Behind the Curtain

Technology is a vital part of doing business today. It’s a must-have for estimating, bidding, payroll, and copious other business processes. But technology is complicated, acknowledges Steve Warfle, product manager for InSite SiteWork Earthwork and Utility Estimating Software. “There’s so much out there. Customers buy products every day [that] they fail with if they don’t have training.” That’s why he considers support and training as important as product development.

A lot of people in the construction industry are not tech savvy, notes Jeff Pankratz, vice president of client services for B2W. “As intuitive an application as it is, a lot of end users need hand holding.”

Support for Viewpoint Construction Software customers is available immediately upon signing, says Erich Litch, general manager in North America. “They have the ability during implementation to call the support desk or ask the implementation team. There are multiple options to get information and help.”

Training Before Support
There is a perception that if you buy a product, you’ll be productive, postulates Warfle. But productivity comes only from using it properly, which requires training and support. “It makes sense to have a structured process for training and support,” he says. That’s why every new InSite client gets an implementation package.

Beginner training starts with group instruction for one to four students that follows a standard script. The training is complemented by a full-color manual and support videos. Warfle says customers want to be able to solve problems and catch mistakes, and that they appreciate the self-help resources.

Implementation and training are necessary before support, insists Pankratz. But even before those two steps, he says the B2W team must go to the customer’s location to collect data to build a database. A series of online meetings follows. “We make sure the information about the client’s needs is organized, structured, and transferred to our team in order to meet our goal to build a fully functional data bank before we put the software in front of them.”

He explains that using a real database is “much more effective” for training. “It works best for a client to prepare by choosing a recently-bid project,” explains Pankratz. During training, the client “re-bids” the project. Results are later compared.

While B2W offers the option of sending trainers to the client site for two to three days per operation, others take a different approach. During implementation, InSite provides a mandatory training program for all employees consisting of four to five hours online with an instructor, explains Warfle. These classes are available every week, thanks to a full-time trainer.

InSite began using the virtual class two years ago. “We started with regional classes before that,” says Warfle, “but it was too expensive to travel.” Customers seem to appreciate the savings. He says there’s been “no pushback” regarding the required instructions and “our customers love the availability.”

It’s a good thing they do. Warfle recognizes that earthwork projects carry the risk of tens of thousands or even millions

of dollars. “There are financial risks in estimating,” he says. “They need a trained user. By making sure the customer goes through training, we can assure success.”

InSite even offers four additional classes designed to turn productive users into power users through cumulative training that incorporates advanced features intended to save time and add value.

HCSS takes a custom approach to training, states Chris Henry, vice president of technology. They begin with a pilot project to test integration and theories. “We look at their business processes and problems and discuss the best option with the client: online training, in person . . . Some companies come to Texas for planning. We may go onsite and follow up with online training as part of a hybrid plan. There are a lot of factors to consider, including the time of year; with estimating software, you have to move quickly.”

If the customer has time to plan, Henry says HCSS will work as far ahead as the customer wants. “We can pull the trigger within 16 days, contingent on their ability to come to Sugarland to do discovery.”

Classroom training includes all employees, but starts at the executive level. “We teach the senior leadership—the key positional roles,” says Henry. Next, they look for a “champion” who understands how it will work and fills in the gaps with all the other groups. If possible, they bring in field personnel—a supervisor or foreman who can add insight from the field. “We’re open to as many as want to come.”

Training is tailored to the customer at Spireon, too. While initial training varies, Taylor says the majority involves a live customer working with an account manager. Webex meetings and online tutorials are available for further information, and the client can call customer support if needed. “For bigger customers, we may do onsite training,” she adds. “Or, if it’s a large rollout of thousands of vehicles or [the customer] needs inte­gration help.”

One Ringy-Dingy
Training is a big deal, declares Warfle, but the product is only as good as the support for the end user. For that, he considers the phone the best tool.

InSite offers 24-hour tech support because, points out Warfle, “many construction companies work weekends and evenings.”

If they bid with time constraints, they need immediate help.

HCSS also offers 24/7 live support via phone, with the goal of resolving issues in one call. Henry believes that their 800 number encourages field personnel to call when issues arise, especially if they know they can quickly get a person live at any time of day or night.

“We answer within three rings with a live person in Texas,” he elaborates. Whoever answers the call owns the call. That means if the call has to be escalated to the developer, the person who took the call will continue to manage it until a solution is found; that person takesresponsibility for fixing the problem. “By having one person carry the call, there’s no need to re-explain the issue to the next person. It’s a team effort. Our company’s goal is to have a live person pick up the phone. Even the CEO takes calls; his cell number is on his cards.”

Picking up the phone quickly is important. Having the right people picking up the phone is also important in reducing customer frustration. Customer service is not outsourced at Viewpoint. Between the hours of 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. Eastern, Monday through Friday, highly trainedpersonnel with accounting backgrounds answer the phones. If they can’t solve the issue, they use intelligent call routing to send it to staff who can address the issue.

If calls to the support desk are outside those hours, customers are directed to a website portal to seek help. If they can’t find the answer there, they can log a case and receive a return call Monday morning.

B2W customers like to talk to a live person—and they don’t want to wait. Hold time is under one minute on the toll-free line from 7:30 a.m. through 6 p.m. Eastern time. After-hours emergency support is available by calling a pager.

They also like the personal touch—and they get it, acknowledges Pankratz. He says the approximately 5,000 who call regularly recognize staff by voice. Support staff don’t read from a script. “Our industry doesn’t lend itself to that,” he says. Instead, they respond to calls that are not always tech issues. “Sometimes there are environmental issues—something beyond our software, like problems with their IT, or someone tripped over a power cord. It pushes the line of support, but we try to help if we can. We are a service company that happens to sell software.”

Beyond the Phone
The phone is just one method of providing support. Spireon conducts what Taylor calls a “multi-channel customer conversation” that includes phone, e-mail, text, live online chats to answer questions, social media for “pushing out information on new products, launches of features, and news,” YouTube channel tutorials, and white papers that create a library of online tools.

“Customer support is more than answering questions and fixing problems,” says Taylor. “It’s about education.

Everything we put out is for education so people can use [the software] fully to get a good ROI and satisfaction.” She says the line between training and technical support personnel is blurred.

Different forms of support match the level of urgency or complexity of the problem. For example, Henry explains that e-mail and live chat work best for customers who are not in a rush or who don’t have a major issue. “If there’s no urgency to call but they want a resolution, thatcan be a good way to get information.” At the other end of the spectrum, customers with complicated problems may get better, faster results by granting remote access to the support staff.

Online chats often take longer, notes Litch, so they’re not good for complicated questions. “The customer is looking for the quickest, most efficient way to get a problem resolved. Sometimes that means a phone call; sometimes it’s quicker to access the knowledge base. It all dependson the issue.”

The Viewpoint Learning Center is a portal where customers can access tutorial videos, webinars, and “thousands of answers and articles.” Content is added daily. “Customers who use the Learning Center have fewer problems,” reports Litch.

That reflects a trend for customers to help themselves. “The user base is moving into different areas of self-help,” says Henry. Videos are referenced for practice. Blogs are read for helpful hints. InSite sends newsletters with tips and examples.

B2W responds to e-mails by sending links to relevant articles. “Our goal is to understand common questions and address them with videos and self-service so we devote less manpower,” says Pankratz.

Additional support offered by InSite includes job reviews. “Customers send us their job bids to review,” explains Warfle. “It teaches with their own example.” He considers it an important part of the implementation process.

InSite does not currently offer user conferences. “People don’t want to come to New York in the winter,” speculates Warfle. Instead, employees attend trade shows to get direct feedback and field questions from users.

HCSS takes a different approach, hosting an annual user’s conference that includes training classes. “There’s a town hall meeting for each piece of software, where everyone votes on proposed changes for 20 years,” says Henry. “It helps shape the software. We build the software around what the industry needs. We get it 99% of the way there, but customers add the last step.”

Instead of user conferences, Spireon created an advisory council in 2015. At their first meeting, scheduled later this year, they will bring customers in to talk to sales and service team. “We’ll use the council to refine and develop new products,” explains Taylor. It’s expected to give the product management team a chance to visit and work with customers to determine their requirements. It will also give Taylor an opportunity to find out what’s happening in the industry: trends, growth, etc. She can then pass along that information to the developers.

While Spireon tries to connect to their customers by using the advisory council, Viewpoint relies on a large annual user conference to get their finger on the pulse of the industry. “It’s well-attended by customers, industry analysts, media, and our partners,” says Litch. Sessions on industry topics are available, with some of the content delivered by support techs.

Added Support for Rollouts and Updates
As technology develops and software updates are rolled out, customers need additional assistance, training, and support. B2W releases a number of updates three times a year per application. For major updates, Pankratz says they stage the rollout so customers aren’t bombarded with a lot of changes all at once. Nevertheless, he recognizes that changes can cause confusion, so a new feature is an online system to walk customers through the changes. A supplemental option consists of a training package for updates, with a trainer in the office for one day.

Viewpoint releases new features every 10–20 weeks. Updates are communicated in advance, says Litch. “We publish documentation on changes with the release that include notes on changes and issues and instructions.”

A series of webinars provides additional help and allows interaction. “We try to make the software intuitive, but we realize some customers need extra help,” says Litch. “It’s important to think about the consumer experience in our business lives.” He says that influences how they work to make life easier for customers.

HCSS flashes alerts to upcoming changes on their main estimating web page. Customers can then watch what’s new on video or read an article about it, says Henry. He believes the “software is simple enough to do on their own,” but says they can call support with questions.

InSite customers pay an annual fee for a maintenance program that includes all product upgrades so they get the latest versions as they are released. When those are introduced, says Warfle, instructional DVDs are sent out.

Sometimes the need springs from a new hire rather than a software upgrade. Viewpoint trains new hires at no charge. They also perform business processes reviews, in which they go onsite to see how the customer uses the software to see if they’re getting the most value from it. “It’s a one-time situation for some customers,” says Litch, “and an ongoing need for others.”

Support the Supporters
Tech companies recognize that the need for support isn’t restricted to end users. Sometimes the people providing support can use a little of it themselves. HCSS understands that providing support to companies with multi-million dollar projects on tight deadlines—customers who need instant support when bidding jobs—can be stressful. That’s why they built a game room to give the support people a place to de-stress so they can provide the best service possible.

B2W supports staff by making sure information is available and searchable so they can find answers for their clients. “We keep client-facing people educated about applications and new features,” says Pankratz. Other aspects of their product readiness involve focus groups, personal meetings, and breakout sessions on new features. “We assign topics to reps that they present to the team.” Imparting a sense of ownership encourages employees to put in more effort, he says.

Sharing information through the Viewpoint Learning Center is one way to support the staff, says Litch. Ongoing training for customer support staff is another.

Measuring Success
HCSS is passionate about support. “It’s been part of the organization since the beginning,” says Henry. “Our CEO meets every customer who visits the office.”

Similarly, Taylor says Spireon’s organizational chart puts the customer at the top and the CEO at the bottom. “It’s an indication of how we think of the customer,” she says, “and how we align our priorities.”

Their priority is service, as indicated by their 99.9% uptime guarantee. “We report uptime monthly,” continues Taylor. “If the system is not up, we give credits back to the customer.” They also listen to the customer. “For everyone who calls in, we do a survey to measure customer service.”

Viewpoint also surveys every customer after every call. “We strive to make it a good experience,” says Litch. “Feedback has been positive. The number one thing we hear is that they want a faster response.”

Software should be intuitive, easy to use and beneficial to the customer. “It should be hard on us and easy on the customer,” concludes Henry. When it’s not, customer support should be available, reliable, and fast.

Standardizing Information
Chris Henry says that HCSS will export to all third-party systems willing to accept data at no charge. Ensuring that data is stored and retrievable in the same format, and imported in the same layout, is the purpose of the application program interface (API) standard developed by AEM-AEMP.

John Somers, director of product management construction with the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM), explains the need for an API standard: “If a manufacturer has a telematics solution, data goes into a cloud. The contractor must go to the manufacturer’s website—a different website for each different brand—to retrieve it. It’s hard to consolidate on one spreadsheet because of different formats.”

It’s all about efficiency and increased uptime. “Previously, if you had equipment scattered over a 2-mile highway project, you had to send someone to check fuel levels,” explains Somers. “Now you can look at a spreadsheet to see who needs fuel.”

However, he estimates that 80% are not looking at the information because it’s a hassle. There are three steps of dealing with data: collect information, put it into a program, and analyze it. “If you’re struggling with the first step, you won’t analyze anything,” states Somers. “If it takes a half-hour to look up the information [in different formats] versus 15 minutes to send a truck, it’s not efficient. They’re not acting on it because it’s more trouble than it’s worth.”

AEM developed a standard to bring manufacturers together in order to simplify that process for the end users. AEM assisted manufacturers with awareness of the issue, providing insight into what end users want. “Our role was to get the manufacturers to agree to put data into a common form,” says Somers.

The new standard defines how data is reconfigured on the server so it’s easy to obtain the right information automatically. For example, runtime hours are defined the same way and go into the same box across all manufacturers.

The first version of the standard, created in 2010, featured five to seven data fields. The latest version has 19 data fields. Some are optional, explains Somers, because not every field is applicable to all machines.

Despite such progress, he says the plan is to evolve, add, and refine. “We’re getting more equipment listed, such as electric scissor lifts and more earthmoving equipment.” They’re also getting smaller manufacturers that didn’t have onboard telematics systems on board now that there’s a national standard.