Getting Field Crews to Use Contractor Software

As a subcontractor, the benefits of utilizing contractor software are easy to see. Your project managers have figured it out, and your office staff can’t thank you enough for the time saved on the paperwork. It’s allowed your business take leaps and bounds in operational efficiency, and you can be proud of how smoothly your office is running.

Unfortunately, in a lot of cases, even if the office is on-board with adopting contractor software, there’s a chance that your field crew might not. With TRUE, we made a concerted effort to make things as easy as possible for every member of your team. With things like straightforward layouts and customizable features, allow your team to get exactly the tools they need to streamline complicated workflows involved in daily operations of a construction firm

So how do you get your field crews to take a step back and see the bigger picture that contractor software can provide?

Make it a Simple

A lot of people make the mistake of over-complicating things. Some of the proposals we get for feature requests seem out-right crazy. Some people have the mentality that the more features crammed into a solution, the more useful it will be. While in some cases that maybe true, feature rich solutions can be exponentially more difficult to use. Keep everything simple and streamlined to keep your crew from questioning the solution or how to use it.

Remember, the point of implementing contractor software is to make things easier on your team, so you must make sure your crew understands that. Often times, people are just accustomed to the way they’ve always done things and may feel negatively about trying something new. Just be persistent and try your best to sell the benefits of using the new contractor software. If they understand how it works and the benefits they will see, the more likely they are to actually use it.

Provide the Equipment

Believe it or not, some people still don’t have a smartphone and have no interest in them. Getting these individuals to switch from using basic flip phones to buying expensive smartphones seems a bit unrealistic. However, there’s an easy way around having crews who don’t have iPhones or Droids to use software technology, supply them with company tablets. It might be a heavy initial investment, but it will help get your field crews accustom to using tech tools for reporting, labor tracking and other key data collection.

Be Supportive & Helpful

Don’t get distracted by your own work when your first introducing your guys to this new technology. Make sure you’re available to answer questions, as your crew starts using the system. Even if you have perfect app, people will still have questions. Better to be ready for them, and if possible provide your employees with a resource for them to brush up on how to use the app if necessary. For TRUE Users, we provide a tips and full help guides in our help center, as well as providing email and phone support.

Provide Helpful Resources

Again, even with the perfect solution, your team is bound to run into issues. Make sure that the software itself has your core users contact information in it, that way there’s no excuse for someone not having your number to let you know if they don’t understand something. Within TRUE, there is a Help icon that allows users to submit a help ticket directly from the system or navigate to the help center material for the module being used.