The exercise revealed some interesting insights into the service provider community, an industry segment whose very purpose, of course, is to provide service. The organizations that won the 1999 Dorsey awards were those that clearly are redefining client service continuously, those that relentlessly seek new ways to bring value to client relationships and those that are comfortable "partnering" with clients in business initiatives or on specific consulting projects. The latter can even mean risking capital in order to help a client achieve his real estate and other strategic objectives.

Winners of the 1999 Site Selection/William Dorsey Service Provider Awards are Trammell Crow Corporate Services, Stamford, Conn.; CLW Real Estate Services Group, Tampa, Fla.; Insignia/ESG, Houston; Prentiss Property Services, Dallas; The Keewaydin Group, Minneapolis, Minn.; Westmark Harris Advisors, Santa Monica, Calif.; Cushman & Wakefield, New York; The McMahan Group, San Francisco, which won the Most Innovative Product or Service award; and IDI, Atlanta, which won the Client Partnering award.

These organizations were able to illustrate in their survey responses a commitment to exceeding client expectations wherever possible and never causing clients to wonder whether they made the right service provider selection. Clients of William Dorsey knew all about the importance of having that level of confidence in place. Site Selection editors chose to name the annual award in Bill Dorsey's memory, because his career in the service provider community personified client service, according to those who knew him well.

Prior to his death in January 1999, Dorsey was managing director of Greenville, S.C.-based Fluor Daniel's Global Location Strategies consulting practice for more than 20 years. Among other initiatives, Dorsey directed the siting of Mercedes-Benz's first automotive assembly project in the United States. And he led numerous other projects for small suppliers who were taking possibly more risks in establishing their first U.S. location. Dorsey, also known by many as the Dean of Site Selection, worked on behalf of numerous industries in locations around the world, including China, Japan, Indonesia and Brazil. Prior to joining Fluor Daniel, Dorsey was Deputy Commissioner of the Maine Dept. of Commerce and Industry.

But more important than what Bill Dorsey did is who he was; the awards are one way to remind the service provider industry of that and of the essential role client service plays in the industry each year. Joining the award recipients and other guests at the ceremony were Mrs. William Dorsey, who assisted in presenting the awards, and several Fluor Daniel executives who were friends and colleagues of Bill Dorsey.

"This service provider award is a very special honor to you folks," noted Ed McCallum, a Fluor Daniel managing principal who worked with Bill Dorsey for 13 years. "It's recognition for what you do, but having this award in Bill Dorsey's name makes it even more special."

Trammell Crow Corporate Services
Helping clients reduce operating costs is a client service Trammell Crow Co.'s Outsourcing Services division takes very seriously. The unit recently introduced a program called TCClub Megawatt that maximizes energy savings for customers and takes advantage of utility deregulation opportunities. The program aggregates the combined energy loads of its customers to secure the lowest possible utility rates, yielding greater utility savings for customers than they would be able to achieve on their own. Similarly, the company introduced the Total Occupancy Management System (TOMS) that lets clients share technology investments.

Trammell Crow won high praise from Bank of America for successfully performing a $200 million sign conversion project involving interior and exterior signs for 5,000 banking locations and 4,500 ATMs in 22 states and 38 countries.

CLW Real Estate Services Group
A service provider organization's ability to commit the necessary resources to solving client issues is a key client service component and one that is not lost on CLW Real Estate Services Group. CLW clients increasingly want to take advantage of a new service known as the CLW Technology Integration Team, which was assembled specifically for corporate real estate purposes. The team "focuses on ways in which technology can be integrated into any company's existing system to improve the flow of the real estate process and enhance the corporate real estate [function's] strategic planning ability," reads a portion of the survey response.

CLW clients are assigned a dedicated team charged with monitoring clients' working conditions and anticipating needs that the client may not yet be aware of. Additionally, CLW has developed an internal electronic communication strategy that automates client documentation (lease drafts and contracts, financial analyses and strategic plans, for example) and makes it available on an extranet site.

Insignia/ESG
Similarly, Insignia/ESG uses extranets to disseminate property-related information and devotes substantial resources to developing new service delivery mechanisms, including alliances with systems vendors. This past year saw the introduction of a new unit in the company's New York office that focuses on new technologies that have applications in real estate.

The Keewaydin Group
It's one thing for a major player to assemble teams to address key service issues. When boutique firms take the same tack, it's a sign they are very serious about being a force in service delivery. Such is the case with The Keewaydin Group, which in 1998 established an independent division for Strategic Real Estate Planning and Decisions. This group is more concerned with business issues that influence decisions than with deal-making details.

"We felt that if we could help a corporation identify the best general solution to its real estate needs before looking at sites, buildings or other specific alternatives, then they would be better positioned to identify and uncover the right, specific solution that is needs driven rather than availability driven," explains Kathy Ehrmann, senior vice president. The group blends 15 years of real estate market knowledge and corporate client experience with strategic planning expertise to deliver "a depth of perspective to a corporate real estate team that can bridge the gap between real estate and business strategy and help put real estate higher on management's radar screen."

Cushman & Wakefield
Truly global service providers face daunting organizational and operational challenges, not the least of which is delivering consistently superior service in whichever market a client requires. Cushman & Wakefield's 1998 merger with Healy & Baker bolstered that capability in Europe for clients of the two organizations. Seamless, global delivery of services also is seen in C&W's new Web-based "e-real estate" solution accessible from any Web browser. The system "integrates real estate data with floor plans, pictures, location maps, scanned leases, transaction management and project management tracking and a 24-hour, 7-day-a-week service center and disaster recovery help desk," the survey response indicates. "Real estate and business managers can view relevant data in an expeditious and cost effective manner, irrespective of the physical location of the manager or the hardware."

C&W's definition of future client service requirements also helped its submission stand out. It reads, in part, "The ability to work with multiple departments or functions within an organization (e.g., real estate, finance, human resources and logistics) to address occupancy issues that involve more than just real estate."

Prentiss Property Services
Few contestants could document the importance they place on client service as thoroughly as Prentiss Property Services. Clients are routinely referred to as "partners," and no expense is spared to ensure that every partnership in which the firm is engaged is successful. Prentiss partners often take the form of a relationship manager or advocate, who is charged with working tirelessly to ensure positive client feedback.

Obtaining performance and other input from clients is central to Prentiss's customer service strategy. A Client Advisory Board moderated by an independent party meets regularly "to delve into emerging trends, identify PPS's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats and make recommendations for improvement," the survey response indicates. "Our managers participate in forming an action and implementation plan as a result of these sessions." The Board meets independently and in concert with PPS client advocates and senior managers on a bi-annual basis.

Just as important is the firm's understanding of what value is. "We define value according to the Harvard Leavitt model, which suggests that an intangible quality or differentiation that makes the client's job easier is memorable and, unlike your competitors, is true added value," notes the survey response. "Everything else is expected. What is considered value added today will be expected tomorrow. What is expected today will be generic tomorrow."

Westmark Harris Advisors
Upgrading, replacing or just supporting real estate systems that are integrated with other key business functions are tasks with little if any room for error. Take key systems offline for any reason, and competitive advantage can be compromised. Westmark Harris Advisors markets Strategen, a real estate portfolio management system. Among the company's major clients with complex portfolio issues is MCI WorldCom, for whom Westmark Harris provided key management information systems in 1998 with which to manage more than 5,000 leases following the merger. "At critical project junctures we have worked on-site overnight and during weekends and holidays to accomplish major changes without interrupting operations," notes David Nelson, director of consulting services.

Johnson Controls
Leading players in a given service niche -- facilities management in the case of Johnson Controls -- only win new business if a strong client service reputation is in place. Price alone is not a strong enough consideration in most cases. Johnson Controls, therefore, is pushing the envelope by introducing new service offerings that add value to their role in a client relationship. One example of this is Facility Technology Integration, a new service offering that lets clients link their facility technology systems to systems that support other functional areas within a corporation. "Clients can access more robust reporting and cost roll up from multiple systems," the survey response explains. "This provides our clients with better tools for decision making and helps fully leverage technology investments."

Another key component of Johnson Controls' client service regimen is its ability to standardize facilities management services globally. "With a greater number of corporations facing mergers, acquisitions, globalization and increased competitive pressures, companies are looking for a service provider who can help standardize the delivery of facility management services across a large, diverse, global portfolio." The company also met client requirements for stronger partnerships by opening local offices recently in Atlanta, San Francisco, Chicago and Philadelphia.

IDI
Seamless communication -- between client and service provider, among other parties -- is critical to seeing projects completed satisfactorily. This sentiment is central to IDI's client service philosophy. True communication happens when the traditional customer/vendor relationship is replaced with a true, strategic alliance built on mutual trust and a shared vision of what is best for the client, indicates IDI's survey response.

IDI's introduction of an Internet-based construction management system for clients, development managers, architects and contractors is one concrete example of this. "The system has enhanced communications enormously by providing actual real-time images of the job site, tracking design revisions, change orders, memos, budgets and schedules," the survey relates.

A more telling example of mutual trust and a shared vision was IDI's assumption of risk in the build-to-suit development of an assembly and distribution center for a major high-tech client. IDI and the client shared indemnification on the project, allowing it to proceed on schedule.

"Your best customers are often your existing customers," reads a survey response passage. "This is an old maxim in most other industries, but it is a new notion in real estate as developers like IDI serve their customers on a nationwide basis."

The McMahan Group
One survey participant won a Dorsey award for contributing important new thinking to the corporate real estate industry, which ultimately benefits everyone in the industry. The McMahan Group submitted for award consideration work it conducted under the Corporate Real Estate Portfolio Alliance moniker. The project consisted of a nine-month research exercise involving corporate real estate executives, consultants and academics; the group, under the direction of McMahan Group Senior Principal Thomas Bomba, accomplished two tasks. First, they defined "corporate real estate portfolio management" and developed a best practice model around that definition. Second, they performed detailed research on such best practice model components as strategy, performance measurement, functional analysis, financial analysis, ownership structure and information technology. The group then validated certain findings.

"The findings in these areas constitute, to the best of our knowledge, the latest and most complete knowledge base on the topic of corporate real estate portfolio management," notes Bomba. "One of the stated purposes of the Alliance research was to move our industry's thinking forward on the topic of portfolio management and establish new best practices. Alliance findings have been well received throughout the industry. Our intent is to stimulate further industry discussion on the topic."