Maintaining Facilities and So Much More
Gatekeeper Maintenance, Inc. goes above and beyond
![Danielle Painter, Operations Manager, believes that staying true to your word and going above and beyond for clients is what makes Gatekeeper Maintenance, Inc. special.](storyassets/carolinas/feature_stories/S20_NC_FS5_Maintaining_Facilities/S20_NC_FS5_Interior1_530x370.jpg)
Danielle Painter, Operations Manager, believes that staying true to your word and going above and beyond for clients is what makes Gatekeeper Maintenance, Inc. special.
![Exterior building services, including cleaning high or elevated glass, is one of Gatekeeper Maintenance, Inc.’s specialties.](storyassets/carolinas/feature_stories/S20_NC_FS5_Maintaining_Facilities/S20_NC_FS5_Interior2_530x370.jpg)
Exterior building services, including cleaning high or elevated glass, is one of Gatekeeper Maintenance, Inc.’s specialties.
We always do what we say we’re going to do.
For Danielle Painter, Operations Manager at Gatekeeper Maintenance, Inc. (Gatekeeper), this sentiment sums up why the company continues to achieve success with major retail, commercial and developer clientele. Since 2004, Gatekeeper has been affiliated with parent company IH Services, which owns a family of businesses with $300 million in annual sales. Although a subsidiary of IH Services, Gatekeeper operates independently. The company’s current General Manager and Vice President, Roger Birdsong, has been with Gatekeeper for a decade. However, Roger has worked with and known personally the owners of IH Services—Ryan Hendley, CEO and Chad Hendley, COO—for 15 years. “The Hendleys are great people and the company is a wonderful place to work. The employee does come first—and I’ve continued that practice within Gatekeeper,” Roger says.
Gatekeeper is a specialized general contractor and facility maintenance services company based in Greenville, South Carolina, but also serving the Charlotte, North Carolina, market. Facility maintenance is 80% of the company’s business and clients call Gatekeeper anytime something goes wrong with, for example, a shopping center or a retail building. From assistance with HVAC repairs, asphalt services and parking lot cleaning to grounds maintenance and day porter services, Gatekeeper is an owner’s single source for facility management.
Gatekeeper also specializes in general contracting services for renovations and tenant build-outs in North Carolina and South Carolina, as well as construction and final cleaning on other types of building projects. Roger says, “We’re a one-stop shop for our clients. We really do it all, and we take a lot of pride in performing our services well.”
Embracing Change Really Pays Dividends
When Danielle joined Gatekeeper in 2016, she was hired as an accountant, despite her 28-year background as a construction Project Manager and her Bachelor of Science degree in construction management. Learning the financial side of the business was a breeze for Danielle and, after two years, she stepped into the Operations Manager role, functioning as Roger’s “right-hand woman” to help reimagine the business. The pair quickly reorganized and refocused the business by first creating a deep bench of internal employees so they could self-perform their contracts rather than subcontract.
Roger says, “We wanted to have control over every job we perform and the best way to do that was to start hiring. Other general contractors use subcontractors for 60-80% of their work. At Gatekeeper, we now self-perform 95% of our contracts.” Danielle agrees that self-performing is the best approach. She says, “When I took over operations, we had good people whose skills were being underutilized. I took time to speak with every employee and develop an internal skills list to determine who needed training or mentorship. Our team has really responded well to this approach, and it shows in how they perform on the job.”
In addition to self-performing, the company decided that a “low bid all the time” approach wasn’t necessarily the best tactic. Roger says, “Sure, you can underbid the competition, but it could impact staffing and impede quality control. I’d rather provide prices that are competitive, but with above-average quality.” According to Roger and Danielle, this change signified the importance Gatekeeper places on quality and customer satisfaction. Performing at 110% is paramount to Gatekeeper’s management team, resulting in long-term relationships and a high level of trust from clients.
More Than a Tagline
“Pride, passion and performance.” This tagline isn’t merely words on paper. Both Danielle and Roger share a passion for what they do and ensuring quality above all else comes first. Roger wants to lead by example in the industry. He says, “We make sure our projects are maintained with the same level of care the owner would provide. We aren’t just hired to perform a job. All our project managers go above and beyond when they are on the job site.” Danielle adds, “In this business, I often hear other companies claim to make their client’s happiness a priority. But there’s one step that’s overlooked. After you perform a job, you need to follow up. I encourage staff to ask the client for feedback. We can’t make ourselves perform better if we aren’t aware of any issues. We are constantly self-reflecting.”
Clients respond well to this approach, as proven by Gatekeeper’s long-term relationships with big names in the commercial industry. “From CBRE and Spectrum to Kite Realty Group and The Providence Group, our clients continue to come back to us because they feel valued,” Danielle says. To further the point, Roger says, “One example of going above and beyond is a small janitorial contract we had with a property manager. We noticed their landscaping looked bad when we were on-site so we asked the client about it. He indicated he had a hard time finding a good vendor and we offered to do it. From there, he asked us to do building repair work and repainting. Last year, we went from doing minor office cleaning to more than $160,000 in projects.”
Roger also recalls how Gatekeeper’s sign repair services developed. “A few years ago, we noticed the main pylon sign on a client’s property was damaged. The client asked if we could fix it. Although it’s not something we’d ever done before, we figured it out. Three years later, we provide signage repairs because our clients continuously ask for it. For us, it’s all about providing for each of our clients’ needs even if it’s not something we typically do,” he says.
It’s All About the Team
Although the focus is always on client satisfaction, Gatekeeper prioritizes employee management and treatment. Roger says, “We always hire at entry level and then provide training. Our employees know we care about them because we take care of them.” Danielle’s philosophy is in line with Roger’s. “The employees here are amazing,” she says. “Because I have a lot of field experience as a project manager, I spend time with our employees and can accurately evaluate their skills. Going a step further, we strive to supplement what an employee may be lacking by providing workshops, seminars, classes and other training (for free) to help them grow. It’s been really rewarding to see our employees progress.”
The team vs. “I” approach to management has made a difference as well. Gatekeeper has low employee turnover and the feeling of shared ownership has employees taking pride in their work. Because of this, the employees are loyal to each other and to clients.
Danielle says, “Most of our customers are not [physically present at the spaces they own], so they depend on us to be their eyes and ears. We have close communication with them and do on-site inspections weekly. At some centers we do daily drop-ins. Anything can happen, but that’s why we are there. Keeping our word is a big deal—for our clients and our employees.”
Gatekeeper, meaning one who tends to or controls access, is an accurate description of how Gatekeeper Maintenance, Inc. treats its clients. The team members care for each client’s property as if it were their own investment. To them, it’s all about taking pride in the property and going above and beyond.
![Tiffanie Reynolds](storyassets/contributors/Tiffanie_Reynolds.jpg)