If you are a maintenance contractor that provides services to homeowner associations (HOA), we understand your pain beyond the internal challenges associated with running a business. Working for HOAs can be difficult because you have multiple parties that are overseeing your work. The board of directors, property managers, committee members, and homeowners are constantly watching you but they aren’t always talking to each other which can lead to some difficult situations . How can we improve this process as a team? Ideally, all of the parties involved in performing and managing the work should be working in a single HOA contractor software tool like VendorTrax.
Part of the problem that exists is that there are so many systems, both offline and online, that everyone is doing their own thing. The fragmentation is making it merely impossible to provide timely responses, and in the instant gratification world we now live in, contractors are expected to respond instantaneously to client requests. Without a HOA contractor software tool like VendorTrax, it is merely impossible to satisfy client expectations.
If you aren’t a contractor then the scenario below will provide a better understanding of their pain, and if you are a contractor then we want you to know that we truly sympathize with you.
1. You get asked to bid a job on short notice with only a few days before a Board meeting so the HOA can make a decision. Your schedule is very busy so it takes time to complete your proposal. Oftentimes in the “HOA world” things are expected faster than you’re capable of delivering. You are expected to drop everything and provide the numbers because these are very important decisions for your clients. That little voice in the back of your head says “You are expendable” and a lot of HOAs constantly remind you of that even though you are trying your best. Finally, you get around to bidding the job by working late into the night over several days.
2. You submit the proposal but it is picked apart by your clients so you make more revisions. As a result you won’t be taking the family on the river vacation like you had planned. Once the proposal has been beat up and approved, you are now expected to prioritize the work at the top of your schedule.
3. You move other jobs around and schedule the work to accommodate the time frame requested by your clients. Then you assign your employees, show them the plan, and purchase materials.
4. You start the job and, of course, there are always unforeseen conditions that require changes in scope. Unfortunately, the Board usually doesn’t understand why.
5. You try your best to communicate the reasons why to the property manager so they can relay it to the Board, but the property manager is dealing with 20 other contractors all doing the same thing which causes a bottleneck and delay in communication. [as a side note: ALL Managers are overworked and underpaid]
6. You now feel defeated. You tried your best but the communication issues are out of your control because you are dealing with multiple decision makers using different methods. You are completely exhausted but have to continue to manage other jobs besides this one. Plus, you are dealing with stacks of invoices, trying to get paid, trying to make payroll, juggling employee wage increases…the list goes on.
Every contractor at some point in their profession has said, or will say, “there has to be a better way”or “why am I doing this?” or even “it’s not worth it.” The biggest headache that HOA contractors deal with is the disjointed communication between themselves and property managers and property decision makers. It does not have to be this hard and it shouldn’t be.
Think of VendorTrax as a HOA contractor software tool that centralizes communication between contractors, property managers, and property decision makers. VendorTrax is the hub and the multiple parties are the spokes, so communication flows freely between everyone. We provide all parties with the tools they need to simplify and streamline a very antiquated and frustrating way of conducting business in the fast-paced world we live in.
VendorTrax is the premiere HOA contractor software tool that unifies HOAs, property managers, and contractors. It equips contractors with the necessary tools to internally improve their business operations while externally improving client satisfaction. This results in happy, repeat clients and less headaches for property managers.
The communication issue cannot be solved by property management software or property owner software alone. The only way the communication issue will be solved is by having the boots on the ground – the painters, plumbers, landscapers, janitorial staff, building maintenance technicians, etc. – using a HOA contractor software. VendorTrax is your solution to unite all parties under one HOA contractor software tool so everyone can work and communicate together from complaint to completion.
go home and be happy,
The VendorTrax Team