In this episode, I talk with Chris Connell, chief executive officer of Quire, and Kelly Stratton, president and founder of Quire, about how technology is transforming the way technical reports are created and how automation boosts efficiency and empowers professionals to focus on what they truly enjoy in their work.
Engineering Quotes:
Here Are Some of the Questions I Asked Chris and Kelly:
- What are the biggest challenges AEC professionals face when creating technical reports and commercial proposals?
- How can automating the technical report process boost efficiency and productivity for AEC firms?
- How does reducing report and proposal development time by up to 70% impact AEC professionals’ workload and job satisfaction?
- What key strategies should AEC companies adopt to tackle economic challenges and stay competitive?
- How can streamlining the technical report process help AEC professionals manage complex projects and change regulations?
- What innovations in technical report management are having the biggest impact on AEC professionals?
- What advice would you give engineers on using new technologies to improve operational efficiency?
Here Are Some Key Points Discussed in This Episode About How to Leverage Technology to Streamline Technical Reports:
- AEC professionals often view report creation as a task rather than a critical business tool. This mindset, combined with the manual processes involved in writing reports, can lead to inefficiencies that reduce the overall value of their deliverables.
- Automating the report process through specialized software can reduce report creation time by up to 60%, leading to increased efficiency. This automation also improves first-time approval rates, enabling AEC firms to streamline workflows and enhance productivity.
- Reducing report development time allows AEC professionals to focus on higher-level critical thinking rather than tedious tasks. This shift not only boosts job satisfaction but also helps firms retain top talent by providing tools that make work more fulfilling and efficient.
- AEC companies should consolidate their workflows onto a single, streamlined platform to increase report production and reduce editing time. This strategy boosts efficiency, lowers costs, and ensures high-quality deliverables, helping firms remain competitive in a tight economic landscape.
- Streamlining the report process with automated, consistent workflows allows professionals to focus on complex project details and adapt to regulatory changes. By reducing time spent on routine tasks, AEC professionals can ensure their deliverables meet evolving standards without sacrificing quality.
- The ability to gain real-time visibility into report creation through advanced analytics is a major innovation. Coupled with AI tools that can mine past reports and automate parts of the writing process, these technologies enable faster, more accurate report creation while improving overall management.
- Engineers should adopt an open mindset toward new technologies, as relying solely on hard work and manual processes can lead to inefficiencies. Embracing tools that streamline workflows can save time, reduce stress, and significantly improve job satisfaction, leading to better performance overall.
More Details in This Episode
About Kelly Stratton
Kelly L. Stratton founded Quire in 2010 to transform the manual, error-prone technical report development process she experienced for more than the first decade of her engineering career. Today, she serves as the president and chief product officer of the company, which is the leader in technical report management (TRM) for project-driven companies in the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC), commercial real estate, and environmental consulting industries.
As a first-time entrepreneur, Kelly self-funded the initial development of Quire via a second mortgage on her home. Within months, Quire was utilized for a 550-site portfolio of gas stations in an ExxonMobil divestiture. That launchpad propelled Quire into the SaaS space with the first fee-per-user model in TRM, thus enabling Quire to ultimately expand into more than a dozen major industries spanning more than 180 service areas. Under Kelly’s vision, Quire developed and released Quire Sight in 2019, the industry’s first-ever analytics and benchmarking tool in TRM. Quire’s analytics showcased the platform’s key value proposition: reducing technical report authoring, creation, and delivery times by an average of 40%.
Under Kelly’s trailblazing leadership as CEO, Quire became the market leader in the TRM space, demonstrating viral adoption within client accounts. From 2019 to 2023, Quire’s net revenue retention averaged over 120%. From 2019 to 2022, Quire averaged over 30% revenue growth year-over-year while increasing ARR move than 270% over that same time period. Quire’s financial success under Kelly’s leadership was underscored by client net promoter scores (NPS) of over 90 — metrics practically unheard of in the software space.
In 2023, Kelly was awarded the “Dealmaker of the Year Award” by the Smart Business Dealmakers Conference for the successful growth equity investment from the private equity firm SSM Partners. Later that same year, the 1,000,000th report deliverable was created in Quire, a volume of work supporting over $1 billion in revenue-generating services by Quire clients. Kelly’s dedication to fostering a collaborative, innovative, and fun-loving work culture has not only propelled Quire to new heights but has also deeply ingrained her commitment to her team, her company, and her customers, making her a standout leader in the tech industry.
Prior to founding Quire, Kelly served as a senior environmental engineer specializing in environmental due diligence, regulatory compliance, and commercial/industrial redevelopment projects for an environmental due diligence firm. She led the sales and new product initiatives for Info Map Technologies, an environmental data company, as vice president of Sales and Marketing. She began her engineering career at CH2M HILL as a project engineer charged with completing environmental compliance for several General Motors assembly plants and battery plants.
Kelly received her Bachelor of Science degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering and a minor in Speech Communications from Penn State University, where she was also a varsity tennis player.
About Chris Connell
Chris Connell, a seasoned executive with over 25 years of enterprise software and SaaS leadership, brings a wealth of expertise to his role at Quire, which he joined in April 2023.
Prior to Quire, Chris served as the president of iSolved Network at iSolved, a leader in the HCM software market. Over the course of three years, Chris spearheaded a period of remarkable growth, doubling revenue, achieving consistent 40% year-over-year growth in bookings, and expanding the platform’s user base to over 2 million employees.
Before iSolved, Chris held the CEO position at Trax Technologies, a global leader in Transportation Spend Management. Leading a team of over 500 employees across North America, Central America, Europe, and Asia, he oversaw $12 billion in annual transaction volume. In 2015, Chris orchestrated the successful merger of Trax and Veraction, and he was subsequently appointed CEO of the combined entity, overseeing the integration and launch of a best-in-class Total Transportation Spend Management platform. This followed his successful tenure as CEO of Veraction from 2012 through 2015, another market leading Transportation Spend Management company.
Prior to Trax, Chris served as president of AssetNation, a global online equipment marketplace, from April 2010 to May 2012. During his tenure, AssetNation experienced substantial growth, establishing itself as a leading online marketplace for industrial assets with annual commerce exceeding $100 million and a user base of over 100 million buyers. Following the acquisition of AssetNation by Ritchie Bros (RBA) in 2012, Chris assumed the role of president of Ritchie Bros EquipmentOne, where he led the integration and relaunch of the AssetNation marketplace as RB E1 for Ritchie Brothers, the largest global marketplace for industrial assets in the world.
Chris has also held key commercial leadership positions at Co-Exprise (now iValua) in the direct material procurement space, SEEC, an award-winning service-oriented architecture software company serving the financial services industry, and as VP of Global Account Management at Ariba/FreeMarkets (now SAP Ariba). At Ariba/FreeMarkets, Chris played a pivotal role in the company’s successful transition from on-premises to SaaS solutions, driving growth across the company’s manufacturing, CPG, and high-tech sectors.
Chris was an officer in the United States Marine Corps, holds a Master of Science degree from Boston University, and earned his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the Citadel.
About the Host: Nick Heim, P.E.
Nick Heim, P.E., is a civil engineer with six years of experience in the repair and restoration of existing structures, and host of the AEC Engineering and Technology Podcast (AECTECH), where he brings valuable insights and expertise to listeners worldwide.
Nick’s interests lie at the intersection between the built world and technology, and he can be found looking for the ever-changing answer to the question, “How can we do this better?” Nick can be found on LinkedIn, producing content about use of technologies in his civil engineering career and small business.
Sources/References:
Quire
ExxonMobil
Ritchie Bros Equipment One
Connect with Chris Connell, on LinkedIn
Connect with Kelly Stratton, on LinkedIn
We would love to hear any questions you might have or stories you can share on how to leverage technology to streamline technical reports.
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