Keeping a close eye on nationwide projects can be daunting as your business grows and employs more staff. Here’s how our client Lane Roofing achieved improved real-time understanding of their projects, increased efficiencies and a more creative team approach to project management.
Gary Lane and Emma Hunter, Lane Roofing
The Problem
We always like to start by delving into a client’s current accounting and client management practices, so that we can make sure we offer the perfect solution that grows with the businesses we work with. Armed with this in mind David Oliver, Solutions Expert here at Valued met Emma Hunter, Project Manager, of Lane Roofing to establish a brief and offer his expert advice.
Our Brief
“As part of our ongoing development to increase efficiency, support digital working and enhance our client experience, we looked to make changes in a number of areas. This included introducing project management software that would directly connect key aspects of our business (Sales, Contracts, Accounts), support greater digitisation and remote working, be scale-able and tailorable to our bespoke business needs, and simple enough to keep administration to a minimum – enabling us to maximise client care. Maintaining direction and control over this was critical as we expand both Roofing and Contracting streams. Strengthening real-time management and analysis of projects, improving communications, and empowering the team to work smarter, faster and more flexibly across all areas was key.”
~ Gary Lane, Managing Director, Lane Roofing Contractors Limited.
We had several areas we needed to address in their existing software solutions;
- A system update that could be accessed securely anywhere at any time by multiple members of staff
- Integrating software that allowed for efficient automation that worked towards key project management goals
- Improving reporting for key project management purposes and overall business discussions
- Allowance for business growth, team integration and moving towards increasing Making Tax Digital practices
The Process
We knew that our project would need to transition seamlessly to provide maximum benefit and that we would need to tailor the software to meet their exacting needs.
Incidentally, the company had already established that they would like to handle the project internally so that they could plan and train as they went. We call it “Guided Implementation” here at Valued and offer it where an accounting and sales team is on-site to manage the process with our training and guidance.
It was incredibly important that we chose a path of software solutions integration that transitioned the team from their current practices in a way that did not interrupt client projects and allowed the space for staff training. In dealing with an already large business, with multiple service offers, we planned out the implementation process to create exactly what they needed in a forward-looking technology.
“We chose to project manage the transition internally in order to tailor software to our specific needs, so it was really important to find a partner who could support this technically and guide us through the live transition phase. In honesty, this service was hard to find. But having been referred to Valued by Xero, and describing our needs to David, he was able to suggest a ‘Guided Implementation’ package that could be tailored to us. This meant we could seek support in the areas we found challenging, ask questions where we were unsure, and forge ahead in areas we felt confident. At live transition, it was critical to have this support in place to ensure business continuity, and despite a very full workload, David was always available to assist, even when unscheduled. Hard work on our part and effective support from Valued meant we completed transition smoothly and launched the software with a solid platform to take this new business phase forward successfully.”
~ Gary Lane, Managing Director, Lane Roofing Contractors Limited.
Guided Implementation can be challenging unless you set up your programme of work ahead of time. We start with looking at the customer journey through the service provision process: quote to delivery. This helps us establish which key software will complement the Xero accounting base we help you implement, as well as which tools will help gain you both new efficiencies and key reporting.
Once we have the software package outlined, we can then create our critical path with the client, making sure to map out key events, like data transfers and the start of new team workflows. This enables integration that harmoniously transitions your team’s workload from older practices to new and improved, more efficient workflows. Your team feels more confident as a result, which is paramount if they are to handle important aspects of the implementation themselves.
The Solution
In this specific case, WorkflowMax was the most obvious solution, as it handles every aspect of lead and job management, job costing, quoting, invoicing and time tracking. It is simple to use and has some fantastic project management features that allow for real-time reporting. This would be crucial to a growing nationwide business, in charge of several tendered projects at a time.
“WorkflowMax, in combination with Xero and other business initiatives, has strengthened our real-time understanding of projects, empowered us to improve efficiency in our working processes and identify areas for further improvement. Information is more readily available, communications are more timely, and we’re better able to analyse our performance to support business growth and service delivery. It’s helped to create a strong platform for continued digitisation and has energised the team to bring forward new ideas and solutions across the business as a whole. Always moving forward, WorkflowMax and Valued Academy have made a very positive and timely contribution to our business journey.”
~ Gary Lane, Managing Director, Lane Roofing Contractors Limited.
On average we would expect efficiencies for Lane Roofing to improve by up to 30%, allowing the team more time to service existing clients and generate new ones. We would also expect an increase in profitability, with close project management reports highlighting where costs and quotes may need adjusting. More importantly in board meetings, Gary and his team can clearly see where project timelines and job progressions are, without having to be on the ground at all times.
We wish Gary, Emma and the team at Lane Roofing all the very best of success with their future growth.
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