Recently, Contracting Profits was able to gain valuable customer insight when the CNN Center, the Atlanta headquarters of Turner Broadcast Network put both its interior cleaning and exterior window cleaning contracts out to bid.

The facility — 1.2 million cleanable square feet largely comprised of a vast food court atrium, scores of offices, and multiple broadcast studios and newsrooms — has had its fair share of contractor ups and downs over the last few years. Most problems haven’t been earth-shattering, but in the process of entertaining new bids, facility manger Rick Raines was able to review past service to determine what he prefers in a cleaning contractor.

Housekeeping is just one area Raines manages, yet, he has found himself spending a lot of time pointing things out to cleaning contractors when it should be the other way around. His advice to BSCs is to think one step ahead of the customer at all times.

“I want them to come to me and say ‘We’ve got something we think can save you money,’ or ‘We’ve come up with a new way to clean your floors or carpets.’ But right now I’m doing all the research to find better ways to get the job done,” he says.

CNN’s current cleaning contractor often fields calls from occupants, saving Raines the headache of solving the problem. Yet, he suggests BSCs could take that proactivity a step further, offering to do regular inspections with their customers or frequently meet with them to review services, even if things are going fine.

Another suggestion is to make better use of management time. While the majority of cleaning is done on the second and third shifts, many contractors only have an on-site manager available during business hours to monitor cleaning staff, with lower-level crew leaders or supervisors in charge at night.

“If a company is going to invest in an on-site project manager, that person is most useful when the most work is done and not just when it’s convenient to schedule them. It is not fiar to cheat the workers and the customer,” he says.

This timing becomes vital when problems crop up that warrant a manager’s intervention, especially if not all workers speak English. Raines has had experiences where he wanted to relay instructions to contract employees, only to find out they couldn’t understand English. Rather than give a simple instruction or make a request that could remedy a situation immediately, he’s had to call a contractor’s offices to get a translation.

“What if there was a safety concern and I couldn’t warn those employees of the danger?” he asks. “It’s just too great of a risk when employees are on scaffolds washing windows or handling complicated machinery to call the main offices for help.”

In addition to on-the-job advice, Raines also gives BSCs tips for bidding a contract.

Follow all the bidding procedures outlined by a potential customer. During recent bids, a contractor attempted to e-mail Raines additional questions when all contenders specifically were told to communicate through the third-party consultant screening the process.

“It hurt them more than it helped them to try to contact me, because it showed that they couldn’t follow procedure,” he says.

And when creating the formal bid proposal, make sure to include such information as: a company history; introduction to key managers in your company; a breakdown of training procedures; any efforts in place to reduce turnover; a description of employee incentive programs that will motivate workers; and an explanation of any safety measures.

When it comes to the actual price of a contract, break out what it will cost, how many people it will take, what they will be paid and what kind of shifts all of that results in.

“The more thorough a bid, the more it looks like you cared enough about my business to take the time to think this through,” says Raines. “If you don’t make me feel that way, then I won’t even take the time to consider your bid.”

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POSTED ON: 3/1/2001