IBS 2024 preview: How to ensure profitability with Brad Leavitt

Zach Wojtowicz:

Well, what’s up everybody? Zach Wojtowicz here of “The Building Code.” Hope you’re doing well. It’s February, the pre-episode to IBS, big time, and we have a special guest, two special guests really. We’ve got the greatest podcast intern that we could possibly have, veteran really at this point, Courtney Mattern, how are you?

Courtney Mattern:

I’m great. I feel like I’m here more than you and Charley now.

Zach Wojtowicz:

If you check the records, it seems like we’re alternating. Don’t worry, Charley and I aren’t going anywhere, we’re just getting our scheduling figured out. Never going to happen again. We miss each other.

Courtney Mattern:

I hope so because this is getting old. No, I’m kidding. I love being here.

Zach Wojtowicz:

You bring a ton of energy, we love having you on. We flirted with even having a three episode to really show …

Courtney Mattern:

All three of us could co-host together.

Zach Wojtowicz:

The poor guest would never get anything in.

Courtney Mattern:

I was really excited today …

Zach Wojtowicz:

Yes.

Courtney Mattern:

… About our guest.

Zach Wojtowicz:

Why?

Courtney Mattern:

Because it’s Brad Leavitt from a AFT.

Zach Wojtowicz:

How do you feel about Brad?

Courtney Mattern:

We love Brad. We all love Brad. We’re all …

Zach Wojtowicz:

She’s glowing right now. Look at her.

Courtney Mattern:

I thought it was so easy. I was like, “I don’t even have to prepare for this one. We work with Brad a lot on the marketing team just because he has such a great story to tell. He’s been using Buildertrend for a long time. He’s so gracious with his time, too, which is one of my favorite things. He’s often given his cell phone number to other builders, given demos of Buildertrend, coming to us with things that we need to improve on. He’s just been a really great partner, and I’m excited for the sneak peek because we’ve got a lot of fun things coming up with the Builders’ Show next week.

Zach Wojtowicz:

That’s right, so we’re going to get Brad in here. We’ll let him do the introduction of himself, but we’re excited to have him on. Let’s get to it. Welcome, Brad, to “The Building Code.” We talked a little bit about the intro. We know each other well. You’ve been on “The Building Code” before. You’re a Buildertrend celebrity, whether you know it or not. Welcome, how are you?

Brad Leavitt:

Really good, excited to be here. We’re, of course, big fans of Buildertrend and all of our friends there.

Zach Wojtowicz:

I always get a little starstruck when I talk to you because of your celebrity status. I don’t know if I’ve ever told you that, so if I seem a little nervous.

Courtney Mattern:

He’s the new Beyoncé of building.

Zach Wojtowicz:

That’s right.

Brad Leavitt:

That is not the case. I’m just a normal builder like everybody else trying hard in this tough industry.

Zach Wojtowicz:

That’s what I love about you, so humble. We got Courtney here as well. You know each other well.

Courtney Mattern:

So, I’m filling in for Charley. It’s becoming a regular thing. I don’t know if I’m back by popular demand.

Zach Wojtowicz:

Like a reunion happens between us because I missed a couple episodes and then Courtney’s filling in for one of us and things are moving fast here at Buildertrend, so you’re just in demand.

Courtney Mattern:

It was a perfect timing because I know Brad well. I work with Brad a lot at the Contractor Coalition Summit with some of our marketing efforts, so I was like, “This is right at home.”

Zach Wojtowicz:

That’s the storyline we’re going to go with is you were on and Courtney’s like, “Charley, get out of here. You can’t be on.”

Courtney Mattern:

It’s like, “This is my friend, I got to go do this interview.”

Zach Wojtowicz:

Well, Brad, for those of that don’t know you, tell us a little bit about yourself and your career and why you’re a Buildertrend celebrity, just for the listeners who maybe don’t know you as well.

Brad Leavitt:

So, we’ve essentially been in business now … We’re coming up here next month in March will be our 11-year anniversary. So, we started March of 2013, so pretty exciting, had our 10-year anniversary last year and focused primarily on luxury product here in the Scottsdale, Phoenix metro area, so all around Phoenix, we have an incredible team. Like all of us, I wish it would be easy enough to just have opportunity and success overnight. That’s simply not how it goes. I grew up in the trades. I think that’s been very beneficial to me is I had worked as electrician, insulation, low voltage, fire alarm, and so had good experience kind of knowing what our team and our personnel does day-to-day, and our workforce. And so, being in the trades, did construction management up at BYU and then moved to Phoenix in ’05, so worked for another builder, had some great experience over seven, eight years doing custom homes and luxury product in Phoenix and started my company as I mentioned in 2013 and here we are now 11 years later, so trying to do what we can.

Zach Wojtowicz:

Well, congrats, first of all for 10 years. That’s a huge accomplishment and really exciting, and today we’re here to talk a little bit about the renowned International Builders’ Show, which as a tenure business owner, I’m sure you’ve got some great stories about IBS, and you’re doing some work for us down there as well, a couple of panels that we want to talk about that are really excited about. What are some of your favorite things about IBS for someone who hasn’t been or has only gone a couple of times? Why do you go back year after year?

Brad Leavitt:

We haven’t missed, since I started going, I want to say probably 2017 when I started hearing about it, maybe 2016, somewhere in that timeframe, I’d have to look, but we haven’t missed a year since then. I know COVID pushed us back on one of those, but whether it be Orlando or Vegas, it’s so important and over the last few years we brought a lot of our team members. I know last year we brought … I think there were 16 of us from AFT. This year we’ll have 10 of us. There’s so much value with the International Builders’ Show, one networking. It’s a really tough industry. I alluded to that when you first did the intro here and the opportunity to be around like-minded builders, that’s just huge, face-to-face. A lot of us know each other from Instagram, so there’s this community we’ve built and have with our vendor partners such as Buildertrend, and so you build this amazing community through social media and collaboration and now you kind of get to meet in person and also the new product.

Maybe a little way that we do IBS, and especially that I’ve done it over the years is, as mostly I’m pretty engaged in social media. It’s a big part of what we do, our branding lead generation. There’s been a lot of benefit to that platform for our company, and so it’s been really important for me as we’ve built relationships with our vendors and partners and suppliers to get to know them, go to their booth, figure out who does their social media collaborate … I tell a lot of young builders, “Go to the booth.” If you’re working with Kohler or you’re working with … Sub-Zero, Wolf doesn’t have a booth there, but they have people there from Sub-Zero, Wolf, connect with them, figure out who does the social media, build a relationship. Courtney mentioned she runs the marketing for Buildertrend. Courtney and I know each other face-to-face. When I’m reaching out to Courtney, I have a relationship with Courtney, same as you, Zach. And so, there’s a huge benefit to any business when you have this one-on-one relationship, and that’s only done face-to-face.

Zach Wojtowicz:

That’s a really great point and something that Buildertrend has really done a great job in our own operations of trying to capitalize on the fact that builders just really want that relationship with it. It’s one of my favorite. Why I’m in customer success is the relationship piece, and when it comes to IBS, you get this opportunity to really explore the new stuff, but also I assume you catch up with a lot of people really well, too.

Brad Leavitt:

Oh, that’s a huge part. As I mentioned, I have friends that we’ve built over the years and then sometimes it’s your first time meeting, sometimes you only see each other at IBS, but it’s so fun. We have the contract to coalition set meet up the night before, so Monday night we’re kicking off so everyone come. I think last year we had 300 attend, which is pretty neat, kickoff to IBS, but really Zach, when you look at it over the last 10 years I’ve been in business, I look at it’s a really tough industry.

COVID made it very challenging for certain suppliers and projects and when I’m calling a vendor that’s like a 1-800 number and I have no idea who I’m talking to, I’m going to be less prone to specify that product or work with that vendor. When I have direct vendors I have relationships with, so Buildertrend is a great example that I may not have the exact phone number of maybe the tech person I need for this part of the software that we’re using, but I can know people at Buildertrend, they’re going to connect me with the right person. Now, they can implement that and customize it for me and my company. And so, whether it be software, whether it be product, having a direct contact, you just can’t put a price on that and that’s one of the huge values of the Builders’ Show.

Courtney Mattern:

It’s one of our favorite parts of going to the Builders’ Show. As a tech company, we don’t have a lot of opportunities, at least all of our team members, to meet in person with our customers. So, it’s like this big reunion. I think some people look at this event as maybe a sales event, but we really see it as like it’s a customer get together. It’s the one time a year that we get to see them in person.

If anybody’s been to our booth before, we have two big happy hours just because the last couple hours of every day it’s like we want to draw everyone in, we want to have a good time, we want to catch up, we want to hear about your business, what struggles you’re having and how we can fix them. So, I think the show this year, it’s February 28th through the 2nd, for anybody who’s listening, and we’ll drop a code in the shownotes, so that you can get a free expo pass. So, the pass is on Buildertrend, if you’re thinking about coming to the show, if that helps, come visit us. We have a happy hour, come hang out with us.

Zach Wojtowicz:

We’d love to see you. It’s actually a lot of fun. We bring reps who are traditionally working with customers over the phone and you still build really great relationships, but it’s really cool to see at IBS when they get to meet their coach for the first time or someone that they know really well. It’s kind of like a little happy moment to be like, “Look, they got to meet in real life.”

Courtney Mattern:

But the show is overwhelming.

Zach Wojtowicz:

It is.

Courtney Mattern:

Last year, I think they said they had 90 to 100,000 people attend the show. It’s at the Las Vegas Convention Center, which is a massive, I’ve never taken so many steps in one day. My Apple Watch is like, “Are you alive still? I’m not sure. You took 50,000 steps.” But Brad, how do you prioritize your time spent at the show or do you hit the education sessions first? Do you split up your team? Is it a divide and conquer strategy? By now, have you just picked out … Do you have a theme every year, something, a big goal that you’re trying to hit? How do you handle not getting overwhelmed?

Brad Leavitt:

Yeah, a really good question. It’s changed over the years. I know early on it was really big for me to walk the entire floor, get to know everyone because you’re just building the brand and the company and you’re networking, so that was super important. It’s changed now and now that I’m bringing a lot of my employees, so now a lot of my team members, they’re there looking for new innovative products. There may be specialty items that we’re looking because we do really custom product and so, there’s these niches and needs and fixes that we have and so, they’re really targeting certain vendors that are offering new product that would really apply to us, and then I’m enlisting them to write blogs on it.

So they go, they walk the floor, they’re doing two blogs a day on new products, so that’s helping SEO and just other marketing aspects AFT, and still keeps them kind of focused on task. Now, I’m a little bit more targeted. There are speaking engagements, of course, I’m speaking on the Buildertrend panel. I know last IBS, I was speaking a majority of the events, so this one will be a little bit different. I’ll have a little bit more free time, so there’ll be targeted relationships I have that I’ll be meeting with them, and then certain vendors as well that I’ve had my eye on or been trying to build a relationship with that I’ll be visiting their booth.

Courtney Mattern:

Let’s talk a little bit about the panel. Brad’s going to sit on a panel moderated by Andrés Ricaurte from Buildertrend on profitability and how builders are going back to the basics because I always say you have to make money if you’re going to be a business. That’s requirement number one, and I feel like the last couple of years have had other challenges, but people are kind of going back to square one about how to be smart with their money, about how to be smart with their costs. Do you want to give us a little sneak peek of what your goals around profitability are for 2024?

Brad Leavitt:

Yeah, there are so many, and there’s definitely not enough time in this episode to do that. So, hopefully in the panel, we can hit most of these.

Courtney Mattern:

Yes.

Brad Leavitt:

But I will say that something that I wish I would’ve known much earlier on when I started my company is that one, there’s this aspect to understand value. What’s the value I bring? Am I charging enough? What do I charge? Yes, there’s that element. I think at the core of it, even before you get there, you really have to understand your process and what it takes to complete a project. When you watch people on Shark Tank and they’re saying, “It cost me this much to get a customer, this much to retain a customer, this much to build a product,” they really understand the ins and out of our business, and ours is more complicated. I’m doing a custom home that may be two years of design, two years to build, four-year process, but at the core of it, I have to really understand manpower.

What does it take for me over four years? What’s my exposure, what’s my risk? And yes, some of that’s going to come over time as we’re doing analysis and tracking this information, but I can tell you now today, I have a lot better understanding of what it takes to build a house. And now that puts me in a position where I can charge appropriately, I can cover costs, and I’m really ahead of the game from pre-construction. I can stand there with more confidence. And so, this is my … When you talk about 2024, breaking down the importance of profitability, that’s what it comes down to is understanding what it entails for you to build your product and then understanding how to charge for it, so then when a client’s negotiating or you’re trying to get a signature job or a loss lead or whatever it may be, you have a good idea of when you’re in the black and red and how tight you can make those margins.

Zach Wojtowicz:

That makes a ton of sense. One of the things I really like to ask people when they come on “The Building Code” is a little bit of that. Was there a moment where you learn that lesson the hard way or something, a mistake that you made earlier in AFT’s history that taught you that? And what’s the best way to learn if you don’t know how to do the things you’re talking about?

Brad Leavitt:

Well, this goes back to benefit of IBS and this network is that there’s two ways to really figure this out. One, you make plenty of mistakes and you pay enough people to build their house, so that’s number one, lose enough money making those mistakes. To circumvent that, as opposed to making the mistakes yourself, well, it’s like, okay, well, let me ask mentors of mine, let me ask other builders. How are they charging? Are they doing cost plus? Are they doing GMP?

I know in the Coalition Summit we’ll talk about this and CBUSA, which I’m sure we’ll talk about this in combination here with Buildertrend, I attend the Power 30 conferences. There’s builders around the country that maybe are doing a different product than I am, but have so much information to offer and I can pull them aside and talk to them, builders that I really respect. And so, between that and Builder 20 over the years I’ve seen in IBS is to your point, Zach, is that as opposed to making all the mistakes myself, which I’ve made plenty, and underpriced and not understood what it cost me to build a home, some of that I’ve learned and some of it I’ve learned from others that have given that information that now I can kind of mix those two together and really create a successful project.

Zach Wojtowicz:

When it comes to your focuses around your business, do you use this opportunity at IBS to see what other people are looking at as the warning signs or things that maybe you could look at from a business strategy standpoint, or is it purely kind of just the relationships and the vendor partnerships?

Brad Leavitt:

I think there’s a ton of business opportunity. It’s funny, as you’re in the booth and you’re speaking to other vendors, think about … I’m a custom builder, but working with my suppliers, working with Buildertrend, understanding how you’re mapping retention of your clients and the sales process and everything that goes in from the Buildertrend team as they’re looking at sales and acquisition and expansion, everything else, there’s application to me.

And so, too many of us get fixated in call it our bubble of what we do. And for me as a custom builder, I should understand how people are successful in business in the auto industry or they’re successful in the supply chain aspect or they’re successful as a remodeler or production builder. There’s just similar philosophies, and yes, there are differences for sure, but at the core of it, there are a lot of similarities that we can understand. And so, you know me, I’m like pro-business all the time, so I’m going to be speaking about that with our vendors and IBS is such an opportunity hands-on right there. And in fairness to those that are at the booth, I respect them, they’re on their feet all day, and I’m sure sometimes they like to have a conversation outside of the normal sales pitch of the product they have.

Zach Wojtowicz:

No kidding.

Courtney Mattern:

The panel includes a couple of your friends, too. We have Meg Billings from Meg & Co. She’s been on the podcast, and same with Tim Coughran from Alderview Construction. Do you want to talk a little bit about how you met these two?

Brad Leavitt:

Yeah, again, it’s the community. It’s so funny, so Tim, actually, he’s awesome in the sense that he just pinged me. He just DMed me on Instagram, we joke, “Slide into your DMs,” and said, “Hey, Brad, I want to come meet you,” and he came down to Gilbert and I took him through a project and he ended up attending the coalition summit that we collaborated Buildertrend on and had a great experience with him there. Meg, same way. Meg had followed Nick and I, Nick with Venice Builders and knew of us.

The first time I met her was at the Coalition Summit, and she’s crushed it. Since then she’s done so well and really understood what her goal is, and it’s funny because offline, Meg and I have spoke a lot, and there’s a business coach I know of that was part of my Builder 20 that’s now consulting with her, and she’s doing a bunch of social media campaigns, and so there’s been a ton of success. And really what it comes down is it’s our community and Instagram’s probably the initial connector, and then from there it’s personality and drive and everything else that add to it.

Courtney Mattern:

That’s one of my favorite parts about working in this industry. Pre Buildertrend, I worked in performing arts and a lot of people are like, “Oh, that’s such a weird switch over to construction,” but it’s a small world. It’s like a homey, everybody’s really kind and gracious with their time from the customers we work with, to our partners, everybody knows each other. I think it’s so wild that you just chat with another builder all the way over in Denver on Instagram, and then you become friends, and now you’re sitting on this panel together. You’re building business knowledge together and therefore growing your businesses. It’s really amazing.

Brad Leavitt:

It’s funny, too, because with like Megan, this is … Again, I’m not trying to take credit, but the funny thing is, so I was at the Buildertrend booth, happy hour, we’re enjoying it, all the builders are coming in, we’re networking with all of Buildertrend. And Meg came up and I said, “Meg, you need to meet Brooke,” and you Courtney, I said, “You need to talk to …” And I told both of you, I’m like, “You need to meet Meg. She’s crushing it, doing some amazing things,” and so, it’s just all those connection points, and I’ve been the recipient of that on my side as well where just other builders I respect have made introductions for me. That’s where it happens at IBS, at the booth, like happy hour for Buildertrend where all these builders are there and these connections happen.

Courtney Mattern:

This year on our … Is it Wednesday happy hour? Tuesday?

Brad Leavitt:

I think I’m there Wednesday afternoon for at least AFT.

Courtney Mattern:

So, it’s a week after this episode airs the Wednesday happy hour in our booth from 2:00 to 5:00 is Meet the Pros. So, if you’ve been to our booth in years past, we’ve always featured Brad’s come by, Matt Risinger’s come by, but this time we’ve invited all of the top builders that we collaborate with and who are ambassadors. There’s a pool of 12 to 15 different builders, one’s great social media presence, people that you probably follow, everyone from Nick Schiffer, Brad Leavitt, Meg’s going to be there, the Tankersleys, and it’s just a happy hour for networking.

We’ve got some fun coozies to give out that say, “Do you want to be my builder friend?” I think we hear so much from builders, they want to meet another builder who’s like them or going through the same challenges as them, and there’s so much knowledge to share, and it’s kind of outside of Buildertrend. We’re here to make work simpler, to make your processes efficient, to help connect you to financial services, but then hopefully also connect you with other builders that you can have a great community with and learn those intricate lessons of building that maybe Buildertrend can’t teach you, but we can connect people.

Zach Wojtowicz:

And that’s actually funny. I would say one of the number one things I get asked is to talk to other builders from customers. They’ll come and be like, “Can I talk to someone else?” And there aren’t that many opportunities to do that. Some of that is even … I don’t know if you agree with this, Brad, but even in their own backyard, they’re kind of hesitant to do it because there’s a perception of competition. And so they fear, “If I make a network here, I’m going to cannibalize my revenue or opportunity to work with different customers,” so there is just this kind of innate, “Oh, I will use Buildertrend, I know Buildertrend.” You can’t miss us at the IBS show, everybody knows our name.

Courtney Mattern:

Well, we hope to make it less awkward. That’s why we host the happy hour where it’s like, “We’ll connect you to those names you know,” but Brad, what’s your advice to someone who might be nervous about connecting with the builder that they admire or they want to know more about? Is it a business card swap? Is it just a DM on Instagram? What’s your advice?

Brad Leavitt:

I think with anything, I think a lot of us can relate to maybe a little social anxiety. No matter how outgoing you are, you’re in a new setting, you may not know anybody, and you’re just like, “Okay, where do I start at a happy hour? Who do I talk to?” And I look at it from my side and early on, especially when there are certain architects or designers that I wanted to meet, or maybe there’s other builders that were using Buildertrend as the ideas booth there.

And for me, just as an icebreaker, I would always find a way to compliment them because there’s a reason that I wanted to meet them, whether they’re doing this certain project or they’ve built their brand to a certain level, what’s their key to success? And I’ll always walk up like, “Hey, I’m a fan. I really loved your article. I really loved your publication. I really love whatever it may be,” and immediately, I think most people, especially in the construction community, they really soften up because when you come up and just say, “Hey, I’ve been really impressed. Can’t wait to meet you,” you just have to do it, and most people just are honored, and they’re going to reciprocate that, and then immediately beginning a conversation, they’ll ask questions and you move on. So, a lot of it’s just finding a little icebreaker there and making it happen.

Zach Wojtowicz:

That was where I was … People are always like, “How do I talk to someone? How do I find a network?”

Courtney Mattern:

We’re all so shy.

Zach Wojtowicz:

You reach out, literally. You just have to find a way if that is something that they’re out there, and that’s what’s really cool is you get to see that expedited a lot at the Builders’ Show, and unfortunately, I wish it was easier, but this is a top opportunity if you’re listening. Come to the show, it’ll be worth it, for sure, and these other opportunities that come with it.

Brad Leavitt:

Well, it’s funny, Zach, because to that point, if you’re a coordinator there, and of course, I know you now, but at the time, I’d just walk up like, “Zach, love what you’re doing with the podcast,” and Courtney, who’s a marketing … There’s something there where I can engage and get that … And I mentioned this in the past that without calling out a certain brand, there was a certain brand that I was trying to partner with many years ago, and they kept rejecting me, and it was kind of my area in North Scottsdale. I was competing with some other … So, anyways, I went straight to that person, and I’m like, “Hey, great to meet, wanted to meet you. I really believe in your product, we use it all the time.” And then they see me and what are they going to say at that point?

They’re like, “Yeah, let’s do it. Let’s get you signed up and get you as a vendor.” That’s that angle, but then also the social media side, and maybe it’s a big company, and you could go to them and say, “Hey…” You figure out who this social media person is, and let’s just say for ease, it’s you, Courtney. I’d go up and say, “Courtney, I really love that post you did three days ago showcasing this faucet and sink. It’s incredible. We’re actually using that on a project coming up. I’m a big fan,” and there you go.

Courtney Mattern:

Then all of a sudden we’re like, “We want a video of it.”

Brad Leavitt:

Yeah, Courtney’s like, “I need content.”

Courtney Mattern:

Content.

Brad Leavitt:

“I’m looking for vendors, can you tag me? Can you collaborate?” And even if it’s not financial, I think a lot of us … Not everything’s financial, just do things, build relationships and things will go where they may.

Courtney Mattern:

I think builders sometimes are shy, too, to tell their story and marketing these days … The whole industry is moving toward authentic storytelling. Tell me what’s interesting about you. Tell me what you’re working on. Tell me about a challenge you’re having or a big project that you’re working on or tell each other, so that then you’re top of mind for someone when they’re like, “Oh, yeah, actually I know someone who is just getting started with Kohler or Ferguson, and we have some relationship, and I need somebody to feature in a video.” The more you tell about yourself or where you’ve been or how your business is operating, it makes you more memorable.

Zach Wojtowicz:

Shooter’s got to shoot. Shoot your shot, bottom line. That’s the lesson of the day. Brad, before we let you go, we’re running up on time a little bit. We also know you’re a big, big contributor to CBUSA, and we’ve had the CBUSA family on “The Building Code” many times, and they’re going to be out there as well during IBS, but will you talk a little bit about how your CBUSA experience has contributed to some of those financial outcomes that we kind discussed earlier in the episode?

Brad Leavitt:

The financial side, when you talk about financial planning in any business. Of course, all of us have our main fee structure, whatever that is, but for companies to be successful, you think about different assets or opportunities or elbow space or just whatever it is to create revenue. CBUSA’s been huge. One arm of it, as you alluded to, Zach, is the financial side. So, being a CBUSA member, I have price locks on product, which is huge for me as cost plus because I can go to my clients with a lot of confidence on the price I’m presenting now to completion. That’s huge. During the pandemic, having access to material because of the CBUSA relationships. Well, again, good pricing, availability. That was huge for our company, getting through that tough time in building, but then you look at the rebates and the discounts and the quarterly statements, and for a lot of product, I’m already using.

That now there’s multipliers involved, and so just looking on how we can make our company more fiscally responsive, responsible, and here for the long term to serve our customer, CBUSA has been a huge partner for that. And again, going back to relationship, so many partners that are members of CBUSA that are now working with us at AFT, it’s been huge. I talk about CBUSA all the time. It’s just you have to sign up. CBUSA has such an aggressive mindset, which is incredibly beneficial. They’re hitting every market, they’re opening new markets, which is just better for all of us because from a group buy for me as a builder who’s only building 10 to 20 homes a year, I don’t have the same buying power as someone’s doing 400 or 5,000, that’s some of these big builders, and CBUSA has done a really good job putting all of us together in this pool to really create some good buying power.

Courtney Mattern:

The materials element and supplier relationships are part of that profitability formula. Heading into 2024, like part of being a profitable business isn’t just making sure how many projects you can get done, but being smart about the materials, how you’re purchasing, where are you losing money? Where can you be smarter? I think our Tuesday happy hour is going to be a supplier meetup. We’ve had other podcast episodes, we’ve launched Buildertrend Purchasing earlier this year. CBUSA will be there. It’s a good chance for builders to come in and meet some of the suppliers and manufacturer partners that we work with, and look at how materials management is part of that profitability goal. You can reevaluate those relationships, you can lock in the prices, you can get the pricing that the big builders get. It’s just another opportunity, and I know Buildertrend, we’re excited because those are a lot of the new offerings and features that we’re going to be rolling out. Hopefully, there’ll be even more exciting announcements next week while we’re at the show.

Zach Wojtowicz:

Better be there if you want to find out. That’s perfect tease line there. The marketing girl always delivers when it comes down to it. Brad, it’s been a pleasure chatting with you. We can’t wait to see you next week at IBS in person. If our listeners are out there, please stop by and say hi.

Courtney Mattern:

We’d love to see you.

Brad Leavitt:

Come see us. We’d love to meet you, and make sure you join us happy hour Wednesday afternoon. We’ll be there with 10 of our AFT team members.

Courtney Mattern:

Amazing, perfect.

Zach Wojtowicz:

Thanks, Brad. We just had Brad Leavitt on from AFT Construction, talking about IBS, talking profitability, talking CBUSA, talking all the wonderful things. Courtney …

Courtney Mattern:

I think it was a really good sneak peek. We’re really excited because of the Builders’ Show next week. We’re doing not one but two sessions of principles of profitability. We were asked to do two because it was such a popular topic. If you can’t be at the show, hopefully this episode brought you a few tips, a few things that Brad has working on from a profitability standpoint.

If you’re going to be at the show, make sure you check the links in our show notes for a full schedule of everything that’s happening at our booth and some of our recommendations for what to hit at the show. It can be overwhelming, just as we talked about, it’s 90,000 people, but I think if you think about what your goals are, you can find really valuable sessions. We have the profitability session going Wednesday, and then Thursday, Dan Houghton, our CEO, is actually hosting another session with a lot of our friends, Nick Schiffer’s on that one. It’s all about the job shortage and what you can do to retain your top employees, so looking forward to the insights that come out of that panel as well. And we’ll be able to share them out on social, too, for anyone who’s not making the trip to Vegas, but I’m pumped for the Builders’ Show. Can you tell?

Zach Wojtowicz:

Yeah. Courtney always brings the energy, like I said in the intro.

Courtney Mattern:

Well, my team has been planning this event. Once the Builders’ Show ends, we immediately a week later dive into …

Zach Wojtowicz:

Next year.

Courtney Mattern:

… What are we doing next year? We have to put together …

Zach Wojtowicz:

It never ends.

Courtney Mattern:

… Our education session pitches. We start designing the booth. We’re talking about what products we’re going to launch. So, I think this year’s going to be one of our biggest yet, especially with what we discussed with CBUSA’s presence is going to be really large there, and everything we’re doing with Buildertrend Purchasing as well is going to be highlighted.

Zach Wojtowicz:

I love it. Well, for me, always listening to Brad, he knows so much that. I just feel like I want to extract as much as I can from him, so really a pleasure having Brad on, but if you want the real deal, come to Vegas. You can check him out, hear from him about all the wonderful things that he could share, and it’s always an honor just having you listen to us. So, I’m Zach Wojtowicz.

Courtney Mattern:

I’m Courtney Mattern.

Zach Wojtowicz:

We’ll see you in Vegas. Catch you there.