works with your partner. That could be e-mail, voice mail, a face-to-face meeting — or all of the above. That said, property managers are requiring more and more reports and more communications via the Web and e-mail and other tools. Step two is acting like
