Hot take from a pro: We don’t have spreadsheets, we have Buildertrend

Zach Wojtowicz:

Hello everyone. Welcome to “The Building Code.” I’m Zach Wojtowicz.

Courtney Mattern:

And I’m Courtney Mattern.

Zach Wojtowicz:

Oh, there you go. How’s that feel?

Courtney Mattern:

I’m back.

Zach Wojtowicz:

You’re back. She’s back. In and out here, depending on when these episodes are. I always lose track of where you’re going to come in and out. So, don’t be surprised, if you’re a longtime listener, to see Courtney’s face pop in here a time or two. And sometimes, for me, sometimes just things happen.

Courtney Mattern:

Yeah, it was funny recently at a BTU, one of the customers was like, “I listen to the podcast every single week, and I wasn’t sure about you until you started guest hosting.” I don’t know what you and Charley were saying about me before I started guest hosting, but I really won over some listeners, I will say.

Zach Wojtowicz:

That’s how you got the mystique. You got to just like, what’s going on behind the scenes?

Courtney Mattern:

Behind the scenes. Now, it’s Danielle and John, our producer and our videographer. They’re the mysterious ones now.

Zach Wojtowicz:

Yeah, that’s right. Well, you’re going to do the honors. You did a great job on some of our other episodes. So, tell our listeners who we got today.

Courtney Mattern:

Sure. This is another one of my favorite customers that we get to work with on the brand and marketing side. It’s Gloria Fuentes, founder of GloJoy. She does design build. But one thing that’s really interesting is she is located in New York, she’s worked in Florida, in Texas, and …

Zach Wojtowicz:

It threw me off when I was looking at my notes to get ready. I was like, “What?”

Courtney Mattern:

Yeah, she covers a lot of ground, but she’s also … I just feel like the way that she uses Buildertrend is super charged. She understands the importance of efficiency and how that’s going to set her apart. And I can’t wait for her to share some of her tips, some of her insights for our listeners.

Zach Wojtowicz:

All right. Well, let’s get her in here. Hey, Gloria, welcome to “The Building Code.” It’s great to see you. How are you doing today?

Gloria Fuentes:

I’m fantastic. How about you guys?

Zach Wojtowicz:

We’re doing pretty great.

Courtney Mattern:

Doing good, yeah.

Zach Wojtowicz:

We’re nice and warmed up. We’re ready to rock and roll. And I hear, when we were talking, you’re up in New York City. How is it down in New York today?

Gloria Fuentes:

Well, we’re not technically in the city. We’re in Westchester County, but it’s nice, warm and sunny. It’s not as warm as we want it to be up here because we’re over the cold by April, but it feels great.

Zach Wojtowicz:

Good. Well, and it’s always fun to start with a little geography. But one of the things that I noticed, when we were looking through your notes, is you’ve got locations. You started in Texas, you got Florida, so that’s why it’s like, “Oh, in New York.” It’s got to be similar to the South, right? Very similar.

Gloria Fuentes:

Absolutely, totally.

Zach Wojtowicz:

Fantastic. Well, Gloria, why don’t you just … We always like to ask you about your story so that they have context about your journey and how your business grew. And a lot of our builders have very interesting, different experiences. So, dive deeper for us about your business.

Gloria Fuentes:

Yeah, sure. I will try to keep it as short and concise as possible because it’s a little bit of a long-winded story. But the long and the short of it really is that I had a background working in real estate and banking. And I had a lot of connections by the time I was in my early thirties that had a little bit of extra cash that wanted to invest in, potentially, property. And so, together during the, I think, 2000 to 2008 timeframe, I was going through a surgery. I was really, really bored. And some of my friends and I actually started to get into this back and forth with real estate property and buying small multi-families, like two families, three families, four families. And converting them into potentially mixed use spaces, or just renting them out as Airbnbs, et cetera.

One of the things that I found during that timeframe was that there was a lot of really great skilled tradespeople out there. But most of them, I’m not saying all of them, but most of them were really crappy at communication, managing contracts, if they had contracts, managing money throughout the process of an actual project. So, they would want a massive deposit front-loaded to them, and then they wouldn’t be able to manage that money. And would constantly be asking for money along the way, even though work wasn’t done. Schedules, material deliveries, so materials piling up on site when they didn’t even need to be there in the first place, slowing down other trades, et cetera, et cetera. So, me having some money and skin in the game was like, “No, no, no, this ain’t happening. Sorry, Mr. General Contractor, I am managing my own project and my own money. And I’ll buy my own material, too,” and so on and so forth. And that’s how it started. And then, quickly started to evolve into an owner rep construction project management business that has evolved to what it is now.

Zach Wojtowicz:

That’s really interesting. I laugh because it’s like how many businesses are started because you’re bored? You’re like, “I think I could just do this. Try my hand at this and see how it plays out.” Love that. Love it.

Gloria Fuentes:

Well, I was only bored because I had literally just come out of surgery, so I could not go back to the bank. The bank where I was working had allowed me to accrue vacation time, FLA, all the stuff, so I could take the time that I needed to recover from my surgery. It’s one of the blessings, I think, of working with a good company that really, truly cares. And so, I was fortunate enough to work for one of those companies. But, yeah, I have ADD, I can’t even sit still in this chair, so I wasn’t going to be able to sit still for months with nothing to do.

Courtney Mattern:

It’s like a superpower. You’re going to use it for your benefit.

Zach Wojtowicz:

That’s right, leverage it, harness it.

Gloria Fuentes:

100%, 100%.

Courtney Mattern:

So, coming over from banking and the real estate industry into construction, what are some lessons learned, or some skills that have transferred over into the work you do now?

Gloria Fuentes:

100%, project management and money management, I think, is the two skills that I utilize the most that are transferable from the time I worked in banking, and also the time that I worked in real estate development and sales. First of all, construction, it’s a cycle. By the time you get a lead, that lead might become a sale one or two years later, if at all, at least the type of projects that we’re working on. So, it’s a relationship, and that’s what real estate and banking are. And in terms of money, contractors are, a lot of times, just people with money that hire trades, and are able to pull the licenses, and do the things that the tradespeople can’t do and vice versa. And a lot of times, contractors have no business acumen. They have no project management skills. And even though they have the money, they still don’t know how to manage it or a spreadsheet. So, just having those experiences, even for a brief short period of time in my career, have really helped me in this business, as have, I think, every role that I have ever had up until now.

Zach Wojtowicz:

It’s also really interesting because you started in Texas, you took some work in New York, moved to New York. Now, you’ve got clients in Florida. You mentioned before we started recording that you’ve moved all these. I would be terrified of having to navigate the different nuances of the different regions that you’re doing business in. Is your experience in banking and regulation, and also just how those things turn into differences in their different areas, did that give you confidence, like, “Oh, I could go to New York. I could go to Florida.” What was that business strategy there?

Gloria Fuentes:

Yeah, so, the project that I came back to New York for was for an asset management firm. And it was people who literally saw on LinkedIn me doing stuff in construction in Texas, and were like, “Hey, you can make more money in New York. Come up here.” And then it just evolved, and I ended up staying up here. That’s what New York does, it just sucks you in. And so, I relocated back to New York temporarily. The pandemic happened. The business has gone through transitions through all of that. And the reality is, I know regulation in New York way better than I know regulation anywhere else. All of my banking and real estate experience comes from New York.

Texas, I went to high school in Texas. I went to college in Texas. I’ve got a lot of connections in Texas. I don’t do anything in Texas by myself. I’ve obviously got one or two project managers down there that stay up with the regulations and the community and everything else.

For Florida, it’s the same thing. And we’ve even worked on a project in California before. There’s always going to be a local person or partner that actually knows the local regulations. Much like, I think, any other business, we’re not really expected as one or two people to know everything about everything and anything. Even within New York, I’ve got different project managers and consultants I like to work with, depending on the type of project, the region and where it is. Brooklyn, it’s underwater. You need a really good engineer and people who know structural and all of that to get it done. Manhattan, different animal. Westchester, stick framing, not metal framing. Connecticut, same thing. So, I love to learn so, for me, at this point, I am doing mostly business development and cool stuff like this. But it’s really about having the right team and the right people and trusting those people.

Zach Wojtowicz:

Yeah. You said you didn’t know everything and you just went and listed out all the nuances. I was like, I don’t know, Gloria, I think you’re being a little humble about maybe what your understanding of these different areas.

Courtney Mattern:

But, also, very notably a talent for knowing what you don’t know and going after the exactly right people who are experts in those areas and building out a team.

Gloria Fuentes:

Yeah.

Zach Wojtowicz:

Oh, go ahead.

Gloria Fuentes:

I would say that most successful business owners that I have learned from, and I consider mentors, whether I’ve met them in person or not, Dan, from Buildertrend being one of those people, is that they just hire people that are really, really good at what they do and not what you do. So, that way, or maybe I said that in reverse, but you get my point. If I’m not good at managing spreadsheets, then, obviously, I’m going to hire somebody else to manage the spreadsheets. At this point, we don’t have a single spreadsheet. We’ve got Buildertrend, thank God. And not only do we have Buildertrend, we’ve got this whole Buildertrend team on top of that. So, it’s almost like an extension of our business, and that’s how we actually sell it.

Courtney Mattern:

Yeah, let’s dive into … Tell us about your Buildertrend journey, how you got started, and how you’re using it? Because I feel like you’ve supercharged Buildertrend.

Zach Wojtowicz:

Also, I want to seal the headline, “We don’t have a spreadsheet. We have Buildertrend.” In construction, that’s a hot take, that’s a spicy take.

Gloria Fuentes:

Yeah. We do not use spreadsheets anymore. If somebody sends me a spreadsheet, I get really upset. “Why is this not in to-dos on Buildertrend, or as a takeoff, or an estimate, or a purchase order? What’s going on here? And do we need to get you set up with a Buildertrend rep to get trained on it?” So, I started this business as myself and one admin. And she has been with me for 15 years now and is no longer my admin. Again, we got Buildertrend. And she’s now a partner, and silent, taking time off the business, really just comes to quarterly board meetings, and that’s about it. And that’s where the joy comes from. Tamara Joy, and Glo, Gloria, all of that.

So, when we started to grow, and when I started to tackle more than two projects at a time, all at different phases and different people, I actually sought out for a solution that performed like an ERP, very similar to NetSuite or Oracle, which is what the large corporate banks or retail shops that I had worked at prior used to use. I’m an elder millennial. I’ve always used technology. I used to code when I was in middle school, that was part of our curriculum. I have embraced technology in everything that I do.

In fact, it’s what set us apart from every other business that was in our, I guess, world, our competitors, from the get-go. Because the reality is, nobody wanted to hire a construction project manager that looked like this, didn’t have a construction project management degree, no degree whatsoever. College dropout, kicked out of high school, had a million jobs, and a banker and a real estate agent. Seriously, what qualifications did I have? I have a lot because I come from a family in construction, but that’s story for another day. But, still, a lot of people, the qualification was, our references were great, and we use technology.

And so, Buildertrend came as we grew. There was nothing out there. And we had worked with GCs that had used other solutions. Some of them were really big, some of them were very well known. Microsoft Projects always being used for scheduling, we felt like. And still to this day, Primavera and a few others, and I’m not knocking any of them, they’re great for what they are, but then at the same time, they are what they are. And we found ourselves utilizing three to four different solutions to achieve what we needed to achieve.

And the reality is, we are a small boutique company. We went from two people to three people, to four, five, now, six, seven, depending on the time of year, the projects we’re working on, and the project managers that we bring on board. And so, we didn’t need something that costs a percentage of what our projects were because our projects are worth millions and millions of dollars, and we can’t afford that. And we also can’t compete with having to pay $50 for this one, $100 for this one, $10 for this one.

Courtney Mattern:

Piecemealing your systems together.

Gloria Fuentes:

Yeah, exactly. And then it all adds up. So, I was like, “No way. We’ve got to build an ERP.” I even thought about building one out. And then, when I started to dig into this rabbit hole, I found that there was a lot of smaller solutions that were really cute, but then they were full of bugs. And I was like, “Man, there’s just got to be something in between.” And I honestly, to this day, still don’t know how I came across Buildertrend, to this day. But I came across Buildertrend, I did a trial. I started off with the small package, and just started using scheduling and to-dos, and that was it. We didn’t use anything else. And slowly but surely, I was like, “Oh.”

And then the customer service is really where it blew up for me because you give us a dedicated account rep. We have all these trainings and webinars, universities, all of that stuff for the people who want to go research it on YouTube themselves. And, all of a sudden, I have an entire team actually using a software and not complaining to me about bugs, about too busy, about the UI, and all of this stuff. And I know I’m geeking out here, but these are all things that are very, very important. And at that point, I was like, “Okay.” I told our sales rep, “I think we can … We did a three-month trial with you guys at a lower rate. And I think, at that point, after the three months, I had several projects and a big redevelopment that we were working on,” and I was like, “I think we can modify this to what we need. You’ve promised me certain features, I see some of them rolling out, so you’re not full of ish. Let’s do it.” Because once you commit to a software like this, you really got to commit.

Zach Wojtowicz:

Mm-hmm, totally. I think what’s really interesting for you as well, in the line of work you’re doing, you’re balancing commercial and residential projects. And that can be hard to find a software that really is able to accommodate both. Do you find that, when you mentioned modifications, are you having to change the way that you’re using it for those differences? Or are you able to run it the same way to really optimize the experience?

Gloria Fuentes:

Yeah, so one of the things that I think Buildertrend recently changed, not recently recently, but prior, was that it always said homeowner. And so, I was like, “Can it just say owner?” Because that just throws people off. So, little tweaks like that, I think, is one of the modifications. And then, for us, the tags and the categories. So, we have different tags and categories for commercial and residential. And then the way that we build out estimates, and takeoffs, and the actual schedule is a little bit different for commercial and residential. But the reality is, most residential in New York is commercial because it’s in a commercial building. And so, that is why we really don’t see much of a difference between commercial and residential projects because it’s always got a commercial component to it.

Zach Wojtowicz:

That makes a lot of sense. And that sounds like you did have a great coach that taught you how to get the most out of these abilities that really find the needles in the haystack. I think that’s where people … I’ve trained a lot of customers. They get lost. A little bit of saying, “Well, I don’t think this’ll work.” And it’s like, “No, it does work if you understand how you can leave those breadcrumbs for yourself to run a report, or to filter down, or if you need an additional field, you’re able to extend it.” So, no matter what type of construction you do, at the end of the day, it’s a trick question. It’s like, “Is there a big difference between commercial and residential?” There is in pre-con and the development and all the things that go with it. But at the end of the day, the structure’s going up. The scopes are bigger, but it should be able to accommodate.

Gloria Fuentes:

Yes and no. I don’t know. I saw some mega houses that you guys have visited out there for AFT Construction and Killowen. Those are small buildings, and ranches, and compounds. Some of them are bigger than some boutique hotels back home in the Caribbean. I’m straight up, so I don’t know. I don’t know.

Zach Wojtowicz:

Yeah, it’s definitely an education. It’s interesting. It’s definitely interesting. There’s always the conversations around, there’s a lot more formality on the commercial side, in terms of having the RFI process, submittals, architects, all these things. But depending on the use case of your commercial experience, Buildertrend is able to do. I’ve worked with a lot of commercial builders that are really successful with it.

Gloria Fuentes:

Yeah, and I also … A commercial build out is typically in a city like New York, or in a place like Miami, Palm Beach, Houston, Austin, Dallas, Los Angeles, whatever. Those are the major cities where our retail clients typically play. It’s a boutique luxury fitness or retail space that’s about 3,000 to 5,000 square feet. Let’s be honest, that’s the size of the average house in some of these Midwest places. Most of them are 2,000, 3,000 square feet, around here, up here. But where we’ve done residential in Dallas, these houses are massive. And so, depending on where you are in the sphere of construction, we’re really looking at the size of the space. And so, the square footage, the area footage, is really what is the same, as is the budgets that we are working with.

We’re typically working with budgets between one and five million, and now, moving into a $5 million and $10 million range. Some of our build outs are half a million dollars, but then you add all the equipment and everything else, you’re quickly jumping into $1 million-plus build out. So, the timeframes are very similar. So, the process of construction is the same. And the reality is, I think the residential clients that work with us, work with us because we run residential projects like commercial projects. And the residential industry could learn a little bit about the commercial process and maybe steal a little bit of that formality, so that they can deal with a lot less change orders.

Courtney Mattern:

Gloria, at the beginning of the episode, you’d said that what set you apart early on was that you were using technology. And maybe to put a nice ribbon on this, but do you think that technology will continue to set you apart? Is it still part of what makes you innovative? Or is it what’s allowing you to compete in the industry?

Gloria Fuentes:

Yeah, absolutely. We really don’t have any competition that is using technology the way that we use technology. From using technology for our business, to AI for our marketing and our creative, and everything else that we do. And I think that technology will continue to play a huge role in how we differentiate ourselves from everybody else.

Zach Wojtowicz:

What would your advice be to someone who hears that and they’re like, “Well, I want to do that.” Where would you start? What would be the way that they can go and … Or what would you just say to them to get started with those other technologies, even outside of the Buildertrend space?

Gloria Fuentes:

Yeah, that’s actually a really good question because I get that question quite a bit. And I just tell people that, honestly, nobody wanted to walk around with these things in their hand when they first came out. And when we switched from the brick phone to the flip phone, and now I’m aging myself, even though I look super young, nobody wanted to do that either. And then there was BlackBerry switching over to iPhone. The BlackBerry users were super hesitant. There’s always going to be all this new technology that is going to come out. And I guarantee that most builders are using technology, and they don’t even realize it. They might be using the notes on their phone. They are using text message or group chats on WhatsApp.

So, I typically will, if I’m trying to implement a new technology or trying to onboard someone onto Buildertrend, the way that I explain it is with whatever they’re already using, be it a tablet, a phone or a laptop that they have in their truck. Because some of them do have a laptop in their truck. Or they might have a clipboard. But then that clipboard where they handwrite everything gets handed to somebody else, and that’s double entry. How cool would it be if you didn’t have to do that and you could just do it on the go? And so, meeting them where they’re at, and showing them solutions that work with them where they’re at. And then how springboarding to a solution like Buildertrend, and just ripping off the bandaid, is way better in the beginning than later on from an implementation standpoint, is really how I go. And as a project manager, I feel like software implementation is actually a huge part of our job, so I’m almost a sales rep for Buildertrend and technology at this point.

Zach Wojtowicz:

We love it. Best we can do, it’s like, “Let’s get her a T-shirt or something.” Come on.

Gloria Fuentes:

I think I got a hat and … What do you call those water can things? I take it everywhere.

Zach Wojtowicz:

A Stanley?

Courtney Mattern:

A Stanley, like a water bottle?

Gloria Fuentes:

Yeah.

Zach Wojtowicz:

I feel like when I drop brand names, I’m going to get a lawyer, “You can’t say our products.”

Gloria Fuentes:

No, no, it’s the Buildertrend one, and then we branded it with GloJoy stickers.

Zach Wojtowicz:

Nice.

Courtney Mattern:

Yay.

Gloria Fuentes:

Yeah, so it’s the one that we got at the Builder Show.

Zach Wojtowicz:

Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, if you’re a Buildertrend customer at IBS, you got to come next year. Check out the swag suite.

Courtney Mattern:

Swag’s always pretty good.

Zach Wojtowicz:

Yeah, it’s an amazing time.

Gloria Fuentes:

It is.

Zach Wojtowicz:

Well, Gloria, we covered a lot today. It was great having you here on “The Building Code.” You’re always welcome back.

Courtney Mattern:

Yeah.

Gloria Fuentes:

Thank you. I’m going to have to make a trip to Omaha soon. Check out the university.

Zach Wojtowicz:

That’s right, that’s right. We’ll have you in and do a little in-studio session. That’d be fantastic.

Gloria Fuentes:

Amazing. Well, thank you so much for having me. It’s always an honor to be invited to shows like this, and to have an opportunity to talk shop with other construction business owners. I really appreciate y’all. Thank you so much for this.

Courtney Mattern:

Thank you.

Zach Wojtowicz:

We’ll see you next time.

We just had Gloria Fuentes, founder of GloJoy, in on “The Building Code.” And I had a great time talking with her and just geeking out, as she put it, on Buildertrend. I can’t help myself talking a little bit of project management and other features within our system. What was your takeaway, Courtney?

Courtney Mattern:

I love that she was pretty bold in her statement that there’s a lot that residential contractors could learn from for the commercial side. And I hear from, I think you guys have heard from the Tankersleys on the podcast and some of our other marketing materials. But it’s always interesting to hear how, when you’ve come from the commercial side, how Buildertrend just makes sense because it’s organized. I think we have a new tagline, too, or probably the title of this episode of We Don’t Have a Spreadsheet. We have Buildertrend.

Zach Wojtowicz:

That is actually wild.

Courtney Mattern:

Yeah. I love how Gloria has adopted processes and been efficient. And told her team, “There’s no excuses. We’re going to be buttoned up. We’re going to be dialed in.”

Zach Wojtowicz:

I think that’s the key is, you got to have the fortitude to take a stand to say, “We’re going to eliminate this.” You asked about the aha moment. I think there’s different aha moments when you talk about is this the right product for me? And then, is my team going to actually use it? And then, the aha moment, from an implementation standpoint is like, “Oh, I have to make them use it.” Because if you’re buying these tools to run your business for you, that’s not really their intention. They’re there to enable you to achieve your goals by reducing manual methods.

So, I love that she made a very adept point, which is, hey, when someone sends me those things, my response isn’t like, “Oh, okay, I’ll just do it.” It’s I push back, and I say this. And, over time, it just becomes part of the way you do things. It’s just that evolution, though, takes time. No matter what kind of structure or construction you do, technology is going to be part of your business. But how are you leveraging it to get the most out of it? Not how are those things there for you to make investments that don’t actually change the way you run your business?

Courtney Mattern:

Yeah, I think we can all benefit by being a little more like Gloria. And being unapologetic in her processes and her no excuses attitude. Because she’s had a lot of success, so I’m definitely taking that with me.

Zach Wojtowicz:

That’s right. You can do it in a way that isn’t aggressive, but it’s just having an ethos, a belief about this is the way it’s going to work. And it’s right because I’m seeing the results from it. Really interesting take on the way that she came to Buildertrend. So it was great having you on, Gloria. She’s a long time friend of Buildertrend, as she says. She dropped the Dan Houghton reference. It’s like, “Wow, I don’t even know if I could do that.” So, it’s fantastic to see you be successful. And for our listeners out there, hope you enjoyed today’s episode. As always, like, comment, subscribe, check us out. And she made references about seeing her and she held up her phone. Check us out on YouTube. You can see what we look like, see what our studio looks like.

Courtney Mattern:

Yeah, if you’re still just listening to the audio stream, we have a video stream, too, on the YouTube. So, we’ll see you over there.

Zach Wojtowicz:

That’s right. You can see my awesome haircut.

Courtney Mattern:

Yeah, and you can see that I’m not wearing the branded shirt as I should be. I got to break the rules for today’s episode.

Zach Wojtowicz:

If the brand and content director can break the rules, I don’t know, whatever.

Courtney Mattern:

You guys are going to go rogue and start wearing costumes to recordings.

Zach Wojtowicz:

Just advertisements, like please …

Courtney Mattern:

We’ve listened to the podcast.

Zach Wojtowicz:

… we’re available for sponsorship. All right, let’s wrap it up. This is “The Building Code.” I’m Zach Wojtowicz.

Courtney Mattern:

I’m Courtney Mattern.

Zach Wojtowicz:

We’ll check you out next time. Thank you.

Courtney Mattern:

See you.