Brown Haven Homes: Keeping track of purchase orders in an app (instead of email)

Their challenge: Scaling business with Buildertrend’s construction software

Brown Haven Homes’ journey with Buildertrend began in 2016 when John attended the National Association of Home Builder’s (NAHB) International Builders’ Show in Las Vegas, Nevada. and visited the Buildertrend booth.

In an industry littered with reminders scribbled on notepads and to-do lists on napkins, Buildertrend’s project management software enabled Brown Haven Homes to more efficiently manage projects in pace with significant business significant growth, also offering the company additional features at a competitive price point.

While the Buildertrend platform offers robust features to help customers like John create efficiencies and accelerate business growth, many features remained untouched from the Brown Haven Home team until they attended Buildertrend University. This two-day educational event hosted at Buildertrend’s Headquarters in Omaha, Nebraska offers customers one-on-one training with coaches, feature-based classes and networking opportunities with other builders.

Since attending the expert-led event, Brad Smith, purchasing manager at Brown Haven Homes, and Brittany Walker, executive assistant at Brown Haven Homes, picked up the pace with Buildertrend, adopting more features into their regular workflow.

Brad shares, “We began phasing in a lot of Buildertrend’s features into our workflow.”

Their solution: implemented the Purchase Orders and Scheduling tools

One of the first features that Brown Haven Homes implemented following Buildertrend University was Buildertrend’s Purchase Order tool.

“Before using Buildertrend’s construction purchase order software, I relied heavily on emails to manage POs and it was a nightmare,” recalls Brad. “It was hard to keep track of it all, and it seemed like every day I received multiple emails requesting a purchase order because the original email was lost in the recipient’s inbox,” he continued.

The second feature was the Scheduling tool. The Scheduling tool continues to play an important role for Brittany, who wears many hats as the company’s executive assistant. Brittany’s duties span from scheduling meetings to training new hires to internal and external communications.

According to Brittany, “the best part about the Scheduling tool is knowing that you can access the information you need no matter where you are,” a feature especially important for a company where more than 40 percent of employees are on the road or on a job site at all times.

Brittany adds, “The Scheduling tool also comes in handy when multiple people need to communicate on a pre-construction project.” For example, the Scheduling tool can be used when the local Brown Haven Homes office or its corporate office needs to schedule appointments with customers. The team can also clearly find start and end dates, and it’s easy to add to-do’s to a project’s schedule.

Furthermore, the favorite Buildertrend feature for Brown Haven Homes’ homeowner customers is the ability to access images. With an estimated 75 percent of clients living over an hour and a half away from their future home, sharing project progress through visuals plays a significant role in communication.

Their success story: The evolution of pen and paper to digital

Buildertrend remains a leader in an industry in the middle of a digital renaissance. As for companies that are considering making the switch from pen and paper to software, Brad suggests that Buildertrend is the future of the industry. “You can stay ahead of your competitors by using Buildertrend.”

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