Databuild reports enhanced service to clients during lockdown

While the transition to a remote working environment has been a costly and disruptive exercise for many companies since President Ramaphosa’s declaration of a nationwide lockdown, for Databuild the transition has been relatively painless. According to CEO Morag Evans, the company’s productivity levels are as high, if not higher than before the lockdown commenced.

“Databuild made the decision to start working remotely a week prior to the president’s announcement and our staff have adapted exceptionally well to the new working dynamic.

“Communication is key during these times of physical distancing and we conduct daily online meetings with the team to stay in touch. One would expect productivity levels to drop when your employees are working from home, but we have found our staff to be more focused during this time which has enhanced their productivity.

“We are connected to our internal structures through a virtual private network, which enables us to accurately monitor call rates made using our VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) system. Consequently, our research team have not slackened their pace in sourcing new projects and intend to maintain their momentum during lockdown as far as they are able to. Indeed, we are pleased to report the addition of 493 new projects to Databuild Online since our transition to a virtual environment on 26 March.”

Working remotely has also enabled Databuild’s sales team to expand their territories, Evans notes. “For example, our Cape Town-based staff are meeting with prospective clients in Nelspruit while saving time and money on travel expenses.

“All this enables us to confidently give our clients the assurance that the lockdown will in no way affect the quality of our service to them and we urge them to make the most of Databuild Online during this time.”

Clients can continue to build their pipeline, add projects to their watchlists and create tasks relevant to specific projects. In this way, they will be fully geared up for what needs to be done once lockdown is over.

To facilitate interaction between the construction industry network and enable stakeholders to take advantage of everyone’s increased availability during lockdown, Databuild has set up a communication hub which companies can use to keep one another informed on the remote facilities they have put in place within their own organisation. “This will enable the relevant professionals to get in touch with them quickly and easily and make the most of opportunities presented to them,” says Evans.

“We have also been approached by numerous prospective clients eager to find out more about how they can ensure their staff remain as productive as possible while working from home. Our sales management system, Databuild Connect, enables companies to monitor staff activities, easily allocate information to their respective teams, and determine reasons contributing to lost business.”

Another positive lockdown spin-off for Databuild has been the surge in demand for online training on its products. “Again, our team has been very productive and the time saved in driving to meetings has been well spent,” says Evans. “One-on-one and group sessions are available, and provide a good way to network with business associates safely.”

“Of course, none of these achievements would have been possible without the ongoing support of our IT team,” she adds. “They have not only quickly and patiently resolved any issues we’ve encountered along the way, but also worked extremely hard to tighten our network security and mitigate the risk of cyberattacks.

“Lockdown has given everybody more time on their hands. Besides catching up with admin and other mundane tasks we were previously unable to get around to, now is the perfect opportunity for managers to contemplate new and innovative ways to add value to their organisation, from an employee and supplier perspective. Databuild will certainly apply lessons learned during lockdown to how we manage our operations going forward.

“Managers would be wise to use this extra time to plan their post-lockdown strategy so that as soon as it’s is over, their staff will be able to hit the ground running,” Evans concludes.