Celebrating 250 episodes with 25 insights from top industry pros

Charley Burtwistle (00:05):

What is up everybody? And welcome back to a very exciting episode of “The Building Code.” I’m Charley Burtwistle.

Courtney Mattern (00:11):

And I’m Courtney Mattern.

Charley Burtwistle (00:12):

And this is episode 250. Wow.

Courtney Mattern (00:19):

I was not expecting that.

Charley Burtwistle (00:20):

I was going to draw out that intro a bit more, but then the confetti forced my hand. So, if you’re not watching on YouTube, this would be a great episode for you to start, as we have confetti for episode 250.

Courtney Mattern (00:32):

That’s going to be a great visual. Make sure you tune in to the video.

Charley Burtwistle (00:36):

Yeah. Absolutely. We have balloons behind us. We have cameras all around us. We have confetti all over the table now.

Courtney Mattern (00:44):

There’s a cake, too.

Charley Burtwistle (00:45):

And there’s a cake.

Courtney Mattern (00:46):

I don’t know when we get to eat it, but there’s cake.

Charley Burtwistle (00:49):

Well, maybe if this episode goes well, just in the middle of the episode, that could be a cool little segment, and it’s like cake time, sit down and enjoy the cake.

Courtney Mattern (00:55):

And describe it.

Charley Burtwistle (00:56):

Yeah. Absolutely. I’m sure people would …

Courtney Mattern (00:57):

Like we’re on the Great British Bake Off.

Charley Burtwistle (00:58):

Yeah. Love to listen to 20 straight minutes of cake. Courtney, what are we doing? What are we doing for episode 250? You’re the mastermind behind “The Building Code” podcast. What’s planned for today?

Courtney Mattern (01:09):

Well, today, 250 episodes of a podcast is quite the milestone. Only about 2% of podcasts ever get to 250 episodes.

Charley Burtwistle (01:18):

Wow. Rare air.

Courtney Mattern (01:19):

Yeah. It’s rare. And so, we wanted to tap into the collective wisdom that we’ve collected over the last five years of our guests, our favorite builders and even some of our internal staff, who’ve been around the last five years. And the podcast has gone through a lot of evolution. I’ve been here for two minutes, at least behind the mic, but one thing that’s stayed steady is this tremendous well of knowledge that our guests have shared, our builders, who’ve been honest about what struggles they faced in their businesses and been candid and over time helped other builders be better, too.

Charley Burtwistle (02:02):

Yeah, I mean. 250 episodes is a vast pool to pull from. I always tell people when they ask, “Do you like doing the podcast?” I’m like, “Yeah. I like talking to our customers.” But even more so than that, we talk to some of the best business minds in America, especially, specifically in the construction space. But even outside of that. I constantly learn so much of how these people operate their businesses that I take home and back to the office here at Buildertrend and to incorporate into my own business life. So, definitely the content, if we pulled the best of the best out of 250, I’m sure the notes that we have printed out here are absolutely gold.

Courtney Mattern (02:39):

Just got to blow the confetti off of me.

Charley Burtwistle (02:39):

Put some paper binder on these, make it a book of “The Building Code” guests.

Courtney Mattern (02:43):

Oh, maybe if we get to 350 episodes, we’ll do a coffee table book. Is that possible?

Charley Burtwistle (02:48):

Yeah. I would love that, honestly.

Courtney Mattern (02:50):

We can give it out in “The Building Code” book club. Everybody would read that.

Charley Burtwistle (02:56):

I would say yes to anything right now. I’m so ecstatic about 250 episodes. But you’re right, you did just jump in at the last second, just for this monumental milestone, and then you’ll dip out after this just hitting 250.

Courtney Mattern (03:09):

I did. I feel like I just joined the fun at the, I didn’t have to do any of the work, but I guess I’ve been behind the scenes.

Charley Burtwistle (03:15):

You did a lot of work.

Courtney Mattern (03:16):

Which is probably a good time too. It’s a good time to give a shout out to everyone who works behind the scenes on the podcast. We’ve got our longtime podcast editor and producers, John Beck Hoffman, who just threw the confetti at us. Chelsea Cole works on the content side, along with Sean Robinson to book and find guests. We’ve got Emori here today from a social media team, she’s been a big part of launching that new Tik Tok. And there are many members of the Buildertrend team that work together to make sure that this is a success.

Charley Burtwistle (03:49):

Thank you all. I have the easiest job of the world, so I’m very appreciative.

Courtney Mattern (03:54):

Yeah. You get to show up.

Charley Burtwistle (03:54):

Yeah. Absolutely. Complain about some stuff. Jump on the mic and …

Courtney Mattern (03:57):

Well, we do need to talk about, I know it’s episode 250, but we did just do that thing on Instagram where people got to vote, which host they liked the most.

Charley Burtwistle (04:05):

That was sad.

Courtney Mattern (04:06):

You’re the host with the most.

Charley Burtwistle (04:08):

That was sad. Yeah.

Courtney Mattern (04:10):

So, I feel like I’ve got to up my game for the next 250 episodes, but Charley …

Charley Burtwistle (04:12):

For the record, I voted for both.

Courtney Mattern (04:14):

You did? Good. Thank you.

Charley Burtwistle (04:15):

Well, technically that’s the answer that won.

Courtney Mattern (04:17):

Well, I guess.

Charley Burtwistle (04:18):

Who cares about second or third place?

Courtney Mattern (04:20):

Yeah. We both are your favorite podcast hosts. Charley, how many episodes have you been on? Do you know? Have you counted?

Charley Burtwistle (04:26):

I was a guest on episode 98, I remember because I was bummed I didn’t get the 100 spot. And then I joined a couple months after that. So, it probably was around like 120, 130.

Courtney Mattern (04:38):

Do you remember what your guest episode was about?

Charley Burtwistle (04:40):

Yeah. It was with Whitney at Snap ADU.

Courtney Mattern (04:46):

Oh, yeah. Did you talk about data?

Charley Burtwistle (04:48):

No, we talked about ADUs.

Courtney Mattern (04:49):

ADUs.

Charley Burtwistle (04:49):

Yeah. I’m sure there’s some data mixed in there as well, too.

Courtney Mattern (04:52):

I feel like that’s the reason we always have you around is, what are the numbers say? When you were the guest.

Charley Burtwistle (04:56):

When I was the guest. I thought you asked the first one I recorded. Yeah. I talked about data. That’s all I talked about, obviously. Yeah. It was awesome.

Courtney Mattern (05:04):

What’s your favorite memory from your last 100 or so episodes?

Charley Burtwistle (05:08):

Wow, that is a great question. There’s a couple obvious ones that stick out. We did an episode live at IBS in Las Vegas, which was awesome. We did an episode live at a BTU. And we did an episode live at the product and engineering internal meeting here at Buildertrend. So, the three live episodes are always super fun. In another life, I’d love to be a stand-up comedian, so having a nice audience to riff some jokes off of was enjoyable, for sure. But those are special just because of the location and the timing of it all. As far as actual guests though, I don’t think I could put any of them into a tier. They’re all so unique, and I learned so much about every single one that they’re all my favorites.

Courtney Mattern (05:52):

Well, I think the note there is more live episodes heading into 2025.

Charley Burtwistle (05:56):

Yeah. 100%. We could go on tour.

Courtney Mattern (05:59):

Yeah. That live episode that we did for the product and engineering team, in fact, it’s in my notes because it’s episode 222, is with the Tankersleys.

Charley Burtwistle (05:59):

The Tankersleys.

Courtney Mattern (06:07):

That was really fun because I was still behind the scenes, and it was just fun because we brought them in to Omaha to headquarters to basically give the product team their real hard opinions on how the product was working, and it was really cool for the people who are building our software to get to hear from customers firsthand, in person, on stage, and it was quite the event. So, that was one of my favorites.

Charley Burtwistle (06:30):

Yeah. My absolutely. And I have to give a shout out to Steve. He’s in my 70 hard group chat that we’re in.

Courtney Mattern (06:36):

Yeah. How many days in are you now?

Charley Burtwistle (06:38):

We’re at like 60 something. I don’t know for sure, but …

Courtney Mattern (06:41):

By the time this episode airs, you’ll be a 75 hard graduate.

Charley Burtwistle (06:45):

Yeah. Should be done with it all. But people are always commenting about how big Steve’s arms are in the group chat. So, daily I have some motivation. So, Steve, if you’re listening to that, thank you.

Courtney Mattern (06:53):

So, he can flex literally and figuratively with how great their business is, too.

Charley Burtwistle (06:59):

Absolutely. Courtney …

Courtney Mattern (07:00):

… advice in here.

Charley Burtwistle (07:01):

I think we should get into the tips, builder tips. And I saw, I am not totally sure what we’re doing today, I just kind show up, but I saw that you have your fishbowl, which is something that you’re bearing up more than most people do in a lifetime. The amount of times that you say the word fishbowl. But you’ve been wanting this for a while. We had one a couple episodes ago, I guess.

Courtney Mattern (07:21):

We tried it. Well, my mission has been, because I’m serious about a couple things. I’m serious about my work, but I’m also serious about having fun, if you know anything about me.

Charley Burtwistle (07:30):

Yes. 100%.

Courtney Mattern (07:31):

Because life is too short. So, why not just put all these questions in these pieces of builder wisdom that we reached out to all these builders for and fold them up and put them in a fishbowl?

Charley Burtwistle (07:40):

Absolutely.

Courtney Mattern (07:41):

Randomize it.

Charley Burtwistle (07:41):

Okay. Courtney, I am all in on this fishbowl idea. I’m fidgeting with the confetti around the table right now, so don’t take that as me being uninterested in the fishbowl idea. I’m all in.

Courtney Mattern (07:52):

I’m just worried that there’s going to be more surprises that we don’t know about. Is a builder going to pop out of our cake?

Charley Burtwistle (07:56):

That’d be sweet.

Courtney Mattern (07:56):

Is there going to be a surprise guest?

Charley Burtwistle (07:56):

We hired Mark Williams to come and pop out of a cake.

Courtney Mattern (08:00):

To show up with a fitness challenge. All right. I’m going to draw the first question and then …

Charley Burtwistle (08:06):

I have some confetti ready, so when we have a good answer, I’ll throw it again.

Courtney Mattern (08:08):

Throw the confetti again?

Charley Burtwistle (08:10):

Yep.

Courtney Mattern (08:11):

So, we reached out, like I said, to builders, past guests, internal staff with some questions.

Charley Burtwistle (08:15):

I wasn’t reached out to.

Courtney Mattern (08:16):

I’m sorry.

Charley Burtwistle (08:17):

So, apparently no one wanted my advice.

Courtney Mattern (08:19):

Well, they wanted to surprise you.

Charley Burtwistle (08:20):

I’ll give it live. That’s the power of being behind a mic.

Courtney Mattern (08:23):

But I’ll ask this first question. This is something we’ve talked about on prior episodes. Why is practicing introspection and working on your emotional cues good for your business? And I can tell you, I bet we reached out, yes, we did, to Estie. That was one of my favorite episodes. It’s not very often we get to use, as my kiddo would say, a bad word, in the title of our podcast, but she talked about how not to lose your shit on the job. Episode 240.

Charley Burtwistle (08:51):

Did we put an asterisk in there or did we just go all in?

Courtney Mattern (08:53):

I don’t know if we have to bleep that for the podcast. But why don’t you read Estie’s tip.

Charley Burtwistle (09:00):

Yeah. Absolutely. “Emotional intelligence is a set of skills that inform how we do everything. It’s just a set of skills that you have or tools that you have. On the individual level, people that do work on these things and build these skills tend to make more money. I’ll just put that out there. On average, people with higher EQ make around $29,000 a year, more than people with lower EQ. But I think more importantly, it shows up in the culture. How do we interact every day? How do we handle it when someone screws up? How do we hold people accountable and what do we reward? All these things impact how you’re showing up for the customers and your bottom line.”

Courtney Mattern (09:37):

Wow. That’s a great piece of advice moving forward through 250 more episodes.

Charley Burtwistle (09:42):

Yeah. 100%. That was one, another thing that I love about all the different guests that we have in here, one that I have been focusing a lot more on recently through my career transition, where I used to be, we’d make jokes on here like, hide in the dark closet and just crunch the numbers all day with your headphones on, where I’m having people report to me now, I’m having to interact with different counterparts across the business. And really, like she says in here, it’s skills that you have or tools that you have, but not necessarily that you’re born with. It’s something that you really need to be intentional about and focus on, and ask people for feedback, and grow a really strong culture of being honest and transparent, where you can have those types of conversations. Because, ultimately, that’s the only way that you’re able to get better. So, I remember leaving after that episode thinking with a renewed sense of motivation for focusing on EQ and getting that additional $29,000 isn’t a bad thing, too.

Courtney Mattern (10:34):

Yeah. I’ll say I try to use EQ lessons with my team a lot. We practice gratitude, or we practice sacred pauses, like that moment before you react to new information, so that you can make the next best step. But to Estie’s point here, it’s not just to be a nice person, which that’s great. That’s one of our values that Buildertrend, to be a good human, but there’s some money involved with that. There’s something to gain. There’s some hard numbers that can indicate success for learning those skills.

Charley Burtwistle (11:07):

Absolutely. Can I draw the next one?

Courtney Mattern (11:08):

I guess.

Charley Burtwistle (11:10):

I told you I was all in on the fishbowl here, so this is the only way. Here, I’ll look right into the camera, so they know that I’m not cheating.

Courtney Mattern (11:16):

They know that you’re not cheating?

Charley Burtwistle (11:16):

Okay. This question, that means you get to read it.

Courtney Mattern (11:20):

Okay.

Charley Burtwistle (11:22):

What is your approach to staying informed about new building practices and materials?

Courtney Mattern (11:28):

Well, this one comes from Piper, Wheel of Piper, Piper Stromat at Boutique Living by Curate. She’s also “The Building Blonde.” She has podcast. She is back on episode 155, always talking about the design experience for clients because she does design build. And this is really timely. Her piece of advice is attending the Builder Show in Las Vegas. “It’s number one for our teams she said. She said a close second would be monitoring social media trends and communication with the representatives on new products launching. Staying on top of things is key in our industry. A big reminder, don’t be afraid to ask for what’s next.”

Charley Burtwistle (12:03):

Love that. I feel like the social media, both great answers. IBS is probably the first thing that I would’ve thought of as like, everybody who’s anybody in any net new thing that’s coming out is going to be there. Talk to people, learn about stuff. But the social media piece is something that I use all the time of, follow people that you look up to and that you want to be like. And that’s how you say ahead of the curve is anytime someone’s doing something new, they’re going to be posting about it. You can learn about it as opposed to being in your own little silo, just trying to figure it out for yourself.

Courtney Mattern (12:34):

But I love this piece of advice. It’s timely because we’re getting ready right now for the Builder Show in Las Vegas. It’s happening at the end of February this year.

Charley Burtwistle (12:42):

Which Courtney and I will both be at.

Courtney Mattern (12:44):

Yeah. We’re finally letting Charley leave the building.

Charley Burtwistle (12:46):

We’re going to host a little meet and greet.

Courtney Mattern (12:47):

He’s doing such a good job on the podcast that we decided we’ll let him out of the building. But Piper will be there, too. We’re doing a happy hour in our booth, Tuesday and Wednesday. The first day and the second day of the Builder Show. So, come out and meet, a lot of these builders that we got advice from will be there.

Charley Burtwistle (13:03):

Absolutely.

Courtney Mattern (13:04):

And we can keep the celebration going.

Charley Burtwistle (13:06):

And have a drink on us.

Courtney Mattern (13:07):

Yes.

Charley Burtwistle (13:07):

If that’s your thing.

Courtney Mattern (13:08):

Yeah. We’ll have soda, we’ll have water, we’ll have other bevs, but …

Charley Burtwistle (13:12):

What other bevs?

Courtney Mattern (13:14):

Soda. Is there not another bev?

Charley Burtwistle (13:21):

I don’t know. You just said and other. I was going to put you on the spot.

Courtney Mattern (13:21):

I’m going to make sweet tea just for the, no, I’m not making any promises. All right. The next question. What’s a small, but impactful adjustment customers can make to their workflow that’ll lead to business success? So, this was a question that we reached out to our internal staff. One thing about Buildertrend, we really pride ourselves on is having some of the best customer success coaches in the industry, some of the best support folks. It’s not just what we bring to the industry, but who we are. So, we reach out to them for tips. So, again, what’s a small but impactful adjustment Buildertrend customers can make to their workflow that’ll lead to business success?

Charley Burtwistle (13:58):

Love that. I was looking ahead here. We actually have two answers, and I think I’m going to read them both because they’re both great. The first one comes from Ryan Daniel, who’s an onsite consultant here at Buildertrend. So, traveling all across the nation, talking to literally hundreds of different builders in a very intensive and comprehensive 48-hour event that we do with our clients. He says specifically in the realm of managing expenses, truly defining roles and responsibilities of who handles which piece and mapping out steps to make it as simple as possible, can save a ton of time and headache. I feel like that’s a consistent recurring narrative that we hear from our guests a lot is set the right expectations of what you expect your team to do and give them very clearly defined, like Ryan said, roles and responsibilities.

Courtney Mattern (14:44):

Who’s responsible? Who’s accountable? Who do you have to inform? Like an old school racy chart. If someone doesn’t know that it’s their responsibility or two people think it’s their responsibility, things can go haywire really fast. Ryan …

Charley Burtwistle (14:57):

Or if no one thinks it’s their responsibility, it just doesn’t get done.

Courtney Mattern (15:00):

… nobody does it. But Ryan, as an onsite consultant, I think he just celebrated, he’s hitting his 50th onsite.

Charley Burtwistle (15:07):

Wow. There you go.

Courtney Mattern (15:07):

I think he’s our longest running onsite consultant. I love talking to onsite consultants. You might remember Zach, previous host, was an onsite consultant for a long time. We’ve had a lot of onsites come onto the show. But beyond just day-to-day setup of Buildertrend, they actually get to know the business for what some 60, 70 days ahead of their visit, so they get to know the customer intimately, they get to know their teams, they get to know what roles they specifically have, and then they go and spend two full days on-site, going through your business, going through your processes, and dealing with even bigger business questions than just, how do you write a daily log? So, they know things deeply about what makes a good construction business. So, hats off to all of our onsite consultants. I think it’s the hardest job here.

Charley Burtwistle (15:51):

Absolutely. And some of the most attune to our customers and the construction industry people that we have at Buildertrend that we leverage all the time for making decisions of what goes into our onboarding process, what goes into our product. Another one that’s a little bit more direct from a Buildertrend application standpoint comes from Mary Osbourne, who’s a senior key account manager here, and she’s talking about templates, which is a feature we have inside of Buildertrend. “Leveraging templates to create standard operating procedures for different types of projects can be a game changer. Templates help you establish a repeatable process, ensuring consistency and reducing the chance of missteps. While they don’t need to be perfect, they should act as a strong foundation that you can easily customize once applied to a specific job. Over time, refining and enhancing these templates will create a library of processes tailored to your team’s unique needs, driving efficiencies and accuracy.”

(16:42):

Why I wanted to talk about that one is, we have a lot of really boutique, custom home builders who say, “I can’t use a template every single job. It is totally different.” And something that we’re really trying to preach, especially as of late, where historically that was the way templates would be used is if you’re building a production type builder or a spec home or something like that. But what she’s getting at is, you can have templates for specific processes. They don’t need to be the entirety of a job, a specific process that you’re going to do on every single job or maybe even every other job or a third of the time. As much as you can standardize, and again, set the proper roles and responsibilities for your team on how this specific function process works, the more you’ll be able to rinse and repeat, the clearer it’ll be for your team. And it just continues to refine over time until, like she said, you have this very robust library of this is who we are, and this is how we do things.

Courtney Mattern (17:33):

And I’m 99% sure, the team can fact check me, that Mary’s been on the podcast talking about templates. It’s like one of the number one features that people say, “I love templates. I have these templates.” And some of our builders have even shared, the team at Cardinal Crest, they have a scheduling template that you can download on buildertrend.com, so you can see what does their process look like? Can I mimic it?

Charley Burtwistle (17:57):

Yeah. I always forget that we have that out there. We’ll definitely link that in the show notes because it’s super cool.

Courtney Mattern (18:01):

It’s age-old, work smarter, not harder. Buildertrend’s marketing team, we use project management software, very similarly, to how our builders would use Buildertrend. And the first time you go in to do a process the first time it takes a lot of work. But if you put some thought into making a template, then the next time it takes you one second instead of …

Charley Burtwistle (18:22):

And if something changes, then you just duplicate it and add a little something else and now you’re ready for the next time that something goes outside the kind of SOP.

Courtney Mattern (18:29):

I was about to draw the question.

Charley Burtwistle (18:30):

Oh, yeah. It’s my turn.

Courtney Mattern (18:30):

I think you might want to.

Charley Burtwistle (18:32):

Thank you. All right.

Courtney Mattern (18:33):

I’ll share the fishbowl.

Charley Burtwistle (18:34):

Drum roll please. Thank you. Oh, this is a long question. All right. What’s a piece of advice from customers about using Buildertrend that you’d share with every new user?

Courtney Mattern (18:47):

Oh, this is internal, too. This comes from our staff. I love that. So, Kate Vasquez, she’s a senior customer success manager. Love Kate. She helps marketing out a lot by going to events, and she’s done onsite consulting. But her advice is, “Take it slow. Your business was not built in a day and Buildertrend cannot be fully implemented into your business in a day. You have a complex business, so put the effort into growing your use of Buildertrend in manageable ways to see growth. Make sure you have a good team around you to help you take on implementing the software into your business. Dedicate time to implementing the software with your team. Without the team’s buy-in, it will be difficult to see the software’s true impact.”

Charley Burtwistle (19:28):

Yeah. This question has kind of been the name of the game across Buildertrend internally for really the past year or so. But focusing with why our customers are as successful as they can be or why are they not? Where are they failing? Where are we failing them? We took a really deep dive and what we found was the number one reason that people ultimately aren’t successful with Buildertrend is not getting set up in the right way. Think that they come in a day and start using the system, think that they’re able to do it all by themselves, they don’t need to get the team buy-in. And that’s admittedly a little on us because the way that we used to sell the platform, was like, “Hey, it’s super easy to you, get in, find value in your first seven days, you’re off into the races.”

(20:11):

And we looked internally, we were honest with ourselves, we talked to our customers, and it’s really the same advice can be said for any sort of change management throughout any sort of industry, is when you’re doing something new, you have to be really intentional, thorough and take time to do it the right way. And that’s how we have transitioned now to onboarding and selling Buildertrend is like, you’re not going to get up and going tomorrow. You could, and it might be really exciting for the first week or so, but then no one’s going to buy in, no one’s going to be using it, and it’s ultimately going to fail. So, really leaning into that change management framework of, how do you get your team, how do you set clear expectations and roles, and responsibilities for what people will be doing in Buildertrend? How do you get them on the same page with how you’re going to be using it? And Kate said it perfectly in here is, the more and more effort that you put into growing your Buildertrend use, the more and more growth that you’re going to see.

Courtney Mattern (21:03):

And if you’ve listened to me on the podcast before, you’ve probably heard me tell the analogy of Buildertrend is like a gym membership. You actually have to use it to get stronger and get better. It’s not something you just jump into and then it changes your business overnight.

Charley Burtwistle (21:17):

That’s a great analogy.

Courtney Mattern (21:18):

Yeah. When people come to things like Buildertrend University that can feel like they’re drinking from a fire hose, but it’s easier if you can fill it up in little cups, chunk out what you’re going to do, onboard, figure out what your pain point is, what you want to start with. We have a great video series that we did, behind the business. If you’re watching on YouTube, you can find it in a playlist or head to buildertrend.com. We did a series with Morgan Molitor from Construction2style in Minneapolis, and her team had started Buildertrend a couple different times. One time where she had onboarded herself without getting the team’s buy-in. Another time when the team wasn’t, they were like, another platform. But the third time they went in with a Buildertrend champion, they went in with a plan, they went in with this person’s going to be in charge of the financials. So, she tells a great and really candid, and honest story about how to onboard with Buildertrend the right way, and also reflect some of the changes that we’ve made here if you’re interested in learning about them.

Charley Burtwistle (22:13):

And the cool thing is if you’re listening to this and you’re not a client or you’ve tried it in the past, just as of October 2024, we rolled out a brand new team to do that process for you. So, we now have a team of setup managers whose sole focus is to make sure that you are set up from success on day zero. Getting your team involved, getting all the data that you have and putting it into the system for you, and just really make that transition as smooth as possible. So, it’s something we believe in, something we’re double down on, and I think our customers will reap the rewards.

Courtney Mattern (22:43):

Yeah. For sure. Is it my turn?

Charley Burtwistle (22:44):

It’s your question time.

Courtney Mattern (22:46):

All right. I feel like this next one’s going to be a good one. There’s so many. All right. What insights stuck out to you most from the 2024 SORCI report?

Charley Burtwistle (23:00):

Heck yeah.

Courtney Mattern (23:01):

So, this comes from a prior episode. We’ve had Russ Stevens on a couple times from the Association of Professional Builders. We collaborate with them when they do this survey of the residential industry of builders like you, like everyone listening, just to find out what is, what’s going on in the industry? What are you worried about? So, let’s look back at what Russ said in 2024.

Charley Burtwistle (23:23):

As a data guy, I feel like we do an annual episode with Russ talking about the SORCI report. And if I could change my answer from previously at the beginning of episode, that may be my favorite episode of the year every time.

Courtney Mattern (23:34):

And it’s usually one of our most popular episodes of the year. And I will plug IBS again, but Charley and I will be talking to Russ live on stage in the Buildertrend booth during the Builder Show.

Charley Burtwistle (23:46):

I’m hearing about this for the first time.

Courtney Mattern (23:47):

Is this your first time?

Charley Burtwistle (23:47):

I’m very excited. Sweet.

Courtney Mattern (23:49):

You heard it here first. But we’re going to do a sneak peek of the 2025 report. It’ll be the first time people hear about results.

Charley Burtwistle (23:56):

We got the exclusive.

Courtney Mattern (23:57):

Yeah. We’re got to hang out with Russ in person.

Charley Burtwistle (23:59):

Your former journalistic self is popping out and you’re getting the scoop early before everyone else.

Courtney Mattern (24:03):

I love a scoop.

Charley Burtwistle (24:05):

From Russ. “There were two things that really stuck out, I think. When we collected the data at the back end of 2023 for this year’s report, and that was that marketing remains a missed opportunity and that builders are looking at inaccurate financial reports. I guess if we start with marketing, it just to add a bit of substance to that claim that means a missed opportunity. 43% of builders are still neglecting Facebook. Only 46% of builders are using a CRM system. I can remember back in the early 2000s being drummed into us as business owners that a CRM is the lifeblood of any business. Here we are 20 years later, still only less than half of builders are using a CRM. 38% of builders that responded to that survey are not engaged in paid advertising. Again, referrals are great, don’t get me wrong, but it’s the cream on top.”

Courtney Mattern (24:53):

Russ is after my marketing heart with [inaudible 00:24:55].

Charley Burtwistle (24:55):

There you go. Should we get some confetti going for that answer?

Courtney Mattern (24:57):

I love that answer. That’s one thing that always stands out to me in the SORCI reports, even from the first one we did was, as a marketer, there’s a difference between a sales problem and a marketing problem that I think only more advanced businesses can see. But I would always, builders would say, “I’m worried about getting the most ideal client. I’m worried about attracting the client that is going to pay the prices that I want to charge.” But then when you look at the survey results, it’s like only 10% are increasing their budget for marketing, only 10% are investing in, I think it was half of the builders even had a website. And I know we’ve had website builders on talking about why that’s a valuable tool for your business. And I think people forget that, while they’re probably getting word of mouth referrals, there is awareness that you can build up by using marketing tools or even capturing your leads in a CRM like Buildertrend and making sure that you’re following up with the best ones in a timely manner.

Charley Burtwistle (25:57):

Yeah. And what I love about when we talk about this topic, it goes against the point I made earlier about staying a top of the latest and greatest trends, is this is a play that’s been ran by, like he said back in 2020. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel. I think oftentimes people, and myself included, are really intimidated by a lot of the cool things that people are doing in the marketing space right now. It’s like, oh, you can have this AI tool to automatically chop up your content and pump out videos. What? Where do I start with that? But he has a stat in here, 43% of builders still neglecting Facebook. Just start somewhere. And with some of the people that we had on the podcast before, that was their biggest advice, too, is, you don’t have to be great out of the gate, just like we were just talking about, pick one area, focus on that for a couple of months, get it up and running, then move on to the next one.

(26:45):

If you don’t have a website, don’t make the best website in the world out of the gate. Get something up and running. Double down on what you’re doing inside of Facebook. Create a LinkedIn profile, connect with other builders there. Create an Instagram. Just take pictures of the stuff that you’re already doing. You’re already building amazing homes or beautiful remodels, and just start posting it. I feel like this is a topic that often gets really convoluted with the bright shiny things that are happening right now, which eventually you could work your way toward. But don’t neglect the simple things out of the box that you can get up and going in a couple months.

Courtney Mattern (27:19):

That reminds me of a great quote I saw on social media probably from someone like Adam Grant, but it was, “Don’t worry about making it perfect, just make it exist first.” And marketing relies on just a solid foundation of having channels. So, having a Facebook, while it might seem old school, that’s where a lot of people go to search, does this business exist? Is it credible? That’s where moms and aunts, and neighbors are referring home builders or referring contractors. And so, if you don’t come up in the search there, then you don’t even have that foundation to put in an AI edited video. Just make your marketing exist first.

Charley Burtwistle (27:54):

Absolutely. Love that. All right. Time for one more.

Courtney Mattern (27:58):

One more.

Charley Burtwistle (27:59):

Okay. Make it a good one.

Courtney Mattern (28:01):

Make it a good one, Charley.

Charley Burtwistle (28:03):

Okay. Upside down. Here we go. What is one trend in the building industry that you think every builder should pay attention to? What a great question.

Courtney Mattern (28:17):

That is a good question. So, this advice comes from Chris and Yvonne Johnson from Reclaimed Karma. A couple of my favorites out of Atlanta.

Charley Burtwistle (28:24):

That was another great episode. Wow.

Courtney Mattern (28:25):

That was a good one. They have such a fun story. So, go back and listen to episode 213. It was about just building in the busy season, but they have a great and inspiring story of their business started booming before they were ready. And a platform like Buildertrend, having a system in place, help them catch up. But one of the trends that they think all the builders should be paying attention to right now is the growing emphasis on wellness. Not just in the spaces we create, but also within the teams that bring these projects to life. At Reclaimed Karma, we prioritize designing environments that promote health and wellbeing through features like natural lighting, improved air and water quality, and materials that are both sustainable and non-toxic. These elements reflect a broader movement toward spaces that support mental and physical health.

(29:11):

Equally important is wellness within our own team. Recognizing the industry’s high stress levels, we actively work to cultivate a supportive balanced work environment. By prioritizing mental health, fostering teamwork, and maintaining a culture of care, we ensure our team thrives, which translates into better outcomes for our clients and our projects. Building with wellness in mind creates stronger foundations for both people and spaces.

That’s great advice and it comes right off the episode from a couple weeks back with Mark Williams about taking care of yourself first as a business owner. And since that conversation, I was talking to a friend who works for the state and suicide prevention, and I didn’t realize that the construction industry is one of the second highest for suicides. So, I think the focus on wellness for teams and for all people is a very accurate focus right now. No wonder we’re paying attention because if we’re not taking care of ourselves, then what do we bring to our jobs? What do we bring to our families?

Charley Burtwistle (30:14):

Yeah. You mentioned that the episode with Mark just recently came out, it was a great one, people should check that out. But the one thing that stood out to me, and I mentioned on there, I’ll mention it again, is someone asked the question, what’s the number one thing you can do to take care of your team and your family? And the answer shocked me because it wasn’t what I typically would’ve thought of. It’s, you have to start by taking care of yourself. Understand what you are struggling with, commit to trying to improve it, whether that be through meditation or exercise or reading or journaling or all of the above. But if you take care of yourself and set that example, that creates the ripple effect for the rest of your team and the rest of your family and fostering a culture where wellness does matter.

(31:00):

And we do talk about things, and we do think about things, and we are intentionally trying to get better with things. So, that’s something that I took away from that of, if I want to take care of my team and my wife, I first have to start by taking care of myself.

Courtney Mattern (31:13):

Yeah. You can’t pour from an empty cup.

Charley Burtwistle (31:20):

Yeah. Another great analogy. You’re on fire with analogies today.

Courtney Mattern (31:20):

I love a good analogy. But before we close out this episode, I also want to thank all of our listeners, everybody who tunes in to the podcasts, to all of our builders, all of our guests who’ve made … I mean, we’re just here asking the questions, but you make it special and you’re willing to share with the industry the lessons you’ve learned. And I think that’s what makes this industry so special, is the willingness to collaborate, instead of just compete because rising tide lifts all ships. Another analogy. I had to get one more in.

Charley Burtwistle (31:52):

Love it. What a great note to end on. I won’t yap, because that was a perfectly said conclusion of this episode. Cheers to all of you. Cheers to 250 episodes. We’ll see you back here.

Courtney Mattern (32:03):

Oh jeez!

Charley Burtwistle (32:03):

That was just a direct hit right at me. I’m not sure if you saw that. We’ll see you back here at episode 500, 10 years from now or whenever that will be.

Courtney Mattern (32:17):

Yeah. And I think now we get to eat cake.

Charley Burtwistle (32:19):

Absolutely. Thank you all. We’ll see you next time. I’m Charley Burtwistle.

Courtney Mattern (32:22):

And I’m Courtney Mattern.