How CMMS Use Customer Feedback

By definition, CMMS/EAM platforms are built to deliver a service to customers, with every feature designed to assist in managing workflows and support maintenance operations.

For any work order or asset management platform to deliver on its goal of making work more efficient and accurate for users, it has to prioritize their top needs and challenges. Understanding the problems users face in their daily work and what solutions alleviate these issues is essential in aligning plans for evolution of the software with real world necessities. To this end, successful CMMS/EAM software take customer feedback seriously, using it to prioritize product updates, new tools, and partnerships with other critical platforms. 

But how does a next-level CMMS/EAM continue to build with customer feedback at its core? As FSI’s Director of Customer Success, part of my role is ensuring our customers are heard and the solutions they need most are prioritized. As a former healthcare Facilities professional with experience in both technician and administrative roles, I know firsthand how the roadblocks that maintenance departments face impact operations, and how these struggles can be overcome with the right software support. Working alongside other teams like Product and Support, Customer Success helps shape the future of CMS, FSI’s maintenance management software, by tapping into customer needs and suggestions through surveys, in-person meetings, and our annual User Conference.

When it comes to pulling together plans for future feature development in a CMMS/EAM, ideas come from two main sources: incoming feedback from customers and external trends in the industry. While both types of input are essential for a platform to keep up with the ever-changing needs of users, incoming feedback from customers is the heart of any CMMS/EAM that prioritizes listening to and solving the real challenges that users face. 

At FSI, our Customer Success, Support, and Product teams utilize a consistent feedback loop to create and test ideas that come directly from our customers and are incorporated into product development planning. For CS, our process begins with hearing directly from FSI users – whether that be through chatting at the ASHE Health Care Facilities Innovation Conference, customer support tickets, or on our community connection platform, The Neighborhood. 

FSI Staff meeting with users at Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist

Planning development from customer feedback starts with organizing user input through a lens of “what is the problem we are trying to solve,” grouping ideas into sets based on what they are solving and expanding on them to plan enhancements that not only address specific customer feedback but are also useful features for CMS users as a whole. Solutions that benefit the most customers are prioritized, and after internal discussion and a product roadmap is complete, the feedback loop continues with rounds of review, input from customers, and user beta testing until a feature is ready to deploy for all users. 

One of FSI’s core values is “Customer Inspired,” an acknowledgement of the importance of keeping the goals of our customers in mind that extends to every facet of company operations. The development of CMS, continuous enhancements, and accompanying solutions are largely a product of listening to our users and prioritizing development initiatives that connect with the needs they communicate. Of recent enhancements, several were a direct result of hearing what users are looking for, including:

• Asset downtime – plans for the Asset Downtime feature were the product of a customer request. During a regular feedback meeting with FSI’s Product and Customer Success teams, one customer spoke to the need for an easy way to show and record downtime data for assets so users know what equipment is down, how long the downtime will last, and what kind of impact it may have on more widespread operations. 
• Flow – the new Flow feature is the result of users expressing the desire to build shortcuts for their CMS instance. Many workflows in a CMMS can be repetitive, and the friction of repeating a multi-click process numerous times is something that users can feel. With a goal of creating a solution that solves this problem on a large scale rather than a one-off automation for a single process, FSI developed Flow to allow CMS users to build their own automations in the way that works best for them.

Overall, CMMS and EAM software should strive to support the customers that use them, prioritizing solving the problems users are facing in day-to-day work. Through listening and collecting feedback on a regular basis, work order management platforms grow alongside their user base as a partner in operations, ensuring facilities have what they need to optimize and grow.

Want to hear more about how FSI solves your challenges? Contact our team here.