Commercial contractors face several challenges when using traditional tools such as paper forms, emails, and phone calls for receiving and sending correspondence; for example:
- Project managers cannot easily or quickly understand the impact of an RFI
- Generating payment forms takes time and impacts cash flow
- Correspondence gets lost in the paper and email shuffle
- Sub-contractors do not use standard forms, creating low-value administrative work for the project team
By using centralized cloud software to manage correspondence, all communications and processes are standardized and organized in one place. By using online forms and a single communication tool, the project team will have access to information promptly. Correspondence software works on laptops, smartphones, and tablets so stakeholders can easily communicate from the field if necessary.
The benefits of using a software solution for construction correspondence include:
- Making faster decisions by having complete information available to project managers, thus resulting in fewer delays and more profitable decisions
- Saving time by eliminating the ‘paper shuffle’ by having all communications flow through a single place
- Enforcing compliance on sub-contractors by making the proper forms and workflows easy to use
- Reducing cash-flow issues by centralizing all supporting documentation for payment applications
Correspondence software is becoming an integral part of a commercial general contractor suite of administrative tools alongside ERP software. This technology is helping contractors become more profitable while delivering a better service.