Why Is it So Hard to Give Up Excel?

We’re passionate about the work we do, and at times we can get a bit extreme. We’ve been known to throw the phrase “death to spreadsheets” around the office.

So it doesn’t really surprise me to see that some people are equally passionate on the other side of spreadsheets. Wall Street Journal recently ran a couple of stories about Excel—one on CFOs telling their teams to stop using it and a follow-up on the uproar the first story caused.

The lesson? People don’t love being told to change their process.

I’m not quite sure what it is about Excel exactly that gets everyone so fired up, but the angst is real—on both sides.

One way to describe what we do is to help people to stop relying on technology that wasn’t made to do what it’s asked to do today. Excel is one of those technologies.

See the image below. On the right we see a spreadsheet that just isn’t the most useful tool for its task. On the left, an interface designed specifically to handle whatever data loan officers need to manage a construction loan.

Stop Using Excel

The difference is obvious to our clients when they see this image and our demo. But the key is showing them first.

The pushback from the Wall Street Journal article—“after you ripped it from my cold, dead hands”—helps us see what happens when we push change without getting buy-in first.

We aren’t afraid of change. We are afraid of changing things for the worse. It’s hard to give up spreadsheets because people know they work. They know what pain to expect. Something new might bring altogether new pain. It’s about trust.

Thanks to the writers at the Wall Street Journal for helping us remember that lesson. We want to show people why Built is a great choice for them and prove it won’t bring unexpected pain.

Spreadsheets don’t need to die. We just want them to retire from construction lending.

We know software change isn’t easy. If you’re struggling to get your team on board with change, we created an ebook for you:

Download Navigating Software Change: Get Buy-In from Your Team and Maximize ROI.

Baker Hill’s sophisticated technology solutions enable banks and credit unions to compete aggressively in today’s complex lending environment.

We formed a strategic alliance with Built Technologies to make it easier for financial institutions to drive productivity and profitability in all areas of construction lending.

This alliance expands access to Built’s secure, cloud-based construction lending software and Baker Hill’s latest lending and risk management solution, Baker Hill NextGen®, to bring the draw management process online, connecting each person involved with the loan and automating manual administration tasks.

Note: This post is part of Construction Lending 101: The Ultimate Guide to Modern Construction Loan Management, and it originally appeared on the Built Technologies blog.

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