Evaluating Construction Software Based on ROI: Industry Roundtable

Though the construction industry has been slow to adopt tech, one of the most common technologies being harnessed by contractors is software. Adopting new software, though, can provide some interesting challenges. How will this integrate with our current systems? How will we manage all these platforms? Are we making a good investment? We’ve gathered some construction industry superstars who are experts on contech and software to share their knowledge with us.

For this roundtable, we were joined by Rich King, Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer of Schlouch Incorporated, Chad Pearson, VP of Business Development at Plexxis Software Inc., and Josh Bone, Executive Director of Industry Innovation at NECA and Executive Director at ELECTRI International.

They’ll give insight into which software provides the most ROI and which specific softwares are being used for specific types of contractors.

Lets dig in.

We want to start with a general question for the group. What trends have you seen most prominently in the last year with regard to construction software?

• Josh Bone, Executive Director of Industry Innovation at NECA:

“I have seen an increasing level of maturity in construction technologies solutions addressing specific contractors needs, and integrating these tools into workflows that improve adoption.”

• Rich King, CFO of Schlouch Inc.:

“A number of software companies are creating more comprehensive suites of products through a combination of internal development and/or acquisition.  While the long-term roadmap is very important, we are interested in solutions which will deliver an immediate improvement to our existing workflows.”

• Chad Pearson, VP of Business Development, Plexxis Software:

“My training as a police officer compels me to focus on the underlying predatorial trends that hurt us. For example, the fastest growing predatorial trends is unfair subscriptions, which is an imbalance of rights and obligations that can include a lack of transparency of total cost to onboard, misrepresentation of products and service, and no reasonable options for cancellation without penalty. Like the scales of justice, balance needs to be restored through fair terms and obligations.”

Now let’s really get into it. Josh, you’re a well-known contech expert. NECA serves a specific group of contractors. For your association members, how big a part does software play in their operations? What software needs are specific or important to NECA members?

• “We are making a big push right now to help our members take the next steps in their digital transformation journey. We believe that helping our contractors convert their paper forms into digital forms helps electrical contractors gain a competitive advantage through the reduced time, cost, and improved data accuracy stemming from the paperless collection of data.”
  

Rich, how does a company like Schlouch make a cohesive decision or evaluation of ROI when you have so many stand alone softwares (ERP, bidding software, telemetrics on equipment, etc)? Do you evaluate holistically? Or individually? Who is responsible for determining the ROI?

• “We focus on a balance of the features of the software and the current API’s / integration. We expect that the individual department coordinator will evaluate the ROI and present a business case for the investment.  We encourage collaboration with all stakeholders who are affected or would want to know about the impending change.  We like to consider how software will strengthen the business, provide a competitive advantage, improve workflows & efficiency, and increase the quality, timeliness and/or access to information to drive decision-making.”
  

Chad, you’re known as an advocate for specialty contractors not over-investing in technology. How do you advise contractors to evaluate software?

• “Yes, we’re huge advocates of protecting and serving the trades. The core problem here is misrepresentation in the sales process and unfair agreements that enable software providers to use ‘escalation of commitment’ as a strategy to keep contractors handcuffed to them, after contractors realize they were misled. The industry still must go through some steps before seamless ecosystems are possible for specialty contractors.”
  

Josh, how is NECA encouraging and educating their members on the importance of construction software and where do you think they will find the most ROI?

• “We offer a weekly Innovation Spotlight Webinar series highlighting different software solutions. We are rolling out a weekly podcast called NECA Innovation Overload, that is aimed to help anyone in the industry that feels overwhelmed by the exponential growth in construction tech learn how other contractors are handling this challenge in their own companies. We put a strong emphasis on ROI and try to help our contractors measure things like improving communication that reduces errors, omissions, and redundancies. We have spent a lot of time highlighting specific processes like safety, procurement, payroll, etc. We always remind our members that it is people first, then process, then you identify ways to integrate technology and that drives adoption.”
  

Rich, given the impact of COVID, shrinking backlog, etc. is Schlouch looking to invest in software in the next 3-6 months? What software do you think will drive the most ROI?

• “We view software as an investment in our people and business.  Even during the great construction recession, we invested in accounting and field reporting software because it strengthened the business by providing more timely, accurate information for actionable decision-making.  We will continue to invest in software where it improves the quality of information for decision-making or efficiency to produce it.”
  

And finally, Chad, what do you think is the most important ROI consideration when contractors are buying or upgrading software?

• “Onboarding is like a dance and ROI is like a good marriage.  You may get your feet stepped on and have a few arguments, but you’ll succeed as long as you work together. There is a constellation of considerations for ROI, but I find they all depend on some foundational requirements for the marriage to excel. The software provider needs to stay in their lane. Marriages get rocky when one party misrepresents themselves or shifts too much attention to others.  When the pressure to hit quarterly targets builds, or other industries seem too attractive to ignore, partners can get tempted to do bad things. These things can happen. People are the wildcards in ROI; so inspiring, coaching, and leading their team to become more productive can be the single most effective way to realize ROI.”
  

Thank you!

The Briq team would like to thank Josh Bone, Rich King, and Chad Pearson for chatting with us, and sharing their expert insights.

Briq is the first data analytics platform built specifically for construction. We help contractors use their data to drive better outcomes for all phases of construction.

Using modern technology such as automation, machine learning, and predictive analytics, Briq helps to stop fee erosion, freeze overhead costs and provide better financial outcomes for your business. Contact us for a free consultation to find out how we can serve you.