The Better Way: Recent Episodes
Buildertrend
Welcome to “The Better Way: A podcast by Buildertrend.” Here you’ll learn to simplify and establish processes that will make meaningful changes to your company and help you achieve your goals. Because there’s a better way. The Buildertrend way. Tune in this season as Marge Haley, senior manager of customer success, chats with Buildertrend experts on how to master takeoff and ace pre-project planning.
On our season finale, Marge Haley and Shelbie Hoggatt, onsite consultant, discuss how you can turn sales into active jobs in just minutes. Learn their tips for keeping open communication between your sales team and project managers so they can work better together.
What are the struggles with winning a construction job without software like Buildertrend?
Shelbie: The biggest thing is there's a lot of competition, so contractors need something that puts them above and beyond the competitors in their market. So, without a tool like Buildertrend, follow-up processes get a little sloppy, to be honest. And a lot of times I'll ask the builders that I work with, "How do you keep track of potential deals?" Their response: "I keep track of it all in my head," which is an answer we want to try to get away from. So, having organization with a tool like Buildertrend is going to be super helpful.
What Buildertrend notifications should be used to streamline communication between the sales and project management teams of a construction company?
Shelbie: One of the biggest ones I always recommend is the acceptance of a proposal. I think that is huge because once a lead proposal is accepted, that typically is the trigger for a conversion into a job. So, when project managers, even though they're not managing the proposal process, have that notification turned on, it allows them to know right away that there's something coming down the pipeline for them.
LINKS AND MORE
Related content:
Read this blog post to learn how to win more sales leads faster with construction tech.
Learn more about how to effectively communicate across teams with Buildertrend.
Listen to “The Building Code,” Buildertrend’s biweekly podcast exploring people, technology and innovation across the construction industry.
Follow us on social:
Instagram: @Buildertrend
Facebook: @Buildertrend
Want to be notified when the next season drops? Reach out to us at podcast@buildertrend.com.
Welcome to “The Better Way: A podcast by Buildertrend.” Here you’ll learn to simplify and establish processes that will make meaningful changes to your company and help you achieve your goals. Because there’s a better way. The Buildertrend way. Tune in this season as Marge Haley, senior manager of customer success, chats with Buildertrend experts on how to master takeoff and ace pre-project planning.
Marge Haley and David Livingston, estimating and takeoff specialist, kick off this season with insight into how takeoff software improves the estimating experience for our builders. Say goodbye to hours of manual calculations riddled with mistakes, say hello to guaranteed accurate estimates.
How can Buildertrend Takeoff improve the estimating experience for construction teams?
David: With any cloud-based software, the unique advantage is you could do it from anywhere. You could be on a flight, if you have wifi, you could be in a hotel, or whatever the case might be, and not only yourself, but multiple parties involved can be running takeoff measurements and quantity calculations all at the same time. And the beautiful part about that is all the effort you're putting in as a team through the takeoff system is automatically populating an estimate in Buildertrend, which then you can use for both internal budget tracking purposes as well as an external contract.
How do the new Buildertrend estimating enhancements work with our takeoff software?
David: It works out really well. Probably what I'm the most excited about is the ability to not only send over takeoff data, but then what you can do with that data once it gets to the estimate. We have line item actions to be able to create a bid package directly off of quantity calculations. We have the ability to create purchase orders directly off of line items. We can invoice our clients off of those line items. And ultimately everything we're doing, whether you were in the old version of our estimate or now that you're in the new version, all of that's consolidated in a budget report based on your cost code structure. So really, in my opinion, the addition of Takeoff to the software creates a perfect harmony, so to speak, of our estimating experience from the very beginning all the way through the very end of accounting and job costing.
LINKS AND MORE
Related content:
Read this blog post to find out the 4 reasons you should be using takeoff software.
Schedule a demo to see Buildertrend Takoff in action.
Listen to “The Building Code,” Buildertrend’s biweekly podcast exploring people, technology and innovation across the construction industry.
“The Better Way” a podcast by Buildertrend: Subscribe and stream all five seasons on your favorite listening app now.
Follow us on social:
Instagram:
@Buildertrend
Facebook:
@Buildertrend
We want to hear from you! Reach out to us at podcast@buildertrend.com.
Welcome to “The Better Way: A podcast by Buildertrend.” Here you’ll learn to simplify and establish processes that will make meaningful changes to your company and help you achieve your goals. Because there’s a better way. The Buildertrend way. Tune in this season as Marge Haley, senior manager of customer success, chats with Buildertrend experts on how to master Takeoff and ace pre-project planning.
On today’s episode, Marge Haley and David Livingston, estimating and takeoff specialist, discuss how using takeoff software can help you win more bids in less time. Stop relying on someone else to run your numbers and go from waiting weeks to just days by running your own takeoffs.
What are some ways that general contractors can benefit from running their own takeoff?
David: I'll give you an example. I spoke to a guy that had a lumber supplier that took six weeks to run a takeoff for him, and he was able to cut it down into one or two days once he learned and developed his understanding of our takeoff system. So, with that time savings, that allows you to sell jobs faster, you can get quotes out to your homeowner faster, and it allows you to get more competitive pricing. So, you're not stuck with one supplier that does your takeoff every single time.
How can general contractors get numbers to their subs quicker using Buildertrend’s estimating tool, Takeoff and Bids feature?
David: Every line item in Buildertrend has the ability to be populated as a bid, and you can choose multiple line items in the estimate to ask pricing for. So, you could ask for a lump sum price for drywall, or you could tell them, "We need 500 sheets. What's your price per sheet to install this?" So basically, using line item actions and using real-time data that's being created and calculated in Takeoff, you can then take those line items from Buildertrend and then line item action them to create bid packages and release those bid packages. Your subs don't have to be active in Buildertrend. It's just like sending out an email.”
LINKS AND MORE
Related content:
Read this blog post to learn about the new and improved Estimate feature.
Learn how to increase your profits with Bids and other financial tools in Buildertrend.
Listen to “The Building Code,” Buildertrend’s biweekly podcast exploring people, technology and innovation across the construction industry.
Follow us on social:
Instagram:
@Buildertrend
Facebook:
@Buildertrend
We want to hear from you! Reach out to us at podcast@buildertrend.com.
Welcome to “The Better Way: A podcast by Buildertrend.” Here you’ll learn to simplify and establish processes that will make meaningful changes to your company and help you achieve your goals. Because there’s a better way. The Buildertrend way. Tune in this season as Marge Haley, senior manager of customer success, chats with Buildertrend experts on how to master takeoff and ace pre-project planning.
On today’s episode, Marge Haley and Chloe Hiatt, onsite consultant at Buildertrend, discuss how using templates can improve project efficiency. You’ll learn how to maximize your time spent in Buildertrend by using preset schedules, selections, estimates and more.
Why are templates helpful when using Buildertrend?
Chloe: Templates are a really useful tool that allow our builders to have repeatable processes and consistency in their account. It's having a preset schedule, a preset task list or preset folder structures. It's presetting different elements of the project and different features in Buildertrend, so that they can reuse it and repeat it over and over again. Templates make it so they don't have to build everything from scratch each time.
How can custom home builders benefit from templates?
Chloe: I'm sure our custom home builders are shaking their heads right now thinking, "Oh, there's no way." And I get a ton of pushback just about every time I speak with one. They say, "Well, we're so custom. How can I have a templated schedule?" And I reply, "Well, homes are typically built in a pretty similar way. The elements inside of them may be a bit different and sometimes outside too, but they're typically built in the same fashion." And so, I promise you, if you're listening, you can have a set, standard schedule even if you're a custom home builder.
LINKS AND MORE
Related content:
Watch this webinar to learn how you can save time, energy and effort with templates.
Tune into this episode of “The Building Code” to learn more about improving efficiency with templates.
Listen to “The Building Code,” Buildertrend’s biweekly podcast exploring people, technology and innovation across the construction industry.
Follow us on social:
Instagram:
@Buildertrend
Facebook:
@Buildertrend
We want to hear from you! Reach out to us at podcast@buildertrend.com.
Welcome to “The Better Way: A podcast by Buildertrend.” Here you’ll learn to simplify and establish processes that will make meaningful changes to your company and help you achieve your goals. Because there’s a better way. The Buildertrend way. Tune in this season as Marge Haley, senior manager of customer success, chats with Buildertrend experts on how to master takeoff and ace pre-project planning.
On today’s episode, Marge Haley and Tim Curran, onsite consultant at Buildertrend, discuss how mapping out your project schedule sets you up for success – even before day one of the build. Listen in to learn how to start using the Schedule, build good habits and use templates with the feature.
What are some items that builders should put in their schedule to start off with good habits right away?
Tim: Anything that requires a sub or your internal laborers onsite. Things that require days to put together. I see a lot of builders put items like “Order Windows” or “Bob, can you get my coffee please?” Maybe not that one so much, but anything that's more individual task-related, that's kind of a one-off doesn't necessarily need to be a schedule item. That could be a To-Do instead. So, things like framing and those longer kind of schedule items that require either subs onsite or your internal team, that's what you're going to want to as a schedule item, not necessarily the little nitty gritty, do this, do that. That's much better suited for To-Do’s.
Is there a way to see a high-level view of the Schedule in Buildertrend?
Tim: We do have phases in Buildertrend, and a lot of times they're broken down into the phase of the job. So maybe you have a prep and preliminary type phase. Maybe there's an excavation and foundation phase. You can also create your own custom phases. You don't necessarily have to break it down to that level, but phases are a great way to kind of lump together individual schedule items under a broader phase. And then when you actually share the schedule, let's say with your homeowner, you can give them the phase level breakdown as opposed to the individual schedule item view.
LINKS AND MORE
Related content:
Read this blog post to learn how to make project scheduling less tedious.
Read this case study to learn how this builder can take on more projects with an organized schedule.
Listen to “The Building Code,” Buildertrend’s biweekly podcast exploring people, technology and innovation across the construction industry.
Follow us on social:
Instagram:
@Buildertrend
Facebook:
@Buildertrend
We want to hear from you! Reach out to us at podcast@buildertrend.com.
Welcome to “The Better Way: A podcast by Buildertrend.” Here you’ll learn to simplify and organize the way you run your construction business and make meaningful changes to achieve your goals. Because there’s a better way. The Buildertrend way. Tune in this season as hosts Zach Wojtowicz, a corporate development strategist at Buildertrend, and Brett Jones, a Buildertrend onsite consultant, teach strategies to start projects the right way.
Brett and Zach finish the season with tips on how builders can fine-tune their purchasing processes.
Welcome to “The Better Way: A podcast by Buildertrend.” Here you’ll learn to simplify and organize the way you run your construction business and make meaningful changes to achieve your goals. Because there’s a better way. The Buildertrend way. Tune in this season as hosts Zach Wojtowicz, a corporate development strategist at Buildertrend, and Brett Jones, a Buildertrend onsite consultant, teach strategies to start projects the right way.
Brett and Zach discuss how to ensure your team has top-notch planning processes for materials and costs.
Welcome to “The Better Way: A podcast by Buildertrend.” Here you’ll learn to simplify and organize the way you run your construction business and make meaningful changes to achieve your goals. Because there’s a better way. The Buildertrend way. Tune in this season as hosts Zach Wojtowicz, a corporate development strategist at Buildertrend, and Brett Jones, a Buildertrend onsite consultant, teach strategies to start projects the right way.
Brett and Zach highlight how to effectively craft project timelines and how to use them to improve collaboration and planning on future projects.
Welcome to “The Better Way: A podcast by Buildertrend.” Here you’ll learn to simplify and organize the way you run your construction business and make meaningful changes to achieve your goals. Because there’s a better way. The Buildertrend way. Tune in this season as hosts Zach Wojtowicz, a corporate development strategist at Buildertrend, and Brett Jones, a Buildertrend onsite consultant, teach strategies to start projects the right way.
On this episode, Brett and Zach explore ways builders of all types can use Selections to their advantage and enhance the build experience for their clients.
Welcome to “The Better Way: A podcast by Buildertrend.” Here you’ll learn to simplify and organize the way you run your construction business and make meaningful changes to achieve your goals. Because there’s a better way. The Buildertrend way. Tune in this season as hosts Zach Wojtowicz, a corporate development strategist at Buildertrend, and Brett Jones, a Buildertrend onsite consultant, teach strategies to start projects the right way.
Brett and Zach kick off this season with insight into ways Buildertrend can enhance project communication and tee-up time savings through document management.
Welcome to “The Better Way: A podcast by Buildertrend.” Here you’ll learn to simplify and establish processes that will make meaningful changes to your company and help you achieve your goals. Because there’s a better way. The Buildertrend way. Tune in this season as host Zach Wojtowicz, a corporate development strategist at Buildertrend, and our experts and consultants to teach best practices for sales and lead management.
This season’s third episode highlights how online tools help builders reach the right customers.
Listen to the full episode to hear Alex Suarez, Buildertrend’s web services sales manager, share his insight on how builders can win business through their websites
Welcome to “The Better Way: A podcast by Buildertrend.” Here you’ll learn to simplify and establish processes that will make meaningful changes to your company and help you achieve your goals. Because there’s a better way. The Buildertrend way. Tune in this season as host Zach Wojtowicz, a corporate development strategist at Buildertrend, and our experts and consultants to teach best practices for sales and lead management.
This season’s second episode showcases ways Buildertrend users can turbocharge their sales process with the Proposals feature.
Listen to the full episode to hear John Wisnieski, manager of automation strategy, shares the key components of a proposal and other tips on how builders can safeguard their time and boost their business through proposals.
Welcome to “The Better Way: A podcast by Buildertrend.” Here you’ll learn to simplify and establish processes that will make meaningful changes to your company and help you achieve your goals. Because there’s a better way. The Buildertrend way. Tune in this season as host Zach Wojtowicz, a corporate development strategist at Buildertrend, and our experts and consultants to teach best practices for sales and lead management.
The last episode of this season highlights strategies to ensure your clients are satisfied.
Listen to the full episode to hear from Megan Montoya, construction project coordinator at Better Choice Homes in Gilbert, Arizona, and learn how they’ve used software to enhance their customers’ building experience.
Welcome to “The Better Way: A podcast by Buildertrend.” Here you’ll learn to simplify and establish processes that will make meaningful changes to your company and help you achieve your goals. Because there’s a better way. The Buildertrend way. Tune in this season as host Zach Wojtowicz, a corporate development strategist at Buildertrend, and our experts and consultants to teach best practices for sales and lead management.
The inaugural episode of “The Better Way” Season 4 highlights ways Buildertrend users can learn how to simplify and get the most from their sales process.
Listen to the full episode to hear Marge Haley, development coordinator at Buildertrend, give tips on adopting an intuitive sales process that offers efficiency and enhance client relations.
Welcome to “The Better Way: A podcast by Buildertrend.” Here you’ll learn to simplify and establish processes that will make meaningful changes to your company and help you achieve your goals. Because there’s a better way. The Buildertrend way. Tune in this season as host Zach Wojtowicz, a corporate development strategist at Buildertrend, and our experts and consultants to teach best practices for sales and lead management.
The fourth episode of this season highlights ways to get the word out about your construction company’s abilities.
Listen to the full episode to hear Courtney Mattern, Buildertrend’s director of content marketing, showcases ways Buildertrend can help you market your business and why social media is a marketing must.
Welcome to “The Better Way: A podcast by Buildertrend.” Here you’ll learn to simplify and establish processes that will make meaningful changes to your company and help you achieve your goals. Because there’s a better way. The Buildertrend way. Tune in this season as Zach Wojtowicz, Pro Services education coordinator, chats with Nick Schiffer of NS Builders about how to boost collaboration.
Tune in to this episode to hear Zach and Nick’s conversation about the best ways to identify your team's essential features within Buildertrend.
Welcome to “The Better Way: A podcast by Buildertrend.” Here you’ll learn to simplify and establish processes that will make meaningful changes to your company and help you achieve your goals. Because there’s a better way. The Buildertrend way. Tune in this season as Zach Wojtowicz, Pro Services education coordinator, chats with Nick Schiffer of NS Builders about how to boost collaboration.
On today's episode, Zach and Nick chat about the popular subject of creating great client relationships with transparent communication.
Welcome to “The Better Way: A podcast by Buildertrend.” Here you’ll learn to simplify and establish processes that will make meaningful changes to your company and help you achieve your goals. Because there’s a better way. The Buildertrend way. Tune in this season as Zach Wojtowicz, Pro Services education coordinator, chats with Nick Schiffer of NS Builders about how to boost collaboration.
On today’s episode, Zach and Nick are discussing the importance of getting your team onboard with using Buildertrend from day one.
Welcome to “The Better Way: A podcast by Buildertrend.” Here you’ll learn to simplify and establish processes that will make meaningful changes to your company and help you achieve your goals. Because there’s a better way. The Buildertrend way. Tune in this season as Zach Wojtowicz, Pro Services education coordinator, chats with Nick Schiffer of NS Builders about how to boost collaboration.
On today's episode, Zach and Nick are talking about the best ways to promote collaboration between desk and field.
Welcome to “The Better Way: A podcast by Buildertrend.” Here you’ll learn to simplify and establish processes that will make meaningful changes to your company and help you achieve your goals. Because there’s a better way. The Buildertrend way. Tune in this season as Zach Wojtowicz, Pro Services education coordinator, chats with Nick Schiffer of NS Builders about how to boost collaboration.
During this episode, Zach and Nick discuss methods and systems for staying connected with your subs.
In this episode, Zach’s talking about how to protect your revenue. Rachel Wieser, an onsite consultant at Buildertrend, will be joining him to share her insights on this very important topic.
Listen to the full episode to hear about Rachel’s experience as an onsite consultant and what she’s learned while working with customers and helping them succeed.
On this final episode of “The Better Way” season two, Zach’s joined by Will Lopez from Gusto to go in depth with payroll. Hear their discussion about how to simplify your processes and ensure you and your employees are set up for success.
Tune in to the full episode to hear why having a reliable payroll processes and procedures will benefit your team and business.
On today’s episode, Zach’s talking about the tools you can use to avoid disputes and lawsuits. He’s joined by Walt Keaveny from 2-10 Home Buyers Warranty, to talk about this super important topic.
Tune in to the full episode to for cost details and important insights on how to prevent disputes and lawsuits on your construction jobs.
In this episode of “The Building Code,” Zach’s discussing the ever-popular topic of liens and waivers. He’s joined again by Nick Knihnisky, Buildertrend’s legal expert, to talk about the ins and outs of these important documents.
Tune in to the full episode to get more information on why liens and waivers are important documents to have for protecting your business.
On today’s episode, Zach’s getting down to business to talk about contracts. He’s joined by Nick Knihnisky, Buildertrend’s expert for all things legal.
Tune in to the full episode for must-have insights that will ensure you have a reliable construction contract protecting your business.
Welcome to “The Better Way: A podcast by Buildertrend.” Here you’ll learn to simplify and establish processes that will make meaningful changes to your company and help you achieve your goals. Because there’s a better way. The Buildertrend way. Tune in this season as Zach Wojtowicz, Pro Services education coordinator, chats with several experts about risk management.
On today’s episode, Zach’s discussing the importance of Builder’s Risk Insurance. Get the latest BRI insights and advice from Tony Ravenstahl of SilverStone Group, a HUB International company.
Are you ready to make your financial process more efficient? Today on “The Better Way: A podcast by Buildertrend,” Reece and Zach are bringing you all of the must-know information related to integrating QuickBooks with your Buildertrend account.
Check out the full episode to learn how the two platforms work together to help streamline your business’ financial processes.
On this episode of “The Better Way: A podcast by Buildertrend,” Reece and Zach are chatting about some important information related to financial reporting within Buildertrend. They’ll talk about how Buildertrend reporting can be maximized around these key areas: Budget, Job Groupings, Jobs Lists, Grid Settings, Filtering and Variance Codes.
Listen to the full episode to learn more about how reporting in Buildertrend allows you to quickly pull job costs and detailed budgets to help make financial decisions.
On this episode of “The Better Way: A podcast by Buildertrend,” our experts Reece and Zach are diving deeper into best practices for using cost codes.
Tune in to this episode to learn how to prioritize your cost codes and hear about what features and functionality our experts recommend for using cost codes in Buildertrend.
Are you looking for a better way to manage your job costing? On today’s episode of “The Better Way: A podcast by Buildertrend,” Reece and Zach are talking in and outs of how to use Buildertrend’s powerful job costing features and capabilities to control your business financials and increase profitability.
Tune in to the full episode to learn more job costing capabilities and the Purchase Order feature within Buildertrend can improve profitability.
On this episode of “The Better Way: A podcast by Buildertrend,” Reece and Zach are discussing how you can use Buildertrend to keep clients informed on how much they’ve paid and how much is remaining on their project. They’re also talking about how to process online payments through our Pro Service Buildertrend Payment Processing powered by Chase.
Check out the full episode to learn more about best practices for recording payments in Buildertrend and the benefits of using online payments.
Welcome to “The Better Way: A podcast by Buildertrend,” where you’ll learn how to simplify complex processes and make meaningful change by running your business with tech. In this first season our experts will zero in on financial management. Because there’s a better way. The Buildertrend way.
Tune in to this episode to hear our experts talk about the best ways to use cost codes within Buildertrend and how they can help to keep your financial processes organized.
Introducing “The Better Way," a new podcast by the world's leader in construction project management software. Buildertrend experts drill deep into the better way … the Buildertrend way … to overcome the challenges of running a business. Financials. Reducing risk. Client communication. "The Better Way" podcast explores how our tech can simplify complex processes like these.