Imagine as a Facility Manager being able to have a machine that can produce happy client experiences? Let’s be honest here, Facility Managers have a huge influence on how the company client experiences what the business has to offer.
A slippery floor, dirty restroom, dirty windows, a bad smell impacts the client in every way.
Think about it. We rely on all of our senses; sight, smell and feel BEFORE we even get to interact with someone inside the business. Once we speak with someone then we use our hearing, by then our other senses have already given us the information needed to make a judgment on the business.
Don’t believe me? Visit a restaurant, dealership, gym, hospital, movie theater and be conscious of your body and mind experience before you speak to someone. You have already created a judgment, to some extent, whether you know it or not.
This is why if you’re a Facility Manager you need to build what we call “ The Happy Client Experience Machine.”
Components to The Happy Client Experience Machine.
Below is a list of exactly what you will need for your facility checklist.
- Client Perspective Glasses
- A Parking Space
- A notepad or digital device to capture information.
- Phone (for taking pictures)
As a Facility Manager we recommend the following to begin the process of building your machine.
Park at the furthest parking spot of your building in your most popular parking area.
Get your paper and answer these questions:
What is the first thing you notice about the parking lot around you? How clean are your building walls, windows, roofs?
Then begin walking towards your building, and if it applies test the following:
Touch the rails: How clean do they feel and how’s the grip for someone that will need it?
Slide your foot on the floor (Washington weather makes this important); Is it slippery?
Good grip? Does it feel safe? All of this matters to someone’s experience.
Look at your floor: How clean and presentable does it look? Dirty floors are one of the biggest investments a facility can make. Over 67% of facility budgets are focused on floor care, both inside and outside maintenance.
As you get closer; How clean does the outside of your building look? Does it look professional? Does the cleanliness match the design? Does the building look modern, cute, outdated, old or new? Are the gutters clean and well maintained?
Once inside: How does walking in make you feel? What does it smell like? (We know, strange questions, but pay attention to this.) What’s the first thing you notice? What observations do you see that could impact a customer experience?
Look at the immediate areas and check for: Dust, stains, grip on floor, roof stains, etc.
**We always emphasize the grip on the floor because we want to avoid any client injuries** One of the safest ways to make sure you’re protected is by making sure your concrete leveling is strong and your floors are safe.
Repeat the step above on any rooms that your clients might go into INCLUDING restrooms.
The final step?
Walk back to your car, asking the same questions:
What do you see?
How do you feel leaving the business?
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Once you’re done taking notes go back and take pictures of every area of improvement that you saw wearing your client perspective glasses.
Now, what do you do with all of this information and pictures? Got the pictures? This is where you pick up the phone and call us and let’s improve this for you.
Okay fine fine, we will give you one more golden nugget here. As a Facility Manager you can’t repeat this daily or possibly even monthly. After you do the above you must create an employee system and/or client system around it. This has to become part of your operations.
What do we mean by this?
Client or Employee suggestion box, QR Codes, or number to text with areas of cleanliness and improvement. Reviewing this on a weekly basis with your facility management team will allow you to house this data and fix it. This is how you can truly practice preventative maintenance.
After doing this for a good amount of time you will start to see patterns within your facility.
Eventually you will go from reactive to proactive, allowing you to get ahead of future issues.
If you received value from this value, we would love the opportunity to introduce DAPrDAN to your facility management team. We are here to help.