Negotiation tool
When prospective clients come to us, they often expect to be able to make price comparisons. In reality, the costs of a project are largely dependent on the varying components of time spent in delivering a solution, and that tends not to be very comparable across suppliers. On a daily basis we are trying to help clients make decisions about their website, and that requires careful management to keep costs under control. With over 2000 projects behind us, we have the data to share with clients and show them the costs on their projects. We work in partnership with clients to help them understand exactly how costs are being incurred during the website development process.
Quick return on investment on Coretime
When asked whether NetConstruct felt they had got a quick return on their investment the answer is a definitive ‘Yes’, and David goes on to say, “To quote one notable example, we had a client making many additional changes to their website design and we were able to use the Coretime data to quantify and demonstrate additional project costs at a client meeting and discuss alternative options. We were able to recover around 20% more on that project because the client did agree to do some of the changes, but in the process we protected the client from costs which could well have been double that. So we actually made a considerable saving for the client and delivered the website at the prescribed go live date which had previously been at risk. In a nutshell, the client increased their budget, they got their project completed on time, we raised our credibility and we gained extra business.”
As the Chairman of the Scandinavian Airlines once famously quoted: "An individual without information can't take responsibility. An individual with information can't help but take responsibility." David continues, “In this austere business climate, accountability is crucial. With Sage Coretime we are equipped to deal with it effectively”.
Operations tool to increase efficiency
NetConstruct are very clear on how the system drives efficiencies within their business. David explains, “Our operations team use Coretime to manage projects. And Coretime has helped change the culture and create a mindset that was very helpful in our business. It is fairly commonplace within creative industries for individuals to take the view that a job is not complete until it meets that persons view of the ideal finished version. Discipline has been a big benefit in helping staff understand that you do have to meet deadlines and keep things to a budget. Sage Coretime has given us the ability to see exactly how long things have taken and what the costs are.”
Outcome
David sums up, “We are delighted with Coretime. It’s not just a time management tool, it has allowed us to do much more than improve our job costing. Ultimately, it has allowed us to identify which direction we needed to go in as part of our business plan. We can now identify projects on-budget, project status, recovery rates, projects overrunning and we can drill down to the detail. We don’t over-analyse our business, but we absolutely know which projects are good for us, and where we are with our projects at any point in time and that’s crucial to us. The base of it all is Coretime.”
As a final seal of approval, David adds, “We could not conceive running our business without it now. We would be running it completely blind. Now we have total visibility on our projects and we are able to make decisions based on facts to help us drive our business forward.”
Onesys are the number one supplier of Sage Coretime in the UK with over 400 client installations.
Contact Onesys for more information on how Sage Coretime can help your business. We offer a full consultation and free trial of the software so that you understand exactly how Sage Coretime can make your business better.