Providing tailor-made services

Tailor made solutions for the residential sector

June 10, 2018 Business

Facilities management (FM) in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) is a billion-dollar industry; analysts forecast the FM services market in the region to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.08% during the period 2016 to 2020. This only goes to show that facilities management companies in the region are increasingly proving their mettle amid growing demand. Major players in the market reveal that demand has increased dramatically as customers realise the value FM can bring to their property, and due to the growing real estate portfolio within the region, along with increased knowledge and utilisation of professional FM services.

With the increasing need for professionalized services in FM felt by corporate houses and MNCs, it is now the turn of the commercial, residential and industrial sectors to outsource such activities for hassle-free management of their varied assets. This not only ensures uninterrupted operation of vital services in any organisation but yields long-term cost benefits to the owners of the assets.

Over the years, Khidmah has grown its services and portfolio of residential properties under its facilities and property management division. Owing to demand from residents for domestic and day-to-day services for their homes and offices, it set up ‘Khadamati’ Services (means ‘My Services’ in Arabic) in 2009 and now caters to more than 10,000 clients across UAE. Abdulla Al Qamzi, Managing Director, Khidmah speaks to FM today about the scope of work, vision and challenges faced while catering to the residential sector.

Khadamati is devoted to providing a full range of home and office maintenance solutions that can make the maximum quality of living or working achievable. Khadamati’s team are expertly trained in delivering a wide range of services professionally and efficiently, preserving and adding value to your home or office space. Customized services are provided by an exceptional workforce that is determined to satisfy people’s individual needs.

Scope of Work Over the years, Khadamati services have been accepted and used by an array of clients including Abu Dhabi National Properties (NBAD); Abu Dhabi Housing Authority (ADHA); Aldar PJSC; Emirates Land Group; First Gulf Properties; Global Development Group; Al Rasekh Property Development and much more. Currently, the services are presently offered across the UAE from Abu Dhabi, Al Ain, the Western Region to Dubai and the North Emirates.

Giving both the owners and the tenants an A to Z maintenance solutions, Khadamati provides a range of services in the form of planned preventative maintenance packages, handyman services, housekeeping, Easy Home services, landscaping, pest control and swimming pool cleaning among others. “The services we provide are of extremely high quality, relevant, timely and accurately tailored to the clients’ needs so as to enable them to make the right decisions, in turn leading towards the growth of the companies, benefiting the overall business,” says Al Qamzi.

Khidmah’s Maintenance Services include a directly employed, highly skilled workforce dedicated to general maintenance, emergency repairs, preventative maintenance, and regular upkeep of all specialty facilities. Through an integrated customer service process and the latest technological device, they provide real-time work orders and rapid responses to all service requests.

“Having a maintenance contract in place surely minimizes the hassle, giving you comfort that someone is taking care of things. It is always essential to have a proper Maintenance Team ensuring the upkeep of maintenance in your homes and office spaces. The same team who will handle any maintenance issue that may arise,” explains Al Qamzi.

Challenges

The services at Khadamati are positioned very carefully. “Our marketing strategy will be based mainly on ensuring that customers know what need the services are able to fulfill, and making the right information available to the right target customer. We intend to implement a market penetration strategy that will ensure that we are well known and respected in our respective industry. We will ensure that our services' prices take into consideration people's budgets and that these people appreciate the services, know that it exists, and where to find it,” says Al Qamzi.

However, putting the business unit in place and implementing all the processes and procedures and experiencing the growing obstacles of a new sector can be challenging at times. Challenges vary from educating residents, providing best services with best rates, the use of new technologies in our services to the increasing number of competitors.

Standards and Best Practices

Al Qamzi says that it is important to note that when you deal with residential and commercial owners, you are dealing with their investments. And at Khadamati, they aim to assist the owners in making sure that their investments are well taken care of. “Our vision is to be the first choice service provider for home/office owners and tenants. We believe we can achieve this vision by employing high qualified staff who understands attention to detail and the importance of a satisfied customer. Our guiding principles to providing the highest quality maintenance services are simple – it’s trust, quality, and integrity,” he adds.

In an increasingly competitive market, there is a need to aggressively market Khadamati’s services so as to be continuously in their clients’ minds. While they deal with a wide and differing portfolio of residents, it can be challenging to meet everyone’s expectations, which is why they take customer feedback very seriously and act on it accordingly. “We cannot afford to delay the client's order for whatever reason as this will have a negative bear-ing on our image and reputation, including future business. We need to be continually communicating with the client in order to deliver only the best,” notes Al Qamzi.

Future Plans

In a short span of time, Khadamati has grown to be accepted by various growing sectors. And Al Qamzi explains that their vision in all these years has always been to provide efficient services through quality staff and management. To be the market leader in the region, he notes, “We aim to continuously strive to improve and provide the best services through our training programs.” As for the next phase, he says that they plan to conduct and produce a Customer Satisfaction Survey. “As mentioned earlier, customer satisfaction is extremely important to us, and through this survey, it will help us to understand their needs and deliver better quality services to our clients,” explains Qamzi.

Having well-established in the Abu Dhabi market, Qamzi says that they also plan to concentrate more on the Dubai market and open Khadamati services in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

A few of Khadamati existing clients include:

• Abu Dhabi National Proerties (NBAD);
• ADHA: Abu Dhabi Housing Authority
• Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce;
• Aldar PJSC;
• Emirates Land Group;
• Etihad Airways;
• Emirates Development Bank;
• First Gulf Properties;
• Global Development Group;
• Al Rasekh Property Development
• AIS
• Individual homeowners/ business owners

Benefits of signing up for a Maintenance Package

• Unlimited Call Outs (24/7) Customer Care Assistance

• Unlimited manpower charges for services under agreement

• Standard/Comprehensive PPM (Plan Preventative Maintenance) services will be scheduled throughout the year

• Provision of equipment/asset condition reports

• Provision of material requirements based on the availability of the market or alternative

• Assistance on warranty claims when applicable

• Free Move-In & Move-Out Inspection Fees