As a vice president at a large regional property management company, David Jenkins often felt frustrated with the firms that managed the utilities for his company's buildings.
Many of the companies with whom he contracted were plagued by bad customer service, poor technology and little understanding of clients' needs.
Gradually, he realized there could be room in the utility-management industry for a company that did things differently. That's when he left his old job, in 2000, to found Conservice, now a national utility management company.
Conservice started with two employees and one customer — and therefore, not much in the way of funding or reserves.
To ensure things would not stay that way, Jenkins developed practices focused on timeliness and accuracy in billing and record-keeping. He also focused on providing clients with personal contact, ensuring that all inbound calls received by Conservice's call center are answered by a live person rather than an automated system.
After several years in business, Jenkins led Conservice to begin development of in-house expense management services for utilities. The company now can receive, process, audit and pay more than 50,000 bills for clients each month — about $2 million a day. Conservice's processes help the company identify instances where clients are paying for utilities that should be billed to residents, generating a substantial cost savings for its clients.
Jenkins' company now boasts more than 280 employees; regional offices in California, Arizona, Colorado, Texas, Illinois, Georgia and Florida; and clients in nearly every state.