The ConTech Bulletin with James Salt, Constructive Software

Welcome to ‘The ConTech Bulletin’ with Jon Ballantyne, a Q&A focused on Construction Technology in the Built Environment.

This Q&A series is an opportunity for our Recruitment Consultant Jon Ballantyne to discuss all things construction technology with some of the lead players in the space. Each week we will ask burning questions, providing a platform to share insight around innovation, sustainability, and advice for aspiring entrepreneurs looking to enter the ConTech industry. 

This week we have been in touch with James Salt, CEO at Constructive Software.

Constructive is the home building software clients use to stay up to date with build progress, select beautiful finishes, and visualise a tailored view of their home design in stunning 3D.

How did you find yourself working in the Construction Technology sector?

I’ve lived and breathed house-building since my early years. My career started growing up on building sites — including our family home! I studied Computer Science at university and my first challenge was writing a custom CRM for the family’s home-building company. A tech-y background combined with hands-on experience in my family’s business aligned my experience and skills in an ideal way for the construction industry. I consulted in home-building IT management, software and custom development in both Australia and the UK before founding Constructive Software.

What does your role entail at Constructive Software?

It’s very hands-on and multi-faceted. I lead a team of 19 staff members across different departments of Software Development, Engineering and Integrations, Client Success, Sales and Marketing and Accounts. I’ve always put our end-users’ experience first, so I advocate for the voice of the customer to best guide our new products and features development, steering the product management so that both house builders and their clients have an excellent experience while creating their new homes. I also get involved in Business Development and software integration partnerships. I still love to get ‘on the tools’ and work on integrations, when I can.

Can you share some insights into the specific technological innovations that your company has brought to the construction industry? 

It’s all about delivering an excellent customer experience at scale, every single time.

The Customer Portal seamlessly delivers build updates, important documents and site photos via integration. It means builders can communicate with clients when it matters most and they save so much time as they’re preventing progress-chasing phone calls and emails. Clients feel looked after and are constantly kept informed and educated throughout their journey.

Our software allows clients the flexibility to explore colour and material choices when designing their homes in their own time. Sales centre showroom staff gain more time to attend to walk-ins and proactive communications as they’re no longer tied up with Choices appointments for hours and hours — their clients have made most of the big decisions already in Online Choices before coming in.

Many of our builders find their Extras revenue greatly increases when they utilise Constructive Online Choices as they can offer more choices online than in the showroom (see case study). Clients can see what they’re spending as they have the tricky financial discussions at home before they finalise their choices.

They can even interact with their individual home design in 3D — in real-time. This has the added benefit of visualising custom home plans from any angle, without the typical rendering wait time and challenges the traditionally expensive way 3D is usually utilised. It’s usually just an (expensive), generic render which is not particularly useful for clients trying to visualise their choices.

Constructive can be accessed anywhere, on any device, 24/7 — the ultimate convenience for clients.

With sustainability becoming increasingly important, how does your company address environmental concerns in the construction industry?

Replacing physical brochures with custom-branded Constructive Online Choices and Extras and 3D Choices greatly reduces printing costs. Items and choices with changes or discontinuations can be updated immediately, eliminating the need for re-prints and allowing clients to make choices in the comfort of their own home, rather than driving to the showroom sales centre each time. We also eradicate the old-fashioned handover folders. 

Globally, women fill approximately 10% of operational roles in the construction industry. Does this figure align with the representation in your region, and what positive steps are being taken to drive diversity in ConTech? 

At Constructive, 14 of our 20 staff are women and six of our 11 software/engineering staff are women. We’re proud of this diversity, especially working in the software space.

In tech, lack of flexibility with parenting responsibilities is often cited as one of the big reasons women either don’t enter, or drop out, of the sector. From day one, we set out to be a flexible, family-friendly workplace — not just for women, but for everyone —and we’ve reaped the benefits.

What does the coming year hold for your company? What are your expansion plans?

We’re very excited to be launching a new product, Maintenance, that will make defect management simple and stress-free.

Maintenance will mean self-sufficient clients, reducing incoming emails and calls. Clients will log defects and be informed of their status automatically. Builders will be notified of urgent defects immediately and other defects will be collated, ready for scheduled inspections.

Like all our products, everything will be in one place, streamlined and organised. Builders can eliminate paper-based processes and improve their carbon footprint.

(More info: https://www.constructivesoftware.com.au/register-your-interest-maintenance/)

What unique challenges and opportunities do you see in APAC compared to other regions? 

APAC region has a long way to come on the efficiency standard of homes, catching up to the European market, so this is both a challenge and an opportunity for the supply chain to provide cost-effective solutions.

Finally, what advice would you give to aspiring entrepreneurs looking to enter the ConTech industry? 

The Construction industry has come a long way, but is still seen as a laggard on the adoption of technology. I’m saying that if you’ve got good tech and it will improve the bottom line then you will find good partners to launch your product. Build the network and be part of the industry so you understand their problems and how your innovation helps them.