What are the best practices for managing facility vendors?

1 Define your needs

Before you start looking for facility vendors, you need to define your needs clearly and realistically. What are the scope, specifications, and standards of the services you require? What are your budget, timeline, and expectations? What are the risks and contingencies involved? By defining your needs, you can narrow down your options and focus on the vendors that can meet your requirements and align with your goals.

2 Select your vendors

Once you have defined your needs, you can start the vendor selection process, which involves researching, screening, and evaluating potential facility vendors. You can use various sources and methods to find and compare vendors, such as referrals, reviews, websites, portfolios, proposals, interviews, and site visits. You should also consider the vendor's reputation, experience, expertise, capacity, quality, safety, and compliance records, as well as their pricing, terms, and conditions. You should aim to select the vendors that can deliver the best value for your money and establish a long-term partnership.

3 Negotiate your contracts

After you have selected your vendors, you need to negotiate and finalize your contracts, which are the legal documents that define the rights and obligations of both parties. You should review and understand the contracts carefully and ensure that they cover all the essential aspects of the service delivery, such as the scope, schedule, budget, quality, safety, communication, reporting, payment, warranty, liability, dispute resolution, and termination clauses. You should also seek legal advice if necessary and avoid signing any contracts that are vague, incomplete, or unfair.

4 Monitor your vendors

Once you have signed the contracts, you need to monitor and manage your vendors throughout the service delivery, which involves overseeing, verifying, and documenting their performance and compliance. You should communicate regularly and clearly with your vendors and provide them with the necessary information, feedback, and support. You should also inspect and audit their work and records and ensure that they meet the agreed standards and specifications. You should also address any issues or problems promptly and effectively and seek solutions that are mutually beneficial.

5 Evaluate your vendors

After the service delivery is completed, you need to evaluate and review your vendors, which involves measuring, analyzing, and reporting their performance and satisfaction. You should use various tools and techniques to collect and process data, such as surveys, ratings, scores, benchmarks, indicators, and metrics. You should also solicit and provide feedback and recommendations and identify the strengths and weaknesses of the vendors. You should also recognize and reward the vendors that have performed well and exceeded your expectations.

6 Improve your relationships

Finally, you need to improve and maintain your relationships with your vendors, which involves fostering trust, respect, and collaboration. You should treat your vendors as partners and not adversaries and seek to create a win-win situation for both parties. You should also communicate openly and honestly and address any conflicts or disputes professionally and respectfully. You should also seek to learn and improve from your experiences and implement best practices and continuous improvement initiatives. By improving your relationships, you can enhance your vendor loyalty and retention and achieve better results and outcomes.