Seeking Value in Your Elevator Maintenance Contract

Many people assume that all elevator service is the same and that selecting the lowest price is the obvious way to go.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  If you choose your maintenance vendor on price alone, you miss the opportunity to obtain real value and are likely to be disappointed with the results.

Differences in vendor approaches to elevator maintenance, the actual terms of the maintenance agreement, the strengths of the local office, vendor competitive advantages, vendor market strategies, the experience and training of the technicians, the availability of parts, etc., can all affect how a particular vendor prices maintenance service and also impacts how they will perform during the term of an agreement.  The customer should assess these differences before the final vendor selection.

AuditMate’s approach to an elevator maintenance RFP (request for proposal) is to prioritize the overall value of each vendor’s maintenance bid and help our customers see the relative strengths in each offer to determine the best value for their situation.   We do that in a couple of different ways.  Our RFPs require each vendor to bid to a base scope of work crafted based on the customer’s needs.  In addition, we allow and encourage the vendors to provide alternates that can include value adds.  We also ask each vendor to provide a narrative regarding what makes them different and how they intend to approach the maintenance for the equipment in the bid.

Once all the bids are received, AuditMate provides a visual framework for the customer to compare the vendor offers side-by-side.  Our report also imparts our insights into what makes each vendor different and how to consider each offer.  This point-of-view and guidance help the customer understand the value differences more clearly, particularly when at first glance the bids either look very different or almost the same.  For example, how do you compare a bid with a lower monthly maintenance price and a high billable hour rate to a bid with a higher monthly price and a lower billable hour rate?  The answer can depend on the specific equipment and the customer’s planning goals.  AuditMate helps the customer quantify that difference and translates how it will affect their situation.  The AuditMate SAFE Maintenance RFP audit process allows the customer to make an informed vendor decision with a final scope of work that best aligns with their needs.

If you want to ensure value in your maintenance agreements, we would love to talk about how AuditMate’s SAFE Maintenance RFP program can help you meet that goal.