What Two Decades With the Same Client Taught Us About Tenure, Communication, and Trust
In an era of rising costs, provider turnover, and increasing demands, is it still possible to build a 10-year facility maintenance partnership spanning HVAC, electrical, plumbing, signage, and fire and life safety? Our team at CLS Facility Services would answer with a resounding yes. We have a 20-year client partnership and several 15-year partnerships to point to.
That answer runs against the broader trend. Median employee tenure across the U.S. workforce fell to 3.9 years in January 2024, the lowest level recorded since 2002. In an industry where maintenance issues are plentiful, and failure can sometimes feel inevitable, relationships that outlast that figure several times over are worth a closer look.
CLS began working with a niche luxury fashion retailer nearly 21 years ago, when the retailer operated 9 store locations in New York City, Miami, and Chicago. Today that thriving retailer has more than 100 stores, continues to expand internationally, and still trusts CLS as their sole HVAC services provider. Here is how that was achieved, and what to look for when evaluating whether your own provider relationship can go the distance.
5 Key Elements of a Long-Lasting Facility Maintenance Partnership
1. Account Manager Tenure
In nearly 21 years of partnership with this luxury retailer, CLS has had the same account manager serve as the primary communicator every year. She understands their needs, their preferences, their goals, and how to best serve the intricacies this client demands. Continuity is worth asking about first when you evaluate a provider, because portfolio knowledge compounds over time and disappears the moment an account gets reassigned.
2. Open Communication
Every maintenance provider can be strong some of the time. The truest partners are the ones that let you know when a technician is delayed in arrival, that share when a scope of work was not completed to perfection, and that take accountability when a no-charge recall is necessary to resolve the initial issue. That level of transparency creates long-lasting rapport and trust. Look for a partner willing to deliver difficult news early rather than one that only reports the wins.
3. Asset Management
It is one thing to get the job done. It is another to do so while tracking valuable information like HVAC asset lists, work history, warranty information, and the unique traits that make HVAC, lighting, and plumbing systems different at a given store location. Fortified asset management creates stronger long-term partnerships. A client asset management portal turns that record into something both parties can act on, including CapEx planning years in advance.
4. Competitive Pricing
Performance is key, and delivering it at consistently competitive pricing carries real influence. Every retailer operates under stringent facility maintenance budgets in 2026, and a partner’s ability to keep cost increases minimal while optimizing service is truly vital. Predictability matters as much as the number itself. A partner that forecasts spending accurately across an entire portfolio gives finance teams something they can actually plan around.
5. Ultimate Trust
The previous four elements are imperative, but trust is what builds impressive tenure. Trust is what allows us to raise a not-to-exceed above the standard threshold to guarantee a fix when we cannot reach the facility manager on a Sunday afternoon. It is what allows us to bring in a vetted contractor from our national network with elite technical experience to finish a critical job. A partner you trust is a partner empowered to act, and that authority is what keeps small problems from becoming expensive ones.
Building a Facility Maintenance Partnership That Endures
In an industry chock full of turnover and transition, there may be no greater source of pride than long-lasting partnerships, enduring friendships, and mutual trust and camaraderie. We all solve problems constantly and work through challenging issues on a daily basis. Working with people you enjoy and believe in, who always have your back, is irreplaceable.
With more than 50 years of industry expertise and a dedicated team carrying 300-plus years of combined experience, CLS is in it to build facility maintenance partnerships we never for one moment take for granted.
If you are evaluating a long-term facility maintenance partner for your locations, connect with us today to get started.