What Is Contractor Management Software?
Contractor management software is crucial to managing an organization’s interactions with the myriad commercial contractors who support its stores and facilities. It is an indispensable tool for managing electricity to plumbing, HVAC to garbage removal, paving to painting. Contractor management software consolidates commercial contractor information into a single database and automates processes across national, regional, and local contractors.
Related Resources
Case Study:
Fendi
Key Steps to Effective Contractor Management
2018 Facilities Management Survival Guide
Supplier & Contractor Benefits from Modern FM Technology
Contractor Management & Onboarding Services
The first step for an effective contractor management program is onboarding all of your commercial contractors onto the management software platform. Once your contractors are on the platform they can communicate and transact electronically with your facilities management team, and your facilities management team can perform an array of automated activities including work verification, electronic payments, and analytics.
Assess both the technology and the level of support of a contractor management solution
Onboarding and training your external contractors to operate the system is crucial as it will ensure proper and consistent use. Effective onboarding also leads to maximizing value and minimizing errors and risk by automating contractor sourcing, work order management, and invoice/payment processes.
To have a truly successful facilities management program, contractors must be fully engaged in the process. It’s why whenever you evaluate a contractor management solution you cannot look at just the technology. You need to focus on the resources that go into contractor training. What good is software if no one knows how to use it or doesn’t fully understand the features?
A robust contractor management system will include training and onboarding contractors on all aspects of the software and program, including registering and uploading contractor company information (insurance, W9 information, etc.), checking in/checking out using a GPS or IVR system, submitting electronic proposals and invoices, and adhering to all of your organization’s specific procedures.
One of the most significant benefits of having all your contractors trained and on board with contractor management service automation is that it enables you to receive objective, quantifiable performance metrics. It minimizes room for error, ensures brand consistency across all locations, and avoids costly mistakes. It also ensures compliance by validating that contractors have the necessary and up-to-date insurance and licenses.
Training Should Not Be a One-Time-Only Event
Training needs to take place continuously as contractors hire new employees, as new features are added or modified in the contractor management software, and to also serve as a refresher for those already using the system. Training can take place in person, but most contractor management programs provide value and efficiency in web-based instruction (training webinars) for commercial contractors and facilities management teams. Effective training and onboarding can save time and manpower in getting your contractors on the contractor management system and up to speed.
The Advantages of Contractor Management Solutions
Contractor management solutions enable facilities managers to better organize and manage work orders, and monitor performance and productivity. As facilities management becomes more data-driven, it’s critical that contractor sourcing not rely solely on relationships and perceived trust, but also includes objective, quantifiable performance metrics. As with every aspect of your operations, you want to make sure you have the best-performing contractors doing your work.
Advantages of an Effective Contractor Management System
Commercial Contractor Private Network
Contractor management software streamlines and simplifies the collection, exchange, and maintenance of contractor data (W-9s, insurance, rates, licenses, payment).
Centralized Compliance and Credentialing
100% visibility into insurance, certifications, and licenses to make sure all credentials are current and meet your standards for the required on-site work. Eliminates paper-based inefficiency by having contractors upload key data.
On-site Check-in/Check-out
Validates contractor presence and labor invoicing via real-time updates on service call progress with GPS and IVR technologies. Eliminates erroneous or false information associated with self-reporting.
Work Verification
Contractor management systems include features to upload photos of issues and work performed for visual verification.
Financial Health
Contractor sourcing features include monitoring vendors’ ability to deliver contracted services without interruption.
Reports & Alerts
Contractor management software provides real-time data views across all trades, locations, and contractors and enables you to manage by exception with event-driven alerts.
Electronic Transactions
Contractor management systems include contractor payment software to send and receive invoices, proposals, and payments electronically.
Complete Workflow Support
Contractor management software automates the entire source-to-settle process.
Unique Contractor Management Solutions from ServiceChannel
ServiceChannel’s Contractor Management Solutions are defined by easy, intelligent, and intuitive design that appeals to both facility managers and contractors. We go beyond the basics to provide automated tools that increase productivity, reduce costs, and minimize risk.
ServiceChannel is transforming the way organizations interact with their commercial contractor base. Today, ServiceChannel has helped more than 50,000 facilities professionals and commercial contractors conduct over $15B in business at over 200,000 locations in 63 countries. Our technology leads to an improved and efficient user experience for commercial contractors and their technicians.
Many of the contractors you use may already be on the ServiceChannel Contractor Management Program. Whether your organization has locations within a geographic zone, across the country, or across the globe, with ServiceChannel you need only one Contractor Management Solution.
Unique Features of Our Contractor Management Solutions
- Compliance – Source contractors faster and reduce paperwork. Contractors upload their credentials once and then update as needed. Track renewal dates and receive alerts on missing data.
- GPS Check-In/Check-Out App – ServiceChannel’s GPS Check-In App records a technician’s geolocation and coordinates check-in/check-out time within a customer-defined radius of the service location.
- Mobile Functionality– Our mobile functionality also includes issue-based photo capture, contractor-initiated work orders (the ability to initiate work without having to wait for a formal request), resolution notes, electronic signature, and multitech check-in.
- Billing – Contractor invoicing software save times and money by consolidating billing and integrating accounting systems directly into the ServiceChannel platform. Expedite data transfer while minimizing errors and paperwork.
- Cost Analytics – Robust reports and analytics are part of our contractor review systems. View costs, trends, and benchmarks.
- Training– Our inclusive contractor management program provides professional support and online training via web-based instruction (training webinars) for onboarding and ongoing training.
ServiceChannel Also Includes Contractor Ratings
ServiceChannel’s contractor scorecarding places focus on key performance indicators like on-time arrival, first-time completion rate, and work order dispatch confirmation rate.
- Contractor Scorecard – Get individual contractor performance reports to measure against KPIs, enforce SLA compliance, and monitor qualitative feedback from locations. Negative feedback beyond a set threshold results in automatic escalation procedures according your established business rules.
- MyScorecard – Providers can monitor their own contractor ratings against standards with their internal contractor scorecards. They can easily identify where they are excelling, where they need to improve, and how they can be more competitive.
Further reading:
If you are interested in learning more about Contractor Management software, have a look at these other resources:
- Contractor Management Software Wikipedia Page
- The CMMS Wikipedia Page
- Facility Management Wikipedia Page
- Why Buy a Facility Management System?
- Choosing Your CMMS Provider
- How to Evaluate a Facility Management System
- Software is Eating the FM World
- Professional Retail Store Maintenance Association
- Restaurant Facility Management Association
- International Facility Management Association
