The hardest part of being a successful builder and business owner is not the craft of building, it’s the day-to-day running and growing your business: The administration, the estimating, the communication. The good news is that there’s a better way.
Buildxact is a global cloud-based construction management software solution designed for residential builders, remodelers, and other construction trades with one to two operators to small teams. Builders choose Buildxact over other solutions because they can get set up and estimate up to 80% faster, quoting 5x faster and they only need to learn one tool, from takeoff to invoice.
Director of Business Development at Buildxact
Below is a Q&A session with Adam MacLean, director of business development at Buildxact in North America.
Adam manages Buildxact’s growth in the region and was integral in launching Buildxact to the North American market. He has first-hand knowledge to help residential builders win more work and build a better business.
It sounds like you serve a specific industry segment in the residential construction business. Why did Buildxact take this approach?
The simple answer is Buildxact was uniquely built for the small residential builder or contractor from the ground up; to eliminate repetitive work that builders generally do not get paid for, like estimating, chasing subcontractors and suppliers, sending PO’s, managing change orders, and tracking costs against the estimate.
You offer a 2-week free trial. How has that differentiated your software over others in the marketplace? Have your prospects or current customers commented on the free trial? If so, what feedback have they given you?
Tricky question! A trial allows builders to “kick the tires” a bit on their own which does suit some people who prefer working that way. But after a one-on-one with our team — that demonstrates how to get their business set up in a few minutes — they want to get an estimate out on the same day. The training is fantastic, and once they’ve got that first 15 minutes under their belt, we guarantee they will reduce the time spent on getting an estimate out the door by 80%.
What are some of the current challenges facing your customers (prospects and current) in today’s marketplace?
The most significant issues we hear most consistently are time and materials. If they’re spending hours and hours generating quotes, that’s limiting the time for prospecting or working with suppliers to solve short-term material needs. Today, builders need to be more efficient than ever to prosper in the current market.
Price volatility and material availability are unprecedented and managing through the uncertainty is critical in keeping jobs moving profitably. Most experienced builders we speak with typically estimate using the dollars-per-square-foot for the whole build method, but that doesn’t cut it anymore. Using construction estimating software like Buildxact automates subcontractor and supplier pricing for more accurate estimates and a better bottom line.
How have you solved builder pain points?
In addition to reducing estimating time by 80%, Buildxact centralizes and streamlines a builder’s business processes — estimating, job and cost management, scheduling, and accounting — to increase efficiency. From the first takeoff to the final invoice, Buildxact gives greater control of your business, so they can grow with confidence. Buildxact also enables access to a supplier’s price list in the platform — to get forecasted pricing and updates in real-time — to create accurate takeoffs, estimates, and professional quotes.
Tell us a bit more about how Buildxact helps the residential construction businesses:
- Quick and accurate estimating: because estimating is critically important in today’s climate with fluctuating pricing, Buildxact streamlines the entire process with quick and simple online takeoffs, automated calculations to save time so builders can respond to customers quicker and also take on more work.
- Impressive professional quotes: instead of sending quotes in Word or Excel, email, text, or even verbal, Buildxact’s construction management software generates quotes directly from the estimate up to 5x faster with a company branded template for a professional impression.
- Stress-free project management: today, builders can manage jobs from anywhere — the truck, office, or multiple job sites — using a construction project management software, like Buildxact. From scheduling to purchasing to delivery to invoicing, Buildxact is cloud-based making it easy to access at any time.
- Real-time financials: when builders gain greater control of their business they can stay on top of the bottom line and be confident they’re making a profit. Buildxact tracks all the costs line-by-line and integrates with Quickbooks and Xero.
Can you share some success stories?
We hear a lot of the same stories from our clients, and they come from one of three places:
- Unsatisfied with current software: They started with a system, clearly built for a commercial team, and was going to take days to set up and weeks to learn, so they ended up never really getting going and spent a bunch of money.
- Build a better business model: On one hand, established builders seek a solution to solve missing details in their estimates and because they weren’t hitting their profit margin. On the other hand, builders just starting on their own want to use technology to compete with more established companies. Both found more confidence in negotiating with customers with Buildxact.
- Time: The outcomes are all the same regardless of where they came from:
- They get more time to build the “business” side of their business (marketing, hiring, planning).
- Significant increase in lifestyle due to higher profits, more time outside of work, and increased peace of mind when it comes to their finances
Tell us about some of the other benefits Buildxact offers?
- All-in-one platform: We make it easy. Buildxact is all-in-one construction management software — from takeoffs to invoicing — so you only need to learn and subscribe to one software solution.
- Clean and simple: Because it is built specifically for the residential builder or contractor, the interface is designed to be clean and easy to use, but more importantly, it is easy to learn.
- Unparalleled training and support: We offer unlimited training and support — at no extra cost — and most builders can get their first estimate out on day one.
- Finance management: Nothing is more critical than knowing where you stand against what you quoted your customer, particularly in today’s environment.
- Change order management: A hot topic! We automate this process, including approvals. Find me a builder that has not missed invoicing on a change order, and I will eat my hat.
There are several construction management software solutions in the market? How is Buildxact different from others?
Not to be repetitive, but for emphasis, Buildxact is uniquely designed for the residential builder or contractor. The real difference isn’t about what Buildxact is; it is about what Buildxact is NOT:
- Buildxact is not a dumbed-down version of a complex commercial tool. It is a tool specifically designed for the needs of the residential builder or contractor.
- Buildxact is not hard to learn. It is easy to learn and use, allowing even the inexperienced software user to be up and running quickly
- Accountants did not design Buildxact (although it connects directly to Quickbooks). Buildxact was designed with input from residential builders, remodelers, and contractors — what they wanted and what they didn’t want — to make it easy to use to build a better business and spend more time doing what’s important to them.
How can residential construction businesses learn more about Buildxact?
Take a look at our website or hear from happy builders using Buildxact.
If you like what you see, book a demo with one of our team to show you how it will work for your construction business, or start a 14 day free trial to try it for yourself.
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