1. Growth Strategies for
Professional Contractors
Using technology to Drive Growth
and profit
Presented by Rob Johnson
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2. Who Is Sage?
Sage is the business management
software company truly focused on the
needs, challenges, and dreams of
small and medium-sized companies.
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3. Key Industries Sage Serves
In North America
Construction Non-Profit Healthcare
Manufacturing Distribution Real Estate
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4. The ‘downturn’ impacts business
Impact on Revenue Impact on Cost
• Fewer jobs to bid • AR gets stretched
• Lower margins on jobs • Bad debt goes up
• Increased competition • Cost of Sales go up
• Customers go under • Inventory turns go down
• Or, seek cheaper • Inventory write-offs go up
alternatives • Equipment sits idle
• Or, Defer work • Employee morale goes
down
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5. How can technology drive
growth & profitability?

6. So what, and who cares?
Profits
How can
technology
improve my
business
performance? Costs
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7. McKinsey:
The Impact of a 1% Improvement
12.00%
10.00%
8.00%
6.00%
4.00%
2.00%
0.00%
Fixed Costs Variable costs Volume Price
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8. How can technology help my business?
Operations
• Removes redundant data
entry
• Shortens the timeframe to turn
data into useful information for
management.
• Reduces printing time and
costs
• Improves workflow velocity
• Minimizes mistakes
• Improves employee
productivity, performance, and
job satisfaction
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9. How can technology help my business?
People
• Employees are more
productive and profitable.
• Higher job satisfaction
reduces turnover.
• Tech driven innovation lowers
accident rate.
• Fewer ‘human error’ mistakes
• Allows more ‘effective time’,
as apposed to ‘non-effective
time’
• HR & compliance issues
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10. How can technology help my business?
Money
• Greater visibility into cash flow
• Better risk management
• Bonding
• Process payables faster
• Shorten time to bill and get
paid
• Growth in revenue without
growing cost
• Manage costs better
• Easier to analyze job
performance
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11. How can technology help my business?
Marketing
• Provide better image of
organization
• Better communication with
customers
• Execute marketing campaigns
• Develop new markets
• Reach more targeted
customers
• Better analyze efficiency and
effectiveness of marketing
activities
• Improve visibility into
customer
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12. How can technology help my business?
Sales
• Win more work
• Win better work
• Improve personal productivity
of estimators/salespeople
• Develop consistent processes
across organization
• Forecast potential & backlog
opportunities
• Win/Loss Scorecard analysis
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13. How can technology help my business?
Customers
• Communicate more effectively
• Make it easier for them to do
business with you
• Improve reaction times to
client issues
• Standardize customer
interaction processes
• Centralize all customer
contacts into a central location
• Classify, profile and analyze
customers
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14. How can technology help my business?
Leadership & Management
• Standardize aligned goals
• Reporting ‘best in class’ metrics
• Company identified ‘goal
metrics’
• Improved ability to
communicate strategy
• Better use of company
resources
• Better decision making;
• More efficient use of time by
making facilities available for
longer working hours
• Allows for office
decentralization so as to reduce
rental costs.
Journal of Construction Research, Vol. 6, No. 1 (2005) 1{13 c World Scientic Publishing Company IS IT TRAINING
IN CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY USEFUL?
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15. Famous quote
“Adversity is a fact of life.
It can't be controlled.
What we can control is
how we respond to it.”
Author Unknown
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16. You have a choice
OR
• Hunker down • Look for new markets &
• Shed costs opportunities
• Don’t spend a dime • Buy marketshare
• Ride it out • Go on a corporate diet
• Hope for a miracle • Upgrade tech
• Prepare for the upturn
• Sharpen the saw
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17. Five Things you can do
1. Perform an technology audit
2. Implement a paperless
environment
3. Apply technology to strategy
4. Get Mobile
5. Ramp up Business
Development
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18. Perform a Technology Audit
1. Do people actually use the information?
2. Where are the redundant data
processes?
3. Is everyone in the organization properly
trained?
4. What productivity tools could be
implemented?
5. Where can we use technology to
innovate – and create differentiation?
6. How do we improve our customer
connection?
7. How do we reduce drag in operations?
8. How do we improve our ‘time to
decision?’
9. How do we reduce risk?
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19. 1 Technology Audit - ROI
Get more value out of
your current IT
investment
Improve your
employee performance
Improve
competitiveness of the
organization
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20. Implement a Paperless Environment
• Automate your Invoice processing
• Implement Document Imaging
• On-screen take-off
• Electronic RFI’s, RFP’s, P.O.’s, etc
• Electronic data warehousing
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21. 2 Paperless Invoice Processing
Your Business
Rules
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22. 2 Paperless –Return on Investment
 Improves operational velocity
 Improves A/P approval turn-around
time
 Bill customers sooner
 Approvers save time and gain control
 Easier audits
 No lost or mis-filed invoices
 No photocopying
 No overnight shipping
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23. Strategy Execution
“Knowing how to plan and
execute, while overcoming
‘today’s surprises,’ is the
most foundational
capability any organization
can have.”
- Gary Harpst
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24. 3 VI.
STEP
BACK
I.
DECIDE
WHAT’S
IMPORTANT
Learn Strategy
V. II.
INNOVATE SET GOALS
PURPOSEFULLY THAT LEAD
Innovate Plan
IV. III.
WORK ALIGN
THE PLAN SYSTEMS
Execute Organize
Six Disciplines
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25. 3
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26. 3 The Problem with Strategy Execution
You consider your health issues and you determine that
doing nothing could result in the following;
• Lack of energy
• Poor Self-esteem
• Fear of High School reunions
• Possible health complications
You’re this one
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27. 3 You buy a treadmill
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28. 3 What Happens Next? Not Much
Actually, there is no R in the Return on
Investment in technology if you don’t
actually use it.
"A half-baked strategy well
executed will be superior to that
marvelous strategy that isn't
executed very well."
--Allan Gilmour, vice chairman,
Ford Motor Co.
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29. Etrak 700 series treadmill horizon - $800
(readville)
Date: 2009-03-04, 3:57PM EST
etrak 700 series horizon bearly used
like new $800 cash only we are
moving and dont have the room to
expensive to give/through away
great investment for someone who
cant get out to exsersize 1000-1200
at dicks sportung goods
again great condition never had a
problem have more pics if need be
10 incline 10 speed awesome
workout mp3 / ipod ready built in
speakers
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30. NordicTrack E3800 Treadmill - $900
(Tyngsboro)
Date: 2009-03-03, 2:10PM EST
Gym Quality treadmill,
Computerized Workouts, Pulse
Sensor, Aromatherapy Bottle
Holder, Water Bottle Holder,
Book Holder, Fan, Key/Clip,
Calorie Counter, Distance
Display, Speed, Grade %
Time/Pace, And much more,
Like New. Hardly Used
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31. 3 Six Disciplines Program Components
1. Repeatable Methodology
2. Accountability Coaching
3. Systems/technology
4. Shared Learning
Repeatable Accountability Execution Shared
Methodology Coaching System Learning
Six Disciplines
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32. Go mobile
 Direct field access to update
information, approve invoices,
bill customers, streamlines
processes
 Facilitate Customer Self-service
reduces costs
 GPS improves fleet
management
 Handheld access for job and
time costing reduces errors &
saves time.
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33. 4 Mobility applied in construction
o Capture field notes on electronic floor plans and distribute
the information in real-time to all involved
Project
Management o Streamline work list, punch list and other field processes to
increase productivity and enhance work quality
o Enables effective and continual communication among
owners, contractors, and architects, crucial to complete
projects on time and within budget
Collaboration
o Problems that took days and weeks to resolve now are
cleared up within minutes
Supply o Monitor construction materials continuously to prevent
Management supply shortages and associated project delays
o Reduce litigation risk through standardized documentation
Risk including field reports, safety inspections, work lists, punch
Management lists, schedule updates and many other critical field
activities
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34. Ramp up business development
• Get a CRM system
– Automate your marketing programs
– Improve your sales effectiveness
– Reduce ‘time to close’
– Reduce errors
– Track customers information
• Get all over the WEB
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35. 5
•
Develop a niche’
Focus your greatest
strengths on your highest
potential opportunities
• Define and blueprint your
‘ideal customer’
– Demographic
– Geographic
– Psychographic
SIC Annual Geographic Construction Ownership Associations CPA
Code Revenue footprint type Group Firm
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36. 5
•
Improve your visibility
Create an outreach
program.
• Develop a in-reach
program. Get your website noticed
• Expand your web – Website Grader:
presence. www.websitegrader.com
– SEO - Duct Tape Marketing
Local Profile
www.ducttapemarketing.co
m
Give them a reason to come back
– RSS feeds
– Zift Solutions:
www.ziftsolutions.com
– Blogs: www.technorati.com
Create online networking
community
www.linkedin.com
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37. Final Thought
• Technology is a lot like a treadmill. Huge ROI
potential, but you actually have to use it.
• Invest in an Technology Audit
• Focus on improving what you already own.
• Invest in strategy execution
• Ramp up business development
• Look for additional technology that will support your
strategy, and you’ll implement.
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38. Next Steps
• To get the Presentation, go to:
www.linkedin.com/in/robjohnson38
• Go to www.u-s-i.com and request a
technology audit.
• Go to www.sixdisciplines.com and buy a copy
of Execution Revolution
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