Ingredients for success: Financial control, networking and client relationships

Charley Burtwistle:

What is up everybody? Welcome back to another episode of “The Building Code.” I am one of your co-hosts, Charley Burtwistle. My other co-host, Zach Wojtowicz, is not here today. So, what did we do? We went and got the most important, famous, smart person that we could find to fill in for him. We’re doing an opposite thing of what Zach is. We try to find the opposite of him, which is Courtney Mattern. Welcome to “The Building Code.”

Courtney Mattern:

Thanks for having me. I want to know now what are the opposites? Is it like …

Charley Burtwistle:

Well, I said smart, driven, funny for you, so whatever the opposites of those are would be.

Courtney Mattern:

You’re really going to hear it from …

Charley Burtwistle:

Zach.

Courtney Mattern:

… when he comes back.

Charley Burtwistle:

Yeah. No. Just kidding. Obviously, I miss my BT bestie a ton, but for those of you who don’t know, Courtney is who originally recruited Zach and I to be on “The Building Code.”

Courtney Mattern:

That’s true.

Charley Burtwistle:

… so, this has come full circle having you co-host with me. Very cool experience for me.

Courtney Mattern:

Yeah. It’s really weird to be on this side of the podcast. My team is the one responsible for booking the guests, writing the questions, editing it. We got John back there. I think he’s been on the podcast a couple times, edits the podcast, does the videos.

Got to shout out to Chelsea, writes the questions.

Nicole, who we hear from, who makes sure everything goes smoothly. Who else should I shout out? Now that I got into this, I really can’t miss anyone.

Sean Robinson, our content manager who comes up with topics. Who am I missing because I’m really going to hear it from them if …

Charley Burtwistle:

I don’t know. I mean, we could just click through the list right here.

Courtney Mattern:

We’re just going to, yeah, just spend time. But yeah, thank you-

Charley Burtwistle:

We got Chelsea, Courtney, Danielle, Hailey, John, Lizzie, Nicole, Sean, Zach.

Courtney Mattern:

Yes. He’s …

Charley Burtwistle:

That’s everyone in the chat.

Courtney Mattern:

Those are all the people who are responsible for bringing this podcast to you every week. And we’re really excited that we’re back to every week episodes, too, so that we can bring our listeners – I think it’s like 10,000 strong or more every month – really interesting topics about the construction industry, some inspiration, learning from other people’s mistakes, things about the economy, what’s going on with trends.

Charley Burtwistle:

Yes, Courtney. Snaps all around.

Courtney Mattern:

All of the things, so we hope you’re enjoying it. And I’m glad to be on this side, although props to you and Zach, this isn’t as easy as it looks.

Charley Burtwistle:

Well, Courtney, you’re on a roll, so I’m going to let you keep going with this. Who do we have on the episode today?

Courtney Mattern:

Yeah. Today we’re joined by Tom Waller. He’s owner of Tom Waller Signature Homes in Kentucky. I had the pleasure of meeting Tom – Nicole and I did at Buildertrend University. So, he’s been using Buildertrend for about five years. He’s been in the industry about 20, and we just loved his energy at Buildertrend University. For those of you who don’t know, Buildertrend University is onsite training that we have here at the HQ. We have different classes. You can take everything from beginners to super users, financials, and just almost every other month, our building is full of 70 customers from all over the country. It’s the best part of our job to get to talk to them and meet them and hear their stories. And we thought Tom would have a lot to offer our listeners, so we invited him on the podcast.

Charley Burtwistle:

Absolutely. For those of you listening, if you think that Courtney sounds like an absolute pro it’s because she is, here’s a little trade secret for you. This is actually her second episode that she’s recorded …

Courtney Mattern:

Yes. It’s true.

Charley Burtwistle:

We recorded one, right before this, but then, we found out that it releases four weeks after this one. So, if you like Courtney and want to hear her again, tune in four weeks from now for another episode. But enough about me, enough about Courtney, the man of the hour, Tom Waller. Let’s go ahead and get him in here.

Hey Tom, welcome to the Building Code. First time on here. Very, very excited to talk to you. I’ve been hearing a lot about you from your recent experience at Buildertrend University. So, excited to get the chance to meet you. But for people that have not met you, could you tell us a little bit about yourself?

Tom Waller:

Well, y’all already introduced myself. My name is Tom Waller. I’m actually a custom home builder here in Louisville, Kentucky. I’ve been in the business now for about 19, 20 years. Kind of interesting start, actually at the age of 19, I started working at Ford Motor Company and then, that lasted for about two years. And then, I got laid off, and I started working for a framer. Loved framing the houses, did that with them for a couple years and Ford called me back. And then, I knew I was going to be young when I retired, so that’s how this company all kind of got started.

Charley Burtwistle:

Wow, okay. And a very interesting start. So, tell us a little bit more about Tom Waller Signature Homes then.

Tom Waller:

Well, Tom Waller Signature Homes really started basically when I built my own personal house. I built my own personal house back in 1998. So, me and two other guys, we framed up a 6,000 square foot ranch walkout.

Charley Burtwistle:

Wow.

Tom Waller:

So, when I did it, it was a learning process with me. I already knew the framing part of it, but I did not know all the other aspects of it as we moved forward in the process, so really interesting. So, throughout that whole phase, it probably took me about nine, 10 months to build my home. And then, the more I did it, the more I loved it. And so, that’s how this company actually started by the roots and started building up. And then, what ended up happening like most people do, we actually started a spec house, sold that, and it just kept on multiplying like that. So, exciting how it all started because realistically at the very first, it all started when I was 21, 22 years old, slinging a hammer to now been in the business for almost 20 years. So, that’s how it all started.

Charley Burtwistle:

I love it. I’m curious building your own home, especially the first home that you built. So, the only reason I’m bringing this up is when I was in high school, I painted my own room. I thought that was cool. And then, every time, when I laid down in bed, I looked up in the very top corner where I’d not got the second coat over a spot, and that’s all I could fixate on in my room is the mistakes I made. Was that similar when you lived in your own house? You’re like, “Oh, I wish I would’ve done this different, or I wish I would’ve done that, or were you nailed it first try?”

Tom Waller:

Most definitely. The funny thing is when I built my house, well, we were on a budget. And so, the first institution I went to financial wise, since at the time I was not what they call it registered builder here in the Louisville area, they were not going to give me the construction loan. And so, I went to our local bank here in Oakland County, walked in with a set of plans, a piece of property was already paid for, and within three or four hours they said, “Hey, you got the construction loan. Good luck.” And so, that was kind of one of the biggest hurdles I faced when I got into the industry to be honest with you. It was all getting the financial part in place.

But then, when I built my house on the kitchen area, if you can imagine back then, we did Formica tops in the kitchen. We didn’t do certain things that I do now in a custom home. So, believe it or not, three to four years ago, we… Well, I shouldn’t say we. My lovely wife, Terry, encouraged me to gut the whole kitchen, and we gutted the whole kitchen and redid the whole thing with quartz, tops and just the updated version of what I do now.

So, the funny thing is when you build your own house, you always have second guesses. But what I learned when I built my own house was to make the building company even work. I had to get the core people or what I call, I do a team concept. So, I had to get the core group of people in place. And once I did that, I knew that I had a big hurdle already done in regards to the financing. And then, I just had to do the hurdle with the subcontractors and suppliers.

Courtney Mattern:

I met another builder recently who got their start with their company by building their own house. That’s Meghan Billings, who is just on the podcast. She got involved in building her house, and now she builds custom homes in Idaho.

What was it that made this personal project spiral into a full-fledged business? What was it that made you come back?

Tom Waller:

Well, are you talking about why I built my personal house?

Courtney Mattern:

Well, just after that that you’re like, “This was so fun that even frustrated…” What were the, I guess, the dopamine hits for you? What was it that you’re like, “I have to keep doing this for other people now. I did my own house, and I loved this so much.”

Tom Waller:

I think honestly, it was the creativity part. I mean, I love to take a piece of raw ground and then create what was on the piece of paper, and then, to take and finally see that come out of the ground and then absolutely see the finished product. And to this day, I’m over 65 years old, people ask me all the time, do you ever get burned out? And my question to them is, “Okay, if I get burned out, then I’m not the right person for you because you got to have the passion for this business.” It’s almost like an actor who performs in a movie or on the play. You still got to have the … When you go and see something, you got to be excited about it. And I think the people that I have met throughout my career that’s been really successful is those types of personalities, I feel.

Charley Burtwistle:

Yeah. And I know one of the things that you had mentioned is that you really focus on streamlining and taking the stress out of the home building experience. Can you talk about how that process works and maybe some things that you focus on to ensure that you know can work as best as possible?

Tom Waller:

And I’m not just saying this because I’m talking to you all right now, but this is how I feel about Buildertrend. You all … And I have told last year, I was actually the president of the Home Builders Association here in Louisville, and I’ve probably gotten about five or six of our local builders involved with you all now. But what makes it so good in the streamlined process is if you utilize the program to its full potential, then, that’s where you’re going to get the most out of the program. And when I say that, it’s just multiple facets. You’ve got your scheduling. You’ve got your change orders, which is huge. You’ve got your contracts that you always have a backup, which we have to use our local contract here, but I do actually two contracts because you all have a very good one in y’all’s system.

So, when it comes to any type of process that I use, you all are a very key part of that. And y’all should be very proud of the program that your company has actually put together. I even tell people that through the years that I’ve used Buildertrend, what really changed my focus on y’all’s company is when I actually went to the university. I mean it …

Courtney Mattern:

Tom, how long had you used Buildertrend before you came to BTU?

Tom Waller:

I would say … This is a rough guess, probably five years, maybe six.

Courtney Mattern:

So, what was it that made you think like, “Now’s the time for me to get to Omaha and learn more.” I always think it’s interesting when people have been using Buildertrend for a while, and they get a newfound interest in learning more.

Tom Waller:

Well, I was starting to get stale with it, and I always felt the program … As well as I was trying to use it, I wasn’t getting the full grasp of it. And that’s why I really decided, I said, “Well, you know what? I’m going to spend the time up there, and I’m going to see what I am missing in this whole big puzzle that you all have created.” And you probably have seen this multiple times through multiple podcasts that it is a big puzzle, and you’ve got to put the pieces together because the program itself, you can utilize maybe two parts of it, but that’s not really what the whole program’s about, if that makes sense.

Charley Burtwistle:

Yeah. I think a common misconception is that Buildertrend is hard, but I think it’s more so developing a process is really hard, and using a software like Buildertrend forces you to develop the process. So, it’s like a don’t kill the messenger type thing, but it’s like, “Hey, you have to record. You have to document. You have to upload receipts. You have to …” These are things that you should be doing as a business. They just so have to be the things that you have to do to use Buildertrend as well, too.

Tom Waller:

Very true. And one of the big hurdles I had with the program at the very beginning was getting all the cost codes in place. And I think that’s probably one of the hurdles that you probably hear a lot of on the sales side also that love the program. But man, getting all these cost codes in place, it sometimes can be overwhelming, I will say that. But once you get it all in place, then, the time you spent doing that, you’re going to recoup that time because the process is going to be so much easier on the next one and the next one and the next one. So, that’s why I tell people who start using the program, you got to be patient with it. And don’t you agree with that?

Charley Burtwistle:

Yeah. Absolutely. I think that’s the biggest thing that we try to say on the customer success floor. Those guys and girls work with literally thousands of clients. It’s like, “Trust me, this will work. I have seen it. You just got to stay the course.”

Courtney Mattern:

It’s like a gym membership. You can’t just buy a gym membership and then you get fit. That’s how it worked.

Charley Burtwistle:

That’s a great analogy. Yeah. We need to start using that-

Tom Waller:

Yeah, Courtney, I mean, that’s perfect because that’s what … You can go to the gym maybe once a week, but you’re not going to get them. You got to keep working with it.

Courtney Mattern:

And be consistent.

Tom Waller:

… so, that is awesome. Yeah.

Charley Burtwistle:

One of our favorite questions that we always like to ask our guests that do use Buildertrend is what was the initial pain point that you had that made you start looking for a project management software, or what problem were you trying to solve when you originally purchased Buildertrend?

Tom Waller:

Well, I’m a very small builder in regards to some of the builders that might be using the program, but my main thing was I’m a one man show, and so, I wanted to make sure that the program that I was going to implement to the company is going to satisfy my needs. And again, change orders, scheduling, communications between the client and me, selections. The whole program itself is almost like I’d say, and I kind of tease sometimes with myself, Buildertrend is almost like my superintendent. And that’s how I look at it because it does things for me that sometimes with me being a one man operation, that it makes it so much easier for me to do the task at hand per day that I have to do.

Charley Burtwistle:

Right.

Courtney Mattern:

And five years later at BTU, what was the new aha moment?

Tom Waller:

Well, I have always said, and I’ve said this since I’ve came back because I still sit on the executive committee there at the BIA. It was all about the energy there. I was actually teasing with Nicole and everybody and said, “Hey, if you’re ever looking for an old man to come in, just pour the beer for you all.” That wasn’t the part that … I mean, I’m just saying though, I was so impressed with the energy. I mean, that to me … And I saw that everybody that I came in contact with, they had a passion and the desire to work for Buildertrend. And to me, that’s what makes our company great is the core group of people that’s actually in place that’s going to pitch the product.

In regard to the classes, I’ve just picked up tidbits of it. Most of it, I didn’t already know, but there was some items that I didn’t know. For example, like a PO, if I start a job, I could actually create the saying, “Okay, this is a lot 118,” and that would be tied to everything that’s into that plus into QuickBooks. And that was an aha moment for me. Most people would say that was very minute, but little tidbits, that is what I picked up.

Charley Burtwistle:

Yeah, I will say … Won’t talk too much more about Buildertrend, but I will say the people that work here definitely believe in what we’re doing. I think it’s people that work here are people that want to be builders and tradesmen and construction workers that don’t have the trade skills because that’s like you’re literally building a roof over people’s homes. We talk about it all the time. It’s like, we consider ourselves part of the construction community. We just can’t swing hammers, right? So, it’s the …

Courtney Mattern:

Yeah. If I could build my own house, man …

Charley Burtwistle:

Oh, yeah. I was thinking that when he was talking. I’m like, “Oh, I wonder how much money do I have to blow to build a poorly built home?”

Courtney Mattern:

It’d probably take me more than 10 months, honestly, so that …

Tom Waller:

Again, I think it’s just a passion. If any individual that has for anything they do, you got to have that passion. And so, that’s the gist of what I look at things.

Courtney Mattern:

When the days get tough in your business, is it that spark that pushes you through to the end? Is that do you think the difference between throwing your hands up and deciding to do it again the next day?

Tom Waller:

Well, the funny thing is in our industry is what we have … And this is what I tell my team, and when I say team, I mean subcontractors and everybody. Most of everybody has to deal with one particular task. With us, we’ve got to deal with maybe 15, 16, and I probably said that way wrong, 15 to 16, meaning it’s just overwhelming sometimes of how many times you’re being pulled in different directions. As being a builder or general contractor, that’s why I kind of call myself now because I’m not actually doing hammering the nails, but you’re also faced with almost being a counselor. Meaning that you’ve got the person or persons that you’re building the most expensive thing they’ll ever purchase in their life. And so, you got a lot of raw emotions going into play. You got different personalities. And that is the part that I think, too, builders have to learn that.

You’ve got to learn that everybody’s got a different personality. Everybody’s got a different thing that’s going to key them to take them to a different level that they really don’t need to be in. And that’s where we juggle everything. And then, the funny thing is, I had a very good lady that I’ve known for years that actually worked for a lighting company, and she’s actually been offered a job, and she took it to work with a custom builder. This female owns a company up in Lexington, and she’s working for her now. And she actually called me, and she said, “Can we talk?” I said, “What’s wrong?” Well, she’s only been with her for two weeks, and she goes, “I had no clue what you all go through.” And I said, “Well, you know, you got to give it time. And there’s no way you’re going to learn everything you need to learn in two weeks.” And so, I told her to call me every now and then, so I could pull her off the ledge a little bit.

Courtney Mattern:

If it feels like stepping off a tilt to whirl, you’re doing it right, that’s the right thing. When you jump into something new and you feel dizzy at the end of the day from all the new information you learn, you just got to keep doing that until things stop spinning.

Tom Waller:

Yeah, yean. I mean … You know, I’m up for any questions you all want to ask me. I know that we’ve been talking a lot about Buildertrend, but I know that probably people who are going to be listening to this probably want …

Courtney Mattern:

Well, you have a long career and …

Tom Waller:

The answers for me of what the real world is.

Courtney Mattern:

Yeah. Well, you’ve had a long career. I mean, the industry, the ups and downs, it’s been through in the last 20 years. What do you think has been the biggest challenge? The one that you were like, “I don’t know if I’m going to come out on the other side.” And where you’re sitting now, you look back and you’re like, “Oh yeah, that wasn’t that bad. I did it.”

Tom Waller:

And that’s what I’m struggling with as we speak. I mean, right now, in the Louisville market and outside areas that I build in, we are faced with so much uncertainty right now. I mean, with interest rates rising just a little bit, you’ve got so many people that are so used to the interest rates being down in the twos and threes that they see these interest rates now. And the sad part of it is it’s taken a big chunk of people out of certain market because before, they were able to qualify for this certain type of house, and now, they’re not. So, yes… I mean, right now for me as being a custom builder, and I’ve said this quite a bit in our area alone, I can’t speak outside of our area, but we are a dying breed.

The production companies, which there’s a lot of good ones out there, there’s a lot of good ones in this area, but I always tell them when I’m in meetings with them, I said, “Hey, you guys won’t let us play on y’all’s ballpark anymore. I mean, we can’t even get in. Why don’t you all just put a little section out for us?” Because the problem is with custom builders is we rely on word of mouth. We rely on the capabilities to build spec houses on lots that are available to us to buy. And so, when you start putting in all these factors into play, not only that we’re facing those dilemmas, but we’re also facing again the economy and everything else is coming to play.

Courtney Mattern:

Well, when you were here at Omaha, you talked a little bit about how you’ve been pivoting your business, maybe trying out some different projects like remodels. Have you found a good solution, or are you looking at other ways to make room for yourself in this new economic landscape?

Tom Waller:

Well, definitely, remodeling is huge right now. I mean, again, it’s taken on. And yes, I do some remodeling. Is it what I would call my niche? No, it is not my niche. I like to do it, but I think you’ve got different niches, and remodeling though is something though I feel like we need to do. We need to look at the processes and saying, “Hey, things are changing in our environment all the time.” So, yeah, Courtney, I agree with you. I mean, we’ve done probably four or five big remodel jobs, and I’m actually looking at doing one creating a bourbon room, what they call a speakeasy room for somebody. We’re looking at redoing a kitchen area. So, yeah, you’re always trying to figure out what’s going on, where are people wanting to take advantage of what we are faced with right now.

Courtney Mattern:

You have homeowners and folks with a lot of equity in their homes seem to be able to be the ones to take advantage of that and do some projects now, where some of those people who wanted to build a new home are having to put the brakes on those projects with the interest rates the way they are, it seems.

Tom Waller:

Right. The funny thing is I’ve been hearing … And I’ve actually talked to another builder today, and I don’t know if you’re all hearing throughout, but we’re also seeing a lot of people that’s coming to certain areas that the house has been existing for a long time, but they love the area. So, realistically, they’ll try to utilize the foundation, but they might tear the whole house down, start from scratch.

Charley Burtwistle:

Right.

Courtney Mattern:

Yeah. I see that a lot my area …

Tom Waller:

Did you all hear that also?

Courtney Mattern:

Yeah. I live in a more historic part of Omaha, and there’ve been quite a few … People are trying to get into the neighborhood if they can afford to move in. I’ve seen some houses just be completely razed, and they start over from scratch, which I get the appeal if it’s all about location, but you still want to do a new build. I’ve seen that happen.

Tom Waller:

So, Courtney, how do you feel about that when somebody takes an existing house and then create something maybe even modern in that particular area that it might not fit?

Courtney Mattern:

Oh, gosh. Because the one in our neighborhood that they put up, it’s just a big brown square box, like a super modern and like a more 1920s, 1930s area with two door homes and white columns. And then, I met my husband. I would drive by it all the time, we’re like, “Ooh, what are they going to do if they knocked down?” It was a big maybe ’60s ranch, so it was a little more modern, a house that was there than the other big brick houses. But we’re like, “Really? It’s just a big box.” We kept waiting for it to get more extravagant, but it’s good for them. It’s not always good for you, I guess.

Tom Waller:

But you know what though? That’s the trend. I was actually fortunate enough to go to Cincinnati and judge what they call tour of homes. Basically, it was a development right on the river. And every one of those homes were basically four stories, garage at the bottom, maybe what they would call a bedroom office. Every one of them had elevators in them because literally you went, and they were all nothing but a square box. And I’m actually starting to see that trend a little bit.

Courtney Mattern:

Mm-hmm.

Charley Burtwistle:

Well, I was looking at your website before you hopped on here, and that’s definitely not …

Courtney Mattern:

Not your vibe.

Charley Burtwistle:

… your vibe. The houses you have on here are incredible. I also love the names of them all. Do you name? Yeah. I’m looking at your portfolio thing here …

Courtney Mattern:

I do. Yes.

Charley Burtwistle:

… yeah, these are sweet. The other thing that really stood out to me on your website was on your very front page or landing page, you have actual customer reviews, which I feel like is a little uncommon to …

Courtney Mattern:

It’s brave.

Charley Burtwistle:

… put those out in front of everyone. Talk to me a little bit about the … especially building custom homes, the client relationship, and the customer satisfaction that you strive for, and how that back and forth goes.

Tom Waller:

Well, actually, when I started my company, I always wanted to be … And I’ll use the word concierge type builder, meaning that the clienteles that I deal with, which I typically will probably at the most will do six homes a year because with this service that I implement with them is I try to return phone calls within a timeframe, maybe two or three hours, maybe less if I’m not in a meeting. I’ll take certain phone calls past business hours to answer questions that they might have for me that literally can make them lose sleep over or worry about.

I constantly try to keep track of their expenses and their budget. Budget’s huge for me. But if you ask me the question, does everybody on the budget-wise? I have never had anybody stay in budget. I mean, that’s just a fact. And I tell people …

Charley Burtwistle:

Human nature.

Tom Waller:

… I say, “Yeah. We’ll do the best we can for you all, but you all are the ones basically controlling that.” With the system I have in place to change order comes in, I put it into the system. They actually sign off on it. I sign off on it, and I tell them at the very beginning I said, “Okay, you already know what your allowances are. This is what the product is. This is what you’re over. I just want you to be aware of that.” And I would say 85% of the time, they’re good with it. I mean …

Courtney Mattern:

Sometimes, it’s just transparency and a clear expectation of what you’re spending and what decisions you’re making is what people need to feel good about that decision. It’s when they get to the end and they’re like, “What? I had no idea.” When you have a system that automatically sends them their change order, they see it, they sign it, they acknowledge it, it takes away some of that awkwardness that builders sometimes have to have at the end of the process.

Tom Waller:

Yeah. Which the funny thing is if you don’t have a system like that in place, you’d be surprised of how many times that happens with other individuals that will literally say five or six days before closing will present to their clients, “Hey, here’s $65,000 worth of change orders.”

Courtney Mattern:

Or if they want to add a pickleball court at the last minute if you had to put any pickleball courts in any homes because we’ve been just seeing that trend a lot.

Tom Waller:

It’s a process, and I’m not perfect at it. And I would say if anybody says they are, I don’t know. I would’ve to see their system. But you’re always going to have issues, especially when it comes to the financial part of the process. But I try my best to make sure everybody knows where we are at that time.

Charley Burtwistle:

Right. The comment you made about returning phone calls within a matter of hours is awesome because you’re right. To you, it may just be a phone call you have to return, but to them, it could be something that they’re not going to sleep about until they get an answer to. I’m curious, once the final check passes and the final walkthrough is done, is that kind of the end of the relationship there, or what’s the surveys that you have on your website, or do those come in after or was the handoff of, Okay. We built this home now what?”

Tom Waller:

So, Terry, my wife, she takes care of all the social media and makes sure that gets all in place. She does a great job with that in regards to the touch point after the project is done. The funny thing about my personality, and I’ll probably get a bunch of some general contractors or builders, and sometimes, it’s bad for me to do this, but that’s just my personality. I try to build a semi friendship with my clients. Majority of my clients, they become my friends or not so much. You know what I’m saying? I had a good client of mine last year that I built a house for. He actually called me up yesterday, and he had death in his family, and he just wanted to share that with me.

And so, I think, just because you built somebody their dream home and after it’s all said and done, I think… And I tell people the funny thing is when we all sit down with everybody, and I talk to them about the process, I say, “You’re going to laugh when I say this, but this is a marriage. We’re going to get married. We’re going to have our little differences. We’re going to have our little bouts, and then, in about nine to 10 months, I’m going to send you some divorce papers. And then, we’re going to have the feelings of, Oh my goodness. We talked at each other at least once a day. And then all of a sudden, that relationship’s gone.” It is a very weird feeling.

Courtney Mattern:

I redid in my basement right before the pandemic, and I’ll say… I spent every day with my contractor. And then, even during the pandemic, we would FaceTime. She got to know my dogs. It was hard …

Charley Burtwistle:

That’s awesome.

Courtney Mattern:

… I’m always just like, “Oh, now, I need to figure out what part of my house I’m going to redo next because I miss her so much.”

Tom Waller:

And you still stay in contact with her, Courtney?

Courtney Mattern:

Oh, yeah. Yeah. Now, we’re Facebook friends. I can ask her questions about projects. And it is a really like oddly intimate relationship to invite someone into your home and into your relationship, too, if you have a partner and you’re building a home or doing a remodel project, your contractor gets a front row seat to conflicts and your love languages. They get to know your kids and your pets, and it’s really amazing.

Tom Waller:

Yeah. It’s a very strange feeling. And I would say that there’s a lot of us out there like that. I mean, like the last one I did last year, she was pregnant through the whole entire process. So, we went through multiple changes for personality wise, but at the end, I went to see the baby.

Courtney Mattern:

Nice. So sweet.

Tom Waller:

… she loves the house. And it’s just funny how you build those relationships up.

Courtney Mattern:

Well, and it’s also not something that… You hope every contractor does that, but it’s another thing, those relationships that sets the best apart from the rest.

Tom Waller:

Yeah.

Charley Burtwistle:

Well, yeah, I think we are getting close to time here, but I think a good note to end on would be just what advice you have for other builders that are listening to this on how to create the best client experience? Multiple times through this interview, you had mentioned the online, your homeowner portal, the upfront kind of relationship there, all the reviews on your website, everything that you talk about. I can tell you have a passion not just for building homes, but we’re building homes for people and forming those relationships. And in an industry where word of mouth and referrals is so important, incoming leads and things like that, I think that would be a topic that our listeners would be really, really interested in. So, yeah, final ask from you would be just what advice do you have, and what can people do to ensure that they’re creating the best experience possible?

Tom Waller:

Well, I’m going to go to not so much the client. Let’s talk to the builders and contractors out there for a little bit. I want young builders when they come into this market. Some of the things I learned that I wish if I had to do it over again, I encourage all builders that want to get into this business take some business courses first. Learn how to manage your money, that’s important. Second off is don’t disregard not joining your local building association.

Charley Burtwistle:

Yep.

Courtney Mattern:

Yep.

Tom Waller:

… I mean, it’s huge. The contacts that you’ll get in that association and the people that you can relate to and get advice from is going to be huge. Again, when I first got into this, I was not involved in the association, but once I got involved in it, it’s just amazing the like of people that will come and you can get advice from.

And then, I guess, thirdly is when it comes to your clients, always think about when conflict happens. Put yourself in their position. Not to say they’re always right, but also think to yourself, “Okay, you know what? I know what I’m talking about. Maybe I’m not saying it the right way to them. Maybe I’m not relaying the information the way that I should relay it to.”

And so, those are some of the things that I encourage people to always, once they want to get into this business, that’s what you need to do.

Charley Burtwistle:

I love it, and I feel like that’s good advice not just for the construction business, but just life …

Courtney Mattern:

For all of us.

Charley Burtwistle:

… in general. Yeah. So, thank you very much, Tom. This was an awesome interview and …

Courtney Mattern:

Yeah. Such a pleasure.

Charley Burtwistle:

… really appreciate you making the time to come on today.

Tom Waller:

Well, I’ve enjoyed it. And again, anytime y’all need me to speak highly of your all’s program, don’t hesitate to reach out to me. I think you’re all the best.

Courtney Mattern:

Thanks, Tom …

Charley Burtwistle:

Thank you very much, Tom. You’re the best.

Courtney Mattern:

You’re the best. Yeah.

Tom Waller:

Okay.

Charley Burtwistle:

All right, have a good day.

Well, Courtney, we just wrapped up another fantastic interview with another fantastic guest, Tom Waller. Tom Waller Signature Homes. Great guy. I understand why you guys met him at BTU and wanted to have him on the podcast. Second meeting here. What were your thoughts?

Courtney Mattern:

Well, Tom has a lot of really good advice. And I think no matter what type of builder you are… Like Tom is a custom builder. But whether you’re a remodeler, you’re a specialty trade, maybe you’re a sub working with a general contractor, he gives a lot of good advice. I love the advice to take business classes, know your money. There’s so many. Especially with our advanced financial features, you learn that “Oh, the money part really matters when you’re running a business.” Surprise, surprise.

Charley Burtwistle:

It matters very much.

Courtney Mattern:

Yeah, yeah, definitely. And I mean, I’ve taken some business classes for my marketing stuff and that’s like one of the most valuable things I’ve done in my career. And then, just his passion and his love for what he does, that is what keeps you going. That’s what keeps you from laying down foot on the floor, and just being like, “I’m not going back tomorrow.”

Charley Burtwistle:

Absolutely. And I think as someone that is … I recently bought a home to not build but the … Something that really connected with me was if you’re looking for someone to build your home, you need to find someone like Tom. The home building process can be extremely stressful. And like he said, it’s the most money you’ll ever spend on one thing in your life. And having someone like Tom just makes it all infinitely easier. They’re going to work with you. They’re going to be straightforward with you. They’re going to be upfront, transparent with you, and it will make the entire experience infinitely better.

Courtney Mattern:

It’s deeply personal, and I thought it was so sweet that Tom had a customer who reached back out, was like, “Come meet my baby.”

Charley Burtwistle:

Yeah. Absolutely.

Courtney Mattern:

After you’ve known me this whole time and you have to meet the baby, now, and that’s not what you get from every builder. So, when you’re getting ready to remodel or build a house, search for a Tom.

Charley Burtwistle:

Search for a Tom. #searchforatom, put it on the t-shirts.

Courtney Mattern:

This one’s going viral.

Charley Burtwistle:

This one’s going viral. Well, that wraps it up for another episode of “The Building Code.” If you could do us a huge favor, go out and like, review, and subscribe this episode, so that hopefully, this will be our most listened to episode, and we can replace Zach with Courtney full-time, so please go do that ..

Courtney Mattern:

Well, at least the whole team that we list off all those names at the beginning episode, they’ll do a real life like happy dance when they see those likes and those reviews come in.

Charley Burtwistle:

Yeah. And leave a comment. Maybe we can get some votes going. #bringbackzach or #getridofzach. But either way …

Courtney Mattern:

I’m so happy.

Charley Burtwistle:

… tune in next week to figure out what they …

Courtney Mattern:

If we let Zach come back to the podcast. Yeah …

Charley Burtwistle:

… consensus. Yeah. If you’re on again, who knows. Otherwise, until next time. I’m Charley Burtwistle.

Courtney Mattern:

I’m Courtney Mattern.

Charley Burtwistle:

And this is “The Building Code.” See you.