We started receiving requests to post anonymous posts on our Multifamily ShareSpace group, which we are happy to do, and today, we were asked to post an anonymous blog!  I can tell you I have heard similar thoughts from others on these topics, so this is definitely not an isolated incident.  Please chime in within the comments on your perspective of this issue.

I have two thoughts I would like to offer anonymously to the group from a vendors perspective.  I have been on all sides of the desk from on-site to corporate management to now a vendor.  As a vendor I obviously don’t want to come off as complaining, but would like to offer some perspective to a couple of issues.  

1) The importance of vendor payments and their timeliness.  Many people look at vendor businesses as vast institutions with deep pockets, and some are.  But a great many are small companies that depend on those payments to meet their day to day obligations.  Management side employees who are responsible for getting vendor payments processed would be very upset by even a day or two delay in receiving their weekly paychecks.  Yet, sometimes they lack in getting vendors invoices processed on a timely basis not realizing the trickle down effect it can have on a business’s bottom line. Those payments are not only our paychecks but also reimbursements for expenses we front in order to complete a job for them. Down payments help offset expenses, but don’t help if they are not received.  Who wants to be the vendor who tells a management company that they are postponing their job because the down payment hasn’t been received…nobody wants to tick off the people who are providing them jobs. As someone who was on the management side, I remember my focus was on getting a project completed and I probably didn’t respect the paperwork side as much as I should have.

2) Responding to bid request. I don’t expect a response when I “cold call” via e-mail or other sources…while it is nice, I understand that I have interrupted their time which was unrequested by them.  When a company representative request a bid from us though, we are investing our time in gathering information and formulating a proposal. In addition to it being a common courtesy, it is also really important to be able to budget our time and resources in advance to run a business efficiently. I understand no one likes to be pestered from a vendor, yet a response (even if it not a positive one saying they got the sale) is greatly appreciated so that the vendor knows where they stand on the proposal they submitted.   

While neither of these issues may seem like a big deal to employees on the management side, they really can be big deal on the vendor side.  And in the end it can end up hurting the businesses the vendors support when the vendor has to offset their cost or is no longer  able to serve them as a result of going out of business.