Bridging the gap in project communication

The Challenge

Before Procore and FieldChat, W.A. Bentz used WhatsApp to communicate with their internal team and text messages for their contractors. However, employee buy-in of WhatsApp was low, which meant superintendents were often sending individual messages to specialty contractors. This isolated information and increased the risk of important project information getting missed by others.

The Results

• Instead of using disparate systems, all documentation and communication were consolidated into one easy-to-use, integrated platform
• Procore and FieldChat’s user-friendly tools made communication simple and efficient, allowing teams to collaborate as easily as sending a text message
• Through real-time collaboration, teams could quickly share drawings, pictures, and documents and collaborate seamlessly—whether on site or off

The Story

As a Procore user, W.A. Bentz’s Vice President Justice Bentz found the FieldChat integration on Procore’s App Marketplace. Within one week of testing the integration, he had made his decision. "We decided right then and there that we were done with WhatsApp because FieldChat was just so much better," he says. Founder and President Bill Bentz adds, "For me, it was maybe two days and I thought, ‘Okay, this really works.’"

By using Procore and the FieldChat integration in tandem, W.A. Bentz was able to create one integrated and user-friendly system across the entire company. This helped ensure everyone was on board from the beginning and made it easier than ever to collaborate. Users simply logged into FieldChat with their Procore credentials, and contact information for field teams, specialty contractors, and owners automatically pulled from Procore Directories. Users could then quickly view, send, and schedule messages using FieldChat—just like a text message. Each project had a specific channel as well as subchannels for every trade to keep conversations organized. What’s more, since Procore was used for all day-to-day operations and documentation, users could easily send files to the field team anytime, anywhere.

With more streamlined communication, projects not only moved faster, but they also improved in quality performance, documentation, and standardization which reduced rework. Bill says, "We’re catching 75% of all errors. Three out of four issues are getting addressed in advance by using FieldChat and Procore."

Bill and Justice note that Procore and FieldChat have kept current clients happy while reinforcing W.A. Bentz’s top tier reputation to drive future business growth. "For one of our jobs, when we showed them Procore, it was one of the biggest selling points," recalls Justice. "They said, ‘Oh, we’ll love that. Then we can see all the photos, see who’s working on the job, see the directory, see all the documents, all my specialty contracts. Everything’s transparent.’"

Bill adds, "Being primarily on the sales end, I feel very confident going into a meeting with a client and showing them, ‘This is how we communicate.’ Procore is solid. You can easily put it on your iPad and show how we work. That’s a big part of securing a sale. We are truly differentiated from our competitors."

When asked about the return on investment of Procore and FieldChat, Bill says it comes down to more than a hard number: "I can tell you at 11:00 PM at night, I know that my messages will now be delivered—and I can sleep. I know everything’s going to get communicated and it’s off my brain. It’s like keeping a list next to your bed. Write it down so you can sleep. Well, that’s what Procore and FieldChat are for me."