We’re concluding our 13 Questions series with the last three questions that you as a facilities manager should pose to a vendor that you’re considering for your national HVAC work.

As a recap, here are links to earlier posts in our series: part 1, part 2 and part 3.

Question #11:
How are your service calls handled?

Recall a recent problem with one of your locations. Ask the provider in question how they handle such emergencies, and to follow it through to resolution. Ask them to take you through the steps that they follow, from start to finish when responding to your needs.  When the Tuscaloosa store we mentioned in our last blog is heating up fast and you call that vendor, what happens next? Do you ask for anyone in particular, or are you connected with whoever is available? What is their response time for emergency service? How quickly can you expect them to arrive on site for a regular call? Will they call in advance to let you know the status of the technician?

Question #12:
Do your service representatives work out of your office, or are they remote?

Many remote service representatives work from home. As a result, they’re subject to a variety of potential home-related distractions during the day, and sometimes, those distractions can occur when customer issues arise. Conversely, office-based service representatives are focused solely on delivering customer service from the centralized office in which they work.

Question #13:
Do you have a scorecard system for your vendors?

The vendor you hire will subcontract work for each of your facility requirements around the country. So how do they evaluate the technicians that they hire to work in your facilities? What kind of scorecard system do they use for them? The technician that’s being sent to your Tuscaloosa store is a mystery to you; as a national facilities manager, how does your HVAC vendor make sure that he or she is sending you a qualified technician? Is their insurance certificate up to date? Do they even have the proper certificate? Do they have a license? Are they bonded? In short, what’s the process?

So there they are – 13 questions that can help make a big facilities management decision a little more, well, manageable.

Do our 13 questions spark additional questions of your own? We understand – HVAC is complex. We would value the opportunity to discuss our 13 questions, or yours, in more detail with you. The more information you have, the better equipped you’ll be to meet your national HVAC challenges strategically.

Interested in learning more about national HVAC services from CLS? Call us at 800-548-3542.