Do Years of Experience Always Mean Higher Quality?

The main thing to take away from this article is that years of experience are important, but so are other qualities. If a company is only telling you about how long they’ve been around, it might be wise to look a little closer.

When you start shopping around for commercial services like construction, plumbing, electricians, or repair & maintenance technicians, one claim you’re bound to see everywhere is how many years of experience a company has. It’s meant to imply that the company and its employees know what they’re doing. But savvy shoppers know that’s not always the case.

While years of experience certainly can translate directly into high-quality services, the best companies won’t leave that to your imagination. They’ll show you why they stand out. However, there are less-than-reputable businesses hoping that their long careers will be enough to make you their customer. That’s when you should start asking some questions. Here are our recommendations for what to expect from a high-quality service provider.

| Years of Experience vs Years in Business

There are two parts to longevity in a trade. There’s years of experience, and then there’s years in business. When you’re considering who to hire for your commercial facility, you’d like to see a good history for both. Years of experience can include an owner’s time working for someone else and it’s good to see that they’ve been performing their profession for a while. When you want to know if the company itself is worth hiring, that’s when you look at years in business. For a company to stay open for any decent amount of time, they have to be able to keep customers satisfied.

However, as we mentioned at the start of this article, time is not the only indicator of quality services. There are a few other things that truly great companies will offer, and they will be happy to tell you all about them.

| Customer Service

You’d think companies would emphasize customer service by default. After all, there are strong financial reasons to do so. But that’s simply not the case, which means Facilities Managers should be looking for this important distinguishing part of great facility services companies.

Communication skills, timeliness, and attentiveness create the foundation for customer service. From there, the top companies will develop ways to anticipate customers’ needs and make them feel special. This can come in many forms, from personalized follow-up to client account specialists. However a company delivers on customer service, one thing will be certain: your priorities will be their priorities.

| Technology Investments

For commercial trades, technology investments can take many forms including tools, equipment, logistics software, and communications. As with everything else, they get better every year. There’s always something new to look at. So what does that mean for you as the Facilities Manager?

Buying all of the latest and greatest technology the moment it’s available is not necessarily what you want to see from a commercial facility services company. Because innovations can be very expensive, it’s simply not realistic. What’s far more important is a pattern of consistently investing in improvements. Look for companies that are always getting better and you’ll be more likely to find a long-lasting vendor partnership.

| In-house Technicians

We’ve talked about the types of facility services companies before. The main takeaway here is that in-house technicians bring expertise and experience which help the company improve its services. Not only do you get the benefit of knowing the company you hired is performing the work themselves, you also can be confident that any subcontracting will be held to the same standards as their in-house teams. It’s a win-win.

AAA Facility Services is an experienced, full-service construction, plumbing, electrical, and repair & maintenance firm. Contact us today to learn more about our services.