Spezio Property Services – A Complete Contractor

by Ranger Kidwell-Ross The largest independent maintenance company in central and western New York, Spezio Property Services, offers over a dozen different services in addition to power sweeping. And, admirably, the company’s website is front-and-center with the fact that all are backed with the firm’s “No Questions Asked Guarantee.” Frank Spezio’s organization also touts its business model as “One Call Does It All.” When a prospect or current client contacts the Spezio office, they can expect their need will be handled 100% of the time. “We handle all types of property maintenance and management,” said Frank Spezio, who founded the company in 1985. “In the unlikely event we can’t self-perform the work needed to the client’s specifications, I’m confident we will be able to get their situation handled by one of the quality firms we work with. Our goal is perfection and  100% customer satisfaction, which all of our Team members strive to achieve every day.” By the time he founded Spezio Property Services (SPS), Frank Spezio had been involved in doing all sorts of property maintenance on his own real estate property. It was at that point he decided to do the same for the owner of a nearby strip mall. His first foray into sweeping the property was done soon after. To handle the task, he initially employed someone who did the work with a broom and a dustpan. However, it wasn’t long until he realized he could achieve economies of scale — and get some additional customers — by purchasing a parking area sweeper. His choice for a first machine was a TYMCO 210, a decision he has never regretted. “The TYMCO organization has been great to work with through the years,” said Spezio. “We like the power of the 435 for doing heavier construction cleanup and we have three of those now. We just purchased two TYMCO model 210s on the Ford 450 chassis, which is our first move away from cabover to a conventional chassis design. We have several low clearance jobsites we believe they will be ideal for, so we’ll have a little more versatility. “Also, like other contractors that I’ve read about on WorldSweeper.com, we had trouble with the DPF (diesel particulate filters) systems on some of our newer Isuzu chassis. We’re still working with our area Isuzu dealer to solve some of those issues.  The move to the gasoline-powered Ford chassis will eliminate any of those problems, too.” Recently, the Spezio organization has also become a dealer for the Ravo line of vacuum sweepers. Although well-established in other parts of the world, the Ravo name is relatively new to the United States. “We tried one of the Ravo pure vacuum sweepers and were amazed at how well it picked up. They nickname it “The Animal,” and it’s easy to see why. As a result, we ended up adding two more to our fleet. “Ravo was interested in establishing a presence in the U.S. so, long story short, we have become the NE dealer for them. I’d encourage anyone who wants to see a different brand of sweeper to take a look at the YouTube video of the machine in action. It’s quite impressive.” The service guarantee offered by Spezio Property Services deserves some additional explanation. When Frank Spezio touts the company’s ‘No Questions Asked and 100% Guarantee of Satisfaction’ he’s completely serious. Not only does the work have to pass inspection by customers, it also has to survive scrutiny from an even tougher quarter, Frank and his quality control personnel. “I want my company set apart from all others when it comes to quality,” Spezio stated emphatically. “There have been times when the customer was satisfied, but I made the crew go back and do the job over. There are no second-tier jobs done here. Although we may have better pricing on some jobs over others, they all get the same 100% level of effort. “I have no idea how the owner of a company could tell his sweeper operator ‘do a real great job on this property, because we’re making more money on it. However, on this other property we’re not getting as much so just go in and hit the worst spots.’ For us, each and every client gets the very same level of quality every time we perform a job for them, with no exceptions.” There have even been a time or two over the decades when a customer has been satisfied but the company’s quality control team has not been. In those situations the job is re-done. On the audio podcast with Spezio, you’ll enjoy the story of the $4,500 pressure washing job that, he explained, his personnel re-did at his insistence even though the customer said it “looked okay.” “Because it was a new customer for this large power washing client,” Spezio said, “I took the time to inspect the job personally. Although the customer was all right with how it turned out, the finished product simply wasn’t up to our normal quality. So, I gave the customer the option of either not paying or having us come out and do it over. Listen to the podcast and you’ll see how that turned out. Spezio is emphatic that if he calls a customer after a job has been completed, whether sweeping or some other task, that he doesn’t want to hear his crew did a ‘good’ job or an ‘okay’ job. Rather, he says, I want to hear the job was done perfectly. It’s clear that this top down emphasis on quality has been a lynchpin to the company’s success over its nearly three decades of operation. New hire sweeper operators ride as a trainee for 40 hours before they are allowed behind the wheel. And, before that happens they also need to pass a written examination given by the company. Not just ‘take the exam,’ mind you, but get a passing grade. Through the years, the company has also developed a Company Manual that covers every aspect of the work that gets done in the organization. “The procedures and methods for all we do are contained in our Company Manual,” Spezio said. “How else does an employee really know what they’re supposed to do in any given situation? Without a company policy for something, there’s no blueprint for doing, in the right way, anything that might come up. We have developed professional methods for doing all we do as a company, and the only way to have consistent quality is for our employees to follow that road map. I couldn’t be prouder of my employee team; they do a wonderful job.” Spezio also insists on giving credit wherever it’s due. When employees do an especially stand-out job on a project, he says he goes out of his way to make sure the client knows which person was the lead, and that the credit goes to them. He also has a number of team member photos online on the company website, which allows customers to know who they’re talking to when they call on the phone. As the company grew, Spezio explained that the services they took on were designed to keep his employees working throughout the year. For that reason, because of their New York State location, snowplowing was a natural as one of the first additional services to add. From there, many more have been added since then, as you can see from the graphic shown below. The latest, not yet even on the list, is acquisition of an Italian-made steam cleaner to remove gum from sidewalks. “The machine is fantastic at removing every trace of gum and there is an amazing amount of gum that gets thrown onto the sidewalk outside of stores. We’ve received lots of interest in that service. Through the years, the company has been involved in a number of interesting, large-scale projects. Several have involved perimeter cleanup following the implosion that marks the demolition of large buildings. For example, the Spezio organization took the lead in perimeter cleanup right after demolition of the 19-story Heritage Tower on July 8, 2012. The demolition itself was very successful. However, as is seen in the before-and-after photos, the blast caused dust to be distributed over a wide swath of the surrounding area. This included a nearby hospital among other public facilities. SPS’ job was to clean around the entire area to remove the large volume of dust that went out from the blast site. “As soon as the dust settled to the ground,” said Spezio, “our crew, which was ready and deployed all around the perimeter of the area, went to work. We did our best to minimize impact to the surrounding area and I’m proud of the job the SPS team did in a short amount of time. Those types of cleanups are quite challenging, though.” If you care to see a video of the implosion, you can find one linked here at the Spezio Property Services website (opens into a new window). In the accompanying podcast, Spezio discusses a variety of other topics, including his philosophy of making items like customer testimonials available on the website. “I’m not concerned about any other companies going after my customers just because they find out who they are,” said Spezio. “As long as we’re doing our job, another company is not going to be able to do what we do at the pricing we ask. Our customers are with us because they want very good results, and that’s what we provide every time. We have the confidence not only in our guys and our equipment, but in our customers to appreciate us. “I have no problem in putting our customers out there, whether it’s on our website or a brochure or wherever. My customers are all fair game. If you think you can do a better job, whether it be sweeping, customer service, customer relations; they’re welcome to take a crack at it. Nobody beats us at taking care of our customers. “If there ever is a complaint, which I’m happy to say is very rare, we never question the customer. And, of course, we do whatever it takes to make it right, as well. Our core customers, who have been with me for 15, 20 years, know and appreciate the job we do for them.” There is much more on the podcast that will be of interest to all the contractors reading this article. You will appreciate Spezio’s description of the importance of keeping your equipment in first-rate order and how his team accomplishes that on a daily basis. In fact, you’ll find his description to be a blueprint for how the job should be done. If you’re a sweeping contractor looking to move to the top echelon level of service —  from equipment upkeep to employee training to appearance of both employees and equipment on the jobsite — I suggest the approximately 45-minute podcast is required listening. “I can’t emphasize enough how important it is to keep your equipment all properly maintained. And, when it comes to the service you provide, whatever it is, you’ve got to do it right or don’t do it at all. I didn’t ask for any of this [success] to happen, it just happened because of what we offered our customers and what we offered our employees. If you’re doing your job, and you’re doing it correctly and you’re doing it with pride, things will come to you, although it does take some time. “It didn’t take me quite 29 years, but I’ve got a lot of time invested and a lot of hard work. I want to tell other contractors out there to stick with it because it will pay off for you in the long run.” You may contact Frank Spezio via email sent to spezio@spezio.com. The company’s website is located at www.spezio.com.