From communal areas to entire buildings
- a service delivery case study.
ServiceFM provided direct cleaning services to Renewal SA from 2021. In 2022, Renewal SA contracted CBRE as the facility managers for the entire Lot Fourteen precinct, and ServiceFM retained the cleaning services, subcontracting for CBRE.
The opportunity
Initially, ServiceFM focused solely on general cleaning of communal areas across five buildings, which housed many tenants. This included internal communal areas, kitchens, meeting rooms, toilets, and fire stairs, but excluded the individual tenancies within the buildings. We cleaned external entrances and provided hygiene services, such as sanitary bins and air fresheners.
However, as ServiceFM’s cleaning results proved effective, tenants increasingly reached out to CBRE for more cleaning services and accordingly signed up direct contracts with tenants. Recognising the demand, ServiceFM expanded its scope to include tenancy cleaning as well. The challenge was to efficiently scale up the cleaning while maintaining our high standards of cleanliness and customer satisfaction.
Expansion of services
In response to the growing demand, CBRE had ServiceFM extend its cleaning services from communal areas to individual tenancies within the buildings. This expansion allowed CBRE to cater to the needs of more than 12 additional tenants, effectively doubling the number of spaces serviced. We also expanded from five buildings to cleaning spaces within six buildings.
ServiceFM managed the increased workload by allocating additional resources – we enlisted 15 cleaners to handle the expanded cleaning responsibilities. This ensured we could meet the growing expectations of all parties – Renewal SA, CBRE, and the tenants across Lot Fourteen.
ServiceFM built strong relationships with each tenancy within the buildings. We made ourselves available to CBRE at any time, as the overarching facilities team. We conducted inspections fortnightly, to ensure any concerns or issues were promptly addressed. We assigned a supervisor on-site to guide the cleaners daily, taking on the additional cost to provide enhanced support and supervision.
Results
Due to the quality of our cleaning service and our agility when it was needed, we were able to meet the evolving needs of the office environments and our partner, CBRE.
Increased revenue: The expansion of services and the growing number of tenants resulted in a revenue increase of 30%.
Senior Client Manager, Hasiba Cesko, says, “Our presence on site, communication with our client, and genuine care in meeting expectations proved to be the driving force in achieving our goal.”
“You must have a good relationship with all your workers. You must know what is happening on-site, look after everyone, and follow up if any concerns are raised – this is non-negotiable. You can’t promise zero human error, but what matters is how you rectify the issues raised and how quickly.”
As the site Facilities Manager puts it: “We appreciate the partnership we have with ServiceFM on this site, to help us meet the growing demands of our clients.”
Lessons learned
Building strong relationships: Developing and maintaining strong relationships with clients and tenants is crucial for success. Effective communication, attentiveness to concerns, and timely resolution of issues build client trust.
Flexibility and adaptability: Being able to adapt to changing circumstances and scale up operations to meet increasing demands is essential.
Investment in supervision: Assigning on-site supervisors can help ensure the quality and consistency of cleaning services. Supervisors play a vital role in guiding and supporting the cleaning staff, leading to improved performance and customer satisfaction.