High Street Homes: Converting prospects to clients with construction proposals

Their goal: To implement Buildertrend’s construction software platform intentionally

As Brett and Kara started building more custom homes and their projects got bigger, they realized they needed a simpler system. They knew they had the tools they required. They just had to use them.

“Since using Buildertrend intentionally, it’s allowed us to have more freedom,” Brett said. “There’s times in the build process where it’s easy to get overwhelmed because there’s so many moving pieces, and you can feel out of control if trade costs keep increasing or if schedules get changed.”

By implementing Buildertrend’s comprehensive construction software, they began to see the true value of the tech and what it could do. It allowed them to keep everything organized in one place and made managing projects infinitely less stressful.

“Buildertrend is this one place to put all of the data and facts, so that you can see everything in real-time with real information,” Brett said. “It allows you to see when the job will actually finish, or where the budget is landing, so you can reduce stress or concern.”

Their solution: Utilizing communication tools for streamlined processes

The High Street Homes team turned to Buildertrend to help the company keep new jobs on track and improve its methods for managing costs. Features such as construction estimating and creating custom proposals have helped the Phillipses keep projects moving and send information to their clients faster.

“For proposals, we use budgeting and estimating, and we’re able to do it so much more quickly,” Brett said. “Before it was a pretty time-heavy commitment whenever we were trying to get a proposal out to someone. Using these features in Buildertrend has really saved us so many hours and allowed us to get things to clients quicker.”

In addition to Estimates and Proposals, High Street Homes uses the Schedule feature to keep their jobs organized. And by adding To-Do’s to their schedule items, they can ensure everything’s ready to go at the start of each project.

“We have two new builds starting, and we used To-Do’s on that first day to make sure we have the list of items we need before we kick off,” Brett said. “Are our permits fully approved? Have we clarified any site preparation? So, that’s been really great to be able to integrate our To-Do’s with our Schedule items and make sure we have our checklist of things that are needed.”

Daily Logs is another feature High Street Homes has implemented with their scheduling system to establish daily documentation and communication. This feature is able to be used offline and has made it much easier to stay connected when they’re not able to be on-site.

“When we hired our project manager, we had to be out of town for two different things,” Brett said. “Buildertrend allowed us to stay connected to the projects and see what was going on. We were able to check in on the Daily Logs to see if things came up or if there was information we could share to support our team.”

Organized schedules and streamlined communication aren’t the only benefits High Street Homes experienced with using Buildertrend’s homebuilder software platform. They saw just how much they could save by taking the time to set up Cost Items within the Cost Catalog for easy preparation of Proposals and Estimates.

“There were a lot of fees that we were eating or not including in our proposals,” Brett said. “Adding cost items has really helped us protect our margins, but has also helped as we continue to do fast, high-level quotes and bids, making sure we don’t lose money on some of those smaller items.”

So, was investing the time to build out their Cost Catalog worth it? You bet it was.

“Spending intentional time to set up cost items has and will save us thousands of dollars,” Brett said.

Buildertrend has not only saved them money but it’s freed up a lot of time to focus on the growth and development of their small business.

“Being a small business with a small team, it’s a challenge to try and figure out how to maximize our team’s efforts and who needs to be where,” Brett said. “Buildertrend empowers our project manager to run his job sites with a place to store all of the information, and it gives us the freedom to work on other parts of our business.”

Their success: Hours saved and small business growth assured

With Buildertrend’s help, the High Street Homes team has been able to delegate its time and efforts to focus on the company’s growth and continued success.

“Buildertrend has given us more time, the opportunity to say yes to more projects and the ability to close more deals than we would have without it,” Brett said. “It’s also allowed us freedom and opportunity to grow our business in very different ways.”

And if you’re trying to decide whether to give Buildertrend’s construction software platform a try, take Brett’s advice.

“If you’re new or if you’re a medium-sized builder or you’re struggling to keep everything in one place, I know Buildertrend will help you organize, more effectively manage your team and serve your clients in a more powerful way,” he said.