How many times have you heard it? “Our estimating software is slow, but we’ll get around to looking at alternatives next year.” Or maybe, “We really need to update the way that we estimate, but we’re just so busy and it’s good enough for now.” Whatever your specific challenge might be—lack of standard ways to estimate, clunky technology, no more updates for the software you’re using—there’s always just as many excuses for not sitting down to try and find a better estimating program.
Why is that the case? Well, there are several reasons we’ve run across in our conversations with estimating professionals. One of the biggest is that it can honestly be very difficult to move from something that you’re incredibly familiar with to something requiring a learning curve, even if it does promise a lot more benefits than your current setup. The second one, of course, is price. Although you can certainly negotiate a deal, it’s still going to be a significant investment, especially if your previous estimating efforts looked mostly like rows and rows of Excel sheets.
But the last and perhaps most common is that “we just don’t have enough time.” Now, there are a lot of people out there who might try to say otherwise. They might say, “No, it doesn’t take that much time, it’ll go by way faster than you think.” The hard reality, though, is that this just isn’t true. When someone says that they’re worried that updating their estimating software will take a lot of time, our response is: you’re absolutely right. It WILL take a lot of time! From the moment you begin evaluating software to the time you finally choose one and start implementation, it’s all going to take a significant amount of investment and resources. So, the question isn’t do you have enough time—instead, it should be, will that time spent on updating our software be worth it?
We genuinely believe that it will be. Of course, we’re definitely very biased, so don’t take our word alone for it. In a webinar interview, Curt Kluznik of our client Life Time Construction had this to say: “I think any time you try to implement a new program, it’s going to take you longer than you think . . . but I think once you get down that road, everyone is going to be pleasantly surprised with the results, you know, it’s all part of the journey.”
So the next time you hear (or maybe even say!) the excuse that you just don’t have enough time, or that you just need to wait until the next quarter, we’d like you to consider these three things.
1. It will never be the “right” time—you just have to do it
Much like starting a family, finishing college, or buying a house, although it’s important to be prepared and do your research before you make a big software decision, at some point, you’re just going to have to take action instead of sitting around talking about it.
If you’re already talking about investing in new software, that’s one great sign that you’re probably ready to schedule demos with some vendors. But other signs that you can look out for include spending too much time fixing mistakes with your current process, not being able to collaborate or pull in other estimators for help on a project due to vastly different estimating styles, or not being able to track data throughout the entire lifecycle of a project. While some of these might seem more like minor annoyances than life-or-death situations, it’s important to remember that what only seems frustrating today could result in losing a project tomorrow, especially if your competitors are staying on top of current trends and you’re not.
2. Select a group to schedule demos and compare different software.
Especially if you have a large team or multiple offices, this step is key to moving past the “we just don’t have time” obstacle. Choose estimators who you know are passionate about innovation and new technology and task them with the specifics: narrowing down those absolute must-have features, figuring out what you can live without, and most importantly, setting up demos for hands-on interaction with the estimating programs that resonate the most with your needs as a team.
Putting the responsibility of vetting and comparing vendors onto a select group helps create better accountability and means that you’ll be one step closer to adopting a new estimating system.
Click here to download our software evaluation checklist.
3.Talk to your peers who have gone through this process.
Finally, don’t be afraid to reach out to those who have already been in the same situation. Also, tap the vendor you’re working with to see if they can send you any clients who have some particularly great advice. Often, it may not even be that it’s the advice you need, but the encouragement from seeing those who have already walked this path and come out on the other side even more successful than before.
Click here to check out these DESTINI Estimator case studies.
If you think you’re ready to stop just thinking about updating your estimating software and pull the trigger on, go ahead, and schedule a demo with us today.
