Successful student turnover seasons rely heavily on the strength of partnerships with suppliers. From maintenance crews to cleaning services, supplier relationship management plays a crucial role in ensuring a smooth transition between outgoing and incoming residents.
In an ideal world, there would be an endless supply of top-notch painting, cleaning, carpet, and flooring specialists available in every market. However, the reality is the supplier pool is not as vast as we might hope. It’s not just about finding suppliers but finding the right ones. Quality suppliers not only saves time and resources but also enhances the overall resident experience.
In the current labor market, finding quality suppliers can be challenging. The shortage of skilled tradespeople is not a new problem, but a recent Angi Skilled Trades Report revealed around 77 percent of tradespeople acknowledge the insufficient availability of skilled hands. Therefore, fostering strong supplier relationships is paramount.
How do you build and maintain strong partnerships with your suppliers? We delve into best practices for supplier relationship management that can elevate the student turnover experience to new heights.
How do you make sure you get (and keep) the best of the best suppliers for your turns?
- Clearly Communicate Your Needs and Expectations – Establish open and transparent communication channels with suppliers from the outset. Clearly outline expectations, timelines, and deliverables to ensure alignment and minimize misunderstandings. Furthermore provide details on the number of units, type of work required in each unit, deadlines and a budget in a timely manner. Direct-print work orders in Turnable give your vendors all the information in an easy-to-use format.
- Build a Partnership – Invest in building strong relationships with suppliers based on trust, respect, and mutual support. Engage in regular communication, express appreciation for their contributions, and recognize their efforts to foster a positive working relationship. Turnable makes it easy to store contact information, ensuring you have details for all your vendors conveniently stored in a single location.
- Flexibility and Adaptability – Remain flexible and adaptable in your approach to supplier management, especially in dynamic situations such as student turnover. Be responsive to changing circumstances and willing to adjust plans as needed to ensure success.
- Oversee and Inspect their Work – Even with a trusted supplier, closely oversee any work being done on your properties. Conduct regular inspections to make sure work doesn’t have to be done twice and meets your company standards. With Turnable, you can utilize real-time progress trackers to easily assess whether all your vendors are sticking to their schedules.
Software designed to help make supplier relationship management easier
Partnering with maintenance suppliers can make your student housing turns smoother. Building relationships with suppliers, understanding their process, and communicating clear expectations set everyone up for success. Ultimately it’s about working together to provide the best housing experience for students – they’re counting on you. Staying organized, flexible and proactive are keys to keeping projects on track and costs reasonable. And don’t forget to show suppliers some appreciation when it’s a job well done. With some planning and collaboration, you can partner with maintenance crews to deliver quality units, on time that students will be happy to move into.
With the combination of Turnable and Leonardo247, student housing operators now have one platform to connect, collaborate, and monitor the entire turn process in one easy-to-use tool. Learn more.