by Shane Henson — June 25, 2014—The Professional Retail Store Maintenance Association (PRSM), an association for retailers and suppliers focused on facilities maintenance, released a survey earlier this month of more than 300 retailers and vendors on work verification business practices.
This is the first survey of its kind to exclusively investigate how the industry documents maintenance work performed in the retail store environment, the organization says. According to survey results, retailers across box size, across real estate type, and managing more than 5,000 to fewer than 100 stores, all said they oversee stores across wide geographic regions, and use work verification tools and processes to assess if the services they have been paying for have been completed. The tools and processes, they agreed, are also used to manage quality control and other contractual requirements.
Sixty-one percent of retailers in PRSM’s survey said they use “sign-off sheets” to verify work completed.
(Click on image to enlarge)
According to survey results, 61% of responding retailers said they use “sign-off sheets” to verify work completed, while 49% said they use interactive voice response (IVR) systems. Participating vendors reported 66% use of IVR systems and that they use “sign-off sheets” in 79% of the cases.
Almost all of the retail respondents said they use the information gathered during their work verification process to facilitate problem resolution and verify work completion for payment. Other purposes, retailers said, include contract negotiations, lease administration to generate vendor scorecards, and preparing budgets.
Vendor respondents to the survey agreed they experience delays in payment for work performed and problems meeting service-level agreements due to inefficient verification tools and processes. A slight majority of vendors, 52%, agreed that a third-party outsourced computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) is the most cost-efficient tool for verifying work performed.
“This new survey sheds light on a key aspect of retail facilities maintenance and the partnership that exists between the retailer and the vendor service provider,” said Patricia Dameron, executive director of PRSM Association. “Challenges associated with verifying work accomplished and measuring performance are well documented, but this is the first look at how the industry actually conducts that activity, giving way to the possibility for greater understanding and improvement.”
