Same people. Same team. New technology. Way more TIME.
What is the single most important factor in almost any business? TIME. Specifically, having more of it. Today it is all about getting things done fast, so we can do more with the same amount of resources to keep up with demand. And although our people are our most important “tool” by far, they are exponentially more successful when provided the right technology.
Enter the custom-built McSteen app for our mortgage location department. We designed this app in house, made specifically for our crews, and tailored to our unique process. Every crew is now equipped with an iPad so that they can virtually receive their workload, complete their field notes electronically, and automatically sync information back to the office for same-day CAD drafting and ultimately, review, by one of our licensed surveyors.
Our goal was to digitize the whole process, and we are just about there. Crews can upload real-time photos and PDFs. We are also able to communicate and send data back and forth on “trouble jobs” for live feedback – a crew can send information about a job site while they are standing on location to a draftsman in the office who can take a look and send information right back. Everything is digital, and right at our fingertips.
The crews are also able to access all survey research digitally including plats, surveys, tax maps, deeds – anything attached to the job that they might need.
Prior to operating under this model, we often used hard copy documents, printed everything, had to physically hand it off to a crew who would then go and complete the work. If there was an issue and they needed a draftsman to do some calculations in the office, they would have to bring it back that evening and potentially go back to the site the next day. Having the ability to transfer data in real-time has drastically reduced “revisits” to the job site.
Without consideration for anything else, the “same day” communication of information saves us almost a full 24 hours in turnaround time. Add to that the time savings the crews have by not needing to document and upload all their field information at the end of the day and all of a sudden we have recouped dozens of lost man-hours.
Same people. Same team. New technology. Way more TIME.
We cannot stress enough the importance of this improvement to our business. If you are in the survey industry, you are aware of just how long it takes to train a new team member. It is no easy task and surveyors are in short supply. While building and developing our team is always our top priority to better serve our clients, we also need to push on efficiencies so that we can thrive when resources are tight.
You can’t add hours to the day, but you can reduce hours to produce your product without sacrificing quality so long as you’re improving processes and efficiencies. It IS possible. And we’re here to prove it.
I recently sat down for a discussion on the role that technology plays at McSteen, and how it has been a defining feature of the growth of our company. We are proud of our commitment to the use of cutting edge technologies and believe this is what really sets us apart from others in our industry.
This post first appeared on LinkedIn as an article published by Kevin Woeste.
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