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March 28, 2018

TIRED OF SOURCING QUOTES – Quote Fatigue

In our office, property managers often request quotes for multiple buildings simultaneously. While this allows us to demonstrate our capabilities, it can lead to inefficient management.

Strata Corporations may believe they can save money by seeking bids from several providers, but potential savings often diminish with the time required to manage the bidding process and the risks of onboarding new vendors. We propose a consistent, long-term partnership that meets your service needs at or below your budget. How can we achieve this?

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January 26, 2017

Hard Surface – Floors – Salt It’s a Problem

The past week have seen snow and ice disappear from the cold snap that gripped the Lower IMG_0863Mainland following Christmas. But not everything has disappeared; salt residue remains on a number of hard surface floors and common hallway carpet. Although, it is somewhat ironic given the lengths residents went to obtain the stuff several weeks ago, now the residue can be extremely difficult to remove by normal cleaning solutions. Mopping with soap or other sanitizers are basically useless on hard surface floors, and may only serve to spread the discolouration around. Carpets face a different issue. There the salt, as well as mud and sand get into the carpet matrix, which requires significantly more work to remove.

The essential problem is that the residue has a very high Ph. that needs to be neutralized before it can be removed. Basic chemistry suggest you can use an acidic solution, but this presents a number of potential challenges that make it a less than desirable approach. We have several products that can neutralize the residue that can then be mopped up. For carpets this requires more subtle changes to the carpet cleaning approach. Our staff are trained to recognize the proper solution and approach to dealing residue, and can make quick work of the problem. So if you want to remove the last reminder of the cold winter weather, give us a call.

June 8, 2016

Building Notices – Are They Important ? – YES VERY

Building notices are one of the most critical points of communication between us, (the service provider), the property manager and residents at a location. We usually send them out when we schedule service, so that they are posted in advance before the work commences. We see them as an essential part of our service, for a number of reasons.

First, building notices allow residents of a building to prepare their units for a service, which greatly facilitates our ability to complete the agreed-to work. For example window cleaning on low-rise buildings require screens be removed from windows. If notices are not posted, the parts of the work can’t go ahead requiring return visit(s) that are difficult to deal with. The same issue applies for dryer vents in large buildings. These commonly  require suite access to do a complete an interior and exterior service. Without visibly posted building notices, large number of residences are usually missed, which requires us to come back another day

Finally building notices are critical for giving residents information if they think there is a problem. We often post useful trouble shooting information, as well as contact addresses. This helps to avoid burdening you with complaints and other calls about a service, which we can deal with them quickly and directly. For example when our floor care team is maintaining the common hallways are notices provided specify whether the service is an extraction cleaning or maintenance cleaning service.

All in all building notices keep everybody happy and working productively. By posting them we reduce potential issues with a job, and ensure the service is done in a quick and effective manner…. that’s a win for everyone.

We are always looking at our notices and working to improve the message, have a look at our latest version of our low-rise window cleaning notice.

July 31, 2014

What is a Clean Window?

A truly clean window starts with a scrub agitation to loosen dirt, then rinsing clean or cleaning away with a squeegee.

Many believe squeegee cleaning to be the professional window cleaning method with the best results; myself included. I started cleaning windows in 2003 when I moved to Vancouver, and was taught some simple things about cleaning windows that hold true today, including: what is necessary for the customer to have a truly clean window, and what is the accepted ‘industry standard’ for clean glass.

A truly clean window involves 2 things:

1) Professionally clean the outside of the glass.
scrub with the applicator all the exterior glazing, top to bottom to loosen the dirt
clean away with the squeegee
check edges for drips
2) The INSIDE SURFACE must also be cleaned. Looking at the photos, you can see that the outside is cleaned, but there are still drippy marks down the surface of the glass. Checking the inside, it is noted that this is on the inside surface, and can be wiped away easily with a cloth. This is a reminder that no matter how well the outside surface is cleaned, the window will still look dirty if the inside has not been cleaned as well.

Accepted Industry Standard for Clean Windows

The way it was explained to me by a respected leader in our industry, was that all the glazing should be cleaned, with no more than a pinky finger width of drip or run down each side of the glazing.

This is because when the water is squeegeed away, some water may remain on the rubber gasket and rundown along the edge of the glass.

Since people look through their windows rather than AT the glass, unless something blocks their view and draws attention to the glass itself, then all glass in the middle must be completely clean and clear, but if a small amount runs down each side (less than a pinky finger nail width), then this should still be acceptable. Often times, that water doesn’t appear until after the worker has moved on. Waiting in front of each pane long enough to check would considerably slow down the process and add to the cost charged to the customer.

June 15, 2010

Really? They Don’t Believe in Programs?

A Message From David Benoit

In my 12+ years of working with property managers and building owners I have found the most effective property managers have their properties on some form of plan or program.  As you know there can be quite a turnover of property managers in the industry; they can get overwhelmed by having to respond to  buildings’ needs.

Looking back from this point the managers that are still in the industry are generally proactive in their approach.  This is a “Win-Win” for all parties involved.  The buildings get attention, the property manager can spend their time leading the buildings and the contractor will provide more competitive pricing.

Over the years the 1 most common objection I hear from property managers is, “the strata doesn’t believe in programs.”  My response to this is, “really?”  They don’t believe in cleaning their carpets, gutters, windows etc?  That tells me that the strata members would prefer to own in a building where they can’t see out their windows, where their gutters overflow and their carpets are disgusting and wearing out.

I think the truth is the strata’s haven’t thought it through and the property manager didn’t spend the time needed communicating to them the benefits of an overall plan. You can have 3 to 4 different contractors, but the key here is one calendar of when items will occur and by whom.

On a side note, the most successful property managers I know have only 2 trades they work with in each category.  This helps them stay on top of things and these contractors will do their absolute best to ensure that their customer’s buildings are taken care of with the fear of losing all of the work at that property manager’s buildings. Well run strata’s don’t use the council president’s nephew to clean the carpets.

I have never understood why buildings need to gather quotes every year for services that are generally done every year.  Does the strata think the pricing is going to come down?  If they did their due diligence in the initial process then why would that change?  Of course, if a contractor did not perform according to expectations or agreement, that’s a different story.  The truth is that most contractors will not raise prices on a yearly basis if the work is committed to and ongoing.  At Servus Group, we have carpet maintenance programs that are 10 years old and the pricing is still the same.  However when asked to quote on a yearly basis pricing generally trends upward. If we have a relationship with a building and our crews are familiar with the project we are grateful for the work and don’t see the need to raise pricing.

So in summary if you want to have a less stressful longer career make a plan for your buildings maintenance, my recommendation based on over a decade of experience and relationships with hundreds of property managers: only deal with a few trades and take the time to educate your stratas and building owners on the benefits for everyone of being proactive, having a plan, and maintaining your strata buildings.

Thanks for your time and consideration,

David Benoit