Swipe right on success: How builder networking is getting smarter (and easier)

Charley (00:00):

What is up everybody? Welcome back to another episode of the Building Code. I’m Charlie Bertwistle

Kate (00:05):

And I’m Kate Vasquez.

Charley (00:06):

Kate, how are you doing today?

Kate (00:07):

I’m doing good.

Charley (00:09):

Good to be back. Yeah, I was going to say fantastic to have you back in the studio here. And I would have to imagine you’ve had this circle on your calendar for a while, right?

Kate (00:16):

A little bit. Yep, yep.

Charley (00:18):

What are we talking about? This is a big one.

Kate (00:20):

Yes, because a while back I said there’s a big Easter egg coming and this big thing coming and now it’s here. About a month ago we launched our digital community community by Buildertrend, [00:00:30] and it’s just really exciting to be here already seeing a lot of builders interacting in our digital space, connecting with each other, helping each other. So it’s awesome that now we can actually talk about it.

Charley (00:40):

I know I don’t know about you, but I’ve had people in my comments, my dms ever since you dropped that Easter egg saying, what was Kate talking about? When are we going to hear the news? The day has finally come.

Kate (00:50):

It’s here

Charley (00:50):

So not only do we have you joining us, but we also have a superstar from the Builder Trend community. Do you want to introduce who we have today?

Kate (00:57):

Yes, yes. We have Nick Baldo from Oakville Homes Development. So excited that you’re here. Nick, go ahead. Take it away.

Nick (01:05):

Yeah, excited to be here and excited for the community. Kate, you’ve been working really hard. The whole team has and being a member and has been really great and we can obviously see how powerful it’s been. So excited to dive into it today.

Charley (01:19):

Yeah, we are fired up to have you, Nick. Obviously, a lot of the time the guests that we have on is our first time meeting with them. You and Kate I know have been talking a ton before, so I’m excited to be a part of it. Just kind of an outsider looking in and finally starting to get the scoop kind of along with everyone else listening to this for the first time. So, before we dive into the meats and potatoes, I always like to start, Nick, just quick overview of who you are, where you came from, and how you got to where you’re at today.

Nick (01:44):

Sounds good. Yeah, so Nick Baldo, Oakville Homes and Development is my company here in Buffalo, New York. We do high end residential remodeling and custom home building and been in business in a few way shapes and forms for about 15 years. We started as property investors. So, I have a business partner who is in the construction world. I am not, so I was actually a strategy consultant and we started investing in properties to kind of put our minds together and he would handle the construction side. I’d handled the business side and we kind of morphed that investment business into building for homeowners as we kind of saw, I think a pretty strong market need here in Buffalo for just really high-end quality craftsmanship along with I think more importantly, a really good client experience. And so that’s really our niche is high-end white glove. Of course, Buildertrend really helps us to deliver that as well.

Charley (02:39):

Love that. And about how long ago was that?

Nick (02:42):

So, we started working together 2011, and then we kind of did that transformation into Oakvale 2017. So, we’ve been at it in its current form for about seven years.

Charley (02:54):

Super exciting, and I’d have to imagine that’s been a big well, okay, between you and your partner who has learned more you about the construction side or him about the business side or what has that kind of partnership been like?

Nick (03:07):

Yeah, that’s a really good question. I mean, the learning curve for somebody that completely out of the construction world to see what he’s building, what we are building is kind of crazy, but I honestly think it’s from his side in the side of our subcontractors, our employees and our customers to see can a construction business use technology? Can a construction business have SOPs and be an actual business? I think that I’ve been seeing that learning curve be pretty exciting. The light bulbs going off, wow, this is what happens when we are professional, when we pay ourselves, when we have a good client experience, when they can see what’s going on with the project, we can really deliver an amazing experience. So, to me, I think it’s more the opposite is to see what actual strong business techniques can do to this industry.

Kate (03:53):

Was there a specific moment when the light bulb did go off for that moment? I could just see onsite we have that SOP in play and then oh my gosh, wow, this has completely changed the game for the business.

Nick (04:07):

Yeah, I think all the initial light bulb for us was as renovators and investors trying to hire contractors ourselves like subcontractors and seeing how bad it was. And of course, not everybody out there is bad, but we know that this industry has a lot of catching up to do and a lot of builders who use Buildertrend in the community are in that upper 10%, but we were dealing with such garbage when it came to trying to hire folks. We just saw the opportunity was there. And so when we I think started to deliver a really formal proposal, really professional when we showed them that they can look at their schedule through Buildertrend, we have this platform that they can access, it was very clear that the sales process just became that much easier. It’s like the price is a thing, but it’s also just we’re not even talking apples to apples anymore. They’re hiring an experience as opposed to just a kitchen renovation. So to us it was really those initial proposals, the sales process in seeing the excitement in customer’s eyes when they saw what we were delivering.

Charley (05:07):

Yeah, definitely resonates with a lot of what we hear from customers that come on here and talk through this and I am excited for today specifically, you hit on a few things, maybe you’re a podcasting pro and you’re setting me up for the segue, or maybe it was unintentional there, but not only the sales process and the client communication, but you also are obviously working with different subcontractors and as far as material pricing go, I’m sure you’re having a ton of conversation from material partners and suppliers and that nature as well too. And kind of at the e center of all of those things is this concept of networking and communication. And I think what Kate has been trying to do with community by Buildertrend and what we want to talk to you a little bit about today is this networking concept. And I’ve seen a dramatic shift in the construction industry just in the last, call it four to five years that I’ve been doing the podcast here, where prior to that shift it was a lot of these are our trade secrets and these are subcontractors that I work with and this is how we price.

(06:08):

We don’t really want everyone else to know about it because this is why we win. And we’re seeing this really cool intentional shift to being more open, more collaborative, having these sorts of communities, having these builder 30 groups, having these different things that people can join to learn and win together as opposed to compete. So I’d love to hear your perspective on being in the industry specifically coming from the business background and in 2011 and coming into the construction industry. I’m sure you’ve seen an even more dramatic shift, having a slightly longer time horizon, of just how this concept of community and networking and collaboration has changed over the past decade.

Nick (06:46):

Yeah, and I’m, I’m embracing the openness and I think we have to do that in this industry because it is an uphill climb for us as far as educating our customer as the marketplace on the value we provide. I think it’s criminal how we are perceived sometimes as builders and we’re so skilled in the things that we do and I say we, it’s really my employees, my contractors that are so skilled at what they do and the value isn’t quite there yet. And so I think the only way to kind of educate the market is that we work together on figuring out this is how we should do this process, this is how we should price. By the way, there’s a lot of builders who are pricing themselves into out of business and while they’re doing that and inserting their business, inserting ours too in that they’re winning these jobs and then the customers is upset if maybe the price goes up later.

(07:37):

And so it’s the more that we can collaborate together and understand that it’s an uphill climb to educate the marketplace, the better. And so yes, our competition is our competition, but there’s a lot of work out there, especially in these different niches that it’s not all about I’m going to win this job and therefore I can’t tell you how I’m going to do things, but it’s like if I can help them, they can help me. We have this united front of just really strong builders and of course outside of your marketplace, that whole risk goes completely away. So things like Buildertrend community and your Builder 20 group or even going to BTU and collaborating with builders there, it’s just so valuable and there’s absolutely no downside. All we can do is learn from each other and just have a united front and improving this industry.

Kate (08:21):

I feel like it keeps you on your toes too because you’re continuously challenging each other. If I’m getting better and they’re getting better, we’re going to continuously grow our business and learn those new ideas and learn those new strategies to continue to scale ourselves even. So I think that that is that additional little benefit that we get from just collaborating with others.

Nick (08:41):

And sometimes it’s like you might think you have something figured out and you see, here’s how I do something and it’s a post in the community or it’s somebody meaning this is how we actually do our open book invoicing. We do this and we do this, and then we schedule it like this. You’re like, oh, maybe I wasn’t 100% onto this. That is awesome. And so there might be a little bit of pride in like, okay, I didn’t have it all figured out, but let’s take that. Let’s build that into our business and make improvements. And being able to swallow that pride a little bit I think is an essential aspect of showing up to play. We have to understand that we don’t have it all figured out. We have plenty to add, surely to the community, but we also have tons to learn.

Charley (09:17):

Yeah, I think that’s always been the eye-opening piece for me is even just internally here at Buildertrend, you get stuck on these problems and you start, and maybe I’m speaking for myself, but you start spiraling into how am I ever going to solve this? This is the most unique challenge in the world. I’m the only person that has ever ran into this problem before. And then you talk to one person, they’re like, oh, yeah, that’s a huge problem for us too to it. Not even, sometimes they don’t even have the answer, but just having that reassurance that, okay, I’m not the only one in the world I’m that’s dealing with this problem and there are other people out there that have solved it before. There’s a playbook for this can just be so mentally uplifting to keep you continuing to fight and solve stuff together. I know I’ve seen tremendous benefits from just having those sorts of conversations.

Kate (10:04):

And I think just the empathy too, because this is such a relationship driven industry. If you know that somebody else is going through this or somebody else is just willing to lend an ear to hear you out because they’ve been in your shoes before is just so encouraging because again, this business is hard. This business can be chaotic, but if you have somebody that’s going to be there for you, lend an ear and just be there and maybe take something away from them, amazing. It’s just going to help you as a person and not only as a business owner.

Nick (10:34):

Yeah, I’ve been really noticing and thinking and hearing other people say as well, entrepreneurship is pretty lonely. It can be very lonely. These problems are so unique in your friend circle, your family might have more traditional jobs, and it’s not easy to discuss how you have to come up with a pricing strategy. That’s something that you can’t really relate to some of those folks in just your social orbit. And so having that outlet, it’s like, okay, we don’t need to stay siloed. We can talk to others who are going through similar problems because yes, my business is unique, it is nuanced, but there’s surely other folks out there who are struggling with some of the same issues that I am.

Charley (11:14):

When you talk about different outlets like that and connecting with other people in industry to start talking about some of these, how is that kind of landscape changed over the past few years or decade even from, okay, I’m going to go to the international Builder show out in Vegas and hand out some business cards to, oh, okay, I’m following people on Instagram to now even more intentional digital platforms like Community by Buildertrend. Can you talk to me a little bit about that?

Nick (11:41):

Yeah, what I think started as kind of random in a more shotgun approach, I’m going to go collaborate with thousands of builders. It’s now very much like we’re seeking out smaller groups so we can have more personal conversations. And up until this point, that’s been mostly face-to-face and I think there’s still a big place for that. That’s probably a few times a year, maybe once a quarter, something like that, whether you’re doing BTU or a Builder 20 group or you’re going to a trade show. And I think it’s a curated, like I’m going with intentionality to collaborate with these types of folks in these types of conversations. And now with the community as well, the digital community, now we’re picking specific topics. So, I think it’s more intentional. And I also think, I know this has been something for me. I am booking it in my calendar, so it’s an actual thing that I’m going to work on with my business. It’s not going to happen randomly. It’s not going to happen by chance. It’s like I want to work on networking and building relationships and learning from other builders, whether that’s going to a show and booking that time or more easily jumping on the community for an hour per week. But I’ve gotten more intentional about it. I think a lot of my other builder colleagues are doing the same as well.

Charley (12:54):

That’s super interesting. What is that, setting aside time specifically for this is something that I would love to do and I’m sure our listeners would too, is that an hour a week, once a month, what does that schedule look like? And are you kind of planning it out specifically what you’re going to do or do you just have that time set aside to figure it out?

Nick (13:16):

Yeah, just have that time set aside. I think it’s less about how much and how frequently. It’s more about how consistent, and it’s just, for me, it’s an hour on Friday mornings and Friday’s kind of generally a day for me, that’s a little bit bigger picture thinking a little bit less. I’m not doing invoices and job costing stuff that I’m a little bit higher level on the business. And I think that’s a perfect mindset to be in when you’re going into the community. And so yeah, just an hour every Friday. And I think again, maybe some sessions of doing that are going to be more rewarding than others. But again, it’s the consistency in flexing that muscle that really enables those magical moments to happen as we have the volume there to give more chances to learn great things and to collaborate with others.

Kate (14:03):

I think that’s an interesting thing too, because for entrepreneurs, for business owners, it’s so important to set good healthy boundaries because if you don’t set these boundaries for yourself, you’re not going to be able to accomplish all the things you want to do. How late am I working into the night? What am I doing to personally grow myself? What am I doing? And that was really one of the intentions behind Community by Buildertrend is it’s not just a platform where you’re going to go talk about the product, which you totally can. You can ask questions; you can ask for advice about functionality or a feature you didn’t use. But to Nick, to your point, it’s also about just how do I grow myself as a business owner? How can I dive in, set aside an hour time, block my schedule to make it a priority so I can better myself and better my business? Because like you said, maybe I can learn a little tip and be open to a different way of approaching a workflow, or maybe there’s something I didn’t consider about my team dynamic and the company culture I’m building, but a post in the community sparked that. So just that boundary setting and time blocking for personal growth I think is super key as a business owner. So, I’m happy you shed some light on that.

Nick (15:11):

Yeah, thank you. And I think it applies to other areas of the business too. We can get so caught in the weeds and it’s very easy to do that. We need to pay the bills and run payroll and we need to do all those things, but if we’re not setting aside time for big picture thinking and the actual work on the business type stuff, then we’re not going to grow to the places we want to go. So, it’s tough to cut that cord and set the time, but I think it’s a good habit to build.

Charley (15:40):

And I also love what you hit on there where you should never try to replace that face-to-face time. And I know we’re huge fans of Buildertrend University. Our friends over at C-B-U-S-A do a ton of in-market events as well too. We’re gearing up right now for the builder show this next year. Those are invaluable. But the convenience factor of these digital platforms allow you to set aside the hour whenever it works for you Friday morning, or maybe it’s Friday night or maybe it’s over the whatever it could be, you don’t have to wait for that next in-person thing to still go and get the value out of it. So, I’d love to hear maybe for our listeners that have not had the unique fun, awesome opportunity to dive into community by Buildertrend yet. Katie, maybe just a quick kind of elevator pitch of what does this platform look like? What sort of things are people talking about and how are you seeing the interactions spark in there that is ultimately not replacing but additively building the opportunity to go and have these networking conversations?

Kate (16:43):

Yeah, I think what’s really great is that you’re seeing conversations at all hours of the day. You’re seeing them at five in the morning on a Tuesday, and you’re seeing them at 11:00 PM at night on a Saturday. And I think that that is really exciting because you really do get all access to your peers, to people that want to help and to resources that could help you find what you’re looking for. So, when you log into community, it’s really nice because you go to the homepage, it has just a newsfeed of all the conversations that are happening. Anything recent will go right to the top. But what’s also really great is that when you jump into those conversations, you can jump into things about the product. You can jump into conversations about bettering your business. So hey, I’ve never hired an office manager before. Can anybody give me advice on how to do that? Also, construction and industry trends, just what’s going on. I had saw this really great conversation started around solar installations and tax incentives.

(17:41):

So, it’s something that us at Buildertrend, because people at Buildertrend want to help your account manager, your coach, we want to help, but we might not have all the context for some of the things that you guys are going through all the time. So, I think that’s what’s really cool is that you’re getting people all over the country, all over the world being able to kind of give you advice, give you an idea or answer a question for you. What’s nice too is that there’s product news in there. There’s a lot of events. So, whether it’s a train with the builder series, so Nick, we can talk about that later, but just ways that you can learn from other builders in a virtual setting. And then my favorite part is Nick, we were kind of talking about this earlier but being able to connect in smaller groups with people that are like you. So, if you’re a historical renovation person, jump into a group where you can connect with other historical renovation people or maybe you’re an estimator and you’re having a lot of difficulty figuring out the new functionality or how to optimize your budget from the estimate, jump into a group with other estimates. It’s really great to be able to, I like Nick’s word earlier about the intentionality. Really can make it what you want to make that experience when you dive in.

Charley (18:53):

Love that you ought hook me up with a login, Kate.

Charley (19:05):

Nick, how has your experience been early on in this community by Buildertrend? Like obviously you and Kate worked together a ton. Has it been fun to you or has it been fun for you to see this kind of through the different evolutions of ultimately building it and being a part of it and then actually getting value out of it as well?

Nick (19:23):

Yeah, for sure. I mean, Kate’s been working really hard and the whole team has been, so it has been fun to kind of see it come to life and a lot of work has gone into it. It’s really great. I think my favorite part about it is Buildertrend is very good at listening to builders and building the product to be as applicable to all of us as possible. You guys are awesome at that, but you’re not builders. I think acknowledging that is the coolest. You guys know what you don’t know. You know that there’s certain aspects, there’s certain nuances of different businesses. You’re going to have to think about a unique way to do that. And of course, as the coach, account manager can help you think that way, but there’s no better way to solve these problems than to work with actual builders. So that’s my favorite part about it is we are elevating the conversation of we’re not just talking about technically how do we use this feature?

(20:13):

It’s like how does it apply to the real world who has used it successfully and actually run their business with it? That’s my favorite part about it. And so most of my stuff is a lot of financials we’re back and forth from open book and fixed price and the job costing budget’s awesome and just it’s new for everybody. And so thinking about different ways to use that, collaborate with clients, that’s been a big one. I’m also playing with SOPs in Buildertrend and kind of building those into a templated to-do list, and I’ve gotten a lot of great feedback on the community from that. So those are really unique problems, doesn’t necessarily have the answer. And so the builders, other builders deal, we’re going to come up with those answers together. So it’s been great so far

Kate (20:55):

And it’s been a great learning opportunity for anybody internally too, whether it’s an account manager coach or even a product team. So, them being able to log in and just see these conversations happen in real time has been a huge benefit. I remember when we started sending out the invites to our builders, but then also to internal people. Product was knocking on my figurative door, on my email in teams door, just saying, when can I get in? When can I get in? Just because the conversations that builders are having with each other is the most valuable content we can consume as Buildertrend to better help understand the workflows better, understand just what you’re going through every day so we can continue make the product better. So, I feel like that’s just, even though I’m not in product, it’s been awesome to see those conversations and then the residual benefit of them consuming that information.

Charley (21:46):

For sure. How much of the value, Nick, that you get out of that you set aside the time Friday mornings, do you go in with a specific problem that you’re trying to solve and do research or is it how much of it is just scrolling through and be like, oh, that’s interesting, and diving into something that maybe you had no idea you were even going to dive into that day?

Nick (22:03):

I like to go in with can I add some kind of value? It doesn’t have to be huge but is there something that I can add a topic or something that I’ve noticed this week or that I’m working on something that I solved and I try to be proactive in that way to start things off. And then I go into other topics that I’ve done in previous weeks and look at feedback, look at comments, collaborate there, and then I might then just do a little bit of browsing and just looking at what’s coming to the top. If I have a specific problem, then sure, I’d put it in there. I mean with the invoicing, that’s been something I’ve kind of been searching for a little bit open book invoicing and how frequently to do it, whether to include unbuild, charted specific questions. I’m done a little bit of searching, so I guess I start, can I look at the topics that I’ve already talked through and then let’s play around. Let’s browse a little bit from there.

Charley (22:58):

Love that. I think that’s a fantastic perspective to have on things. You can only get out as much as you put in and wanting to build this network obviously requires everyone to share their knowledge and provide answers where they have ’em. So, I’d love to hear that that’s how you’re thinking about things.

Kate (23:14):

And I think that’s also kind of the way people behind the scenes at Buildertrend want to do kind of approach this too, is that we don’t want to go and pump in a ton of content in there. We really want builders to relate to builders. What are you actually experiencing day to day? What are the things that are happening in your are team dynamics and everything that you can ask those questions here. And it’s not just coming from Buildertrend, of course Buildertrend will kind of supplement when we can just to make sure everyone’s getting an answer. But it really is what you make it. It’s what content builders are putting in there is what’s going to make this experience the best experience that someone can have.

Charley (23:54):

Yeah, absolutely. I want to dive in a little bit more Kate on your side, how this all came to fruition. Before we get there though, Nick, I love hearing from you and I always like to make sure to ask the question of what’s next. Where are you spending a ton of time internally right now? Obviously, it’s November when we’re recording this gearing up for 2026, what are some of the kinds of goals and big items you have on your roadmap for yourself and for the company?

Nick (24:22):

Yeah. Well, we are in the second quarter of a 12-quarter vision, a three-year vision that we have quite a lot of intentionality around some goals that we’re going to try to hit in the next three years and right now this quarter and into the next is really about process and process documentation and process definition. So, we are much, we are doing a lot of things, certainly not perfect, but we’re working on capturing all of that. How do we do the different things that we do and establishing that baseline and a really easy way to update and to use and to reference. So that’s really our biggest thing is to kind of build that out this quarter. We also have an office that we’re building out, which is a huge project for us. We’re kind of going back to our investment roots and we bought our own building that will become our office. And so, from a construction side of things, we have plenty of projects for neural projects, we got to get down, but this building, this office is huge for us. So, looking to get that geared up and ready for Q1 of 2026 is huge for us as well. So yeah, we’re doing a ton and it’s a little bit of both. It’s a lot of building, it’s a lot of building processes and backend stuff as well, which is just as important.

Charley (25:35):

Oh yeah, a hundred percent. Well, we’ll be on the lookout for the invite for the office warming party then. I’m sure you guys are going to be throwing, right?

Nick (25:42):

Sure. Everybody’s so excited to come to Buffalo, New York in February, so we’ll definitely…

Kate (25:47):

Gabriel’s date wings. So good.

Nick (25:51):

That was a pretty good pull there, Kate. That is a off the beaten path, but awesome pull for wings, so nice job.

Kate (26:00):

So, if you have those, I’ll be there.

Nick (26:01):

Yes, we can definitely make that arrangement.

Charley (26:04):

Well, yeah, depending when out in February, bills should be playing in the Super Bowl around that same time as well too, so we can parlay it into a Bill’s watch party

Kate (26:12):

And we will shovel your new walkway up to your office too. We’ll do a little bit of giving back to you, too.

Charley (26:19):

Yeah, I was going to say excellent. I’m just asking for a ton of invites and free stuff. We’ll also provide some value. We’ll bring the shovel. Bring

Kate (26:24):

Your own shovel. Yeah, we’ll have a Buildertrend branded shovels. Yeah, there you go.

Nick (26:30):

That’d be awesome. Yeah, it is one of those skills that we just started doing it at age three and every year it seems like there’s more, but we’re good at shuffling and moving.

Charley (26:41):

I can imagine. Well, that’s awesome perspective. I love hearing about how you’re looking forward in things in the future. I want to transition a little bit to looking back now, Kate, because we’re talking about this as this awesome thing that we just turned on and it’s working perfectly and people love it, but it’s been a long road to get here a little bit, and when I have people from product on, I always think it’s really interesting to talk about how these things come to fruition. So maybe rewind the time machine a little bit and give us an overview of this initial idea to how it ultimately came to being talked about on the podcast and launching where we’re at today.

Kate (27:14):

Yeah, I love that. So yes, it was a long road, but just such a good road to go down because Buildertrend has been talking about the community for a long time, but it was always kind of talked about in different perspectives. It’s social media, it’s feedback, it’s a digital platform, what does it look like? So really kind of getting a lot of the leaders from multiple different departments on board with that. It’s all of these things. It’s not just one avenue and it’s not just one department that’s really spearheading this. So, when we did it, we made sure that we had a lot of cross me cross collaboration across all the departments to really get buy into this. And so, our first step was really building out this digital platform because we knew that builders needed to start talking to each other as a former person in customer success.

(28:03):

We would always get builders saying, hey, I need to talk to another builder that also does, like I said earlier, historical renovations or I would love to talk to another office manager and how they got their team on board or how do they start training their field crew team. So, it was specific questions that, again, as Buildertrend people, we have our tips and tricks. We know the product inside and out, but it’s about that application and about that change management of how is it being implemented and how is it being experienced in your day-to-day workplace? So, we knew that we needed a digital platform to start this whole community experience to help builders start relating to each other. So that went on for several months trying to build out just the experience of it. We had an awesome team from marketing really building out that full experience, making sure that it was easy to use, that it was applicable to what builders are asking questions about and making sure that it was just a central place where builders can go in and get all of their resources.

(29:04):

So even if they’re looking in the community, they have a question about change orders, they can type into the community itself, change orders, and it will come up with every single resource inside the community and every single resource outside the community connected to Buildertrend right there. So, you can see somebody talking about change orders in their day-to-day experience, but you can also see a blog post by some of our top builders talking about best practices with it. So, it’s really a great place to connect and to centralize all the material you need. So that’s kind of what our bulk of our year has really been dedicated to is building out that kind of resource and more to come. But that was a fun journey and we’re just so happy that it’s finally launched.

Charley (29:46):

A hundred percent. Have there been any conversations that you weren’t expecting or topics that people are debating that you’re like, wow, this is a cool use case for community? Obviously, you’ve already shared a few of like, oh yeah, SOP stuff, hiring stuff. Is there anything that you’ve been like, wow, that’s an awesome conversation to see happening?

Kate (30:06):

Yeah, honestly, when we were really building this out, we thought this would be good for builders that have been with Buildertrend for a while. So they went through onboarding, they’re going through the initial training, but now they just want to connect more about change management, how to adopt it. But a conversation that came up, it was right before I took a little time off after the community launch. It was a new user, and I think I was on at 8:00 PM at night, just checking one more time before I left out of town and it said, is Buildertrend worth it? And my heart dropped a little bit because as a customer, a former customer success person, I wanted to jump in, give them all the things about Buildertrend. I took a step back and then saw a couple posts come or comments come in right away as individual from Alaska Builders, they’re an awesome group up in Alaska, their estimator actually jumped in right away and he was able to spell out like, Hey, Buildertrend can take a while to onboard or take a while to implement, but here are all the amazing benefits that I’ve received and I can’t look back from this opportunity. So that kind of conversation of newer users coming into Buildertrend was a conversation I wasn’t anticipating, but I thought was just so valuable. It’s just those people coming on in the beginning of their journey looking at this super dynamic platform and mean like, okay, where do I start? And then getting that empathy, getting that confirmation from other builders who have been there helping them along the way. Even though we have those resources at Buildertrend, there’s nothing like talking to another contractor about the reality of bringing on a new software.

Charley (31:48):

For sure. I bet that was hard. My fingers would’ve been itching. I’m like, I’m going to create a fake account right now. Dive in here. You got to let it do its thing.

Charley (31:57):

Nick, maybe that’d be a good connection for you to have when you’re talking about snow shoveling, if someone’s up in Alaska, they may have some tips and tricks for you as well too.

Nick (32:06):

That’s right. Nice. Obviously, obviously the next move there, Kate, good for you on that. I think we are, I’m a huge fan of the software. I’ve tried the alternatives and so for me, I’ve done the work and I get a lot of people who are watching me on YouTube or whatever and see me doing the actual work. They know it’s not bs. I’m showing my own business. And I think to them, that would be an example. That’s kind of the final thing that would have them make the choice. Sales is doing a great job but seeing an actual builder talking to an actual builder and just the truth that we can demonstrate there I think is very, very helpful. So, as a fan of the product, the more people we can get on, the better. In my opinion.

Kate (32:57):

And that’s a great point too, is that this community is only for Buildertrend users. So, while we would love to open it to everybody, it’s just kind of cool to see these builders are in my same shoes. They can really, and we have this network of so many builders across the world that you’re likely going to find some good support or you’re likely going to find somebody that has been where you are. And so just being able to have that kind of focused group, that kind of Buildertrend just brings them together is I think just a nice community building moment.

Charley (33:29):

For sure. So, if I’m a customer and I’m listening to this and I’m fired up, how do they get involved?

Kate (33:34):

Yes. So easy enough, we just put it right into the product for you. So, you go up to the question mark resources tab, and then there’s community and then you’re in. So, if it’s your first time, you’ll have to create a username. We’ve seen some interesting usernames across the board, but either way, that username is just kind of how you are represented in the community and you’re in. So, it should take less than a minute.

Charley (33:55):

Love that. And obviously we talked before we hopped on, you dropped this Easter egg a few episodes back, finally came to fruition here. Are you going to drop any Easter eggs about what’s next for biller community by builder coach?

Kate (34:08):

Yeah, they’ll probably be a little bit more at detailed Easter eggs. I would love to share. We know that the digital platform was just the first step. We know that it’s a long strategy ahead. Lots of other awesome opportunities to come. One of the big things that we’re working on is regional meetups. We would love to bring Buildertrend to you guys. So, we’re looking at that. I’ve had lots of builders where I talk about some of our strategy just to hear their feedback on some of that. We want to make sure we’re still working with what builders want and not just what Buildertrend maybe wants or my ideas that come to me at 10:00 PM at night. We want to make sure that we’re bringing these experiences to you. So, I’ve talked to lots of builders about regional meetups and they are stoked. They’re like, well, how can we help? This is a great place to host it. So, we know that this will be a great addition to the digital platform just to help continue the conversation with those that are more local to you in your area.

Charley (35:10):

Awesome. I mean, BTU is fantastic, but I don’t know how destination Omaha is…

Nick

Second to Buffalo, probably!

Kate (35:24):

Yeah. You at least came to BTU you Nick in May. I think it was. So, it was a little nicer.

Charley (35:30):

Beautiful. Beautiful. That’s sweet. Do you have rough timeline that people should start looking out for those sorts of things?

Kate (35:37):

I don’t have that yet, so maybe I’ll keep a little mystery there. Hoping that maybe around the builder show we can announce a little bit more about those of there.

Charley (35:47):

That’s right around the corner too, so make sure you’re getting your tickets for the International Builder Show.

Kate (35:53):

Yeah, come talk to me. I’ll be there.

Charley (35:54):

Come to Kate at the booth. Nick, will you be out there?

Nick (35:59):

It is in the works. I am with three girls under three and a half. It’s a little tough for me to get away, but that is potentially my first approved travel, so we’re working on it.

Kate (36:10):

Bring ’em down. They can go to Disney while you’re, you’re at the show.

Charley (36:14):

Excellent. That’s a perfect idea. Fantastic. Okay, so continue to watch this space more to come and I think, Kate, your strategy is just the more you strike, you drop, you’re just automatically invited back on the podcast to talk about ’em. So self-sustaining podcast career going for you.

Kate (36:31):

Exactly. That was my plan all along. Yep.

Charley (36:35):

Perfect. Well, we’re getting close to wrapping up here, but we have our listener segments, so your questions, your answers, if you guys want to submit or listeners out there want to submit questions, there are a multitude of ways to do that. Slide into our dms on Instagram, email podcast@buildertrend.com. Anyways, these are some that we have gotten that we are going to ask now. So first one is for you, Nick, what’s one underrated benefit of building your network online?

Nick (37:06):

I think the speed at which you can get answers. It’s just more accessible. It’s right there. We don’t have to wait for that next meetup. We can ask our question immediately. We can provide feedback immediately, and we can see that feedback often, like screenshots, video, demos. It’s a little bit more interactive. So, I think it’s just a faster way to collaborate with others.

Charley (37:31):

Love that, and the convenience factor of it all. Yeah, I feel like once I find my community by Buildertrend login and my outlook, I’m going to be 11:00 PM at night kind of guy, just insomnia. I can’t sleep. I’ll be scrolling through there. So…

Kate (37:44):

A hundred percent.

Charley (37:45):

Obviously, you can’t do that in any other way. Next one for you, Kate.

Charley (37:55):

How does community by Buildertrend help builders find others at similar business stages?

Kate (38:04):

I think it helps just other builders know that they’re not alone in that stage. Whether they’re starting their journey with a new company or they’re someone that’s 10 years in and just need to breathe some more life into their business by just going on to community, you can type out your question, you can start a conversation and people are going to flock to it. I’ve seen questions have up to 20, 30 responses just because people are excited to share, people are excited to relate and people are excited just to help. And so, I think that that’s cool is just by getting involved, putting yourself out there, starting a conversation. You’re going to find people that are just like you, and then ultimately you can create, create a great business partner, not necessarily in business, but just helping you along that way and having that mentor or you could even mentor somebody else. Just creating those connections right there in that space is just ultimately going to be so helpful.

Charley (39:09):

Absolutely. Okay, last one is for me. What’s been your favorite episode this year, Charley, and why? Obviously this one. Yes. Come on. Easy question ever.

(39:19):

On a serious note, I do want to give a huge shout out to our production team and everyone involved in the podcast. This transition from the weekly 20-minute podcast episodes to these monthly hour-long ones has been so enjoyable for me in the 20-minute interviews. You ask, tell me your background, and we’re already 15 minutes in by the time we start getting to the questions. So really, really surface level stuff. They were great. They were awesome interviews. I really enjoyed them. But Nick being able to hop on with you, have a full hour. Kate, obviously you’ve joined for a couple as well too. I feel like we’re starting to really dig into a lot more sustenance and a lot less surface level detail here. So, all the interviews I’ve ever done have been fantastic, but really these last three- or four-hour long ones have been great with the obvious peak being right now today with Nick.

Kate (40:05):

Yes, a hundred percent.

Charley (40:07):

I think that’s a good about do it. We’re getting close to time here. Nick, thank you so much for joining us. Any kind of final sage words of wisdom you want to leave our listeners with?

Nick (40:17):

Well, first, thank you for having me. I love collaborating with Buildertrend because you guys listen to us, so I absolutely love it. And I would say get on the community. Set aside that time. It doesn’t have to be an hour a week. It could be 15 minutes a week just to get on there to flex that muscle a little bit. I’d love for you to connect with me, message me on the community, and if you have a question, great. If you just want to say hi, that’s fine too, but that’s a great place to potentially work together.

Charley (40:43):

Awesome. Nick, thank you so much. Hopefully I’ll see you very, very soon, but if not, it’s been fantastic talking to you today.

Nick (40:51):

Yeah, thanks a lot.

Charley (40:52):

Kate, how about you? What is this now your third, fourth…

Kate (40:57):

Podcast? It’s just my second. Just second. Just that. Good.

Charley (40:59):

You’re just a pro. What are your kind of big takeaways from today?

Kate (41:04):

Just the power of connection and just the fact that Nick, for example, is doing a train with the builder series in our community, just demonstrating his workflows. And so just being able to see how another builder’s doing it is just the key to success. I think just continuously leveling up, continuously empowering each other. I think ultimately that’s just the greatest gift that this kind of platform can give us.

Charley (41:29):

Love it. Well, both of you guys, thank you so much for joining me today. For our listeners out there, thank you very much for listening. As always, like review, subscribe, go join the community, go cheer on the Buffalo Bills, and until next time, I’m Charlie Birtwistle.

Kate (41:45):

And I’m Kate Vasquez.

Charley (41:46):

Peace.

Kate (41:47):

Bye.