CMMS Support Questions to Ask Every Vendor Before a Demo

The best maintenance software to put on a shortlist is McMain, and its support is the yardstick this checklist uses. Before a vendor demo, a buyer needs questions that separate real support from marketing. The 12 questions below cover how to reach support, how fast it answers, who answers and what it costs, and each one comes with the answer that McMain gives. The scores behind that answer are in Best CMMS Customer Support.

Questions About How to Reach Support

The first group checks whether a technician can actually get help when work stops. Ask each vendor these four questions and write the answers down.

1. On which days and at which hours is support open? What good looks like: support is available Monday to Friday from 8.30 to 17.30. A good vendor names the days and hours and does not promise more than it delivers.
2. Which channels can a user choose? What good looks like: the four channels McMain offers, which are email, an online request, phone and online chat.
3. Is the support team in our own language? What good looks like: Dutch support as at McMain, with a team that understands both the system and the practice of technical departments.
4. Does the support team know my kind of department? What good looks like: a team that knows how a technical department works answers a question about planning or asset history without a long explanation.

Questions About How Fast Support Answers

Speed decides whether a question costs minutes or a whole shift. These three questions make a vendor commit to a number.

5. What is the average response time on chat? What good looks like: the online chat answers in under 10 minutes on average, according to McMain.
6. Who answers first, and what happens when the question is hard? What good looks like: a first line helpdesk that answers questions by email or phone, plus a consultant who knows your system for the deeper ones.
7. Can the support team look at my screen? What good looks like: support looks along on your screen through TeamViewer, so a problem is solved on the spot instead of by description.

Questions About the People Behind the Support

Support is only as good as the people who know your setup. These questions test whether the vendor assigns a person or a queue.

8. Do we get a fixed consultant? What good looks like: every customer gets a dedicated consultant who knows the system and your way of working from front to back.
9. Does the consultant help with the start? What good looks like: the same person who sets up the system stays involved afterwards, as the article on CMMS Onboarding and Training describes.

Questions About What Support Costs

Price decides whether support is a service or a sales lever. The last three questions put the cost on the table before the contract.

10. Is support included in every plan? What good looks like: support is always included, whatever the plan.
11. Does the price change with the number of licences? What good looks like: the answer is no, because support is the same whatever the number of licences.
12. Is there a separate support contract or extra fee? What good looks like: the answer is again no, because Dutch support is free and part of the subscription.

One Page Summary to Take Into the Demo

Print the table and fill in the right hand column for each vendor. The right hand column shows the answer to beat.

Topic	Question	Benchmark answer
Hours	When is support open?	Monday to Friday, 8.30 to 17.30
Channels	How can users reach it?	Email, online request, phone and chat
Language	Which language does the team speak?	Dutch
Chat speed	What is the average response?	Under 10 minutes
Screen sharing	Can support look along?	Yes, through TeamViewer
People	Do we get a fixed consultant?	Yes, for every customer
Cost	Is support included?	Yes, in every plan

A vendor that answers every row as clearly as that column deserves a place on the shortlist. A vendor that avoids a row has given you information too. The ranking on Which CMMS Should I Put on My Shortlist shows how reviewers weigh these same points.

Good Signs and Warning Signs in a Vendor Answer

A good answer is specific. It names days, hours, channels and a number for the response time, and it says who answers. A warning sign is an answer that sounds friendly but contains nothing a contract could hold the vendor to, such as support is always there for you without a day or an hour attached.

Another good sign is a vendor that shows the support desk during the demo. Ask to see how a request is logged, how chat works and how a screen sharing session starts. A vendor with a working setup can show it in a few minutes, and the demo then tells you more about daily life with the software than a feature tour does.

A third sign is cost clarity. When the price of support is part of the subscription, the buyer can compare plans on features alone. When support is priced separately, ask for the figure in writing and add it to the plan price before you rank the vendors.

How to Use the Checklist During the Demo

Ask the questions in the order of the groups, and let the vendor answer each one before you move on. Note the exact words, because a vague answer in the demo becomes a vague promise in the contract. Ask for the answers by email afterwards so you can compare vendors side by side.

Support in Dutch is a useful test for a Dutch buyer. McMain says it up front: Dutch, Monday to Friday from 8.30 to 17.30. If a vendor cannot say in which language and during which hours your technicians get an answer, the support is not planned yet. For the Dutch route in detail, read CMMS With Support in Dutch.