What Do Facilities Managers Look for in Great Consultants?

By Richard Fanelli, AIA, CFM, IFMA Fellow

What are the most important considerations to FMs in hiring a consultant?

In preparing to deliver a presentation recently to attendees at IFMA’s World Workplace conference in Philadelphia on the subject of working effectively with your FM consultant, I sent out a survey to professional facilities managers to see what they look for in hiring a new consultant. The results of the survey were somewhat surprising. In order of importance, starting from the most important considerations in hiring a consultant (#1), to the least important (#10); here is the ranking:

1. Ability to understand your organization’s project goals and objectives
2. Responsiveness to your needs
3. Technical competence and experience
4. Ability to control the project budget and schedule
5. Flexibility (the ability to respond effectively to changes in the project to meet the customer’s needs)
6. Out of the box thinking (bringing new ideas and perspectives to the FM client)
7. Project continuity (having the same project team members assigned to the FM’s projects from the beginning to the end of a project or from one project to the next)
8. Established internal quality control procedures
9. Ability to effectively coordinate with subcontractors
10. Competitive fees

It is not to say that those items that got a lower ranking were not important to the survey respondents, they were not as critical as those attributes that got a higher score. As you can see from the survey results, the consultant’s fees were not the most important consideration. The results of this survey said loud and clear that if you provide a service that has real value to your FM client, you will not be treated as a commodity.

When asked another open-ended question:

“What other important considerations do you look for in a consultant?”

Respondents indicated:

• They should have experience with similar projects within my company’s industry.
• They should be trustworthy and have a high level of integrity.
• They should be able to give me brutally honest opinions and input.
• They should have competent business skills.
• They should have a deep, in-depth knowledge of their industry and the most current information.
• They should have a well developed network of resources and experts that they can draw from.
• They should be active listeners and have excellent communications and interpersonal skills.
• They should be dependable, positive and proactive.

As a consultant develops a new relationship with an FM client, they should keep the foregoing consideration in mind and try to maximize the value of their products or services as well as make the most of their own unique talents and abilities.

Richard Fanelli AIA, CFM, IFMA Fellow is president of Fanelli McClain Design Studios, a commercial interior planning and facilities management consulting firm located in Fairfax, VA. He also writes for the Washington Business Journal and is an instructor for IFMA International and George Mason University.