Property Management: Vendor Relationships and Uncommon Results

By: Dusty Muck Andrew Carnegie once stated, “Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. The ability to direct individual accomplishments toward organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results.”

Vendors and property management teams, everyday work to improve operational efficiency, environmental sustainability, tenant care, and more.

Working together is integral to the success of our commercial properties and their organizational objectives and often lead to uncommon results, just as Carnegie defined.

I sat down and discussed property management and vendor relationships with Jansen Trentham, Shane Froman, and Shawn Benjamin. Here is what they had to say.

Growing Relationships

Jansen Trentham, General Manager, Core Property Capital, knows about collaboration with service partners. This teamwork approach has helped his team execute quickly and with precision.

“Having that ongoing relationship helps so much with being able to collaborate and take action quickly. Items that are large spend capital projects are going to have months of planning.” what is going to fit where, and when you have a relationship with someone who is familiar with your property, who doesn’t have to have that lead time to get you more accurate answer on what the needs of your property are going to be and you can evolve with the needs of your tenants and take a more proactive approach to problem solving.” Trentham explains.

“In this industry, the more you have these working relationships, and you have that back-and-forth communication, that is a huge increase in time savings and tenant satisfaction. As a property manager that is invaluable.”

Shane Froman, Senior Vice President, Lincoln Properties, has had years of work with vendors to produce uncommon results for tenants.

“If there is an open dialogue and open discussion you have the ability to have very upfront and frank conversations whether it is good or bad and that allows you to head-off moments of time that can be uncomfortable.”

“By collaborating constantly, you are advancing the industry by having open communication which allows us to move forward faster. An example of this is with Shawn Benjamin, Atlantic Paper, and myself.

“We need information from all our partners. We are all in this together to create bottom line value for our clients.”

Industry Knowledge

So where does Froman find the most value from his vendor relationships?

“That is easy: knowledge. Management has always been expected to know a little about a lot of different things, so we are very dangerous when it comes to each of those topics individually. Whatever it might be: HVAC, electrical, janitorial or whatever. We know a little to be dangerous and enough to be smart about it and learn by trial by fire in many ways.”

“Where the vendor partner comes in, and I can speak on many companies, like Shawn, where I reach out on a regular basis and say give me the scoop on this. Give me the knowledge and how is this going to affect x, y, and z.”

“It is their specific knowledge of their particular industry or trend in that industry that is helping me move forward in that particular area.” Froman said.

Trentham expressed a similar sentiment. “Often, as landlords, we look property by property and don’t realize that a solution that works at one, may work in all the buildings. It is a way to make a more solidified portfolio.”

Working With Vendors

“Working with vendors that you trust and who have that expertise that can recommend products, that I, as a property manager, know next to nothing about, who can bring my level of understanding up to somewhat close to theirs.” Trentham explained.

“They can bring my understanding to a level where I realize what the benefit or value is and how it is going to drive change for our tenants and what I can communicate, most importantly, so they can see what is being done on their behalf. I think that is just such a huge way to build those relationships and it is a super valuable one to have.” Trentham stated.

As a vendor, supporting the Commercial Real Estate Industry, Shawn Benjamin, Account Manager, Atlantic Paper, takes a very proactive approach to help his customers.

“For years, I tried to put myself in the shoes of a Property Manager or Owner and try to understand what is their pain point, what are their daily struggles and understand where my value is at. And how do I bring whatever I can, whether it is product, knowledge, or a service to them?”

“I try and take one of the hats off these professionals so they take care of their other tasks. I think true collaborations allow the CRE professional to be successful, the vendor partner to be successful and it’s easier to understand when you have these conversations.”

“The best collaboration is developed over time.” Benjamin continued. “I was thinking about Shane the other day and how we got to know each other. We both had similar interests and through the years developed a deeper relationship.” “So even when he left the Property Management side and went to the vendor-side we still maintained that relationship. So when he got back into it, he felt a comfort level and a trust that I have his best intentions at heart and that stuff doesn’t just materialize overnight.” Benjamin, with years of experience, has had the opportunity to guide others in their journey.

“I’ve had vendors reach out to me and ask if BOMA is worth it and I ask them what are you going to put into it? Because you are not going to walk into a wine tasting, a lunch, or a sporting event and suddenly have these relationships that people feel they trust you, value your opinion, and know you are competent.”

Building Trust

“It takes time. And it takes hard work. And it takes honesty. There are a lot of things that go into it. But it certainly doesn’t happen overnight.” Benjamin explained.

“To add to that,” Froman said, “I have a unique situation, where I left and went to the vendor side for four years. When you do that, you learn very quickly who you made relationships with are long standing because those people don’t disappear.”

“There are quite a few folks, who would reach out and give me a call to see how I was doing, even though I was on their side of the world. So, when I did go back, those were the first people I called when I needed something. It was because of their trust. They weren’t out just for their self; they were there as their authentic self.”

“I used to speak at the BOMA New Member Orientations, and I always promoted to vendors, you need to develop relationships with people and don’t come at it with a complete business mindset.” Froman continued.

“By that, I mean, invite someone out for lunch, or swing by the office, and you’re not there to pitch business, or what you’re selling. Actually, take them to lunch and ask them how they are doing.”

“Ask them about real world things, share about your life and family, ask them about their life and their family. And try not to talk about business and see where that gets you in your relationship.”

“If every time you call, folks feel like you are trying to sell your product, that is not a relationship, that is just a sales call. Treat property managers the way you want to be treated. I caution folks who sell by the number.”

“Close the deal and move on and never stay in contact? That is an unfortunate way of doing business.” Froman said.

Budget Season

One of the most challenging tasks for all property management teams is budget season, so I wanted to know how vendors can support our property management professionals through this process.

Froman was able to provide some great advice, “It used to be, budget season was in September and October, five or eight years ago, and budget season now is July through October. And in some cases, June!

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“So, for me, I am writing budget policies in May/June and soon every Property Manager will have their budgets and what they need to budget for, from a corporate stand- point and all the way down.” Explained Froman.

Froman therefore suggests a few questions to engage with your Property Management team. Such as:

”I’d really like to be a partner with you and understand more about your budget process so I can be more beneficial to you as a service partner. How does that work?”

“What is a good time to present you with things, for you to think about?”

Benjamin was able to provide a different, yet valuable perspective as well. “With product, it is important to keep Property Managers posted on market dynamics and how those dynamics may affect pricing moving into the next year.”

“The pandemic has really changed our conversations toward occupancy levels, which affects stocking levels. It is very difficult for us, especially now, during budget season, to predict what is going to happen.”

Pricing Perspective

Collaborations between service partners and property management are indeed beneficial to everyone involved, but these are also business transactions.

So where does pricing come in, in this equation? Do all vendors have a possible incorrect assumption about their prices to customers?

“Absolutely. Service partners have the assumption they need to be the lowest bidder.” Said Froman.

He continues, “And in some cases that is absolutely correct, because we have some clients, bottom line, written in our management agreement, that we must accept the lowest bidder.”

“However, there are also agreements, which is most of them, where it is a part of our job, to go to our owners and even if a service provider is higher or mid-bidder, to validate why, we believe, that is the right scenario for this situation. So don’t always assume lowest bid is where we are always going to go.”

“What we are looking for from the partnership again, is the numbers that are going to truly make a difference and even if it is a little higher. What are you bringing to the table? What is the variable?” Asked Froman.

“Work with us to point those out and make sure we understand that, because we are not always the smartest person in the room.”

“Make sure we understand while you may have a small increase in cost, you may be supplying us with something that is so much greater in value that is not necessarily tangible to the dollar so that we can provide to our client and then it relates back to that tenant experience.” Stated Froman. “And I will tell you, we are looking at a lot of that stuff, because our tenants are trying to get their employees back in to these buildings and create an environment they want to come back in to and not stay out.” “We are asking ourselves, what can we do for large impact and small cost impact that will create a better impact to the tenant’s employees experience, coming back to the building and help them get back in.”

Froman continues, “The cost of the product is one thing, but the service is another. We are going to take a look at your numbers but we are also going to check your service levels because we may see they have the lowest cost, but they fumble a lot of the deliveries and although their pricing is great I don’t know if we want to do business with them because they can’t seem to get us our product on time or there is always a fumble.”

“So we may go with company B whose pricing is a little higher but they always deliver on time.”

Benjamin is very familiar with this as well, ”I recently won a piece of business where my costs were higher, but the customer chose us, because they knew the people in my company.”

“ They trusted us. They were tired of mistake after mistake from another supplier and they were willing to give up a percentage of cost savings, but they were willing to pay a fair price for someone they trusted to always do the right thing.”

Providing Value

Ultimately, all of this comes down to providing greater value for the tenants of the building. How do vendors provide value to the tenants of these great buildings?

Benjamin does it, by, “Staying on top of what is out there and what is going on in the market. It is like what you said Shane, when you took over 171.”

“You told me you wanted this to be a premier property and have products that elevate the tenant experience. Bringing those products and experiences that people may not have and not know they have until they experience it and get that wow factor.

“Bringing those technologies and trends is one way we provide value to the tenant experience.”

Froman answers, “I feel the service partners, in many ways are more responsible for that tenant experience than property management. Especially from that frontline of experience.”

“Whether it is product or direct experience with the staff they provide. So when you look at our service partners that are security, janitorial, or garage, or those that supply a product to us, like Shawn.”

“When a tenant walks into a building, generally the first person they see is garage management or staff, so that is the ambassador that first reached them.”

“That is the first experience they get.” Froman explains. “It is not management. It is extended staff of our team, which is how I always ask my management team to look at it, as those vendors as extensions to our team.”

“So, they walk out of the garage and walk into the lobby and the first person they see there is the security officer. Then they get into the elevator and that elevator technician has kept that elevator running and kept it from jolting around.”

“Then they get to their floor and they go to the restroom before going to their desk and in the restroom, the janitorial team has kept it pristine and smelling good so then there is that pleasant experience, then you get into paper supply, air care, automated faucets, and soap dispensers that work like they should and there is that pleasant experience.”

“So, behind all that, making sure it all jives is property management.” Froman says. “A lot of those first touch experiences are by our

service partners and therefore almost 100% of what they do affects the tenant experience.”

Trusted Knowledge

Trentham wraps it all up very nicely when he states, “As landlords, we know a vendor can make or break your building.”

“Having a vendor you trust, and that you know you are getting good knowledge from and have that working relationship makes so many things easier and in industries you may not understand while you are dealing with a million other things or just because, what faucets are best for a restroom are something I am not going to know off the top of my head. So having a vendor that is an expert in that regard is just huge and all landlords should be focusing on more than ever.”

Dusty Muck is is an Account Manager for Rubbermaid Commercial Products, providing waste/recycling, cleaning, material handling, and washroom solutions to business in Georgia. In addition to his work with Insight, he works as Ambassador to new BOMA Members and serves on the BOMA Georgia Foundation Board, and the BOMA Government Affairs Committee, assisting strategies on legislative and regulatory matters affecting the commercial real estate industry in Georgia.

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