Organisations that work with external suppliers and vendors understand how important it is to know who you’re working with. Having a Contractor Management System is especially important for industries where vendors directly interact with your customers. You can scroll through a master list to view which vendors are available for work, whether they’ve submitted compliance documents like licenses and insurance, and if they’ve received positive feedback in the past. This supplier management and compliance system makes it simple to find the effective and dependable vendors and avoid the ones who aren’t.
Propelle has helped build and roll out Contractor Management Systems for a number of organisations. Here we explain how one of our clients utilises their system to keep track of vendors located nationwide.
Our client operates on a national scale, managing numerous residential properties. Rather than each property curating their own list of suppliers, they opted to have one platform that collects the information of all the vendors who perform services at each property.
The services these suppliers provide vary greatly – from electricians and painters, to beauticians and accountants. Propelle built this client a SharePoint & Nintex platform that could not only collect supplier information but would also provide an avenue for each village manager to leave feedback on their experience with that supplier.
Here are some of the biggest perks of rolling out this system.
This Contractor Management System improves efficiency in more ways than one.
When a vendor’s contract is 60 days out from expiry, an automated notification will go out to the relevant property manager requesting feedback on the vendor. Based off this feedback, head office decide whether that vendor’s contract will be renewed or not.
When signing a new vendor, an externally facing form will be sent out requesting certifications/qualifications, ABR, insurance information, banking details, and more. When a supplier is renewed, the system will determine what kind of documentation needs to be collected for the different types of vendors (e.g., builders may require special permits) and will flag when these are out of date.
It’s important for any organisation to know who they’re working with. But when your customers are vulnerable people (healthcare, education etc), it’s crucial to get the right people for the job. That’s why this feedback system is so integral to a supplier management system.
You want to renew the contracts of great suppliers who are good at their jobs, easy to work with, and friendly to your customers. Scrolling through the master list you’ll be able to filter for highly-rated vendors, and just as easily find the ones to avoid based off negative feedback.
Something worth noting is that the suppliers don’t know that this feedback is being collected and documented – it’s a completely internal process. This means that you don’t have to explain to the suppliers why they aren’t required for further work – their contracts just simply won’t be renewed.
Sometimes a supplier’s services may not have been required during their contract period. This isn’t a reflection of their character or work ethic; it just means the village manager won’t have feedback to share. Should their contract expire for this reason, it’s simple to regenerate their contracts for future work.
Most suppliers will require some form of documentation in order to work in their field. This could be anything from insurance to licenses. With a Contractor Management System, it’s easy to check which vendors have the correct documentation in order to award them the work. Tying into automation, the vendor will get a notification requesting updated forms if they’re close to expiring.
The pros certainly outweigh the cons with this client’s Contractor Management System, but it’s worth mentioning a few things to keep in mind.
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