The SIIA (The Software & Information Industry Association) is delighted to introduce a new member to the Software & Services Division, Include, a software provider for the landscape industry. Rhianna Collier of SIIA, sat down with, Nanette Seven, Vice President of Include, to learn a little more about how software solutions like Asset are reshaping the service of landscaping.  Check out the interview below!

Rhianna: Tell us a little about Include and what makes you unique.

Nanette: Include Software’s founder Bill Seven recognized back in the 1980s while working as the lead estimator for a landscape company there was no software in the market fit his needs, so he created his own: Lbase Estimating, the first commercially available PC program specifically for landscape businesses. In 1996, Include Software became the first industry focused software company to provide products for Windows, and added a data collection solution for Palm in 1997.

Staying agile as the business world and our industry continue to evolve, Include Software now offers Asset™, iCREWtek and Asset Client Portal: a fully integrated management program with mobile capabilities for crews in the field. Include is dedicated to delivering the most innovative and highest quality products as well as the finest customer service you’ll find anywhere.

 Rhianna: As companies grow, how important is it to integrate business processes?

Nanette: Landscape contractors often start a company pretty simply: they buy trucks and equipment, hire their buddies, and go to work. At some point, the company becomes a viable business, and the owner realizes they must pay more attention to: what they are selling their work for, how much their materials cost, and what type of markups they must apply to their materials and services to make money. This leads to the first tool for estimating: Excel. They get their numbers together, and are ready to present to a client. They need to give it to a prospect in a way that allows them to clearly review the proposed work, and sign off on the contract. This leads to the second tool: Word.

Next, the owner must find a way to compensate their employees, send invoices to their customers, and pay their bills and taxes. They search for an easy to use and accepted accounting software to do these things. This leads to tool number three: QuickBooks. Crew tracking is the next focus; they accomplish this with white boards, more Excel spreadsheets, time clocks, pieces of paper (that always seem to get lost….).

You know the story and the progression all too well. A company grows, adds administrative staff, hires another salesperson, creates a new set of spreadsheets, brings someone on to do invoicing and pay bills, and send hours to the payroll company. These employees are the epitome of inefficiency: they are all doing their jobs in different software programs: Excel, Word, QuickBooks, White Boards, Time Clocks…the list goes on. Staff members copy information from sales to admin to production & operations. The crews perform the work, and then the trail starts again: production & operations to admin to accounting. Maybe at some point the owner will get a financial statement or a job report to see if he is really making money on his projects.

This constant transition from one software to another is wasted time and money. Owners often don’t slow company growth to ensure the transfer of information from one department to another is accurate, timely, and efficient. But they need to. They need to stop running their business, and start to manage the processes within their organization: Sales & Estimating, Accounting & Administration, Production & Operations and Reporting.

Companies need a single software program to improve processes, eliminate duplicate data entry, and get valuable reporting to make quality business decisions. If companies do not have processes in place and look to software as a solution they are going to come up empty.

When using QuickBooks, Excel, Word, Schedule Boards, Time Clocks:

• Valuable time is wasted entering data into multiple software programs
• Inconsistency with estimating is prevalent, as Excel spreadsheet cells are varied, changed, deleted
• Your team is scrambling to communicate with clients and each other
• Reporting doesn’t allow you to quickly and easily track your team’s wins and losses
• Your production team needs real time feedback and on-time materials to produce big wins

Until they stop the running and start managing with integrated software, they are going to lose money, control, business, employees and, the most precious commodity, time!  This is why they need to integrate their business processes.

Rhianna: How can seamlessly integrating business processes lend to revenue growth?

Nanette: They eliminate duplicating information, know where there crews are working, know their sales numbers, make better business decisions, and more money.

Rhianna: What was it about the landscape industry that drove your product roadmap? Do you see opportunities to serve other vertical markets?

Nanette: Staying involved with the landscaping and technology industries, gives us a competitive edge.  We know the industry, we participate in industry events and visit with hundreds of landscape contractors every year.  Because we are involved,  and listen to our clients, we are able to provide the latest in technological advances and apply them to the companies we work with, ultimately providing the best in software, practices and industry trends.  While our primary focus is the landscape service professional, any service oriented company could benefit from using our products.

The Software & Information Industry Association is the principal trade association for the software and digital content industry. SIIA provides global services in government relations, business development, corporate education and intellectual property protection to the leading companies that are setting the pace for the digital age.