Portal Features
Lead Management
The Leads feature provides a central online lead management function and serves as the entry point for customers into the process. Once a lead is qualified and the prospect wants more information or an estimate for a project, the customer moves into the Estimates phase.
Estimate Management
The Estimates feature is where visits and phone calls with the customer are scheduled and tracked. As specific project details are ironed out, estimates are created, and this becomes the first integration point with the back-office accounting software, such as QuickBooks. All relevant data is shared between the Portal and QuickBooks to eliminate duplicate data entry. This is also the point where the customer's selections for the eventual construction project are detailed and approved. The materials required for the project are allocated and defined, and the initial financial profile of the project is created and approved by the customer. Prior jobs with similar tasks are referenced through the Job Costing data captured from previous jobs, which helps to inform future pricing. Once the customer agrees to all aspects of the estimate and signs the contract, the project moves into the Construction phase.
Construction Project Management
The Construction phase represents the core and central workings of the portal. At a high-level, this is where the agreed-upon scope and materials from the Estimate are used to create a Project Work Breakdown Structure, which represents the overarching definition of the project and deliverables. Resources (materials, workers, suppliers, vendors, subcontractors, budgets) are assigned to the project, and all deliverables are tracked and monitored by the project manager. Change Orders are managed throughout the Construction process. All Vendors and Sub Contractors receive Work Orders that become Purchase Orders in the back-office accounting software to better manage financial commitments and future billing on the project. Once all deliverables are completed, the project moves into Billing.
Construction Financial Management
All financial aspects, such as Budget Burndown and Materials Burndown, are tracked as the schedule is defined and completed for each task. Materials required for each phase of the project are allocated and ordered according to when they are needed for the job, and all financial aspects are immediately tracked to the budget. Financial and project deliverables are monitored and tracked, and they are available for all stakeholders to see in real-time as the project progresses.
iBuyer Integrations
Our platform is fully integrated with many of the market-leading iBuyers portals and processes to better streamline importing of initial scope, Change Order Management, Project Closeout, and final billing. This includes sharing of scope and completion photos, lien waivers, and progress billing. In many cases, this is automated through email integration or direct Vendor Portal integration.
Billing Management
The Billing feature is where final acceptance has been received, all Change Orders have been signed off on, and the project is ready for final billing. Lien Waivers can be generated and managed based on the invoicing schedule of the project. In many cases, progress billing has occurred along the way, and this is the final reconciliation point for the project. Project Closeout and billing are completed, and the project is archived for later reference. No project, no matter how large or small, follows the same process, so nothing ever gets lost in the shuffle.
Problems Solved With Direct My Construction Online Portal:
- Staying on top of customer follow up and leads was critical.
- Making sure that no lead was lost, or not followed up on within 6 business hours.
- Spending days working on the project construction, and nights and weekends managing the business by invoicing, billing, scheduling, materials management, etc.
- Dealing with Sales Tax, Timecards, Employees, Hiring, etc.
- Having no visibility into how project resources overlap, so projects did not have to run sequentially.
- When can a new project be started given current project commitments? What resources are available and when?
- Work was being performed that is not part of the original scope, and not being billed.
- Materials are purchased on the fly, and not tracked to the project.
- Customers change scope without any project approval and tracking of change orders.
- Workers are keeping time notes on start and end time with no accountability or tracking; relying on memory at the end of the week when timecards are submitted.
- Project photos are sitting on multiple phones, and emails, over the course of a project with no record of work being completed.
- Vendors and subcontractors sending in a “surprise” bill months after a project has been closed out and billed to the customer – and not collecting the money from the customer.
- Delays of one project causing an unknown ripple effect on other projects causing missed deadlines and loss of customer confidence.
- Lack of visibility into the budget of a project and how the expenses are tracking on that project. Is the project going to make money or lose money?