M4D Business Systems Survey

We recently conducted an important Business Systems review of professional services businesses in partnership with the Association of Consulting Architects Australia. This review was conducted to assess the use and effectiveness of the various business systems across the Architecture, Engineering and Consultants industry.

There are a myriad of Business Management Systems available to businesses and the industry to manage your finances, projects, clients and documents. Yet there is minimal information describing the effectiveness of these systems and minimal expert assistance about making the right choice for you and your business.

Having now collated the data it is interesting to analyse which systems are the most effectively used in running AEC businesses. For instance, a staggering 64% of respondents don’t use a CRM (Client Relationship Management) system at all. CRM systems help you to keep track of all your customers, leads and contacts as well as all interactions with clients from everyone in the business. Having such information helps anyone new to the client, while also providing a communication history to draw upon to enhance client experiences.

In accounting, our results show that the most commonly used accounting system was MYOB. Xero, however, was shown to be more effectively used — 45% of users finding it a very effective accounting system compared with MYOB’s 20%. Similarly, for all business systems the most commonly used was not necessarily the most effective.

If you would like a review of your business systems and information on how you can use them more effectively contact Callum Bruce, Head of Business Systems at CBruce@m4d.com.au.