ForConstructionPros.com

Depending on how you look at them, national service providers can be either a tack in the tire of your sweeping company, a constant threat that can undermine your position in the market and your profit margin, or they can be an avenue of growth and an opportunity to generate more business with little up-front costs.

But no matter how you view them, national service providers aren't going away. They offer their clients — the same clients sweeping contractors (and other independent contractors) rely on — one-stop shopping for a variety of property management services.

But in recent years, driven by property managers swamped with multiple locations throughout the country, the pressure to streamline internal operations, and the need to reduce management (and maintenance) costs, national service providers (NSPs) have become more of a factor in the contract sweeping market. As NSPs see it, they can be a competitor to independent contract sweepers — or they can be an ally. NSP spokespersons say independent sweeping contractors are essential to the success of their business, so valued that several NSPs refer to their independent contractors as "partners."

"If the contractor's got the right attitude and views us as a partner and as one of his customers, then there are generally no issues," says Bob Steinhagen, vice president of national accounts for U.S. Maintenance, an NSP based in Norristown, PA. "Our primary focus is in making the client happy and making money. We price our service so we can make money and the contractor can make money. No one is going to make an obscene amount of money from one client, but if you work hard and do a good job you can make a reasonable amount of money and, through the relationship with us, you can grow your business."

Kevin Dent, CEO of Dentco, DeWitt, MI, says many of the contractors associated with his NSP "wouldn't be where they are today if it wasn't for the work they do for us. They are contractors who grew their business and benefited tremendously by working with us," Dent says. "On the flip side are contractors who are working directly for the customer and they don't like involvement from companies like ours because if the customer ends up hiring us, the contractor may get paid less. We do not know this until we talk with the contractor. The customer's objective is often to save money."