Inflation, the Great Resignation, labor shortages, oh my! Looking ahead at 2023 can be a bit daunting with all of these factors set against you, especially when working in the commercial sector. Luckily, there are companies in the space working to create solutions to some of the most stressful pain points service providers and facility managers are experiencing today.
CompanyCam + Procursys
Recently added to the CompanyCam partner network, Procursys is one such company striving for excellence when it comes to helping both providers and facility/property managers in the commercial sector nationwide.
I had a chance to learn from Procursys’ CEO Tom Angelone and Senior Vice President of Sales John Maratea to hear firsthand how commercial contracting in the landscaping sector could be simplified.
For those who haven’t heard, Procursys is a cloud based business to business procurement platform and marketplace. With a team of experts on hand, they enable efficient sourcing, vetting, negotiating, and contracting between service providers and property managers at an affordable price.
By providing any and all information they contractors need to submit a bid, Procursys makes it super simple to help contractors find work while also helping property managers hire on qualified contractors in no time.
In the early days of Procursys, they focused on helping those in the snow removal sector. As the company grew, they branched out into landscaping as it was about “tailoring our business to off-season activity”, said Angelone.
Tackling the Payment Challenge
There’s no denying that the commercial industry faces some major challenges with payment and documentation being at the forefront.
“A lot of the time, you are delayed or withheld payment because you didn’t follow a company’s policy in submitting documents, pictures, whatever it might be” says Maratea. This can lead to insurance claims and lawsuits, which can be “constantly on the minds of any commercial service provider.”
How can these issues be avoided? How can these problems be addressed?
As industry experts, Angelone and Maratea had a few pointers when it comes to best business practices for facility managers and service providers in the commercial space. The number one tip is to play fair and pay your fair share.
As providers, it’s so important to “read your contracts so you can either follow the steps, redline them, or [know not to] sign the contract.” Keeping company policy in mind, “a lot of companies have payment systems that won’t even allow them to issue a check until they have proper documentation” says Angelone.
For property/facility managers, paying your fair share is part of the bargain. “Look, it’s not always the provider’s fault” says Angelone, “This is a service industry, if you contract someone to perform a service and they do it, work with and help them.” A lot of service professionals may not have a procurement process and it may take them weeks or even months to find new subs.
Addressing Photo Documentation Processes
Since these problems are so prominent in the commercial contracting sector, Procursys and CompanyCam have teamed up to help address the documentation issues to ensure insurance claims, liability issues, and lawsuits can be avoided at all costs. Why should service providers look to implement landscaping software like Procursys and CompanyCam at all?
Well, as Maratea said, “CompanyCam offers internal benefits like effortless organization, communication, and operational control along with customer facing benefits. Property management companies require more and more documentation—CompanyCam can be a huge ally here with pictures, documentation, and communication as key components of their software.”
CompanyCam is helpful in the commercial space. It’s helpful in the residential area, too. You can reassure customers and keep them up to date on progress.
Procursys also enables service providers to select their service areas, be invited to relevant RFPs, measure distances from offices to each job site, and provide additional information — for example, SOW, COI requirements, Site Maps and more. Procursys also has two-way messaging with the corresponding property manager. So service providers have access to any and all info they may need to submit a bid.
And for all of our facility managers out there? After connecting with the service provider(s), there’s still the production process to consider.
“Facility managers are constantly looking for ways to keep tabs on their sites and the providers performing services for those sites” says Angelone. “CompanyCam makes this easy with before/after photos as well as the ability to annotate images with notes and arrows. This helps facility/property managers easily show service providers what needs to be taken care of. It also allows service providers to reassure facility/property managers that the services are being completed and to add any additional documentation/information that is required.”
When time is of the essence and money is on the line, Procursys and CompanyCam know communication, documentation, and transparency are 3 key factors in providing efficient, high quality service.
For those contractors who are on the fence about CompanyCam?
“Pull the trigger,” says Maratea.
What it comes down to is how you want your business perceived and run. “If you want organizational control and transparency as well as a more professional perception, sign up with CompanyCam.”
