There are multiple facility management solutions helping facilities streamline operations, but how do you ensure you find the right one for your business?
To make sure you find the right solution to meet your business needs, our field of experts has pulled together questions you should ask any facility management software company and broken them down into four categories.
- Accessibility
- Software Functionality
- Customer and Staff Experience
- Purchasing, Training, and Onboarding
Guide
There are multiple facility management solutions helping facilities streamline operations, but how do you ensure you find the right one for your business? To make sure you find the right solution to meet your business needs, our field of experts has pulled together questions you should ask any facility management software company and broken them down into four categories.
- Accessibility
- Software Functionality
- Customer and Staff Experience
- Purchasing, Training, and Onboarding
💡 Pro-Tip! Looking at multiple solution options can be overwhelming. Make a priority list of things you need in a solution by outlining must-have and nice-to-have features. As you meet with different companies, you’ll be able to easily compare how solutions match up to your facility's needs.
Accessibility
1. Is the solution available across multiple devices? Accessing your system from any device, anywhere, is important for your customers and staff. Easy access ensures your customers can register and get valuable information whenever they need it. It’s also no secret that you and your staff are always on the go and rarely at your desk, so you need to be able to access the system information you need in the palm of your hand.
2. Is the solution hosted in the cloud/web-based? Many software companies are moving away from on-premises software to the cloud because they can quickly fix bugs, release new product features, and provide their customers with a secure way to store data.
3. Will the system work with my current website? Connecting the customer experience with the back-end operations of a facility is important. Make sure that the facility management solution you choose can integrate with your website to create a positive customer experience.
Software Functionality
1. How simple is your scheduling feature? Replacing the existing scheduling process doesn’t have to be a headache. The right solution should take your current process and make it easier.
2. Does your system have in-app reporting? Measuring facility data is key for growth and return on investment for new solutions you bring onboard. Ask the facility management company how reporting can help you measure success.
3. Does your solution handle double-booking? It’s never a great feeling when you schedule events, and there is an unexpected double-book. Make sure that the solution you choose helps you create conflict-free scheduling by giving you visibility into resources that are available or in use.
4. Can I run multiple classes on my field/court simultaneously? There is a good chance that you will have multiple resources and events scheduled and running at the same time. Make sure that you can optimize your facility to get the most money out of your space!
5. Are there user access options? Staff visibility into the software you use varies depending on their role, so they don’t need to see everything. There also might be certain things you don’t want them having visibility to.
6. Does the software support cash or accrual accounting? You’re accounting team might be wondering what accounting method is used for the system, so it’s great to have this information readily available when you present it to your finance team.
Customer and Staff Experience
1. What is the impact on my customers' experience? A positive customer experience plays a key role in retention, ensuring ROI (return on investment) when you buy a new system, so it’s important that the solution aligns with your ideal customer experience.
2. Will it save administration time and money? With the right system, your staff should spend less time on administrative tasks like scheduling, registration, and management and more time acting on projects that will grow your business.
💡 Pro-Tip! Make a list of tasks your staff spends a lot of time on and ask how the facility management solution helps streamline these processes.
3. How does your system compare to other facility management solutions? When looking at facility management system websites, you might notice they sound similar, but their features can vary. Because some systems focus on only a few features, facilities are required to have multiple systems.
Purchasing, Training, and Onboarding
1. What does your system cost? Facility management software companies might sound the same, but the features they offer differentiate, leading to a wide range in price. System contact can include monthly or yearly fees, training, merchant fees, and total cost of ownership. Ask the facility management business how their pricing model is set up to get an understanding of their pricing structure.
💡 Pro-Tip! Use your feature priority list to understand the cost of what you are looking for.
2. How do payments work? Every company has a different way of charging customers for software usage. This is helpful information to gather early on, so you have all the financial information to present the solution to your finance team.
3. What does onboarding and training look like, and how long does it take? When looking to improve your facility operations, most need the solution yesterday. Make sure there is a plan for training your staff for successful adoption when you go live.
4. What does software support include? Continued support from your facility management system company is important, and you need resources if you run into software questions or problems impacting your facility. Make sure to ask the software company you are speaking with has resources available to you after onboarding.
Why Facilities Choose Dash
Dash’s cloud-based solution makes it easier for your staff to do conflict-free mass bookings, contract management, and invoicing for one-off and large rentals. With our easy-to-use, mobile-friendly solution, your members can view and filter upcoming events, register, and stay connected from wherever they are.
A partnership beyond software. We're committed to providing high-quality services and support so you can focus on managing your facility. No matter your go-live deadline, our dedicated onboarding team professionally trains, tests, and does quality assurance checks to ensure you have a successful product launch. Our in-house customer success and support team will be there to help you with any questions that might arise and can be reached by phone, email, and chat.
