Vendors
How to measure vendor performance without a fight
July 2, 2026 · 6 minute read
Most of a facility budget goes to people who do not work for you. The invoice tells you what they charged. Almost nothing tells you what they did, which is why the annual review is opinion against opinion.
Four measures that survive a conversation
- Time on site, recorded at arrival and departure rather than claimed
- Attendance against the window that was agreed
- Evidence rate: what proportion of visits left photographs
- Repeat rate: how often the same fault comes back within ninety days
None of these require the contractor to do anything unusual. They require you to record the visit the same way you record your own work.
Why portals fail and links work
The standard answer is a vendor portal. Portals fail because no contractor wants an account in twelve customers’ systems, and the small firms doing your best work are the least likely to comply.
A link that opens the job on the phone they already have is a much smaller ask, and it produces the identical record.
Use it to reward, not only to police
The fastest way to get contractors to record their work is for the record to be worth something to them. A contractor who consistently leaves evidence should be winning more of your work, and should know that is why.