5 Reasons Your Building Needs Property Management Software

If you work as a property manager for any type of commercial or multi-unit residential building, odds are most of your workflows live in Excel, your email inbox, and maybe even pen and paper. It happens. Despite the enormous size of the property management industry, most property managers are vastly under-equipped in the tools used day-to-day. The proptech revolution has introduced property management software to address this problem though. The digitization and centralization of dozens of major processes are helping more and more property managers save time and better serve their tenants each day.

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In this list, we’ll break down the five most significant reasons property managers benefit from property management software, how you can deploy them in your own building, and get you started on the path to smoother workflows.

1. Advance service planning gives peace of mind to you and your tenants

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When it comes to planning recurring services, there's no time like the present.

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It’s no fun having trapped vehicles and blocked walkways around your property after a major snowstorm or dirty windows that have gone too long without being cleaned. It happens all too often that mother nature doesn’t side with property managers and the rush for essential services to save your property’s image leaves you scrambling to find the right vendor for a fair price. This is where property management software comes in.

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You can prevent that disaster months in advance with just a few clicks. Property management software like VendorPM allows you to procure and tender vendors for services like snow clearing and window cleaning months in advance to prevent a scramble when you need it most.

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Don’t end up on your tenants’ bad side because you were underprepared. Property management software can help ensure that you’re always on the ball when it matters most.

2. Data centralization and record management mean no more fishing through inboxes

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What day do you get your property's windows cleaned? When did you have that vendor come in to do carpet restoration? Was the electrician who came in last year any good?

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Odds are, you don’t have all the information you need about your property’s service history. If you somehow do, it’s probably in the form of hard copy documents that have been tucked away or drowned out in your email inbox.

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The point is that keeping your data and records centralized is harder than it sounds. In reality, it’s almost impossible unless automated or in one comprehensive tool with your daily operations. For this reason, it’s important to balance your software choice based on functionality and data capabilities. VendorPM offers you the best of both worlds by automatically storing all your vendor information from each service you request and allows you to review vendors you’ve worked with in the past even if the service wasn’t tendered on VendorPM. The platform makes sure you have all the data you need about your vendors and services displayed in convenient calendars and tables, anytime you need it.

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3. Finding vendors faster gets you the three bids you need and gets problems fixed efficiently

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Skip old contact lists and vendor registration forms for your next service booking. Property management software can put your past, current, and future vendors all in one place.

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Elevators break down, electrical systems fail, and no amount of pre-planning can prevent every emergency. When you need urgent service, it’s better to have vendors coming to your aid rather than scanning through contact lists and making panicked phone calls. That’s why property management software like VendorPM allows you to draft a single service request and send it out to multiple local vendors who can come to your aid. From there, picking the best offer is a breeze and you can get to work with your new vendor as soon as possible.

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Have an existing vendor you’d rather work with? No problem. Platforms like VendorPM allow you to onboard your existing preferred vendors and continue to work with them in a digital, centralized environment completely for free. From there, you reap the benefits of the marketplace and they can attract new business.

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4. Compliance management means no more manual checks for vendor insurance

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Insurance checks can be a tedious, frustrating extra step to working with any new vendor for the first time. Even your existing vendors may have let their documentation expire and are ready to leave you with liability and legal troubles on your hands.

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The benefits of property management technology in vendor compliance management simply can’t be beaten. Manual checks conducted every time you work with a vendor can be replaced with digital checkmarks letting you know the platform has automatically verified the validity of a vendor’s insurance information.

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Platforms like VendorPM take it a step further and allow you to opt to work exclusively with vendors who have submitted their compliance information and had it confirmed by the platform, allowing you to tap into a marketplace where compliance and insurance aren’t of concern.

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5. eTendering Makes Bid Management Clear and Concise

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Bid management is tough regardless of the industry you’re in. Following up with vendors constantly and chasing documents shouldn’t need to be a part of your day-to-day operations.

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Property management software like VendorPM makes it easy to solicit bids in a consistent, cohesive manner while automatically generating convenient reports on all the bids for a service request for you to share with management. Gone are the days of begging vendors to email you the details of their bid so you can squeeze it all into a barely organized report. The job can now be done for you smoothly in just a few clicks!

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The property management space has gone too long with outdated technologies that lead to inefficient workflows for property managers. The emergence of proptech means that those days are over! Our team at VendorPM is excited to continue working with property managers and vendors day in and day out to improve their workflows and professional relationships.

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As a property manager, you can benefit from VendorPM as a comprehensive tool in all the ways we detailed above. From compliance to procurement to tendering, VendorPM is here to save you time and effort every day for free! Interested? Click here to try out VendorPM and discover a tool built by the industry, for the industry.

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