Customer question

On 8 November, our customer evaluation panel met to discuss different elements of the grounds maintenance service. They made a list of what parts of the service were most important to them and turned that into a question that they’d like to ask potential future contractors.

This question has been included in the tender pack to potential contractors, who’ll have to respond to the customers’ question. In January, the evaluation panel will be trained on how to score contractors’ responses. They’ll then complete their scoring in February.

Here’s the question written by the evaluation panel:

The following question has been drafted by LG customers and will be evaluated by LG customers. The 5 areas covered are of key importance to customers.

Specification – Contractors need to make sure that they complete all actions included within the specification and contract. Contractors need to understand the importance of doing this as it can cause health and safety issues if areas are missed. It also has an impact on how customers homes look and feel if they are not properly maintained.

Timescales – Contractors should attend regularly and not leave too long between visits. Areas of grounds maintenance should not be left to get overgrown and unmanageable. Contractors should understand that different times of year require different tasks and account for that in their visits.

Information/Communication – Customers should have access to the specification specific to their area, not general for all customers. They want to know exactly what contractors should be doing on site and when they will be attending. This could be through an online portal, but it must be kept up to date and information needs to be accessible to everyone.

Flexibility – Contractors need to be flexible in their approach, changes in weather mean that more work may be needed on site and time needs to be given for this. Weather issues or emergencies may mean visits are missed and contractors need to be flexible to ensure that they keep on top of things and do not let areas get overgrown. Dedicated operatives to each area would help to keep on top of this as they will know the area and work that needs to be completed better.

Can you please advise in the form of a statement or essay how you will achieve each of these points and also advise how you will monitor operatives work to ensure if it is being completed and to an acceptable standard and how often this will be monitored.