Why are some home builders & remodelers able to command a higher price than their competitors?

In this episode, Rick interviews Andrew Burton from Creekside Custom Homes & Remodeling. Listen in as Andrew shares how he’s uniquely positioned himself as the builder of choice, even when his competitors are cheaper. Watch the video below as Rick and Andrew go through about:

• Andrew’s journey and his biggest challenge with creating a competitive advantage
• How Andrew has optimized his Design/Build model
• Offering free estimates or concept plans
• The value of following a proven business system
• Knowing when you need to make a change

Watch/listen to the full interview below with Andrew Burton of Creekside Custom Homes & Remodeling.

Builder Lead Lead Converter frees up time for home builders & remodelers by acting as their personal sales and marketing assistant so they can grow sales revenue and margins. Find out how https://www.builderleadconverter.com

For more information on Creekside Custom Homes & Remodeling visit https://creeksidehomes.net

 

Transcript:

Today on Conversations that Convert, we’re gonna be answering that question that every home buyer and home remodeling client has why should I choose you when you’re not the lowest price? And we’re gonna talk specifically about how to create a competitive advantage for your company. So let’s get started.

Welcome to conversations that convert every week, we’ll spend about 10 to 15 minutes tackling relevant lead generation, marketing, and sales topics for remodelers home improvement companies, and home builders, Conversations that Convert is brought to you by builder lead converter, your perfect sales assistant.

And now here’s Rick and Daiana. 

Rick: Hey, welcome back everyone. Daiana is off today, but we do have a special guest, which we’ll introduce here shortly. The topic of today’s show is answering that age-old question that every prospective home buyer in home remodels has why should I choose you when you’re not the lowest price how to create a competitive advantage for your company? This is all part of our, how to beat your competition series. And, I wanna introduce now, Andrew Burton from Creekside homes, who was our special guest today. Andrew, thank you so much, for joining us. 

Andrew: Thanks for having me.  

Rick: Yeah, well, it’s a, it’s a pleasure and I know you’ve got a lot of great stuff to share, so let’s jump right into it, Andrew, you know, give us a little background on who you are, how are you where you are, and what’s been your journey through life to land you here, talking with me on conversations that convert.

Andrew: Yeah. Great. Well, you know, I started home building, about 19 years ago now. And, you know, starting out, it was, it was a bit of a learning curve, starting at a, at a young age, just outta high school. And, so, you know, learned a lot of things along the way and made a lot of mistakes along the way. And, So, yeah, I think that you know, home building is a blast and we really, have enjoyed and it’s, it’s a lot more fun of course when you’re profitable and, when things are going smoothly. So, yeah, I’m, I’m in Portland, Oregon, just out just outside of Portland and, have a, you know, a thriving design build company here.

Rick: Very cool. 19 years. I didn’t realize it had been that long. Wow. Time, time flies when you’re having fun, as they say. 

Andrew: Yeah. 

Rick: So Andrew, we’re talking about creating a competitive advantage today, and as a design-build home builder, were just to clarify, you’re building scattered, no models, no spec homes. So essentially every time you go out to build a home for one of your clients, it’s a competitive situation where they can pretty much choose whoever they want.

Andrew: That’s right. 

Rick: Yeah. So we, we wanna, you know, look at. You over the last 19 years, how did you get to your home building company to the point where it is fun? It is profitable. You’re enjoying what you’re doing. I know that you’ve taken on some additional projects that we’re gonna talk a little bit about here at, at, in the end, but what has really been your biggest challenge with creating a competitive advantage for Creekside homes?

Andrew: Well, you know, I remember, I remember what it was like to be the one person in the company and to wear all the hats. And I’ll remember, never forget, actually the time when I had a couple of employees, I had someone, I had an assistant, so they were, you know, answering calls and handling administrative tasks. And then I also had a project manager and I remember the difference in the stress level at that stage versus being just a one-person operation and how it just kind of having other people in the company take some of that load off of not just the responsibilities, but even the way the customers interact with you. Instead, you know, before, when, when you’re the only guy in the company, everything is kind of your moral obligation. You know. And they, you know, if, if there’s an error on the job, it’s, it’s like, you know, you really screwed up or, you know, it, it just sure. It’s, it’s different when there’s a company when there are multiple people in the company, it, it affects how the customers view you and them, They’re more understanding. They give more, I guess, leeway or more understanding to what could possibly happen and, you know, surprises that could come along. So it just overall, I remember the real improvement just in having some support staff and not trying to do it all by myself. 

Rick: Yeah. That’s. Yeah. I, I think I was thinking about the phone ring. You don’t have to ask somebody who they’re looking for. Right. When you’re by yourself, it’s like, it’s always for you. It doesn’t matter. Who’s calling, it’s always your fault. Yeah. And so if something goes right, it’s your, you get the benefit as, but if something goes wrong, man, it’s your, it’s your fault regardless of, of what happens. So there’s a tremendous amount of stress, obviously, at that environment, you know, the terminology, the loving terminology, we call those solo shingles. There’s Chuck and a truck. Right. You know, it’s one guy out there just trying to do it all. And, yeah, you get to the point where you hit that ceiling real quick and it’s like, you just can’t put any more hours into a day and you’re sort of limited, at what you can do. But, those guys, as you get a little bit larger though, you find that they’re kind of easy to compete with, right. Because they can’t be good at everything they can’t specialize, you know, they’re usually good at one thing. And then they’re sort of just getting by in other areas, of the business. So, you, so you mentioned your design-build and, and so how do you optimize the design-build model or what have you learned over the last 19 years? 

Andrew: Yeah. So the design-build model is in my opinion, the best way to be a home builder or remodeler unless you’re going to be doing subdivision work. So if you wanna develop land and build spec homes and, you know, build a model and put staff a model and, you know, that’s a totally different business concept. But, and, and in that case, you know, you’re not doing design builds. You’re, you’re picking your own floor plans. You’re setting up, your material packages. And, there’s a, there’s a different process to that. But if you’re doing anything on the custom side, so remodeling or custom home building, the design-build business model is the right way to structure the company. The reason I believe that, is because I used to do it, where, we just gave free bids. You know, we were just honored that somebody would call us and ask us to bid on their house. And so they’d bring a plan in that was maybe complete or maybe not complete. And they’d say a few things, you know like we want quartz countertops and we want, you know, whatever this kind of flooring, can you give us a price? And so you’d, we’d spend, you know, 40 hours, whatever crunching numbers, checking spreadsheets, looking at old jobs, you know, comparing everything, trying to figure out a good number, come back with a number after couple weeks, time spent on it. And then they’d say, okay, great, you know, you’re the middle bidder and, we never go with the middle bidder or you one time I had someone say, you’re the low bidder and we never pick the low, the low number three. The other, the guy’s 5,000 more than you. We’re gonna go with him cuz he’s the middle bidder, you know? And I was like, wait a minute. That has nothing to do. The level of service I’m providing has nothing to do with, my competency for your project, and my proximity to your project. There are a lot of other factors that are much more important. And the number one important factor, which I learned is how well you can communicate between, you know, the client and the builder. Excellent communication and synergy in understanding each other and getting along is the most important thing when you’re making that selection. 

Rick: Absolutely, absolutely. 

Andrew: To make it solely based on price is, a poor, poor decision. It’s not the right way to make that choice. 

Rick: I think I heard a statistic once, that, is that only 13% of buyers who buy purely on price are purely motivated by price, but yet, it’s the, it’s the common differentiator.

Andrew: Right.

Rick: Between builders is always price cause people understand the price. What they don’t understand though is really what are they getting for that right. For that price and, and, let’s face it, you know, unless you’re gonna have an architect design the plan, put together a full set of specifications and scope of work. You’re never getting apples, apple comparison. And, and I, for years, I’ve contended that the true difference between builders is not the sticks in bricks because all of that can essentially be copied. The true difference is the team. It’s like, what, what am I getting? So it’s the experience of the superintendent you, as, as the builder of the interior designer of the architectural designer, they’re working with the trades that are gonna be on site. All those people put together really are what you’re purchasing. And that synergy I think, is what you used. And, yeah, so I can go and pick somebody based on price and it’s an awful experience. And as we all know, Bidding typical goes against the home buyer because I, as a builder, can, can buy a bid. If I really want the project, I can buy it, and guess what? I’ll get into it. And I’ll get my buyer over a barrel and say, oh, sorry, I guess we missed on this one. You know, we’re gonna need to come out. You need to put in this much more money or do this, right. At that point, the project started, and the buyer has no choice. They’ve gotta, you know, pony over the money. Now it’s gonna be an awful experience going forward and you’re never gonna get a referral from them. But hey, I got the. Right. You know, I, I got the job, but I think that’s funny though, is that yeah, we never go at the lowest price. We always want the middle price. So, so, therefore, we just continue. But if you think about it, let me ask you a question though, of all those times when you were back doing that bidding and pricing and spending 40 hours, you know, putting that price together, how many times did you actually get the deal? Do you, do you remember? Do you remember how many times someone actually always said, yeah, I’m gonna go with you because you’re whatever? 

Andrew: Yeah. You know,  I, I don’t know. I honestly don’t have that closing ratio. Cause that was one thing we, we also weren’t doing well back then was really tracking, you know, the number of bids versus the number of closings, something that we now do and, and, you know, do a much better job of tracking, but, yeah. You know, it was, it definitely, we weren’t winning. ’em all, you know, right. We were definitely giving free bids out and not winning the work.

Rick: Kind of the shotgun approach. Right. You just try. Do as much money as possible. Again, it is inefficient and time-consuming. I always contend that when somebody comes to you and they have their plans almost done or nearly done, and they come to you and they wanna get a price and you have not been involved up to that point, somebody else has.

Andrew: Right. 

Rick: And, and they’ve gotten a price already and they come to you cuz they just wanna verify if the price is a good price. We wanna make sure they’re not paying too much, but even when you are a little bit less than maybe this other person, they’ve got the trusting relationship built that other people and they’re still gonna go with the other person. So I’ve, I’ve always contended. Is that ready, willing, and abled buyer that drops on your lap and says, here’s my stuff. Give me a price. I’m ready to go. Financing’s approved. And everything else typically is your lowest converting type of buyer, cuz there’s no relationship established. There’s no trust. They don’t understand the value of what you do. They simply look at you as a number and they’ve already got somebody else in their back pocket. Who they have developed a relationship with, and they’re just trying to logically justify going with them, and they’re gonna use you in your 40 hours of time to, to, to help them make that decision. And, and so, yeah, sometimes those are your worst. I shouldn’t say sometimes they typically are always your worst type of lead, versus meeting somebody who’s six months out, nine months out a year out, and you’re helping them develop that plan, through the design-build process. 

Andrew: Absolutely 

Rick: Now, so you don’t just to clarify with everyone that that’s watching you don’t build model homes, you don’t build spec homes, you don’t inventory land. Everything you’re doing is scattered a lot, and using that design-build approach. But, I know you’ve spent a lot of time, refining your design process. And that’s a really key component of how you are com creating that competitive advantage, against other, other builders in the area. Can you enlighten us a little bit, on what that looks like? 

Andrew: Yeah. So when we started implementing a design agreement, so, you know, the way our process works is somebody will reach out, ask us a little bit about what it takes to build. We’re able to give them some information about the process and what to expect. We can give ’em some budget ranges. We always use ballparks, you know, to reference what things could cost, give ’em a range of costs, and then we move to a design agreement and that design agreement pays us to draw the plans, write the spec, and price the project.  And we price every project out with our vendors. You know, we don’t, we have, especially in this current volatile economy, you have to do that because, you know, when you hear things on the news, like, oh, the wire just went up or pipe went up or lumber went up, you know, you don’t know how much, and you don’t know what that, how that trickled down to your local, supply house until you price it out. So you gotta price that stuff. So we set up this design agreement process, and that gives us a couple of things and several advantages. One is it pulls ’em off the market. So now that they’re paying you a few thousand dollars or several thousand dollars to do this work for them, they’re not gonna stop that, right? They’re not gonna they’re off the market. They’re now focused on you. They’re vested in you. Yep. another great benefit to doing this is you begin to learn whether or not you’re a good fit before the stakes are really high, like a million dollars, you know, so you can, you can find out can they understand us, you know? And if you, as you go through the process, you may say, look, everything we say to this person, doesn’t get through. You know, we sent ’em an email, and they, and they, they clearly didn’t understand it. We have a conversation they clearly got, okay. Maybe we’re not a good fit. 

Rick: Yeah. A red flag comes up, right? 

Andrew: Yeah. We’re getting some flags here, you know, so, and it could be vice versa, you know, maybe the, maybe the client decides that you know, they don’t feel good working with you, whatever, but it, it, it’s a good thing to figure that out before you’re tied up in a million dollar contract and it has to end with an attorney or. Some yeah. You know, legal issue. So that’s another advantage to having that design contract in place. It, it. It just really smooths that out. 

Rick: Do you typically, so, so just following your, design pro or your process a little bit, so you meet with the client, you will give them some budget numbers, talk a little bit about what your process looks like, maybe reaffirm, whatever they’re looking for, that you are a good fit, at least as best you can upfront. And then do you go right to the design agreement or is there an interim step? What does that look like? 

Andrew: Yeah. So as soon as they have the land. We go to a design agreement. 

Rick: Okay. Yeah, obviously. Yeah. So you’re not gonna design something without the dirt. 

Andrew: Yeah. 

Rick: Okay. And does that, do you do something on a flat fee or more of a, like a percentage basis based on budget?

Andrew: It’s worked well for us to base it on, square footage. Oh, okay. Because we can get drafting done based on square footage and, you know, material selection done based on square footage. That’s worked out well for us, to come up with a figure like that. We do have a design agreement for remodeling that is more of an open-ended arrangement where we take a retainer and we bill for the time. So there are different ways to structure that. And, and, you know, you can tailor that to your, your specific situation.  Yeah, it’s really the best way to go about that. 

Rick: So the customer wants 5,000 feet. You then take a percentage of that becomes the fee for your design agreement. And then for that, you are offering them the design services in order to give them the information they need in order to pull the trigger on a contract.

Andrew: Yeah. The main big reason I’ve listed a couple of reasons why that’s important, but one of the biggest things that you gotta understand about this process is you’re doing a one-off home. You’ve never built this home before. You’ve probably never worked for this client before. Although we have some repeat clients that we’ve done this process with, most likely this is the first time you’ve worked with this person. And the first time you’ve built this home. So you gotta, you gotta get in their head in, in their mind. There’s this vision of this house. They can see it in their mind, but they don’t always know how to articulate it. And of, until it can be articulated and confirmed on paper. You don’t know if you’re on the same page or not.

Rick: Yeah. Right. 

Andrew: And so when they spend all that time, you referenced this earlier. But when they’re spending that time with an architect, they’re, they’re saying we like this. We don’t like this. We’re, you know, and they’re giving their life experience and their, reasons and their viewpoints to this other person, who’s putting it on paper. If he doesn’t get it accurately represented on paper. Things get lost in that translation when that plan comes to you. And so if you are in charge of that design process, you’re hearing everything they’re saying you’re getting much better content as the plans are getting created. And you know, the story behind every line on that page and why the house is this way because they’ve, they’ve explained all that story to you. And so, that, that is huge. When you get to the end of the design phase with somebody where you spent 40 to 60 hours drawing the plans, writing the spec, showing ’em a tile and they say, oh, we don’t like that title because of this of a.

Rick: Sure.

Andrew: Yep. Yeah, it, it gives you the story. So you understand. So when you deliver them a package plan specs and. It’s very comprehensive. You fully know what’s gonna make them happy and they fully feel heard and understood. They’re almost always ready to move forward. 

Rick: Yeah. That’s, it’s so true. You know, it just goes back to, what you said earlier is that the design process, I think what, what I hear and you’re saying is that, that the critical component, the design process is it allows you to develop that synergy and that relationship and that trump most people in that trust.

Andrew: Yeah. 

Rick: So if they trust you for the design process, they’re gonna trust you during the construction and warranty, period. I’ve heard I quick story here, but I remember I had a client once that told me that, he was working with a, prospective, remodeling client. And, he said I had the world’s remodeling client and said I have the world’s most expensive baseball bat. And what do you mean? He and my clients at the time he goes, what do you mean by that? And he, and he reaches. Behind his desk. And he pulls up this rolled-up set of plans and he says, I spent $30,000 with an architect to draw these plans. And the plans were twice my budget. And now my kids use it as a baseball bat. These plans. And, you know, we’ve all heard those horror stories, right? When, you have that client working directly, if an architect, yeah. The architect may be able to put it on paper. But it’s so usually blown out a budget that it’s a waste of time and energy and money, and you’ve gotta start from scratch anyway. So why not work with a home builder who understands budget as well as design, aspects? 

Andrew: That’s right. 

Rick: The other thing I think, you know, for. I would say this for builders out there, like, just like you went through you, you, you had the free estimate. Maybe you were even doing free concept plans at some point for some people, which I know some builders are in that phase and doing, it’s such a leap of faith to start charging for your time. Start charging for your time. And one of the things that, you know, I would just encourage people to look at it this way is that you said you got 19 years in, in, in the business here. Well, whether you have nine years or nine months, or 19 years, you have more experience than your client or prospective client, and that’s worth the money. As an example, think about how many times you’ve been meeting with a client. They’ve been talking to you about designing something and what they think it needs to. You come up with, a way to do it. That saves them 10, 20, 50, a hundred thousand dollars. In other words, you’re able to design it so much more efficiently and that’s worth so much money that, I think builders sell themselves short by thinking, well, geez, I can’t charge for my time because I haven’t sold them anything yet. No, your time is worth so much more. So you gotta create that perceived value and believe it too. Now, now here’s my follow-up question. So today now you’re in the design bill process. Someone comes to you and says I’m cuz I’m sure you still get these calls. Hey Andrew, we got our plan done. We got our specs. Can you gimme a price? We got our land even, you know, ready will and enable everything’s ready to go. How do you handle that type of call? 

Andrew: Great question. You know, I’ve, I’ve continued to try to do the bid approach, and every time it, it doesn’t work. Every time that we try to do that, those are the jobs we don’t get. And, really I’ve learned the best way is when they come in, you still collect a small deposit and you say, look, we need to spend some time on this. We need to, we need to have some meetings. We need to go over, you know, we’ll review your plans. We’ll charge you to review your plans and we’re gonna find the errors or the omissions in them. And then, we’re gonna, we’re gonna discuss that and fill in those blanks before we’re able to give you a solid number. And, yeah. 

Rick: And how many people say, sure, okay. I’ll write you a check or I’ll pay you versus how many people say, well, well, if you won’t gimme a free estimate, I’ll go someplace else.

Andrew: If they’re not willing to engage, they’re not a good fit. 

Rick: Yeah. 

Andrew: And exactly right. It’s sad to say they’re whoever they end up going with. And there are plenty of great builders out there. You know, we’re not the only builder that’s capable in the area, but most likely if that’s their value structure, they’re probably not gonna be happy.

Rick: They don’t know what they don’t know at that point. Right. And everything. And they think they can get this apple to apples. So again, going back to comparing, creating that competitive advantage. So over 19 years, I know you’ve done a lot of trial and error stuff, and you have had some successes and you had some failures adding people. But you’ve had to build a, a business system, around that, you know, what is, what has been the value of having a proven business system as you have evolved as a design, build home builder and now remodeler? 

Andrew: Yeah. Well, I mean, it’s a great question there. It could be a long answer, but to keep its focus. You know, when, when we first started, I referenced being the only guy and being responsible for everything. And, and we’ve, you know, heard the reference to wearing a lot of hats. And as you hire people, you figure out what critical roles you need in the company, and you know, who should be hired next, you start to realize efficiencies. So, you know, if you have project managers, for instance, on-site, then you, that frees you up. So you’re not in the field.  and, you, you start finding your role in the company and the goal, really, when we say we own a company, you know, the goal is to literally own an asset. That’s producing a profit margin, not just buying ourselves an 80-hour-a-week job. You know, right. Cause we can go, we can go work 80 hours anywhere, you know, work and… 

Rick: Mot has the risk for the headaches that go with ownership. Right.  

Andrew: Exactly. So, there are a few things that are, you know, setting up systems and, and standard operating procedures has done for us. One is it’s helped us to produce consistent results. It’s gone from, you know, when, where maybe some customers wouldn’t be happy or, you know, we’d end the job and it, it would just be, you know, they’re not mad, but they’re not delighted, you know, we’ve gone from that too. You know, almost every project the customers are, they’re ecstatic, they’re ready to refer us. You know, they love us. And, that transition is just because we’ve established things that take the chaos out of the process. We’ve got, you know, this time, this consistent, repetitive thing is gonna happen. And, this process is in place. The other thing it’s done is of course when you’re taking the chaos out of something, it gives me the owner more time. It frees my time up more. And so I begin, to get a little more space from the company and be able to look at the vision, look at the direction of the company. Look for opportunity, look for ways to grow and expand. Look for ways to improve the operation and all of that snowballs and compound. In a good way. And over time, you continue to get more freedom of time and you continue to become more profitable. So setting these processes up has been paying great dividends for sure. 

Rick: So true or false. There’s a direct correlation between profitability and systems. 

Andrew: Oh true. A hundred percent. 

Rick: Yeah. Yeah. So when you’re running by the seat of your pants and you don’t have those systems, that is the black hole of, of, of you lose profit. Right. And…

Andrew: And it, it doesn’t make any sense if you just, if you have no understanding of it, but I work fewer hours and I make more money. 

Rick: Yep. 

Andrew: You know, when I first started out, I worked tons of hours and I was running. I literally ran. From the truck to the job from the, you know, from the office back to the truck. I, you know, I, I was very, very aggressive and, and energetic and I was working 60, 80 hours a week and I wasn’t making any money. 

Rick: Yeah. 

Andrew: I was earning wages, you know, going to that, to where, you know, now working more like, you know, 15, 20 hours a week and not stressed and things are going great and making money. It will profitable. You know.

Rick: The evolution of a home builder is, you know it is just like what your journey has been. You start out, as an individual you’re doing everything. And like you said, you’re just running, running, running, running. And I, I know, I hear a lot of custom builders take pride in saying that we never build the same home twice, you know? Yeah. Everything we do is unique and there’s a ton of pride that goes with that. But I think what I hear you saying is it’s like, yes, you can do that, but your process does not have to. Different every time you need to have a consistent process in order to be able to produce that unique asset for your, for your clientele.

Andrew: I may not build the same plan twice, but I do the same process over and over. 

Rick: Yes. The process is repeatable and D and you can repeat it, or duplicate it at will. 

Andrew: That’s right. And the system with consistent results. Yeah. The system we’ve developed can literally be copied and duplicated. I could take what I’m doing here, go to another town, do the same thing there and, you know, adapt it right into that market, 

Rick: You know, and I think this is the great dovetail for what I mentioned earlier is that you have some endeavors right now. So you, you have built these processes. They’ve been very successful with you. Profitability has gone up, you’re working less. You’ve been working a lot on the business versus in the business. And so now you’re starting a, I guess I call a new endeavor, perhaps a new company. , tell us a little bit about that.

Andrew: Yeah. Yeah. So, you know, when I thought about all of this, well actually I was explaining this just earlier today to someone, you know, I, as I get more efficient and free up more time, I’m young, I’m not looking to, you know, sit around and do nothing. So I get more time. And so then I come up with more business ideas to, fill up my time. So, as I referenced, I mean, working, you know, running the company at the level that we’re running it now, I don’t have to put a ton of hours into it. And so I’ve been putting some time into developing a course and a, a duplicative business system that I can offer to folks to help them save the headaches and stress and pain that I went through, to get where I’m at today. And I, I really think, you know, what I would’ve given to be able to just buy a system that was reliable, that was proven to be working, that, that would’ve trained me on all these things. When I was 19 years old, you know, just starting out. It would’ve saved me hundreds of thousands of dollars and it would’ve saved me, countless hours of stress and, and headache. And so…

Rick: And this system designed for that you are working on, is it designed for that, that guy, that like, like you were, where you’re just running, working six 80 hours a week running, running, running, basically paying yourself wages where they want to go to that next level where they actually have a business, maybe that pays them.

Andrew: Absolutely. You know, if you were just looking at wanting to get into construction, you could, you could plug into this if you actively have a company and it’s, it’s stressful, this would, this would take the stress away. 

Rick: Like a guidebook. Kind of. 

Andrew: Absolutely. 

Rick: Yeah. It’s a temp template of the guidebook. So you don’t, don’t make these mistakes, just follow this process.

Andrew: Yeah. And, you know, we get very specific about it, you know, there’s, there’s, companies out there that have franchised their model. And when they do that, they, you know, you have to use their brand. You’ve gotta use their processes. You gotta send them a royalty. You gotta build maybe their, they have a franchise fee, maybe 50, $75,000 for a franchise fee. And then you gotta build a model, home, or show center design center. You know, they have requirements to be a franchisee with them. But the advantage to what we’re offering people is. We’re offering all the standard operating procedures, the software solutions, the professionals that you should have around you, like a builder, lead converter, and, and others that you need to have that in your ecosystem to be successful, but you don’t have to use our brand, you know, our, our brand is, is, well, we’re not selling our brand. We’re, we’re selling the system. 

Rick: Yeah.

Andrew: And so, Monarch solutions have a, a written system that has been adapted from our company and it, it can be repeatable. It’s something you can implement instantly. And, and within the first 30 days, you can see results in improving the processes in your company.

Rick: Wow. That’s fantastic. So Monarch solutions essentially take you from chucking a truck where you run around, you know, with your head cut off to kind of, you know, putting you on the path to where you’re at right now, where you’re truly an owner-operator. Have your business run even without you. And maybe you’re still part of it, but not, you’re not everything, and where you’re enhancing your profitability, along the way and avoiding some of those, maybe those common pitfalls that a lot of builders make.

Andrew: Absolutely. 

Rick: Yeah, I, I love it. It’s great it’s and I lo-I love the idea of removing the chaos, from your day-to-day life, because chaos, obviously doesn’t just stay on the bus in the workplace. You bring chaos into your personal life as well. And if you’re working 80 hours a week, that means you’re not spending time with your family or maybe doing stuff what you fun or recreational activities, but you’re in the workplace and yeah, it’s, you know, a lot of builders are, have that entrepreneurial spirit, but that only takes you so far to where you, like, I, you know, you get to the point where I cannot do it all. You need to know what to do next and when to do it and how to do it. And, I love what you’ve, what you’ve done, with Monarch solutions. It sounds like a great tool for a lot of builders that, are, are, are struggling right now, especially boy, the challenges today is, is hot as the market. I’m sure you can probably agree to this is like, have you ever been in a market that has been with so much demand, but it’s so hard to make money, you know?

Andrew: Right. 

Rick: Right now it’s just crazy. Isn’t it?

Andrew: Well, I, you know, it’s, it is tough and it is, it is the toughest time to be a home builder right now. But I, I gotta say, and shameless plug here, but the systems we developed when all of this hit really saved our tail. It’s the things that we have in our contract, the processes we have in place, it’s made it so that, you know, you talk about long lead times. One of our processes is everything’s picked out before we start the project. Yeah. So we can order everything while it’s in permitting. Well, if you’re able to order your windows and your, you know, trusses, whatever, you know, all the, all these different items for the project in it, well in advance because you know, it’s, you know what you’re getting, you know, what’s right. And it’s all picked. You don’t have those long lead times. And while other builders around us are taking much longer, their schedules are sliding a lot. We’re still hitting, a steady six to eight months for a house under 3000 square feet. And you know, about eight to 10 months for a house over 3000 square feet.

Rick: You know, you bring up a really good point of getting the, where you, you build the lead time before you start the project. And so your construction schedule does not get so messed up, cuz even when you have a client using construction perm financing, that project sits. It’s still opportunity cost because a lot of guys cannot go out and, and bring on more projects, you know unless they’re gonna hire more people or they need more trades. And so the more jobs you have open. The opportunity cost is huge because it keeps you from starting the next job. So you gotta be efficient. Get those jobs closed out. Keep that compression, the construction schedule compressed as much as possible. And, yeah, I was talking to a client the other day who told me now his win, his window leads time just went from four months to six months on, on, on windows. And so, yeah, what are they doing? They’re ordering those windows. You know, if they figure, a month or six weeks for, for framing another two weeks for foundation and excavation. Yeah. They’re getting those windows ordered four months before they ever break ground. And yeah, that’s a lot, a lot of lead time. So you have to be very efficient with that and, and, manage not only the job schedule. The other thing that you mentioned ahead of time, I wanna bring this up again, is that you talked about client communication, being the most important thing with the longer lead times, that’s a cardinal mistake. I’ve seen a lot of builders make it so that they have not changed their communication process. And so you hear these clients that go weeks without hearing from the builder and they have no idea what’s happening. You know, so it’s so important. You have those regular touch points, even if, to tell the client says. Nothing’s happening, you know, right now, but just so they know and have those expectations set. And another thing that came to mind is you were talking about the design process as being so key to, a builder’s success and synergy. It reminds me that if, if you, as a builder do not set expectations, your client will set them for you. And if the client is setting the expectations, you’re gonna lose every single time. Cause you will never meet their expectations, but you set them. It gives you the opportunity to not only meet ’em but also exceed them. Because sometimes, you know, you can hold back on things and do little extra things that they don’t know about. And of course, that’s where you get that delighted client that wants to refer you at the end of the day. Yeah, Andrew, it’s been an absolute pleasure talking to you. Any, last things you would like to leave? , any of the viewers here, you know, with, as far as your, your journey and getting to where you were and to where you are today, 

Andrew: You know, I think, my big motivation right now is just to help as many people as I can, avoid the mistakes. I made the pitfalls that, that came through ignorance really, you know, just through not knowing you don’t know what you don’t know until you go out and, and bump into it. And, there’s a, there’s huge value in having access to someone who’s, you know, even one step ahead of you, you know, even, even just a, a little bit ahead of you and, and a little bit more experience to, to be able to reach back and share that information. Yeah. 

Rick: Why is, why is advice. 

Andrew: I certainly appreciate, what I’ve learned from working with you as well. You know, just, you’ve brought a lot to the table for us with what it, what a sales process looks like and how to, how to have good nurturing and good follow up. And it’s definitely had an impact on, our system.

Rick: Yeah. Well, thank you. I appreciate that. And my, my ideas from 10 years ago, technology has finally caught up with a lot of ’em. So we don’t have to actually have a human doing them, but we can automate a lot of that process. But if somebody’s, if somebody’s listening and they wanna get more information on Monarch solutions, what’s the best way to get ahold of you.

Andrew: Yeah. You can go to our website and that’s monarchsolutionsgroup.com. And, we’ve got information there that you can reach out and, and get in touch with. We’d love to chat with you further about how we can help. 

Rick: And, we’ll put a link for that right below the video here. If you wanna get more information on Monarch solutions, see what Andrew is offering for you as a home builder. So, Andrew, thank you so much, for your time today, it’s really been a pleasure hearing about your, not only Monarch solutions, but just your journey getting over 19 years of going from chucking and a truck too, where you’re at today, it’s very, very fulfilling too, to see. Success firsthand, like, like we have today. So thank everyone for watching and, we’ll see you next time. Bye-bye.

Andrew: Thanks, Rick.