I’ve written before about how your relationship with your vendor is much like a marriage. Can you imagine if you only talked to your significant other when there is a problem? Yet that’s exactly how most associations treat their relationship with their AMS vendor. The vast majority of associations only talk to their vendor when there is a problem. As long as the system is working as expected, life goes on.
But that is exactly the opposite of how the relationship should work. You should be meeting with your vendor at least once per year, at a minimum, to discuss how things are going, what new initiatives you have, what new initiatives the vendor has, and so on. You want to have a positive relationship with your vendor for the inevitable moment when you really need them.
Trust me; your vendor would much rather talk to you about positive things than negative things. So make the effort to build that relationship. You’ll be glad you did.