It can be easy to miss the contribution building engineers make when it comes to customer service. Laurie Harper, an expert on all thing’s customer service in the commercial real estate field, said that building engineers serve one of the most important roles customer service process. While the role that building engineers play may not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think of customer service, it is still extremely important.

Engineers may not be working directly with the customers themselves, but they still affect each other as building engineers are service providers. Building operator’s jobs in a day-to-day sense, include maintaining all mechanistic aspects of their building. For example, the building’s HVAC system may be getting older, so an engineer may need to check certain aspects of that system daily to ensure no errors arise. This also helps them predict when systems will need to be replaced.

Simple maintenance such as this, is a service to the building and directly impacts overall customer service. Think of it as due diligence. Ensuring that the building is operating as sound as possible ensures that system failures will be minimal and predictable. This allows repairs to be scheduled out and allows for tenants to be made aware of the coming changes or possible down time. This will in turn minimize potential grievances, helping the building-tenant relationship which encourages the tenant to renew their lease.

Another service that building engineers can provide is simply saving tenants money. Through their everyday work, they also make sure systems are as efficient as possible. This helps reduce overall utility expenses and saves all parties money.

These reasons make engineers vitally important when it comes to dealings between the building and the tenant. Engineers are the sole party that can determine the bare minimum expense on certain items for the building. These predetermined factors will determine overall rent that tenants must pay.

Lastly, it is important to realize that building operators are the customer facing component of the whole operation. They are the personnel that will be responding when a tenant has a hot or cold call, when they have lights that are out that need to be replaced, or when they have any other mechanistic problems that they need to have solved. In this sense, building engineers will often have more face time with tenants than management will, further solidifying their role in the customer service process.

Without building engineers, customer service could struggle due to poor building conditions. Deals might not be made to the best benefit of all parties. These reasons and many others are what make engineers one of the most crucial pieces in the customer service process.

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