JPM - Sep/Oct 2018

IN VENDOR MANAGEMENT, A PROPERTY MANAGER MUST
THINK ABOUT:
TASK MANAGEMENT The prevailing tools used by prop-
erty management firms with vendors are email, phone
calls and spreadsheets. All of these require direct, non-lin-
ear, and incomplete messaging which leads to multiple follow-ups
from both the property manager and the vendor. Larger build-
ings or companies might be using web-based platforms for ser-
vice contracts to track, pay and communicate online. This is es-
pecially useful if the property manager or service provider is on
vacation and a substitute has to fill in.

FILE SHARING. If a property manager calls a vendor to say, “I need to have my roof or parking lot fixed,”

the vendor’s first question is, “What is the current condition?” The maintenance records are probably filed somewhere. But if you think of going to a new doctor or dentist, the first thing they ask for is all medical records to be transferred over. If there was a “record holding device” for all property records that could easily be shared with a property vendor, the price of bidding and servicing the property would likely decrease, not to mention ease the transfer to a new managing agent when an account turns over.

CONTRACT TOOLS. Many property management companies use standard contracts for all vendors. But others sign vendor contracts. In these situations, efficiency can be gained by adding standard contract language and insurance requirements to all bids to meet compliance. In addition, once a contractor is awarded a bid, W- 9 forms and certificates of insurance are typically required. Again, pulling these together is a manually intensive administrative task handled through email, and therefore buried in other communications and tracked on spreadsheets that can benefit from automated contract tools.

GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEM (GIS)
MAPPING The power of a good map goes a long way.

Cities and counties are starting to use GIS tools, but property managers continue to meet vendors at the property to determine what work should be done and confirm that it has been. GEO-tagged pictures for work requests or evidence of completion could save both parties drive time for meetings as well as provide a permanent time-stamped record of the work completed.

VENDOR AVAILABILITY AND MATCHING. Some
property management firms might have preferred ven-
dor lists, but often individual managers have control over
the vendors they use for their properties, and they use vendors
they know. Only jobs over a certain dollar amount or a service
needed every few years might be bid out. In the end, much is
left to the manager’s discretion, with bidding often regarded as a
nuisance and records stored in electronic or paper files. What if
there was a “Kayak” or “Uber” type service that quickly and eas-
ily could provide real time quotes for the best price from different
providers for each job?

THE VENDOR PERSPECTIVE

Tony Swendsrud, vice president and CFO of Minutebids.com, an online marketplace where property managers can locate service providers, stated that challenges in vendors’ industries are pushing them to adopt technology as well. Their available workforce is also decreasing, and contractors are looking for better, faster information on both the bidding of a project and its execution. Minutebids.com customers realize that collaborating with their contractors and providing detailed information actually strengthens their relationships. The use of integrated technology can improve the communication process, improve efficiency and, optimally, take cost out of the entire supply chain.

MAKE TECHNOLOGY WORK FOR YOU—
AND YOUR VENDORS

What is your organization doing to empower your employees with automation and mobile access going forward so they can better handle their responsibilities—and their business relationships? The importance of relationships in real estate cannot be taken away, and face-to-face interaction will always be important. Still, technology can go far toward facilitating vendor management or fostering vendor collaboration.