3 ways to save time on your next project

Time is money. The Ancient Greeks coined this phrase way, way back in the day, and we’re still using it today. There must be some truth to the statement then, right?

Let’s think about it. The more time you have, the more productive you’ll be and the more you’ll be able to accomplish. Makes sense.

All of you wish there was more time in each day. We do, too. If only there were just a couple more hours, we could get so much more done. Well, what if we told you there are ways to both maximize your time and increase your productivity on jobs?

Did we get your attention? We thought we might.

We sat down with one of our expert team members, Dan Lipari, to get some tips on how to use Buildertrend to your advantage by making the most of your time and increasing your success.

Dynamic grids and saved filters

These two simple Buildertrend features are often overlooked, but they’re perfect for saving time and increasing efficiency.

The Dynamic Grid (sort of like an Excel layout) provides a high-level view of job information in several features on the Buildertrend platform. Using custom Grids in features like To-Do’s and Lead Opportunities can help you to absorb important information in a way that’s best suited for your specific needs.

“This tool allows clients to pick and choose which columns of information they want to display,” Dan said. “And they can even save views, so each user on the platform can have their own custom view that displays the information most important to them.”

To make things even more efficient, you can use Filters to narrow your scope of information.

“Filters are a great tool when it comes to narrowing your scope and generating custom reports,” Dan said. “Or, if you wanted to see a list of To-Do’s assigned to you, you can Filter to jobs assigned to you.”

Similar to the Grid feature, Filters can be saved so they don’t have to be generated each time. And did we mention you can set default Filters? Well, you can! Setting default Filters allows you to see your specific view when you log in without having to select it.

Talk about powerful tools!

Cost catalog

Do you have set costs that you use for most of your jobs? Let us introduce you to the Cost Catalog!

The Cost Catalog makes it simple for you to create a price list of frequently used fixed costs you can pull from for your jobs. For example, dumpsters are needed at every job site and let’s say the standard cost is $300. Dumpsters can be added to the Cost Catalog, simplifying the process of adding it to future jobs.

“What’s also nice about the Cost Catalog is when clients run into price changes,” Dan said. “If the cost for one of their fixed items goes up, they can change the price in the Cost Catalog, and it will be automatically updated on every active job.”

The Cost Catalog can also be used for items that are used frequently in your client selections. This is a huge time saver, eliminating the need to manually enter in each cabinet, sink, stove, countertop … you get the picture.

Then, say you need to update the price of an item for a single job without changing the set price in the Catalog. You can simply break the link to the Catalog for that one item and update the price individually.

Sub or vendor placeholders

When setting up a new job, oftentimes you don’t know which of your subs or vendors will be assigned. This is where placeholders come in!

Using placeholders is easy. When setting up a job or job template, instead of assigning an active sub or vendor you can assign a placeholder. For example, you can assign your drywall job to a placeholder sub called “zz drywall.”

Pro tip: Using “zz” at the beginning of your placeholder names will keep them all at the bottom of your sub list, so you know exactly where to find them.

“Many of our customers use multiple subs for their jobs, and they won’t know which one they’re going to use until after the job is created,” Dan said. “The placeholder tool allows them to create jobs and assign specific subs later.”

After you create your job and know which sub will be taking on the projects, you can mass assign them to all the projects that were originally assigned to the placeholder sub. The reassigned sub will now be alerted of items on the Schedule, To-Do’s, POs, etc.

Time is money

Not sure about you, but we think the Ancient Greeks may have been on to something. By adopting these three Buildertrend best practices, you’ll be on your way to saving yourself time and money while simultaneously increasing your productivity.

If you’d like to learn more about these features or have questions, feel free to give us a call! We’re always here to help. If you’re new here and think these features could help manage your business, schedule a demo today!