Are there red flags in your construction software? Here's how to spot them

Are there warning signs in your construction software?

We’ve all been through a time in life where we don’t feel like everything’s all right. Maybe it’s your job and you feel like you’re not in the right workplace. Or maybe you feel like you want to pack up your bags and move to a new city. Or maybe it’s a relationship you just don’t feel is working anymore. In those situations, it’s hard to break away.The same could be for your construction management software.

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You might not be getting the results you want, but those feelings of loyalty, uncertainty, and confrontation yield you from testing the waters. It’s completely natural to feel this way. However, maybe making that leap is beneficial for you.

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In those real-life situations, there are red flags. You might choose to ignore them, but you know they’re there. The same goes for construction management software. You might not even notice the potential “red flags” in your construction software. In order to identify these signals, check out the five major warning signs for any construction software.

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1. Software that Does Not Innovate

In 2004, one of the top-selling cell phones on the market was the Motorola Razr V3. Since then our cell phones have developed quite a bit. So has construction software. Imagine you were to see someone walking down the street talking on a Motorola Razr. You would probably be thinking to yourself, “Wow that person needs a major phone upgrade.”

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The sad and truthful aspect is that many construction companies still use outdated software applications. They may have even been built around the same time as the Razr. Vendors have made minimal efforts to innovate their product, create new features and improve their overall user interface and user experience. But we are often afraid of taking the risk to find a new software provider even if the perfect solution is right around the corner

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What happens when your construction management software is not taking steps forward proactively? Realistically, this means it is taking steps backwards because technology is always changing. In this situation, it might be time to kick that software to the curb. Does that mean there have to be new additions each week? Of course not. But new features, integration, and UI/UX improvements should be regularly updated. Staying up on industry trends is vital to staying efficient.

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As a contractor, you should always keep an eye on the latest changes in the industry. Otherwise, you may get left in the dust by competitors.

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Is your software system cloud-based?

If your answer to this is no, don’t walk but run to find new software. Cloud-based software allows your project team to get their hands on the latest project data from anywhere. Considering the majority of your project team is located onsite and not in the office, it is pressing that your software platform is hosted in the cloud. With automatic updates and having everything in one spot, cloud-based software is a must for your software solution.

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2. Unresponsive Customer Support

Every company claims they have excellent customer support, but do they really? In order for a software solution to work most effectively for you and your team, you need to be able to have ready assistance.

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In any relationship, communication is essential. What if you sent a message to your significant other and went days without hearing from them? You’d start to wonder what is wrong. Or if you are even in a relationship anymore. Think of your software provider as a relationship. Anytime you have questions or concerns, you hope that customer support responds in a timely manner. But if it doesn’t, it might be time to pull the plug.

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The right construction software will value what you have to say.

The construction industry places a critical focus on building relationships and partnerships. Accordingly, you want your software to emulate those values. When you buy a construction software, the relationship should be more than just transactional. You should expect trust, support, and outreach.

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Your software provider should be reaching out to you and asking for your feedback on the service. They should also be periodically checking in to see how you are liking your service. If a software company does not make its customers a priority, it is a good sign that you should probably start looking somewhere else.

3. Low User Adoption of the Software

It’s technology… not everyone is going to understand it, right? Wrong! Technology and construction software are created and implemented to remove the headache out of the manual processes. It stands to reason that if your software platform is not intuitive and easy to learn, an immediate red flag should arise. How do you expect your employees to buy into a software platform that takes weeks and multiple webinars to learn? News flash: they won’t.

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Your employees are probably telling you everything is smooth-sailing with the software. But what crazy entry-level employee is going to tell their boss that the chosen software is tedious to use? Or that it actually takes significantly longer to do than the normal process?

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There are multiple ways to understand if your employees are not taking well to your current software. For example, we recommend you send out an anonymous poll to everyone in your company. In it, ask questions regarding the software’s usability. You might be shocked to find the number of individuals still struggling to learn the software you adopted a year ago.

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4. The Software's Features Don't Fit Your Needs

Why pay for features that you don’t need? You want your construction management software to be usable and practical. You probably do not need something super flashy with every single bell and whistle. It’s easy to be fooled by something that looks nice and has every feature known to man. However, that doesn’t mean you need it all.

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Firstly, we recommend you take an assessment on the features and functionality you are using daily with your software vendor. Then determine if what you are paying is worth what you are getting. Are you wanting a fully-integrated system, or looking for assistance in one category?

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Finally, having a clear idea of the specifics you are looking for will help you determine exactly how much you should be spending. Doing a bit of research to speak the language of a service provider will immensely help you in the long run.

5. Lack of Return on Investment

When you invest your time and energy into something, you expect to gain something great in return, right? With construction management software, your investment should come with return proving great cost and time savings. If you feel like you are putting in more work than you should be or feel like you haven’t seen any outcome since choosing a software, it’s time to start looking elsewhere.

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Construction management software should mold to your business’s needs and help you capitalize on it. You do not want to invest in a system that is going to provide little increase for your business, or even worse…decrease. The best way to determine if you are getting your money’s worth is through an ROI calculator.

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Ready to Switch?

If reading through this post, you spotted at least one of these red flags, it’s probably time for a change. Keeping this list at the front of your mind will help you to identify those red flags before it's too late.

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How Flashtract Can Help You

Flashtract’s construction payment software is highly innovative and is always keeping up with industry trends.

Flashtract’s online construction payment management helps general contractors manage the payment application approval and billing process. Flashtract has also adopted the latest technology with electronic signatures allowing you to collect and execute important documents such as lien waivers directly from its platform while still complying with all signature requirements.

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Customer service is a top priority for us, and we value our customer’s opinions.

We keep an amicable relationship with all of our customers and make sure to regularly check-in to see how they are enjoying our construction payment management software. Their feedback is beneficial to us in understanding our consumer’s needs.

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When creating Flashtract’s construction payment software, our main goal was to increase efficiency for the construction business and create something simple to use for our consumers.To better understand the simplicity of Flashtract, we recommend requesting a demo.

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Affordability is one of Flashtract’s top priorities.

Because our construction project management software focuses mainly on billing and payment workflow automation, we believe this feature is beneficial to any construction company. We want for you to get the most out of our software and it to in turn, greatly benefit your business.

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For more information about Flashtract’s construction payment management software, or if you are considering making the switch, please schedule a demo or contact Sales@Flashtract.com.