Office relocations can be complex and expensive. You want to get your office moved on time. But you don’t want to pay through the nose for it. Here are the biggest mistakes businesses make during an office removal that can make the whole process much harder than it needs to be.
1. Not choosing a proper project manager
Any disruption to your business can cost £32,000 per hour – according to Gartner, a US research company. That’s over £250,000 per day! With so much at stake, why wouldn’t you get a talented project manager to handle it for you?
But most companies don’t. And, to make it worse, 70% of people managing an office move have never done it before. That’s a recipe for disaster – and an all-too-common one.
2. Not getting buy in from across the company
Gettin.g a project manager to deal with your move is important. But, without buy in from HR, marketing, finance, IT, and any other significant departments, it becomes much harder to work out what the business really needs from the move.
What kind of office space will they need? What new equipment do they need? How much disruption can they put up with? Not to mention you’ll need everyone’s support not just for planning the move, but helping prepare on moving day itself. Good luck with that if you don’t get the key players involved from the start.
3. Not comparing quotes from multiple service providers
Now you’ve discussed the needs of the business, you should know what the specialist services you need beyond an experienced office removals company.
For a really complex move, there can be lots of moving parts, so it’s tempting to line up all the services you need quickly – without comparing prices. Big mistake. This is the fastest route to you paying over the odds.
4. Not asking for referrals from previous clients
Once you’ve got quotes, you need to compare services – especially as getting a move done on time with minimal disruption is more important than a good price. Or, at least, it is for most companies. It’s often worth paying a little extra for better service that will save you money in the long run.
But how do you choose? Ask for recommendations from other clients who’ve used the service providers you’re considering going with.
What’s that?
You don’t have time? You’re too busy? The price is fine, so why make more work for yourself?
Congratulations, you’ve just bought yourself a one-way ticket to frustration and bad service.
5. Moving on a work day
Many people don’t even realise there’s any other option. But busy traffic, access restrictions at your new office building, having to observe health and safety regulations during the move, lifts and staircases being in use by others in the building, parking restrictions… all of these can lead to the move taking longer and going over time and budget. And all of them are more likely when you move during a work day. Especially towards the end of the week.
Have you thought about moving overnight instead?
6. Not using labels
Obviously, you don’t want to waste your employees’ time with packing duties when they could be working for you and making more sales. But don’t forget to have them label all their important files, equipment, stationary and furniture. If you don’t, who knows how long they’ll have to spend putting everything in the right place once they start work in the new office?
7. Forgetting to tell your customers you’re moving
This one is really common. Because it’s not technically part of the move itself, people tend to forget about it. Or only do it at the last minute. But this is a great way to reconnect with old clients – or an excuse for an upsell or new business.
Don’t treat communicating your move as an afterthought. Get your marketing team to make a campaign or two out of it. Otherwise you’re bound to be leaving money on the table.
These 7 office removal mistakes are brought to you by buzzmove.com, a removals comparison site that helps reduce the stress and cost of office moves.
