Building Partnerships for Long-Term Success
How good communication, shared values, and common goals can make a meaningful impact on a contractor’s bottomline. Choosing a technology partner that understands your needs can provide long-term solutions for your business.
How do contractors choose the right solution partner to meet their needs? Partnership is defined as a relationship between individuals or groups that is characterized by mutual cooperation and responsibility for the achievement of a specified goal. When a contractor is looking for new technology, do they base their purchase simply on price and features alone or the set of values behind the provider? Everyone is looking for the best price and the most features, but not all providers have a set of values that are engineered to work toward a common goal with a client.
What makes a good technology provider? Providers of solutions need to be progressive. Contractors get better return on investment from partners who are flexible and can adapt to changing trends in the industry; adopting technologies that can help make their customer’s life easier. In any relationship, communication is key. Whether it is calling for the ball in the outfield with your baseball team or discussing vacation plans with your significant other, the need for a clear line of communication between the two parties is paramount. Without communication, relationships and partnerships break down and fail.
Explorer listens. Last year, Explorer Software Group, www.explorer-software.com, West Vancouver, B.C., held an exclusive meeting for a select group of clients called the Meeting of the Minds. The Meeting of the Minds was a focal point in the development of the latest release of Explorer’s flagship product, Contract Manager Version 7. It provided the opportunity for clients and key Explorer personnel to share ideas face-to-face, to network, and to collaborate on software enhancements that would address clients’ evolving business needs.
Andrew Wood, vice president of finance and administration and CFO, J. Fletcher Creamer & Son Inc., www.jfcson.com, Hackensack, N.J., says, “Running a successful business requires great listening skills and the ability to bring solutions to the clients’ world. I was thrilled to see Explorer Software organize the ‘Meeting of the Minds’ conference to listen to their clients in an open and non-technical environment (no IT staffers were invited). The meeting to discuss practical business process requirements without the constraints of programmers and IT staffers was very refreshing and productive. Explorer obviously gets it … to provide the best software solution available, their software must be driven from the end-user, not the programmer.” Suggestions from the meeting resulted in an enhancement list that was compiled in detail for all attendees. Priorities were placed on items and virtually all of the suggested enhancements from the Meeting of the Minds conference were included in the development plans for Version 7.
Meeting of the Minds was part of a parallel development strategy. As a technology provider, the goal is to stay abreast of technological innovation and marry it with the requirements of the industry. As the industry shifts toward browser-based and mobile solutions, software providers must adapt to change in order to stay relevant. Jim McFarlane, president and CEO, Explorer Software, embraces new technology and the change it brings. “Technology is here to make our lives easier and more efficient. Explorer has been actively searching for new solutions to help our clients get maximum return on their bottomline. Change in technology is something that has to be embraced in order to get the new do-better and go-fasters in software.” At Meeting of the Minds, clients were introduced to some of the new features, ideas, and functionality in Version 7. Needless to say, all were well received. At the end of the three days, Explorer, Version 7, and clients were moving forward, together.
The partnership didn’t end there. Testing and quality assurance are tremendous responsibilities for software vendors. Shortly after the initial Version 7 development was completed, the product went to the alpha and beta testing phases. Beginning with Explorer’s own internal accounting staff, the product was tested and put into action. From there, a few select clients were chosen to beta test the product within their production environments. This provided real-life testing and analysis based on feedback from actual end-users. The final product—feature-rich software that has multiple new enhancements from the previous version—was developed together by Explorer and its clients.
Explorer clients buy into maximizing their profit and their future when they select Explorer. Software investments of this magnitude require confidence that your partner will not just survive, but continue to grow and improve. Explorer has a clear road map to the company’s direction for the next 10 years, and the expertise to execute the road map. Explorer has taken a different approach to recruitment over the past 24 months. Despite the economic slowdown, Explorer Software has been actively recruiting top talent in a number of key areas.
“We see this as an opportunity. Our industry is highly specialized and individuals with this wealth of knowledge are simply not available in good times,” explains Shelley Hoffman, managing director of North America, Explorer Software. Hoffman is confident that by recruiting top talent, Explorer will be well positioned for success in the years to come. Understanding the market and dynamics of today, Explorer forms partnerships with all its clients to work toward bigger, more complete software solutions for the user. Good partnerships stem from good communication, shared values, and common goals.
Explorer Software Group
1868 Marine Dr., Suite 202
West Vancouver, B.C., V7V 1J6
+1 800.665.8966
sales@explorer-software.com
www.explorer-software.com
Explorer Software Group is the leading provider of enterprise software solutions for the construction industry.