Page 35 - Clean India Journal - Sept 2023 Digital Edition

Industry talk

For a long-lasting partnership ends. While most agreements
between a client and a service define the engagement principle to
provider, I believe the following principle, this understanding needs
fitment boxes need to be ticked: to go beyond legal clauses, and
capture the spirit of joint ownership
Scope & for the specified scope of delivery.
This helps make the relationship
commercial fitment lateral rather than hierarchical and
ensures joint ownership for service
Right reasons delivery.
Outsourcing facility management
services for the right reasons Operational fitment
is important i.e. engaging the
partner for the service gap that While the RFP and the agreement
the partner is going to fill, and not ensure that the necessary scope
just to outsource tasks that “can and relevant deliverables are well
be outsourced” as they are not so While most agreements captured, they often miss out on
critical to the business , or a need to define the engagement including the expected day-to-day
keep the workforce on a third-party principle to principle, this deliverables, which become critical
payroll etc. If the reasons are more understanding needs to once the project commences. This
evolved, the engagement is more can only be avoided if a working
sustainable. Similarly, the contract go beyond legal clauses, document/operational programme
termination will also not be for and capture the spirit is created by the service partner
reasons such as “the tenure is now of joint ownership for (preferably along with the client’s
4+ years and the workforce is due the specified scope of operations team), which defines
for gratuity”.
delivery. details of day-to-day delivery and
governance.
Right partner
This document should then
Identifying the right service initial stage itself, defining the become the reference point for
partner becomes critical as the scope and reaching the RFP to daily and monthly performance
engagement will be for a longer the right fit of vendor-partners
tenure. So does evaluating vendor- helps in making accurate techno- reports. This will help measure
partners based on their specific commercial comparisons. service delivery on the basis of
strengths – such as ability to data points that are measurable
operate in a certain specialised Right spirit and tangible, and will help avoid
field, ability to cater to and at performance yardsticks that are
multiple geographies, ability to The RFPs need to explicitly measured primarily only on the
operate at scale etc. Thus, at the define the commitments at both basis of relationship management.

Signs of customer loyalty
• They are not actively searching for different supply partners
for similar services
• They are more willing to refer you to their industry colleagues
• They are not open to pitches from competing companies
• They are more understanding when issues occur and trust you
to fix them
• They offer feedback on how you can further improve your
services
• They continue to purchase your services.

Clean India Journal•SEPTEMBER 2023 35
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