This article is a response to a real Vendor Question.
Q: I don't understand why we have to pay for every individual Company we do work for that uses you. We shouldn't have to pay to do work for someone. That just doesn't make any sense to me.
A: Simply put, without proper wording on the certificate, proper written agreements between the parties you are doing business with and proper endorsements attached, the coverages on the certificate would be worthless to Management Companies and the Associations.
Each Management Company has different requirements and each Management Company, and their Associations are vetted independently. We only group them together at the Service Provider level for ease of access. Subsequently, Service Providers are not paying to do work for a Management Company, you are paying to have your Company and your Certificates “Certified” that you have the proper coverage limits and documents and meet the requirements set by the Management Company for all the managed Associations.
Additionally, as a service, ASN lists you on a Management Company Vendor Directory and reports your Compliant / Non-Compliant status to the Management Company so that the managers and staff can utilize your services and present you to their boards with confidence. It allows your company an informational advantage and for managers to take advantage of actionable data.
A basic management company membership requires a $99 fee that certifies you to work on any of their Associations. If you break this down into a realistic view, that is less than $8.26 a month and if you divide this by the access you have to managers and staff across the entire network it is usually less than 3 or 4 cents per day. There’s no other marketing strategy that will deliver this kind of visibility to HOA’s and Managers in this industry.
Last, and probably best, everyone else is going through the same process. This means that you are no longer bidding against unlicensed, underinsured competitors for jobs. You can have confidence, that those you are bidding against, have the same requirements you do.