{"id":1369,"date":"2021-04-20T11:35:12","date_gmt":"2021-04-20T15:35:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/poiseddevelopers.com\/vertex-old\/?post_type=case_study&p=1369"},"modified":"2023-02-27T09:20:49","modified_gmt":"2023-02-27T14:20:49","slug":"struggling-with-complex-project-forecasting-we-got-it","status":"publish","type":"case_study","link":"https:\/\/poiseddevelopers.com\/vertex-old\/resources\/case-studies\/struggling-with-complex-project-forecasting-we-got-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Struggling with Complex Project Forecasting? We Got IT."},"content":{"rendered":"

Independence Construction Gains Forecasting Ease and Accuracy with a Salesforce Solution<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"independence<\/p>\n

Problem and Background<\/strong><\/p>\n

Independence Construction is one of the largest and most capable commercial construction management firms in the country. Headquartered in northeast Ohio, Independence and its sister companies employ over 1,100 people. In recent years, the company has built marquee outdoor shopping and dining complexes, state-of-the-art libraries, corporate office spaces, hospitals, museums and other large-scale projects. (Pictured above is an aerial view of Pinecrest, a 57-acre upscale, mixed-use retail space with residential and entertainment components that serves the east side suburbs of Cleveland, Ohio.)<\/p>\n

\"Head
Jack Baumann, Director of Project Development, Independence Construction<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Managing the timelines of highly involved projects had been a challenge in the past, says Director of Project Development Jack Baumann. \u201cFrom my perspective, doing business development in both construction and operations, knowing what we were tracking after a project is won, is important. We needed to see what was missing. We needed the big picture from the ground up, and our previous CRM hindered our ability to view this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Because the company has numerous complex jobs being quoted and built simultaneously, it\u2019s extremely important to gauge the impact of future work. This knowledge allows the company to make informed decisions regarding sourcing of materials, staffing, and other variables. However, Independence had been struggling with a CRM that wasn\u2019t able to easily provide necessary forecasting information; it couldn\u2019t be sorted by market segment or provide the deep analysis the company needed. Populating it was a time-consuming process requiring hours to enter the previous week\u2019s data. That\u2019s time not spent engaging with customers.<\/p>\n

Tracking the conversations and activities of where things were in the sales pipeline could be \u201cpretty painful with our previous system,\u201d Baumann says. Independence Construction was looking for a way to track its opportunity pipeline, customers and contacts, and its work-in-place projections. The company needed an intuitive system.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Independence Construction Gains Forecasting Ease and Accuracy with a Salesforce Solution Problem and Background Independence Construction is one of the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":1374,"parent":0,"template":"","categories":[72,124,131,132],"acf":{"title_color":"black","is_a_flyer":false,"additional_information":"

The Vertex Solution<\/strong><\/p>\n

Vertex built a Salesforce system that addresses all Independence Construction\u2019s needs, drastically reducing the time spent populating data by allowing users to enter information as it is gathered. The system also streamlines the process for users to track who they should be following up with at various points during the sales process.<\/p>\n

Independence organizes sales tracking into three compartments: Early prospects, development of submittals, and proposals. The new Salesforce system handles all three categories, helping Baumann\u2019s team know what needs to be done and when to do it. Typically, the company plans most of its sales early in the year, but as other jobs pop up over the course of the year, these need to be tracked as well. Users update their content via a computer or mobile device as they gain information. When the team meets to discuss project status, the system seamlessly provides the information needed to take appropriate actions.<\/p>\n

Additionally, emails are automatically linked to Salesforce. Users simply click an icon to tie the email to an opportunity. \u201cThis is fantastic,\u201d Baumann notes, \u201cespecially with multiple emails.\u201d Users don\u2019t have to keep going into the system. All the information is in one place.<\/p>\n

Independence Construction has gained clarity on project status. \u201cAre we winning the work or not? It\u2019s much easier to know where things are in the sales pipeline,\u201d Baumann notes, adding that he now just hits an \u201cexport\u201d button to retrieve reports to get pertinent details that help his team make decisions based on real data.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow we can look at our sales pipeline and see the available projects. We know what\u2019s out there and where to put our attention,\u201d Baumann says. \u201cFor example, with the pandemic, clients shifted focus and we had to as well. Market segments paused while others kept going. We suspected this with anecdotal evidence, but the Salesforce system provides the concrete data to validate our decisions. We\u2019ve eliminated a lot of guesswork and saved a lot of time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Results and Benefits<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  • Significant time savings in populating and searching content.<\/li>\n
  • Ability to easily add content anywhere, anytime on computers or mobile devices<\/li>\n
  • Simplified, comprehensive sorting and organizing features<\/li>\n
  • Easy to track client interactions<\/li>\n
  • Ability to forecast and plan for opportunities into the future as well as maintain data on current projects<\/li>\n
  • Ability to sort by market segment<\/li>\n
  • Alerts to follow up with prospective opportunities<\/li>\n
  • Email integration<\/li>\n
  • All information is stored in one place<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    \u201cIt\u2019s a great system,\u201d Baumann says. \u201cWe don\u2019t have to do anything other than keep our content populated. A CRM shouldn\u2019t be a hinderance and control your processes. When the system dictates what you can and can\u2019t do, that\u2019s a problem. This Salesforce system has solved our sales tracking problems. We now work seamlessly and far more efficiently.\u201d<\/p>\n

    The following images show recent projects from Independence Construction.<\/p>\n

    \"cleveland
    Cleveland Clinic’s Samson Pavilion provides space for all medical and nursing students seeking degrees from CWRU, including students from the university-based program and the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
    \"Bainbridge
    The Bainbridge Branch of the Geauga County Public Library is a 27,900-square-foot building with state-of-the art amenities including a makerspace.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    [ezcol_1half][\/ezcol_1half] [ezcol_1half_end][\/ezcol_1half_end]<\/p>\n","title":"Case Study at a Glance","case_study":[{"title":"CLIENT","description":"

    Independence Construction, an Ohio-based commercial construction manager and general contractor<\/p>\n"},{"title":"THE PROBLEM","description":"

    Tracking construction jobs through their various stages had been a struggle, requiring up to one full day per week to enter projects\u2019 information and statuses into a CRM system. Sorting by market segment wasn\u2019t possible, and it was often difficult to ascertain where various projects were in the pipeline. Consequently, forecasting sales projections over extended periods of time was onerous and inaccurate.<\/p>\n"},{"title":"THE VERTEX SOLUTION","description":"

    Vertex built a Salesforce solution that allows users to enter data as it becomes available. It is now easy to view leads, accounts, contacts, and opportunities - and be able to forecast projects and billing for the current quarter through 24 months into the future. <\/p>\n"},{"title":"RESULTS","description":"

    The easy-to-use system keeps Independence Construction on track with its planning and forecasting. Time spent entering data into the system has been reduced by 80 %. Because all the information has been consolidated and is easily sortable, weekly planning meetings have been cut from 90 minutes to 30 minutes. <\/p>\n"}],"header_size":"large","default_content":"center"},"yoast_head":"\nCase Study | Complex Project Forecasting<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Independence Construction's Salesforce project forecasting system saves time and increases efficiency. 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