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Published on: 10/12/2008
Last Visited: 5/28/2008
Company president and founder, Allen Adjamian, believes that the biggest challenge in the construction market is that the production workers â€" meaning those physically working on the job sites â€" are generally not skilled in technology."On a construction job site, a scanning solution has to be more than just easy to use, it has to be downright intuitive," he says."If the hardware is confusing to operate, or the process requires users to remember too many steps [such as entering document classification, indexing, and file format and destination information], they simply won't use it."
SunCal workers had a wide range of documentation to deal with, including everything from project-related documents, such as bid changes or materials requests, to human resources forms.To handle SunCal's document processing requirements, Adjamian used Visioneer's Patriot 470 scanners with OneTouch technology."Using OneTouch, we set up buttons specific to each document type or class," says Adjamian."For example, button one could be for time cards, two for injury reports, three for designs or drawings, and so on."The VAR preconfigures settings such as resolution, file type, and destination."The user simply pushes one button and the document is scanned, based on our preset parameters, and sent to a centralized repository."
Adjamian also leverages a link that allows users to scan documents from a Visioneer scanner directly into Laserfiche electronic repositories.The link is unique to Visioneer and is a direct interface between the scanner and the Laserfiche document management system."We use Laserfiche to set up workflow processes for our customers," says Adjamian.
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Allen Adjamian, president and founder of Adjamian Affiliated, Inc.
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Adjamian Affiliated had no shortage of ‘traditional' document management customers.Currently, 60% of Adjamian's revenue is generated from accounting and finance customers.But, that didn't stop the company from pursuing new, untested vertical market opportunities.The VAR was already providing document management solutions to a handful of property management companies, and a few of these clients also engaged in real estate and property development."It's not a market we went searching for; they came to us asking if we could capture all the information from their property development operations, as well," says Allen Adjamian, president and founder of Adjamian Affiliated, Inc."While working with those clients we literally stumbled into a couple of other projects in real estate development and I said, ‘Hey, I think we're on to something here - let's make some calls.'"
It is important to note that Adjamian isn't targeting the small-scale builder that is constructing a new home or two.Instead, major construction companies that are undertaking multimillion-dollar projects are the target customer."We sat down and compiled a specific list of successful property development companies, and they range from small, 20-person operations that focus on high-profile, niche developments [such as bridge building] to the largest master developers in California," says Adjamian.One of the companies on that list was SunCal, a $15 billion master developer.
SunCal was struggling with massive amounts of paper requiring frequent, back-and-forth transport between job sites, the corporate office, and sometimes customers for quick processing.The documents could include anything from hand-drawn sketches to contract or bid changes requiring signatures from multiple parties before work could continue."In this industry, an idle hour is a costly hour," says Adjamian.
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"Our distributed capture solution integrated Visioneer's OneTouch scanning technology with Laserfiche document management software," says Adjamian.
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"The most important challenge is identifying your marketplace," says Adjamian."Are there enough players [prospects] to make pursuing this market worthwhile?"he asks.In California or Vegas the answer is yes, but perhaps the answer in your own backyard is no.
To stay current with construction market activity, Adjamian keeps an eye out for which companies have current or proposed projects in the works."Simply paying attention as you are driving down the freeway can reveal which companies have major projects going on," says Adjamian.He goes on to mention seeing ‘coming soon' billboards announcing new shopping malls or even seeing large parcels of land being cleared for development."We also advertise in and subscribe to the leading trade magazines, such as Construction Today, and make it a point to call the developers showcased in each feature story."Additionally, monitoring public zoning notices and RFPs can help to identify companies vying to be involved in large construction projects.For VARs that don't restrict themselves to regional sales initiatives, Adjamian also suggests investigating opportunities in disaster-stricken locations, such as New Orleans, that are in the rebuilding process."Project development companies from across the country bid on and perform jobs in these areas," says Adjamian."This can present a prime sales opportunity for a market-savvy VAR."
The VAR has found that sales in the construction vertical are almost always made at the C-level, and it is usually the company owner making the purchasing decision."You must be a good negotiator," says Adjamian."Don't expect it to be easy, and anticipate that they will ask for a better deal every time.They are generally expert negotiators as they deal with much more complex deals and much larger numbers than our own industry."According to Adjamian, the key difference between property development and finance is that developers will ask for a steep discount and make it seem as if they are ready to walk."Succeeding in negotiation comes down to three things â€" good salesmanship, knowing exactly what your value proposition is, and being able to effectively support it," says Adjamian.
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"I don't believe the potential of a slowdown is a real threat at all," says Adjamian."We're making a lot of headway â€" at least in southern California â€" and I don't think we've touched the tip of the iceberg yet."The VAR has partnered with about one dozen property development companies to date and anticipates this number to reach 100 within the next five to seven years.Overall, the VAR is on target for 50% growth in 2008, with 15% to 20% coming from the construction vertical. According to Adjamian, for any VAR looking to excel in a new market, the key is to pick a vertical and stick with it for the long term.
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