Outsourced Vesting - sounds like an oxymoron?

I have a subscription to the trade magazine Building Operating Management that I often just skim because so many of the articles are devoted to "facility management" that I don't find them all that relevant.  It's great to do a deep dive into how to get your building occupants to re-cycle their plastic bottles, for example, but the advice is a lot more relevant when all those occupants work for the same company.  Not so much for those of us who manage properties with multiple tenants and multiple outlooks on the benefits of re-cycling.

But I was intrigued with an article in the last edition, it was called  New Strategy Could Shake Up Outsourcing,  and reports on a supposed trend in facility management that places emphasis on the Vendor/Provider to add value, contribute to the facility's success, etc.  I understand the perspective of the article, that it may be difficult for an attorney who gets paid $350 per hour, or the janitorial company who gets paid x cents per square foot to view their service from the perspective of the building owner. That is exactly, however, what property management, at least excellent property management, is all about.

The article provides a roadmap of sorts for the facility manager to help his or her service providers to view the relationship as a "WIIFWE" or What's In It for WE, a tweak of the phrase WIIFM, or What's in it for ME.

I think the reason it's easier for me as a Property Manager to think in terms of WIIFWE is that in almost every case I can think of, my client will judge my performance by what the value of his property does over the period in which we manage the property.  It is often the reason why mortgage companies will require owners to hire a professional management company.  They know that professional management, especially those companies (like us) who are invested in improving property value, will more than pay for the cost of their fees in what they do every day.  Increased property value is shorthand for all the good things that come along with it, from curb appeal, low tenant turnover, and fewer headaches from deferred maintenance, just to name a few.

So I totally get the "Vested" approach in choosing service providers, I just find myself glad that it's a concept that does not need explanation in my office.