You might have spent time and money implementing FM software, but that doesn’t mean your contractors will actually want to use it. Here are 9 ways you can help your suppliers learn to love your CAFM system and generate all the data you need from them in the process.
Your contractors know what they really need from a CAFM. They know what digital tools will help them work faster and smarter. And they know, better than anyone else, what kind of bureaucracy will slow them down. Before you configure your software, therefore, bring your CAFM partner and contractors together so you can all agree on the steps you need in your digital workflows. Together you should decide:
Engaging with your contractor at this level will mean your CAFM is useful for everybody in the chain and will become a tool they (and you) will actually want to use.
Ensure your CAFM has a contractor portal and a dashboard that you can customise to make work order management as fast and frictionless as possible. Make sure your CAFM comes with:
Where possible, a CAFM should allow third parties to interact and provide key data points instantly without having to login. Quick responses are key and your suppliers will be keen to impress with quick turnaround times on all your requests for information.
Therefore a smart CAFM system will allow your suppliers to:
Needing to log into a CAFM is the most common barrier and pain point for your supply chain. But you’ll find that even the larger national contractors will happily engage over email via their own service desk system and interact with your CTAs (Call-To-Actions). Your small suppliers, who may only receive a small volume of work, will typically forget or misplace their passwords and find every reason not to log in. Therefore, any secure alternative which removes this pain point will always go down well.
If your CAFM lets requestors upload photos and videos of the issue they’re reporting your contractor will have a head start when it comes to diagnosing the problem and working out what parts they need to bring with them. At the same time, your contractors should be able to share files or photos with their clients and the helpdesk to show:
If your contractor can collaborate directly with the person who raised the work request, they can come equipped with the information they need to solve an issue. Two-way communication via a CAFM will make everyone’s lives easier and help your CAFM become the ‘go-to’ tool for your contractors.
This is in the interest of both parties in the pursuit of achieving a first-time fix and delivering great service performance.
Never underestimate the power of payment to focus the mind. Ensure you’ve integrated your CAFM with your finance system to streamline invoicing and payment processes.
Once a contractor understands that they’ll be able to invoice directly and automatically from your CAFM when the job is complete, we’re pretty sure they’ll become a fan.
Automatic invoicing via your CAFM will also ensure there are no discrepancies between hours declared and payments requested. The prospect of faster, quibble-free payment should be a huge draw for your contractors. And if you explain to them they can also request immediate uplift directly from the system… they may want to use it even more.
You may need to spend time and effort convincing your contractors that they should use your selected CAFM system. But be prepared to do so. Demonstrating the system in action will help them see what could ‘be in it for them’ and maximise their future engagement.
Your CAFM provider should also be able to provide some guides, video tutorials and a contact who can support them along their way.
If you’re intent on gaining control and oversight of your FM data you will need to be firm and make it clear that contractors engaging with your CAFM is ‘non-negotiable’. But, as explained above, if you have the financial integration between your billing systems and your CAFM in place, the case for them to use your system will become much more compelling.
The battle for ownership and access to facilities management data is too important to lose. Encouraging your contractors to use your CAFM may require a combination of education, incentive and arm-bending if it’s going to bring the results you need. The bottom line is this, as budgets tighten and the C-Suite seek to justify and optimise their FM spending, your business needs access to the right financial and operational data.
Contractors who can’t work with you to supply data in the way you need may be standing in the way of transformative cost savings and service improvements. Choosing the right CAFM with the right features could make the difference between a well-used system that gives the insight you need - and one that you can’t persuade anyone to use and dies a death from neglect.