3 Simple Moves for Getting New Software Buy-infrom the Office

A Bridgit Publication

FOR THE SITE

eBook

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Introduction pg. 1

2. Be a Champion pg. 3

3. Know your Numbers pg. 5

4. Establish Clear Goals pg. 6

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3 SIMPLE MOVES FOR

GETTING NEW SOFTWARE

BUY-IN FROM THE OFFICE

Are you a busy construction Project

Manager, Site Supervisor, or Project

Coordinator looking to streamline

processes on-site using software or

technology?

Kudos to you! Simply identifying the need for

improved efficiency and starting to investigate

potential solutions is a huge step. The type of

process you are trying to improve will dictate the

types of solutions you are investigating (mobile

apps for better collaboration, tablets for increased

mobility, etc.) but regardless of how the solution is

delivered, you’re going to need a plan for what

happens once you finally find that “perfect

solution”.

No matter the kind of solution you select, the one

important piece of the puzzle that often gets

overlooked is management/office buy-in. Because

of the perceived risk factor associated with rolling

out new technology on-site, this is often a process

that calls for some advanced preparation. When

you’ve spent weeks or months investigating

solutions, the worst thing that could happen is to

have the idea shut down or postponed internally.

For the purpose of this eBook, we will focus on

software buy-in specifically.

Properly managing the internal buy-in process can

be the make or break for successful software

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“Always remember, to be an internal champion you don’t need to be a tech wiz. You just need to care about finding new ways to help your team be their best

rollout overall, so it’s important to have a game

plan.

In this eBook, we will cover 3 simple moves for

gaining fast office buy-in for your solution of

choice. These strategies will not only help you

secure faster office buy-in, they will help position

you as a true innovation leader within your

company.

Always remember, to be an internal champion you

don’t need to be a tech wiz. You just need to care

about finding new ways to help your team be their

best.

2

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Once an organization realizes that in

order to stay competitive they need to

update their processes, the topic of

software quickly gets raised.

However, even once a team acknowledges that

updating (or just starting to use) software is a

necessary step; there are still many factors that

contribute to reluctance towards rapid change.

Typically, this reluctance is born from a fear that

the team will not embrace the selected software

and therefore all promised cost savings and

efficiency will be untapped. At the end of the day,

software is only as good as the people using it.

1. BE A CHAMPION

With the above described “fear” in mind, it’s easy

to see how having an internal champion, who is

dedicated to making the new software rollout a

success, would ease the minds of many in-office

decision makers.

While presenting a sales deck from the software

vendor, chalked full of powerful examples, ROI

statistics and case studies is useful, nothing will

compare with the effect of on-site teams (led by

their champion!) presenting their experiences to

the office. When you are trying to prove that you

have found the right solution and that this solution

will work well for you team it’s important to have a

number of on-site people who are willing to

present their support to the office, and explain

where the current solution is failing them. It’s

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incredibly hard to argue with a solution when the

company’s own people are asking for it.

To help craft this message, here is a list of

questions to ask yourself. The answers to these

important questions will be key to building your

pitch.

• What alternative solutions have you looked

into and why is this software the best

option?

• What prompted you to start investigating

solutions for this specific pain point? This is a

great place to pull powerful anecdotes from

that will help you sell the solution.

• How much interaction have you had with the

vendor’s team (sales, support, etc.)? Are they

the kind of company you will enjoy working

with in the long run?

When you’re looking for resources to help support

your position on the software, reach out to the

vendor to see how they can help you. The right

software vendor will partner with you in this

conversation and provide you with plenty of

helpful resources.

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In addition to showing your support for the

solution, explain to the office team just how much

involvement will be required on their part once the

pilot is approved. Historically, software has been

very difficult to set-up and roll out -- requiring lots

of help from the in-house IT team.

Luckily, this is no longer the case. Thanks to cloud-

based software and more niche solutions, set-up

can typically be done a lot faster and with little to

no assistance from the office. Make sure they

know that!

2. KNOW YOUR NUMBERS

The next important move is to know your numbers.

You may have found a solution that you’re going

to love using, but if it won’t actually save you

money on-site then it’s going to be hard to secure

buy-in regardless of how well you sell it. In

construction, cost savings can come from a variety

of places such as increased efficiency, less re-

work, cheaper materials and labour, etc. No matter

the source of the cost savings, money saved is

money earned and an explanation of how you

plan to do so will get the attention of the office

team.

Typically, software is great at solving

communication and collaboration issues, so the

biggest area of cost-savings will normally fall

under the ‘increased efficiency’ header. Because it

is very difficult to properly estimate the actual

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amount of time you will save without having fully

tested the software, it is good to start with

understanding how long you are currently

spending on the tasks in question.

For example, if you do a full site walkthrough two

times a week at the end of a project, and each

walkthrough takes you two hours, then you may

be spending upwards of 16 hours a month

conducting site walkthroughs. Now imagine the

software you are looking into promises that your

total walkthrough time will be reduced by 30%. All

of a sudden, the numbers start to become a lot

easier to understand.

The same way these numbers make a lot more

sense to you when compared with your current

time expenditure, they will make quick sense to

the office team.

Here are the base numbers you should have in

your back pocket when speaking to the office

about rolling out new software: :

• How much time does the process currently

take?

• How much time do you think the software

will save you? At this stage, the number can

be an educated estimate.

• How much does the software cost?

• What are the additional value adds? Such as

free set-up, support, etc.

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3. ESTABLISH CLEAR GOALS

The final important move for securing easy office

buy-in for your software of choice is to go in with a

list of clearly defined goals. By setting these goals

upfront, it will be easy for the rest of the team to

visualize the end of the software rollout test and

understand how they will judge its success.

During a new software rollout it is common place

to test the solution with a smaller group (in

construction, a full project or group of smaller

projects usually works well), evaluate the success

of the pilot based on the pre-established goals

and then continue company wide rollout if all went

well.

This batched rollout approach further allows you

to sell the solution internally because by the

second round you will be able to provide detailed

metrics on how the software helped you, and

strong personal anecdotes about the success you

saw using the new solution.

The initial goals that you establish for your

software pilot will vary depending on the solution,

but here are some important areas to measure:

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Time Saved

Quantifying time-saved is one of the easiest ways

to understand the ROI of software because there

is a value (salary) already placed on time. By

measuring the time saved you can calculate either

the additional work that one person can complete

or the dollars saved in not having to hire an

additional person to fulfil outstanding work.

Communication

Improved communication can play into ROI in two

ways. Firstly, improved communication often leads

to time being saved in the constant back and forth

on-site. Secondly, improved communication can

contribute to less errors being made due to a

better understanding of the work that needs to get

done. This is likely the highest source of ROI

under the communication header.

Data Created

Data and quantifiable information about how your

team works on-site is invaluable for making better

decisions down the road. The type of data you

create using software will depend on the solution

you are using but you could measure things such

as subcontractor performance (in terms of speed

to resolve issues), deficiency trends and more.

Access to this information will allow you to make

data-driven decisions in the future about a variety

of things on-site.

Reputation

In construction, more and more contractors are

using the fact that they use software as a

differentiating factor amongst their competition

and software is often even called out in RFP

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documents for new projects. Additionally, if the

software you are using enables you to deliver a

higher quality final product or a better owner

experience throughout construction than this will

contribute to an improved reputation.

CONCLUSION

When you become an internal software champion,

know your numbers and have clearly defined

goals to backup your plan then obtaining office

buy-in for your software of choice should be a

quick task. Your on-site team will love you for

bringing more efficient processes to the job and

the office will sing your praises for making new

software rollout so simple.

Finally, some punch list therapy.

Use Closeout to easily manage your punch lists in real-time from your mobile phone or computer.

WWatch the overview video or request a 1:1 demo to see how Closeout can give your team some much deserved punch list therapy.

REQUEST A 1:1 DEMO

Questions? Call us at 1.800.783.2127 or email info@gobridgit.com

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