ForConstructionPros.com

By Michael Groh

Which of the following statements best describes your firm's relationship with your customer base?

1. I depend on my customer to help me achieve my personal and corporate financial goals.

2. My customer depends on me and my firm to help them effectively manage their pavement assets.

If statement #1 characterizes your approach in the pavement maintenance industry there is no reason to continue to read this article. I would suggest that you use your time to explore alternate careers as your current business model is seriously flawed for long-term success.

Agreement with statement #2 indicates that you and your firm are committed to developing and maintaining a long-term relationship with your customer base. One way to develop an interdependent relationship with your clients is to offer them a new approach to managing their pavement needs. Over the last three decades I have had the opportunity to work with a variety of facility and property managers throughout the United States and I continue to be amazed at how often maintaining this important property asset is often overlooked. Pavement maintenance is frequently a low priority that is woefully underfunded.

Here's a common situation I am sure you have encountered: A property manager gets a call regarding a pothole in the third aisle of the south parking lot. She contacts the maintenance personnel to place a barricade over the pothole to keep people from being injured or damaging their car. The barricade becomes a semi-permanent fixture in the south lot until someone has time to place temporary patch material in the hole. So often the approach is to apply a short-term "fix" that does not address the causes of the failure. After all, "it is just a parking lot" seems to be the sentiments of many property owners.