Measuring ROI with ConCntric

When you are considering bringing new software into your current workflow, you need to ask yourself: Is this going to save me time and/or money? If the answer is yes, you’re on the right track.

However, it’s not as simple as “This saves me time and money, so I need to buy it.” Several different software programs are out there that promise time saved and money in your pocket, but do they fit your company’s needs from a technical perspective? 

Construction software, in particular, comes in many different forms, whether point solutions or full-fledged integrated platforms. Point solutions are more narrowly focused software applications made to perform a specific function or solve particular problems within a business. Platforms, on the other hand, are more comprehensive, all-encompassing systems made to cover a range of functionalities and services and solve multiple business needs under one umbrella.

ConCntric is a preconstruction management software that provides solutions for all aspects of the preconstruction phase in a single platform. We’ve developed a platform that helps you win more work, increase margin, gain back time, and reduce risk. Now I’m sure you’re wondering, “All that… but at what cost?” In this blog post, we dive into the things to consider when bringing on new software, the importance of measuring ROI and how to measure ROI with ConCntric.

What to Consider When Bringing on New Software

If you are a business leader looking to switch to ConCntric, your CFO, VP, and CEO—you name it—will be looking for you to justify why it makes sense for them to pay “X” amount of dollars and train their employees on new software. If you are bringing a solution up the ladder, they need to know that it is a good fit. 

Here are a few questions to ask yourself before approaching the higher-ups:

1. Is this going to save the company time and increase the bandwidth of the team?
2. Is this software going to pay for itself in the next 6 months to 2 years?
3. Does this software make sense from a technical perspective? Am I looking for a narrow solution or a more holistic one?
4. Do I have proof that other companies are using this software and it is solving their problems?

If the solution you are bringing to the table acts as a financial investment, it will help reduce the manual hours of work your team is doing each month so that those hours can be redeployed to other key tasks. In a recent article by NRCA, the author reported, “The construction industry will need to attract an estimated 501,000 additional workers on top of the normal pace of hiring to meet demand, according to Associated Builders and Contractors.” With the current unemployment rate in our industry, there is not enough talent to fill the demands. Bringing on new software to improve workflows and maximize efficiency is now more important than ever.

The Importance of Measuring ROI 

Teams often find it challenging to measure ROI when they’re entrenched in traditional methods. It’s time to move beyond the mindset of “We’ve always done it this way” and embrace innovative thinking.

At ConCntric, now more than ever, we are seeing our customers have their lightbulb moment. The moment they realize “Holy cow, we are spending six to seven figures in labor costs with our teams working on highly manual tasks.” And that is just the beginning.

One major problem professionals are dealing with today is that the effort to compile comparable cost analyses is extremely manual and inefficient. When beginning a new project, they find themselves searching through their database, digging through multiple spreadsheets, and/or relying on industry veterans for their expertise. The issue with that is that comps change over time and this process is repeated over and over

So, how do we normalize all of the collected data based on where we are today? What are the costs of concrete and labor and the risks associated with not having these supplies?

This brings us to problem number two: A majority of construction professionals today are managing all of their data in spreadsheets and struggling to figure out how to pull it together cohesively and bring their data to life. 

ConCntric has solved this. In our real-time platform, each stakeholder has access to all aspects of the preconstruction workflow. We eliminate the need for external spreadsheets and documentation because everything teams need to know about a project is right in the platform. No more chasing people down for information and collecting several documents to check on your timeline, understand your budget or mitigate risk. Not only does ConCntric store all of your project information, but it also gives your project data value by comparing it with your historical data as well as industry benchmarks using real-time graphs and charts.

Measuring ROI with ConCntric

ROI should be the #1 thing you consider when taking on any enterprise software. As professionals who have worked in the preconstruction space for many years, we fully understand how difficult it is to bring on new software, onboard, train, and then actually get your team to use it. As fellow builders, we live and breathe your goals as a company because we’ve been there. We understand the struggle and the need for a more comprehensive, efficient solution to be able to get more done, get your free time back, and build trusting relationships.

Diminishing Labor Costs

One of ConCntric’s most tangible ROI successes primarily revolves around labor cost savings. We are seeing people get a 4x-10x return on their investment with our platform just on labor alone. Our platform significantly enhances operational efficiency, reducing the time and resources required for various tasks. ConCntric helps to eliminate and/or reduce manual tasks because of its visibility to all stakeholders and its ability to give you real-time data.

Some examples of labor costs that are reduced by taking on ConCntric include time spent:

• Organizing all current projects — ConCntric stores and summarizes all of your projects in one central Portfolio.
• Preparing and organizing presentations — ConCntric’s platform is a presentation in itself. Complete with real-time graphs and visuals to present at any time.
• Back and forth emailing, texting and calling stakeholders — ConCntric’s platform has embedded communication features allowing you to share and collaborate with Design Teams, Owners, GCs and Trade Partners.
• Correlating construction costs — ConCntric’s Vision feature gives you a full dynamic program overview of all costs associated with your project.
• Comparing your current project status with prior project performance and industry benchmarks — Calibrate stores all of your past and present data and develops comparisons for you. 
• Managing the design — ConCntric’s Target Value Design provides an active management suite to collaboratively guide the design to the agreed-upon targets within your construction project’s budget framework.
• Predicting scenario model outcomes — ConCntric’s ForeSite feature gives you the ability to forecast endless possibilities and trends without disrupting the original plan.
• Digging through past ideas — ConCntric’s Idea Library stores all of your unique ideas for use and reference on future projects.
• Developing risk strategies — Risk Register applies risk scoring and encourages mitigation strategies based on available data.
• Monitoring your team’s progress: Monitor performance closely on the Timeline to ensure you are on track to meet deadlines.
• Resolving and tracking down issues — ConCntric’s Issue Management feature allows you to map each Issue’s and Opportunity’s effect on design, schedule, cost, risk and procurement.

Increasing bandwidth

People say you can’t buy time, but we like to think you can with ConCntric. ConCntric’s platform was made to give you valuable time back. We know that everyone has busy schedules, so that’s why our platform was built by builders, for builders. Our platform gives you the bandwidth to pursue other high-value projects more frequently. It’s all about how you redeploy to other projects. 

Using ConCntric, you now can: 

• Pursue more work — You know your conversion rate when it comes to winning work. But what if we told you ConCntric gives you the time to pursue more projects? More time spent pursuing projects = more project wins!
• Enhance collaboration among stakeholders — Practice relationship building with stakeholders and utilize more streamlined workflows.
• Improve your efficiency—Spending less time on tedious and menial tasks allows you to focus on the bigger opportunities and strategies, setting the table for success for the project in ways not possible before ConCntric.
• Use your historical data to your advantage — Dive deeper into past projects and use those insights for future projects.
• Innovate from within — ConCntric is the holistic solution for all of your preconstruction management needs, but this new technology and space will also inspire your team to think outside the box and bring new ideas to the table.

Building trust

Keeping an eye on every single moving piece of a project is nearly impossible. Owners want to be in the know. They want to know that their project is on track and they want to be able to see that progress is being made on a regular basis. GCs need to be able to evaluate risks, manage issues and see the full picture. Design Teams are begging for more budget guidance for what they are designing in order to understand the project from the get-go and hone in on the project expectations. Trade Partners are looking for a way to stay connected to teams and the progress of the project without getting bogged down.

ConCntric’s platform builds trust. Now you might say, what does trust have to do with ROI? Building trust helps with your return on investment by allowing companies to:

• Build a stakeholder portfolio — Trustworthy relationships lead to higher repeat work rates. If Owners see you utilizing new technology and saving them time and money, they are more likely to bring you on to their next project and the ones following that.
• Refer preferred stakeholders — If a client trusts you, they are more likely to refer you to other business partners.
• Set a technological standard — When a client is able to get their hands on a trusted tool as a base for their project success that no one else is offering, it sets a high standard moving forward and makes it difficult to go back to spreadsheets.
• Enhance brand reputation — It is becoming increasingly more difficult to differentiate your company from the competition. Make your company stand out from your competitors with ConCntric.

Using ConCntric, our customers’ customers (Owners) have said that they have never used a software that they felt so connected to and trust that all of the stakeholders know what they are doing. ConCntric was made to make the lives of preconstruction professionals simpler. 

Maximizing Efficiency and ROI with ConCntric

In the fast-paced environment of today’s construction industry, the way companies streamline their operations to reduce cost and maximize efficiency is more important than it’s ever been.

Our platform was developed to save time, reduce expenses, and streamline disjointed workflows. At ConCntric, we understand what your company’s costs are, how many projects you are pursuing and what the effort is for you to get all of your work done on a weekly basis. We’ve calculated time savings to be at least hundreds of thousands of dollars in overhead costs and understand the frustration that evolves from fragmented data.

As the only holistic preconstruction software on the market, we offer a comprehensive solution to the organization of your projects on the front end by helping you manage all aspects of your workflow in one real-time platform. The tangible benefits, such as a 4x return on investment from labor costs alone, demonstrate the crucial impact that ConCntric can have on your bottom line.

“Before ConCntric, I could go look at my profit or fee, but I couldn’t realistically predict my fate and play with the health of the project, but now I can.” – Mike Vitkovich— Director of Preconstruction at Pankow Builders

In your pursuit of the perfect software solution, the ultimate goal is to solidify your return on investment. ConCntric meets and then exceeds this goal by allowing your team to handle more projects, collaborate more effectively and thoughtfully manage every aspect of your preconstruction workflow.

We always say the best time to start capturing your data was 5 years ago, the second best time is today. Invest in your future today with ConCntric. 

To learn more about ConCntric’s simple onboarding process, book a demo or learn more here.