Planned Companies’ 100 Years of Service Industry Success
“Our philosophy is that if you give in life you get. And we give all of our time, resources, and energy to our clients,” said Planned Companies President and CEO Robert Francis.
Planned Companies is a real estate service company that provides janitorial, maintenance, concierge/front desk, and security services to a wide range of big name clients, from Valley National Bank to Mack-Cali, Halstead, and Newmark. But despite its 1,100 properties and 3,300 employees, at its core, Planned is still a family-run customer service firm.
“We’re a customer service group that happens to be best in class in maintenance,” Francis said. “Culturally, this mantra runs through the DNA of our entire organization.”
Planned is a proud four generation business, tracing its roots back to 1898, when Francis’ great grandfather founded a humble family business that provided window cleaning to the building maintenance industry. And for over 100 years, Planned has adhered to its values of integrity, passion, longevity, attitude, and never complacent (otherwise known as IPLAN).
And four generations of business has created many long-lasting relationships between Planned and its clients. “Once you develop trust and the client knows they’re dealing with an honorable, consistent organization, then everything starts clicking on all cylinders,” Francis added.
Planned prides itself on being a professional, accountable, reliable organization. Both consistent and responsive, the company prides itself on its exceptional customer service and its ability to consistently delight its clients.
“Relationships are huge for us,” Francis said. “You can’t grow if you can’t retain your business—we still have relationships from the 80s and the 90s.”
The company uses tech to facilitate this as well, utilizing an Uber-like rating system in which clients rate their satisfaction with Planned and its services on a scale of one to 10. “We retain 90 percent of our clientele,” Francis said. “And we listen to our clients through our rating process to understand why they would recommend us.”
This innovation is just one of many in Planned’s campaign to use technology to facilitate its communications. Planned also uses technology to message its thousands of employees, elevating the business and workflow.
“We saw that tech and people were our two main drivers,” Francis added. “So we brought in a tech company, and now we are at the forefront of technology, with more efficient communications than ever before.”
Planned is a partner with FirstService, a NASDAQ public company with many other brands and services. The company acted as a sort of mentor to Planned in 2008 when they first struck up their partnership, and the two continue to work harmoniously together to this day.
The company has received multiple accolades throughout its 100 years of business, such as the “Best Places to Work Award” (Real Estate New Jersey), “Top 50 Fastest Growing Companies in NJ” (NJ Biz) and the “2010 Optimas Award for Company Vision (Workforce Management). Francis himself has been honored with the prestigious “Top 40 Under 40” award from NJBIZ.
Planned also prides itself on giving back to the community with service days, charitable events, and donations to charitable causes and foundations. In 2017 alone, Planned contributed over $30,000 to organizations such as the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation, and the Jewish National Fund Bayonne Golf Outing.
So what does the future hold for Planned and its four-generation legacy? The company has been a hub in the Northeast and in the tri-state since its inception. In 2008 the company expanded to the mid-Atlantic, and recently, two years ago, Planned made its way to the West Coast. Moving forward, Planned is also exploring outsourcing a great deal, all with the company’s characteristic efficiency in mind. So even with its wide reach, Planned is taking its time to grow organically on an individual, client-by-client basis.
“We have the attitude of a startup that’s just starting out,” concluded Francis. “There’s an amazing energy here, and we love what we do.”
For more information, please visit www.plannedcompanies.com
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