Interior trends with Melissa Hyrszko: Veranda Estate Homes

Show Notes

On this episode of The Building Code, we’re joined by Melissa Hryszko, co-owner of Veranda Estate Homes. Veranda Estate Homes builds fully custom homes from the ground up in Calgary, Alberta. And Melissa is no stranger to podcast recording! When she isn’t designing homes, she is a co-host of the podcast Modern Design Minds. We’re discussing best business practices, upcoming trends and why it is important for builders to work with interior designers.

Best Practices

Melissa spoke on best practices she has learned while working in the industry.

  • Service comes first. Clients of Veranda Estate Homes can call Melissa if there is ever any problem, regardless if it is out of the scope or timeframe of the warranty, and Melissa and her team arrange for the issue to be resolved immediately.
  • No verbal agreements, ever. Melissa sends her clients a follow up after every meeting to ensure everyone is on the same page and all agreements are documented.
  • Be honest and transparent. This is important to Melissa, because it attracts the customers she strives to work with. When she is transparent about the value of the custom work that goes into a home, customers who appreciate that same value choose to work with her.
  • Utilize Instagram. Melissa considers Instagram to be the best free marketing tool for Veranda Estate Homes. Her tips for utilizing Instagram include staying engaged with followers, answering questions and giving a face to the company.
  • Get interior decorators involved at the beginning. Melissa says getting interior decorators involved at the start of projects streamlines the entire process for everyone involved.

If you want to hear us discuss the importance of interior designers, upcoming trends and which TV star Melissa is related to, listen to the full episode!

Got podcast topic suggestions? Reach out to us at podcast@buildertrend.com.

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Transcript

Tom Houghton:

You are listening to โ€œThe Building Code.โ€ Iโ€™m Tom Houghton.

Paul Wurth:

Iโ€™m Paul Wurth.

Tom Houghton:

And on todayโ€™s episode of โ€œThe Building Code,โ€ weโ€™re joined by a fellow podcaster and Buildertrend user Melissa Hryszko from Veranda Estate Homes based in Alberta, Canada. Welcome, Melissa.

Melissa Hryszko:

And good job on my last name. Iโ€™m impressed.

Tom Houghton:

Thanks.

Paul Wurth:

He was practicing.

Tom Houghton:

I was practicing.

Paul Wurth:

Thatโ€™s good that practice makes perfect.

Tom Houghton:

Yeah.

Melissa Hryszko:

Well, thanks for having me guys. Iโ€™m excited to join you today.

Tom Houghton:

Yeah. And your podcast, just so our listeners know, weโ€™ll put it in the show notes, Modern Design Minds.

Melissa Hryszko:

Correct? Yeah. We are basically the little sisters to The Modern Craftsman. So the boys wanted to have a design-driven, female-forward podcast, and they asked Amy and I if we would want to do it, and after one too many whiskeys, I was like, heck yeah, why not? And here we are. So weโ€™re starting back up again, actually this coming week. So you guys are getting me back in the routine of talking and being on a podcast. So itโ€™s perfect timing.

Paul Wurth:

Thatโ€™s great. What do you guys get into in your podcast? What should somebody expect?

Melissa Hryszko:

We talk a lot about just the design, how we deal with trades and subs, clients, navigating through whether theyโ€™re a difficult client or itโ€™s an easy client or having those difficult discussions about boujees, budgets, which in my world is a bad word. But no, we talk a lot about that. Weโ€™ve had all the guys from Modern Craftsman on, a few architects. We have landscape designers scheduled up. We just try to get kind of full circle. So itโ€™s good and informative whether you are in the industry or if youโ€™re not. Maybe youโ€™re thinking about building and you want to learn a little bit more about the process. Then weโ€™re hoping that weโ€™re going to guide you down a little bit, guide you down that path.

Paul Wurth:

Yeah. That makes sense. Thatโ€™s awesome. So the podcast is one thing you do, but what is your main business? Why donโ€™t you tell the listeners all about that?

Melissa Hryszko:

So my husband and I own and operate Veranda State Homes in Calgary, Alberta, and we are a small luxury homebuilder. Our focus is five to eight homes per year. And everything is custom from the ground up. So every home is designed on a per client basis. Every interior is completely tailored towards our clients from every door knob and paint color stain, which I get in little fights about people on Instagram with because theyโ€™re like, โ€œI want this stain color.โ€ Iโ€™m like, โ€œItโ€™s custom.โ€ And then some people just donโ€™t like to hear that answer because everybody wants everything and all that information for free, which we donโ€™t share. But yeah, thatโ€™s our business. Most of our business is repeat referral. We actually donโ€™t do any sort of advertising or any marketing whatsoever. We really worked hard over the past 18 years to build a good relationship with all of our past and current clients. And in turn that is what keeps the phone ringing.

Paul Wurth:

Yeah. So letโ€™s talk a little bit about that because referral repeat businesses is obviously very big in this industry. It reduces the need for spending money on marketing and all that stuff. But for things that you could share of the last 18 years, what are some of the things that you have identified are really important to create and keep good current and past client relationships?

Melissa Hryszko:

Number one, service. 100%. Our clients can call us anytime of the day, whether theyโ€™ve been in their home for a week or 10 years. And if they need something, we will be there and we will help them. It may be something thatโ€™s out of the warranty scope, but we will arrange the trades to go in. We will arrange the work to be done. We will have our project managers manage that for them. Whether again, it has warranty or not, but the relationships that we build, I mean, itโ€™s basically a marriage. Weโ€™re working with our clients for an average of one to two years. So it needs to be a good working relationship, but it is a relationship that you build over that time. And a lot of times we become very good friends with our clients. I mean, weโ€™ve traveled with some clients.

Melissa Hryszko:

We go out to dinner with our clients all the time. At the end of the day, when itโ€™s the possession day and Iโ€™m handing over the keys, I cry because itโ€™s like Iโ€™m giving one of my babies to one of my friends and Iโ€™m like, when can I come back and see this? And we even tell all of our project managers and anybody on our team, number one is service. So if somebody calls in, somebody needs something and youโ€™re on a site thatโ€™s maybe under construction or whatever, you leave that site and you go help that customer because obviously it could be something thatโ€™s urgent. Maybe a toiletโ€™s running and they canโ€™t figure out why. I had one client whose daughter decided to flush a diaper down the toilet. So thatโ€™s something that we wanted to get to right away and help out with.

Melissa Hryszko:

But that has been the number one thing because I feel like in this industry so many times its they get in and then you get the keys and then the builder just goes away. Theyโ€™re gone. So thatโ€™s been really important for us. And the other thing is also the way that we go about getting our clients to take that next step and signing that purchase agreement with us. Weโ€™re very upfront and honest with our pricing and our pricing structure. A lot of builders will go in and be like, absolutely, I can build you this home for $500,000 or $1 million. And Iโ€™m the one thatโ€™s going to sit there and go, no, actually you canโ€™t. This home is going to cost you $1.2 million if you want what youโ€™ve seen that weโ€™ve done. And your expectations, if this is what youโ€™re telling me you want, this is what itโ€™s going to cost.

Melissa Hryszko:

So on average, most of our clients only spend between zero to 2% in โ€œupgradesโ€ throughout the entire building process, which is one thing I do love about Buildertrend is Change Orders. I love that feature by the way. So yeah, I mean, we really tailor it. So when a client is building with us, they know exactly at the end of the day what that product is going to cost and they know that theyโ€™re going to get something thatโ€™s superior to what a lot of other builders can deliver.

Paul Wurth:

Yeah. We talk a lot about that with all of our guests and all of our clients that use Buildertrend, is the necessity in this day and age for transparency as well as honesty in the industry. I think thatโ€™s one of the things that everybody could work on, is the industryโ€™s for that honesty. And I think it serves people well who use that as their mode of sales, just being very, very straightforward with people.

Melissa Hryszko:

And I mean, I will admit we lose business because of it, but at the end of the day, is that the client that I want anyways? That thinks that they can get the same thing that I can deliver for one to two to $300,000 less. Probably not because they may not see the value in what weโ€™re bringing because the way that we do things is very old school. We do all finish onsite, hardwood floors. All of our cabinetry is built onsite by hand out of raw materials. Itโ€™s not going down to your kitchen cabinet store and picking a cabinet and having it delivered on a truck and screwed on a wall and then tada, you have a kitchen. And some people see the value in that and some people donโ€™t. And we really strive to have that clientele that can appreciate it and respect it because the guys that are on our team that have worked with us for 15 plus years are true craftsmen. The talent is just insane.

Paul Wurth:

Yeah. That makes sense.

Tom Houghton:

Letโ€™s talk about your team a little bit more, just again, to give an idea because you said you do about five to eight homes a year. How big is your employee base there?

Melissa Hryszko:

So our actual employee base, say payroll, is myself. I make them pretty. Rob makes them stand up and signs all the checks I say. I always joke, you just sit down and sign checks all day. And then we have two PMs, Kyle and Niall.

Tom Houghton:

That worked out well.

Melissa Hryszko:

Theyโ€™re both tall, theyโ€™re both Irish and their names rhyme. So itโ€™s great.

Paul Wurth:

Thatโ€™s awesome.

Melissa Hryszko:

We have a couple site carpenters on staff as well. So theyโ€™ll take care of cleaning up the job site. If say we need some back framing done or if I need a [inaudible] catch moved, then they can handle that. And then we also have Danielle, thatโ€™s been with us the longest out of anybody and sheโ€™s in our office and does all of our scheduling and office admin work. And then everybody else is either contractor or sub-trades from there.

Tom Houghton:

Awesome. And weโ€™ve been talking about value on this podcast, like finding your value. How did you guys find that for yourself because I mean, I feel like most businesses when they start off theyโ€™re trying to obviously get off the ground. And so you take on whatever clients you can. Youโ€™ve been in business for a while now.

Melissa Hryszko:

Which we did.

Tom Houghton:

Yeah. So when did you guys make that shift and when did you figure out what that looked like?

Melissa Hryszko:

It was a very long road to be honest. CliffNote version, Rob actually grew up in this industry. So his dad was more of what you would consider kind of a track home builder. They were building 50 to 100 homes a year, pick your floor plan ABC or D. When I met Rob and got involved in the industry with him, we wanted to take more of a boutique luxury style approach and really focus on the fun, unique homes. Making everything different. And when we were first starting out, we did, we took on every single client that would sign on the dotted line. And boy was that a mistake, but it was a learning process and everybody needs to go through it. And you know what? We had a lot of bumps in the road and again, we learned from it and we moved on. Our paperwork, got really tight.

Melissa Hryszko:

We have one thing that I think is very important in our contract. And it says actually, no verbal agreements. Everything is in writing. So anytime I leave a meeting, I follow up with an email. Here are the notes from our meeting. Please let me know if Iโ€™ve missed anything or if you want to add anything to this because I donโ€™t want to come into a situation where, no, donโ€™t you remember when we said this, because honestly I canโ€™t keep it all straight and I donโ€™t expect my clients to either. So that was a big tip for us that really changed the way that we ran our business. And I wouldnโ€™t say necessarily weโ€™re at the point where weโ€™re likeโ€ฆ Well, no, actually we are. Weโ€™re a little selective. So if a client comes along and I feel itโ€™s not going to be the best fit, Iโ€™m not going to fight for that client to really earn their business.

Melissa Hryszko:

Iโ€™m still going to do it with grace and Iโ€™m still going to be as polite as possible. And Iโ€™m going to give the pricing like I would for anybody else but if they email and theyโ€™re like the price just really isnโ€™t what we want to spend though. Iโ€™m like, okay, absolutely. I understand. Best of luck.

Tom Houghton:

Yeah. Let them go.

Melissa Hryszko:

Where if somebody else that I feel like I could have a really good working relationship work. Iโ€™m like, letโ€™s get together and letโ€™s figure out how we can make this work. Letโ€™s discuss specifications, letโ€™s discuss features. What can we add in now or take out and then do down the road?

Paul Wurth:

And so when you guys are talking five to eight homes a year and finding that to be your wheelhouse, I guess my question would be how many people are you turning down or not gaining business to get those five? Weโ€™ll just keep it at five. So is that one out of three because managing those leads, if you have like 15 leads or going down that process is a lot, right?

Melissa Hryszko:

And honestly, itโ€™s the one thing I really, I hate to say, but I donโ€™t enjoy doing. But because of my Instagram following, I am the face of this company and people want to meet with me. And itโ€™s just that, Iโ€™m also the oneโ€ฆ I wear too many hats. Rob always talks about is hats. He says developer hat and a builder hat. And thatโ€™s the way that he always looks at homes, but Iโ€™m a designer hat. I have a pricing hat because Iโ€™m the one that does all the preliminary pricing for our clients. I come up with the specifications for our clients and it is, itโ€™s very labor intensive and a lot of time. I wouldnโ€™t say turn away, but I would say on average, we probably out of every three people that we talk to, one turns into a sale.

Paul Wurth:

And a sale for you because I think a lot of design-builders are sort of doing it in two phases, right? Weโ€™ll do a design agreement and then weโ€™ll move on to the actual construction agreement. Do you do that in two phases as well or what does that look like for you?

Melissa Hryszko:

Typically, we do it. We really leave that up to the client and what they feel more comfortable with. Some clients are just like, letโ€™s just jump in right away. We do prefer to go with the design phase because we want to make sure that what we are able to create suits them and is also within their budget. And one thing is, is we also love to be involved in that design phase because one, most of the people that we donโ€™t actually end up working with have their plans already designed and developed and they bring them to us. And then weโ€™re like, this is great. This is a $1.6 million home. Well, our budgetโ€™s $1 million. Youโ€™re not going to build this for $1 million because they didnโ€™t have a builder to take their hand and lead them through the process to make sure that the structure, the features that they were putting in the home, the amount of built-ins, the vaulted ceilings, all the NanaWall doors that theyโ€™re designing into this home where within their budget because the architectโ€™s like, this is cool.

Melissa Hryszko:

And then the clientโ€™s like, that is cool. Letโ€™s do it. And then I come along and Iโ€™m crushing dreams left, right and center. But typically we will do a design phase and we just take a modest deposit to cover the time if we need like a development permit survey done, and also to cover the initial time of the architect. And typically once we have a good solid foundation for the plans and the exterior rendering, then thatโ€™s when we can go the next step and go into the purchase agreement.

Paul Wurth:

Makes sense.

Tom Houghton:

Yeah.

Paul Wurth:

You had mentioned your Instagram following, itโ€™s quite sizable. So can you talk about how you got there and how thatโ€™s affected your business positively or negatively?

Melissa Hryszko:

A lot of luck is how I got there. So Iโ€™ve been re-posted numerous times by a lot of the larger accounts like I kind of have a love, hate relationship with. Iโ€™m not going to lie. Those inspiration accounts where they share peopleโ€™s work and everyoneโ€™s like, oh, you did such a beautiful job. Iโ€™m like, I know, hi, that was me. That was me. I do invest a lot of time in Instagram. As I said, we donโ€™t do any marketing or anything else, but Instagram has actually turned out to be the best free marketing tool that we have found. I stay very engaged with my following. I comment back whenever somebody does comment. I try to answer questions as much as I can without giving out specific for client homes. And then if somebody does repost an image, I will go and I will follow along on that post. And I will comment. Iโ€™m like, thank you so much. We loved working with these clients or Iโ€™ll answer like this as a quarter sawn white oak kitchen. Thank you for liking it. You can see more at #eldoorcustom or whatever. Itโ€™s been a long road. Itโ€™s a lot of time, but it has translated into quite a few sales for us. So itโ€™s worth the time that Iโ€™m putting into it.

Paul Wurth:

Yeah. For sure. It seems like that. What would you say you spend a week on the actual platform?

Melissa Hryszko:

Donโ€™t ask me that.

Paul Wurth:

Too many minutes.

Tom Houghton:

Two minutes.

Melissa Hryszko:

I think on average, Iโ€™m on for about two hours a day. Not solid, but like you jump on and you like see replies. Because I probably get on average over 100 DMs a day. So I like to check in. Yeah, like I get in from a job site, I post my stories, I go in, I reply to a few, I move on. Itโ€™s just to stay on top of it. So when I do get home at the end of the night, Iโ€™m not stuck sitting on my couch going through everything, filtering through everything because I want to stay engaged with people. But it was funny. I actually made a post yesterday and it was an interesting one because I was talking aboutโ€ฆ Lately Iโ€™ve been getting a lot of very snippy messages from people being like, why wonโ€™t you share this paint color?

Melissa Hryszko:

Itโ€™s a paint color. I understand itโ€™s a paint color, but my client invested a substantial amount of money, their largest investment that theyโ€™ll ever make with me to make these decisions for them. Itโ€™s for them, itโ€™s not for you. And I feel a lot of people on Instagram just feel, itโ€™s this entitlement society where itโ€™s like, well, if youโ€™re putting it out there, then you just need to tell us what it is. No I donโ€™t. Itโ€™s my intellectual property. Itโ€™s my clientโ€™s property. Sorry. So thatโ€™s the one thing that I donโ€™t love about Instagram, but otherwise itโ€™s a great resource with other designers, other builders. I mean, thatโ€™s how I met the guys from Modern Design, those boys from Modern Craftsman. Thatโ€™s how I met Amy, who I co-host my podcast with. Itโ€™s a great network and a great way to meet people. And you got to take the 5% that kind of sucks and just roll with it.

Paul Wurth:

We hear that a lot.

Tom Houghton:

Yeah. I mean, obviously you have this great interior design background and experience. Letโ€™s talk about why builders should be using an interior designer in this process. Whatโ€™s your take on that?

Melissa Hryszko:

Where do I start? Honestly, use an interior designer. So if it is a custom home, itโ€™ll give your clients that ease of knowing that they have somebody that can hold their hand. You can say to your client as a builder, we have an on-staff interior designer. You donโ€™t need to be going to tile stores. You donโ€™t need to be going to a plumbing store. You donโ€™t need to be going to a lighting store. This is a very, very, very stressful thing, building a new home or renovating, doing a large scale renovation. So the best thing that you can do as a builder is take that stress away from your clients. Give it to an expert who can lead that person down the road. Itโ€™s well worth the investment and youโ€™re going to have happier clients at the end of the day. If a builder is doing a spec home, have a designer on staff. A designer is going to know what the current trends are, where design is going.

Melissa Hryszko:

A builder may not. A builder may be like, oh, Iโ€™ll just do the same thing that I did in Janeโ€™s house down the road. Well, Iโ€™ll tell you right now, Jane is probably going to get really pissed off if you copy exactly everything that she did and put it into a spec home because people want their homes to be unique and speak for themselves. So I think whether itโ€™s spec or custom, it is such a huge value an asset that you can bring on. And whether you hire in-house interior designer, or if you look at local interior designers, and maybe get a feel for a few different ones and try to get an idea in a sense of what your clientโ€™s style is. Is this person really modern, then Iโ€™m going to send them to Jake? Is this person kind of country and like wants this overdone modern farmhouse look, then Iโ€™m going to send them to Joanna? And really kind of tailoring your service to your clients.

Tom Houghton:

I got that Joanna reference, by the way. Thatโ€™s good.

Paul Wurth:

What was the Joanna reference?

Tom Houghton:

Old Chip and Jojo reference there.

Paul Wurth:

Oh.

Tom Houghton:

That was good.

Melissa Hryszko:

Thanks. Sheโ€™s my cousin. Did you know that?

Tom Houghton:

Are you serious?

Melissa Hryszko:

Iโ€™m serious.

Tom Houghton:

I had no idea.

Melissa Hryszko:

Yeah.

Tom Houghton:

Iโ€™ve always got really hot right there.

Paul Wurth:

Yeah. Who are we talking about again?

Tom Houghton:

I was just so shocked. Joanna Gaines, Chip and Joanna Gaines.

Paul Wurth:

From Waco, Texas. That show. Oh cool.

Tom Houghton:

Sheโ€™s your cousin?

Paul Wurth:

There you go.

Melissa Hryszko:

Sheโ€™s my cousin.

Paul Wurth:

It runs in the family. Maybe you need to do your own show.

Tom Houghton:

Yeah. When are you getting your own show?

Melissa Hryszko:

Never. Iโ€™ve actually turned it down quite a bit.

Tom Houghton:

Really.

Melissa Hryszko:

Iโ€™ve been approached by about six production companies and every time I politely declined.

Tom Houghton:

Thatโ€™s fascinating.

Paul Wurth:

Because a lot of those production companies for HGTV are in Canada, right? They are based there.

Melissa Hryszko:

I think quite a few are based in Toronto and Vancouver. My reason this is my business itโ€™s my business, itโ€™s our livelihood. And I know what Iโ€™m like on job sites. And Iโ€™m not going to lie. Iโ€™m not going to come off pretty on job sites. I donโ€™t take any crap. And most of our guys know me really well, but I actually had an incident last weekend with a rail installer that has never been on one of our jobs sites before. And the condescending attitude that I got from him during my visit on the job site, I was like, โ€œHi, my name is Melissa. Iโ€™m one of the owners of the company.โ€ And he just sat there because Iโ€™m a girl and I was dressed and had makeup on and he probably thinks I just walk around and pick up pretty colors all day, but it was not happening. And he was off my job site about 20 minutes later.

Tom Houghton:

There you go.

Paul Wurth:

Donโ€™t Mess with Melissa.

Tom Houghton:

Thatโ€™s right.

Paul Wurth:

Hey, thatโ€™s the titleโ€ฆ

Tom Houghton:

Thatโ€™s the title of the show.

Paul Wurth:

Thatโ€™s the title of the show, Donโ€™t Mess with Melissa.

Melissa Hryszko:

It was funny because actually my finishers were upstairs and he just like walked past me and was just shaking his head. And then the next day I get a text from another finisher, what did you say to the rail guy because all of his tools are gone and heโ€™s not done? Iโ€™m like, no, and heโ€™s not going to be back either.

Tom Houghton:

There you go. Done and done.

Melissa Hryszko:

Hey guys, respect designers.

Paul Wurth:

Thatโ€™s right.

Tom Houghton:

There you go.

Melissa Hryszko:

Please.

Paul Wurth:

Respect everybody.

Tom Houghton:

You should respect everyone. Thatโ€™s good.

Melissa Hryszko:

We do more than just pick up pretty colors and watch soap operas and get our nails done.

Tom Houghton:

You kind of mentioned some trends. Obviously. I think everyone wants to know how to stay current. So what are some trends that youโ€™re seeing in the industry that people should keep their eyes open to?

Melissa Hryszko:

For me, I think the biggest thing that youโ€™re going to see a huge comeback on is a wood cabinetry. So Iโ€™m loving the warmth that wood is adding natural living finishes. So like unlacquered brass or material like what Rocky Mountain Hardware, Sun Valley Bronze or Ashley Norton makes. Itโ€™s a living raw finish. As you use it at ages at patinas. Same with natural materials. I am not a fan of manmade anything. I donโ€™t know if you guys saw, there was an article that came out last week actually about synthetic countertops and how itโ€™s increasing the cancer levels in fabricators and everything else from the silica dust in it.

Paul Wurth:

I did see that.

Melissa Hryszko:

And thatโ€™s just another reason why Iโ€™m like stick to marble. I mean, Iโ€™m sure that stuff is toxic as well when youโ€™re fabricating it. But for me itโ€™s really about being as natural as you can with the interior of the home. Iโ€™ve always been about classic timeless. I did slightly knocked modern farmhouse a while ago when I did a Q and A on Instagram. To me, I feel like that white exterior, black window, black roof, white shiplap, itโ€™s going to date your home. That is going to be like, I bought my home in 2019 or 2020. Itโ€™s very specific. And I know people may like it and take elements of that and put it into your home that really try to focus on classic materials. And if you do want those trends, do them in areas where you can easily rip that shiplap off a wall and change it up with something else down the road.

Tom Houghton:

Yeah. Like subway tiles, farmhouse sinks. I mean, I feel like those are just all the rage.

Paul Wurth:

Who are you all of a sudden?

Melissa Hryszko:

Well, I will say, farmhouse sinks are great in old style homes, but you know what? You donโ€™t need a sign that says eat or kitchen in your kitchen. We know where we are.

Tom Houghton:

You are now my favorite interior designer right here. Thatโ€™s great.

Paul Wurth:

I had no idea you were so passionate about interior design.

Tom Houghton:

I am. It really brings a home together. I mean, you can have a great structure. You can have a great build, but interior design is where you make a house, a home.

Melissa Hryszko:

100%. I mean, I donโ€™t do any decor. I only do the design. So Iโ€™ll do like all of our millwork, our material selections. I work with an interior designer or decorator named Heather. And she works on most of our projects and she comes in and she looks at it and she takes my shell and then adds the layers to it. But itโ€™s great to have somebody that has my thought process or her thought process involved because I can look at windows on a floor plan and be like, ooh, we are not going to have room to do proper drapes. We should make this window six inches smaller. Itโ€™s little things. Where should we have floor plugs? If you donโ€™t have an interior designer on staff and your electricianโ€™s like, I donโ€™t know, what about right there. Sure, that looks good. And then the client moves in the home and they have a floor plug in the middle of their hallway because of the furniture placement. So I really actually like to get decorators involved as soon as possible, typically at the framing stage so we can make those decisions at the beginning when we are doing the electrical rough-ins and plumbing and everything else.

Paul Wurth:

That makes sense.

Tom Houghton:

Awesome. Just one last question, I guess I have for you about your experience at Buildertrend because you have been a client with Buildertrend for about eight years now actually. Youโ€™re coming up on your anniversary apparently.

Melissa Hryszko:

Do I get a gift for that?

Tom Houghton:

Sure. Weโ€™ll give you high fives.

Melissa Hryszko:

Okay, thanks.

Tom Houghton:

Yeah.

Paul Wurth:

There will be a gift.

Tom Houghton:

Yeah. Tell us about the experience. Give us some background to it.

Melissa Hryszko:

So Buildertrend for us has been a great tool because number one, I love the change order function. Before Buildertrend, I would have to meet with my clients and they would need to initial a piece of paper. So it was taking time out of everybodyโ€™s day. Now itโ€™s as simple as I go online, I log in, I do the change order, whether itโ€™s a credit or an addition, send it, they sign it, they send it back and weโ€™re done and itโ€™s all good. The scheduling factor is huge for our team. We can go on to any job and we have every job basically scheduled out from the very beginning to possession day. Also, our clients are able to see one month at a time though. We allow them to view the calendar one month at a time because things are going to shift and change and if you give them the whole schedule, thereโ€™ll be like, but you had our possession at September 30th.

Melissa Hryszko:

And Iโ€™m like yeah, itโ€™s now November 15th. Sorry. So we give them access to the calendar one month at a time. So they can kind of be up to date on whatโ€™s going on in their home. They can see that things are happening. Things are moving. It allows them to kind of know when the next deposit phase is going to be done because theyโ€™ll be like, oh, the framers are done here. Weโ€™re probably going to have a deposit due around this time. Thatโ€™s been a huge factor. I will admit we donโ€™t use it to its full capacity, but we are slowly every job using one more feature and learning as we go on.

Paul Wurth:

Well, we got to get you down to Omaha, Nebraska, for Buildertrend University.

Tom Houghton:

Absolutely.

Paul Wurth:

Even the team, I want both the tall Irish guys here.

Tom Houghton:

Yeah, absolutely. Niall and Kyle.

Paul Wurth:

Because theyโ€™ll access our bar.

Melissa Hryszko:

You better have lots of whiskey between Niall, Kyle and myself.

Tom Houghton:

I think we can figure that out.

Paul Wurth:

That is not a problem. Niall and Kyle, maybe they should have their own show.

Tom Houghton:

Thatโ€™s true.

Paul Wurth:

Thatโ€™s got a ring to it, right?

Melissa Hryszko:

They donโ€™t have time for that.

Paul Wurth:

Oh yeah. There you go. None of that from Melissa.

Tom Houghton:

Yeah. We need to have you down at Buildertrend University. So weโ€™ve to work that out, off air.

Melissa Hryszko:

There we go. We can do it.

Paul Wurth:

Well. Yeah. Thatโ€™s it. Or the International Buildersโ€™ Show. Weโ€™ll start talking about that. Thatโ€™s coming up. Huge show for the industry.

Melissa Hryszko:

I think in January. The one in Vegas, right?

Paul Wurth:

Thatโ€™s right. Las Vegas.

Melissa Hryszko:

Yeah. I think Rob and I are finally going to go to that. Last year, we happened to be on a beach in Hawaii and I will admit, I actually had FOMO while on a beach in Hawaii, watching everybody hang out together and Iโ€™m like, what are you doing now?

Paul Wurth:

We had The Modern Craftsman on last year. And Iโ€™ll tell you what, weโ€™ll have you and your husband on this year. Just come by the booth.

Tom Houghton:

Yep.

Melissa Hryszko:

Yeah, there we go.

Paul Wurth:

Podcast live.

Melissa Hryszko:

Sounds good to me.

Tom Houghton:

Cool.

Paul Wurth:

Thanks so much for your time. This was really cool. Weโ€™re going to get your Instagram handle obviously on the show notes. So you can add that huge follower base you have already.

Tom Houghton:

Yeah. Weโ€™ll send a few more your way.

Paul Wurth:

Weโ€™ll send a few more your way.

Melissa Hryszko:

Thanks boys.

Paul Wurth:

And we really appreciate your business and coming on the podcast.

Melissa Hryszko:

Awesome. Well, thanks for having me. Enjoy your day.

Paul Wurth:

Same to you.

Tom Houghton:

Thanks.

Paul Wurth:

Bye-bye.

Melissa Hryszko:

Cheers.

Tom Houghton:

Bye

Tom Houghton:

Want to share a suggestion for a future guest, have a question about Buildertrend that youโ€™d like us to discuss or a topic that youโ€™d want us to cover on the podcast. Let us know by calling and leaving us a message at (402) 596-6437. Thatโ€™s (402) 596-6437. And who knows, youโ€™ll maybe hear yourself on the podcast. Love what you heard, donโ€™t forget to rate and subscribe to our podcast so you can hear from more guests that will benefit your business. Also, please check out our show notes page for more information on what we discussed on this episode. You can find it at buildertrend.com/podcast. Thanks for listening and weโ€™ll see you next time on โ€œThe Building Code.โ€

Melissa Hryszko | Veranda Estate Homes


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