Save on your company costs without compromising your clients service - by Daron Greelish

Daron Greelish, Compass Facility Services

Facility professionals are continuously tasked with saving money. Given the costs of real estate and services to an organization, this bottom-line approach is understandable. However, these same professionals are accountable to their managers and their client population, when it comes to safety, cleanliness, and security. Thus, they are forever seeking options that reduce costs without compromising quality of service. Where to begin?

Often clients come to us for creative ideas about cost reduction. One area where we find we can make tremendous impact without noticeable compromise to service levels is in consumable products, such as paper products, cleaning products, and the dispensers we use to deliver these products to users. It’s simple and generally goes unnoticed when we switch a client from, for example, folded towels to roll towels (“coreless” vs. “core”) products.

Standardization of dispensers and consumable products within a facility and particularly over multiple locations has the potential to save literally tens of thousands (or hundreds of thousands, depending on the scale) in cost without negatively affecting the customers’ experience.

Paper products should be “coreless” where possible, which virtually eliminates waste (changing out rolls when there is about ¼ left) and possible theft from the workplace for personal use. Yes, unfortunately it does happen believe it or not. Another example could be coreless junior jumbo toilet tissue and or coreless household size toilet tissue. Foaming hand soaps and sanitizers instead of liquid soaps cut down on usage, and therefore cost. We begin by assessing usage, surveying facilities, and working with our clients to standardize on more efficient products. Then, we install the new dispensers at no cost, and our clients begin to realize savings right away.

We like to work closely with our clients to understand their needs and their customers’ expectations regarding the condition of the facility. Through our hands-on, collaborative approach, we can develop solutions for real savings without sacrificing the condition of the facility.

In other areas, we can provide add-on services at a reasonable cost, saving time and money by centralizing these services under our contract.

Through a thorough understanding of the janitorial industry, and a collaborative approach with our clients, we partner to deliver excellence while recognizing there are opportunities in virtually every practice to reduce the cost of service through efficiency.

Daron Greelish is a vice president of Compass Facility Services in Georgetown, Mass.