In fire safety maintenance, it’s service that makes an impact.
Facility maintenance is a business built on relationships. Few companies can do it all in-house, and they rely on the network they’ve built to help them help their clients.
Global facility maintenance provider
For one nationally recognized facility maintenance company, they knew one of their opportunities was fire safety. “We’re a global facility maintenance provider, our clients look to us as a one-stop shop. The majority of our business is electrical plumbing, HVAC, door locks — there are approximately 50 different service trades that we offer.”
As their clients expressed interest in fire safety, the company saw this as an area where they could expand service contracts and enhance their offerings.
They connected with AIE, and a new working relationship was set into motion. While there are always new vendors to consider, there has to be the right formula in place to move the partnership forward. Not only did AIE’s capabilities fit with what the facility maintenance company was looking for in terms of services, but there was something bigger present — an alignment of values.
Serving as a partner to their clients
The facility maintenance company prides itself on serving as a partner to their clients. They’re not just taking care of their immediate service and maintenance needs, they’re doing so with communication, honesty, integrity, and meeting deadlines.
“Our mission is to serve as partners to our clients. They rely on us. We’re always looking at the long-term goal and whether we’re doing right by our clients. We saw that AIE held the same values in their work.”
Now, when work orders for annual inspections come up at the company’s client sites, AIE coordinates timelines, checks on expiration dates, and conducts the inspections. They send the reports to the facility maintenance company, and then coordinate any necessary fire safety updates, including extinguishers and lights. This allows the facility maintenance company to focus on its expertise, while AIE serves as the fire protection branch of the company.
Primarily, these clients are midsize companies with 300 to 3,000 locations, and many of them are Fortune 500 companies with a significant presence in large metropolitan areas in North America. With these clients, consistency is key. “We give AIE our checklist on what we expect, and their technicians know how to hit the key points. They are the eyes on site with the critical technical expertise.” And, because AIE’s core focus is fire life safety and backflow inspections, they can locate deficiencies or areas for improvement and provide the recommended solution.
Business that runs on standardization
But, as the facility maintenance company explains, this is a business that runs on standardization. One would hope any fire protection and safety company would be able to hit the standards, so that’s now what sets AIE apart.
What sets AIE apart is their level of service and their values. This is why, of all the fire life safety companies that could be active in their network, this facility maintenance company chooses to go to AIE repeatedly.
“It has nothing to do with fire life safety; it has everything to do with their level of service. Honesty, communication, meeting deadlines, integrity – that’s what sets AIE above others. They not only do great work on-site, but they do great work on the back end, too.”
Focusing on relationships, service, and communication
AIE knows there are standards, and they have the expertise to meet those standards. Still, there’s also a focus on the softer skills — the relationships, the service, and the commitment to communication and working person-to-person.
“Fire life safety is fire life safety. There are national standards we have to meet. Getting it done is the expectation, but it’s how AIE gets it done that differentiates them. They didn’t invent the wheel, but they made it better.”
Recent Comments