Because Beck Technology is a software vendor, and you landed here because (hopefully) you are looking for a solution to your construction estimating and preconstruction problems, we are focusing on the relationship between software vendor and general contractor in this article.
"Does cultural fit matter in a strategic buyer-supplier relationship? The answer is yes." - Kate Vitasek
How many times have you invested in something—whether it be large or small, business, or personal—and have that the product or service fail?
Think back to one of those times…
Did you address the failure to the company that provided the good or service? How did they handle it?
Some companies are excellent at responding to issues, doing what they can to help you resolve it. Others might offer a return or exchange (sometimes with fees), and some will just flat-out ghost you. After your experience, what action did you take in the future? For those companies who offered no help or support, you probably stopped using the product or service and never ordered from them again, right?
You want to spend your hard-earned money, whether it’s a few bucks or hundreds of thousands, with a company that recognizes the importance of you getting value out of the product or service that you purchased. If they don’t, then clearly, that provider doesn’t align with what you value. And we’re guessing from there on out, you no longer have any trust in that company.
A successful buyer-supplier relationship is based much more on reliable products. Cultural alignment between you and your vendor has proven to matter rather or not you are successful with the outcomes of the product or service you purchased.
Kate Vitasek, an award-winning researcher on collaborative business relationships and faculty member at the University of Tennessee, points out how traditionally, the buyer-supplier relationship is already at odds with each other before meeting at the table. Purchasing departments are often praised for saving the company money, while sales executives are financially rewarded for selling more. But, Kaite says, both parties have a “vested interest” in the deal. The buyer has a problem, and the vendor or supplier has the solution. Instead of focusing on price points, both parties need to focus on what matters—the outcomes.
Kate writes in Forbes, “Perhaps one of the biggest trust-related issues influencing successful business partnerships is when the partners are truly focused on achieving a win-win outcome. Ideally, partners should be using a “vested” partnership model, where both parties are invested in their partner’s success — not just their own.”
In research funded by the United States Airforce to find how to procure services better and more efficiently and effectively, the University of Tennessee found that many buyers attributed success due to “cultural fit.”
1E, a software for IT teams, found that in the U.S., companies wasted $30 billion on software that wasn’t being used in the four-year period of the study. And why is that? One of the primary reasons why so much software goes to waste is because of the lack of alignment and communication between internal teams. However, miscommunication—and the bigger culprit, misalignment—between buyer and vendor also plays a big part.
"Less than Half of Company SaaS Applications Are Regularly Used by Employees"Your collaborations reflect as an extension of your business, so aligning your company culture with that of your vendor is important. Not only to protect your reputation, but also, aligning with your vendor avoids conflict and will better help you achieve your goals.
What Does Cultural Fit Mean?
Company culture is the shared values, mission, practices and rituals, attitudes, and processes that drive your company’s operation. Culture fit refers to how compatible your company culture is with your vendor’s company culture.
You can discover a company’s culture by researching or asking them their mission, vision, diversity and inclusion program, sustainability, and/or social responsibility. A good vendor fit will:
- Listen to you.
- Has integrity.
- Focus on your success.
- Understand your vision for the future.
“Creating these win-win situations focuses on creating mutual gains that create value for both parties.”
Beck Technology’s mission is to revolutionize the industry...create the future. We do that through embracing our three core values of passion, innovation, and caring. We are passionate about making the world a better place through the built environment, our innovation comes from developing revolutionary technology that helps precon teams make better, more informed decisions, and we care about the people who work for Beck Tech, the people who we work for, and about those who are impacted by construction—which is, well…everybody.
Our process is a little bit different. It all starts with fit.
Full disclosure: our software isn’t right for all GCs. Because we don’t want to waste your time sitting through a demo for a product that won't be good for your business, we want to make sure our software is a possible perfect solution for your specific needs and challenges. The conversation starts with a phone call. We’ll ask you what your current issues are, what you are trying to solve, and we’ll learn a little bit more about your process.
Once we both agree that the product could work for you, we’ll schedule a demo. After the demo, you can choose to do a deep dive exploration. During this phase of your software evaluation, you will learn that DESTINI Estimator estimating software and DESTINI Bid Day bid leveling software have all the bells and whistles, which you’ll have the opportunity to explore. Plus, we’ll also show you more about how Beck Tech rolls and what sets us apart from other software vendors.
Like how we make ourselves available to answer questions, welcome feedback, and even work with you as you create efficient estimating workflows. Jacob Keith, Director of Preconstruction at Layton Construction says, “I think we felt like they were real people that we could work with and reach out to, rather than some massive organization that may or may not listen to what we have to say.”
Brian Marks, a Senior estimator at Korte agrees: “We had a high comfort level with the fact that Beck Technology provides a collaborative approach to building our custom database, as opposed to trying to shoehorn in someone else’s. If we’d had time-and-materials support from another provider, costs could easily have gotten way out of control.”
We Guide You Through Implementation
If you choose us (and we really hope you do), we will walk you through every step of the implementation process. In fact, our approach to it was a deciding factor for some of our users. Sam Lawrence, Vice President of Preconstruction at Findorff says, “Beck Technology was willing to invest the time in us, and since then, the implementation of DESTINI Estimator has been awesome. Previously, we had implemented estimating software, and we had to do it on our own, and it was really hard. It took a long time. But to have [Beck Technology’s] team there pulling us through was really great.”
It's important to get implementation right. That’s why with Beck Technology, we work collaboratively with you to make sure the product is set up for your workflows. And training starts during implementation, so you and your team will already have some basic understanding of how the DESTINI suite of products work once you are ready to roll it out.
Continuous Feedback
We think collaboration is key to a successful business partnership; however, connection is what elevates that relationship.
Beck Technology has a 3, 5, and 10-year plan as a company and we would like to know yours so we can continue to provide the solution that works for your precon team and how your company plans to grow.
Our Customer Success team provides a regular cadence to connect with you to make sure you are getting the most out of your software investment with us. Chris Reeder, Preconstruction Manager at Brasfield & Gorrie says, “Beck Technology is like a breath of fresh air because it is a reputable company with a fantastic team. We’re not just a number. We’re not just a ticket. We talk to the people who actually do the work and develop the product.”
Click here to visit the Beck Technology Community!
Not every software vendor is devoted to improving the construction industry but also making the world a better place, knowing that precon has some of the highest impacts on the built environment. With Beck Technology, you can be confident that you are partnering with a software vendor who has you and the industry as priorities.
Ted Zimmerhanzel, Director of Preconstruction at Guido Construction says, “I would say what stands you all apart is the openness for new ideas from your users, you all are very collaborative when it comes to helping your clients find solutions and your customer service has been excellent.”
To read more about Beck Technology’s culture and what other customers are saying about us, read the following blog posts:
- The Top 3 Things You Want in a Software Vendor
- Why Customer Success is so Valuable to Our Customers and to Beck Technology
- Don't Get Ghosted by Your Software Vendor
- How to Improve Your Preconstruction Process—Balfour Beatty Case Study
- Team Estimating Wins Over H.J. Russell—A DESTINI Estimator Case Study
- DESTINI Estimator is the Right Tools for Winter Construction
We asked our internal team and our clients for their favorite song, and we’ve curated this special playlist in appreciation of you!
