How to Incorporate Smarter Spending Strategies
Business leaders are laying out their financial plans for next year, and we are sharing our time-tested tips to help stretch your facility services dollar. Read on to avoid misplaced investments as well as unexpected repairs that can blow up your budget.
Combine services for savings off the top and over time. If you engage a partner for any aspect of facility services, bundling services with them can reduce your costs. You’ll see real savings through more informed decision making and get more bang for your buck by integrating services. Consolidating services with one provider helps with communication, and if employees are cross-trained like our teams at UG2, they can step in for one another as needed.
Consider CMMS. A well-integrated computer maintenance management system (CMMS) removes the guesswork to save you time, stress and money. Housing data in a central location allows you to run quick analytics reports that are clear and visual. By integrating real data, from equipment lists to square footage of a facility, the system can predict labor utilization, keep your equipment operating smoothly, and plan and budget for maintenance.
Prioritize preventative maintenance. Investing in thoughtful, expert-informed preventative maintenance is your best bulwark against unanticipated repair costs. Getting slammed with even one major repair is not only a blow to your budget, but it can also have a domino effect on productivity, with lengthy periods of downtime and frustrated teams and customers.
Tap into evolving trends. The landscape is shifting all the time. Staying ahead of tenant demands and customer trends will help you better allocate your limited resources. Whether you formally survey stakeholders, gather information through relationship-building, or tap into the expertise of an informed partner like UG2, it is essential that you understand and anticipate what’s happening on the ground.
Engage a trusted partner. Identifying an expert in the field with a strong record of success is essential to protecting your facility in the short and long term. At UG2, our senior managers remain involved and engaged, our teams are trained for your specific space, and our process, technology and equipment are the best in the business.
Communicate openly about budget concerns and constraints. A true partner will prioritize communication with you—and will help you strategize when it comes to maximizing your budget. A key component of UG2’s near-perfect customer retention rate is the fact that we work so closely with our customers, emphasizing transparency and clear communication.
Plan accurately for occupancy. Whether your building occupancy changes from season to season or throughout the day, taking those changes into account can have a real impact on energy efficiency and real costs. Technology dedicated to monitoring these changes can help you make plan better and the most informed investments, with sensors to continuously collect real-time building occupancy and traffic data.
Be smarter about emergency maintenance. Although preventative maintenance goes a long way toward avoiding emergencies, you’ll need a plan in place for the unexpected. UG’s mobile maintenance technicians are available 24/7 and backed by extensive training; trade licenses in electrical, plumbing, and HVAC; and certifications in areas like Universal EPA, Building Automation and Infrared Scanning.
Engage in smarter capital planning and asset management. From infrastructure to equipment to technology, strategic capital planning and asset management means making more informed decisions about the acquisition, replacement, and maintenance of assets essential for your facility to run smoothly and efficiently over the long term.
Monitor and track progress. Measuring and monitoring how your budget is holding up is essential to evaluating progress and creating a baseline for future planning. Communication and transparency are essential here.
Keep safety top of mind. A strong budget prioritizes safety at every level, from routinely walking the property to identify hazards to replacing valves and filters on a regular schedule. UG2 incorporates safety planning in all we do, cultivating a culture of safety that reminds every member of our team of their responsibilities to the customer and to each other.
From our facility professionals on site at your facility to our experts in our regional Centers of Excellence, our talented teams are in constant communication to ensure you’re making the most of your facility services budget. Have questions? Get in touch. We’d love to talk through strategies tailored specifically to your needs.