The builders who’ll disappear in the next 5 years (and how to not become one)

Carly Ward:

Welcome back to “The Building Code,” the podcast for builders who want to build smarter businesses. I’m your host, Carly Ward. Today we’re talking about something that’s becoming increasingly apparent across the construction industry. The growing gap between builders who are adapting to change and those who are still doing things the way they always have. In the next five years, building beautiful homes won’t be enough. The builders who thrive over the next five years will be the ones pairing quality work with disciplined, resilient operations. And we’re bringing in two people who are the best to talk about this. Eric and Preston from Seed Development and Design, who are making their second appearance on The Building Code. If you listen to Episode 269, they turned a $268,000 loss at the end of 2023 into more than $350,000 in profit in just a year’s time.

They’ve built their business on strong craftsmanship and a genuine commitment to delivering exceptional homeowner experience for their clients across the greater North Atlanta metro area. I’m excited to bring out Eric Stenger and Preston Reed from Seed Development and Design.

Preston, Eric, how we doing? Great to see you.

Eric Stenger:

Good. How are you?

Carly Ward:

Doing so good. Admittedly, wishing we were back in Cabo for the Breakthrough Academy Summit. I know we’re both getting slapped with a little cold weather.

Preston Reed:

Yeah, I miss those sunny days for sure.

Carly Ward:

Way better to have our feet in the sand a little bit.

Eric Stenger:

Yeah, yeah.

Preston Reed:

Right?

Carly Ward:

Well, we’re so pumped to have you on again for your second time on The Building Code. Like I said, last time we saw each other, we were in Cabo for the Breakthrough Academy Summit and we were talking about a lot of exciting things going on with you two and with Seed Development and Design. I know you guys just recently started a YouTube channel, but kind of give us a little background, what’s been going on the last year and especially since the start of the year.

Eric Stenger:

Yeah. 2025 was actually a pretty good year for us. Once again, we’ve been blessed with substantial growth. Like I said, we’re growing by about a 25% rate year-over-year, if not more, which has been awesome. We also were able to purchase our shop this year. So, we got a 6,000 square foot shop. We’re trying to finish building out. That’s been a challenge of its own. We’re trying to juggle all the work while trying to get stuff done at the shop, but it’s been good. We’re trying to make this our home base where clients can come here and really see this stuff before it begins and really put their hands on the materials and just… We pride ourselves on being as personable as possible.

And technology’s great, but you must have a little bit of that mix with the technology, but also the personal contact, I think, with people. So, it’s been great though. So, 2025, like I said, with all the growth in there and everything, I mean, we’ve had our challenges throughout the year also with some personnel growth and stuff like that. But as everyone knows, it comes and goes with time.

Carly Ward:

Totally. And Preston, you’ve been the one kind of behind the camera for your YouTube channel.

Preston Reed:

That’s a change of pace for me. I’m usually the one behind closed doors.

Carly Ward:

Are you having to shackle Eric down to keep him behind the camera?

Preston Reed:

No, he’s the one that’s kicking me out and saying, “Hey, you need to get out there and do this.” So, it’s been good. It’s been fun. YouTube’s been a fun little project that we’ve talked about for years, but kind of put off and it just kind of seemed like the right time this past year to kind of kick it off. So, we did that, released some longer videos to the public, and we’ve gotten some clients out of it. So that’s been a cool thing to see people wanting to learn more about us before they meet us. So, it’s been a fun project.

Carly Ward:

Well, I imagine as a homeowner, you’re thinking about putting a large investment into a renovation and addition. And I’m sure this is a really great way to give them a little peek behind the scenes of what you guys are like, whether personalities are going to mesh and what that experience is going to look like for them and be valuable.

Preston Reed:

Yeah, absolutely. And like I said, it’s been fun thus far. So, we got a couple more coming up that we’re excited to release and it’ll be good.

Carly Ward:

Cool. Well, for the listeners that aren’t super familiar with both of you and Seed Development and Design, you serve the North Atlanta metro area focusing on residential remodels, renovations and outdoor living spaces. The two of you have been best friends for most of your lives coming up on seven years in business and you’ve built an amazing team culture along the way. Looking back to when you guys first started the company, what do you think’s changed the most and what feels the most different about the business compared to some of those early years?

Preston Reed:

I think the early years, we were just like nose to the grindstone a little bit, just swinging hammers, trying to build things because that’s what we knew how to do, but didn’t really know a lot about building the business or building a business or a company. We knew previous places we had worked and what we didn’t want it to be, but we didn’t, I guess, know how to really curate the team that we were after and the culture we were after and really all the technicalities behind financially running a company. So, all those things have been a large learning lesson and things that we’ve progressively changed year-over-year. But yeah, it’s been a rollercoaster.

Eric Stenger:

Yeah. I think with entrepreneurship, you always hear… I think I heard something today about it’s one of the hardest jobs to take on. And one thing we know we’ve learned from our mistakes and we’ve grown from it and have defeated those mistakes. And I think it’s something where you must know to adapt. And I think some great key points to our conversation we’ll have today. I think it’s about not being stuck in your old ways and knowing when to change and not doing it too late. I think those are a lot of the things which has helped us and blessed us in many ways.

Carly Ward:

So, with coming up on seven years in business, you’ve alluded to it even within the last year, but over the course of these seven years, what do you think the biggest mistake that you’ve learned from is?

Preston Reed:

Financial understanding.

Eric Stenger:

Yeah.

Preston Reed:

Without a doubt.

Eric Stenger:

I think that when we first started, we didn’t have Buildertrend and we were using Excel spreadsheets and Google Sheets and trying to track it as fast as we can. And just some of the changes that once we came across Buildertrend, it opened our eyes to so much more-

Preston Reed:

So much more.

Eric Stenger:

… from what we were being told on what we needed to track, but not having to be able to do it at a live time. At any due time, being able to hop in there and look at our numbers for any project, for anything within the business. So, I think us grabbing that and really diving into understanding that, because neither of us have a financial background. So, it allowed us to really be able to hone in on the inside of all that.

Preston Reed:

It gave us clarity and it allowed us to give us educated decision-making tools.

Carly Ward:

And I know Breakthrough Academy was a huge piece of that and getting involved in their business coaching and having a dedicated coach to kind of help provide that clarity and that understanding and feeling, I’m sure, in a much more confident space than you did a couple years ago.

Eric Stenger:

Yes.

Preston Reed:

Absolutely. Our coach, we had two coaches at Breakthrough and they both have been kind of fundamental in their backgrounds and what they brought over to us and guided us through. And Buildertrend was kind of the tool that allowed us to see the numbers and Breakthrough was kind of the one that coached us through what they really meant and how to interpret them. So, it’s been great, the relationship there.

Carly Ward:

Yeah, two powerful pieces gives us a nice segue into where we’re headed. So, we’re seeing a ton of industry changes and it seems like there’s kind of these two groups of builders, the ones that are like, “I’ve been building houses with a pen and paper with my bare hands for 40 years.” And those that are understanding that it’s going to take a little bit more than just awesome craftsmanship. And it really is a matter of how we are running this business to be sustainable and successful. So, what do you think from your experience, what are the biggest changes that we’re seeing in the industry right now that builders aren’t fully recognizing?

Preston Reed:

Yeah. So, kind of speaking to what you’re saying about builders 10, 15, 20 years ago definitely had their reputation built on, well, a good relationship and trust. And nowadays it needs to be more transparent with the clients. Clients have so much transparency in so many other aspects of their life and they have that expectation that that’s what they’re going to get with builders. And that lack of transparency and communication with them is, I feel like a big pitfall or something that’s going to really divide these groups of builders coming up in the future.

Eric Stenger:

Yeah. I think a big part to all that, I think the benefit with us being a design build firm is we’re trying to hash out all the details before construction even starts. That means not just selections wise, but that also means contract. That also means pricing. That also means making sure that all the verbiage is okay for them in regard to the contract and really going through all that with a fine tooth comb so that they all understand and we understand what is expected of both of us.

Carly Ward:

Yeah. And going off that, when we think about companies that are struggling or even you guys a couple years ago when you were kind of in your turnaround phase, what habits have you corrected or what habits are you seeing in companies now that could help drive them in a better direction?

Preston Reed:

Yeah, I feel like it’s communication has been a huge one for us. And not just client communication, internal communication, documentation. It’s all about what we’re tracking and able to show, improve and rely on for clarity and information across our internal team and the team with the client. It’s been a huge continuous shift. We are not perfect at it by any means, but it’s something that we’re always improving on and we understand the importance of it and how that’s going to affect future projects and how it’s affected projects in the past for us.

Carly Ward:

And with putting all that documentation into place and really kind of honing in on client expectations during the pre-construction process, how is that evolving the clients that you’re working with?

Preston Reed:

Well, I feel like the clients that expect that are maybe a different tier. They’re busy individuals, they have a lot going on in their life, but a lot of those people, I mean, everything nowadays, you can access your bank account on your phone, you can track your flights in real time, you can track packages being delivered and when they’re going to be there. And everybody wants that transparency with a real quick click of the button. Buildertrend’s allowed us to provide that to those clients and those types of clients want to see that. They want to see their schedules, they want to see their budgets, they want to see their selections, all those things in real time. And we now have tools and knowledge to be able to provide that. And it becomes an experience for those clients as well. And that’s what they’re after.

Eric Stenger:

Yeah. I think one of the biggest lessons we’ve learned was over the years is having the inclusions and exclusions in the contract, making the client fully aware of what is included in your base costs, what’s included in your selections. And it goes back to when I talk about the fine-tooth comb, it’s breaking it out in so much detail so that someone’s not like, “Oh wait, was that supposed to be included?” We’d be like, “Oh no, there’s a paper trail for everything.” I know we’re not using paper anymore, but at least it’ll come back to Buildertrend where you can at least see the contract.

Carly Ward:

Got to have a receipt somewhere, even if it’s electronic.

Preston Reed:

Always.

Carly Ward:

So, for some of our newer builders that might not be in a space where they have everything documented as well as you guys do, what do you think are three critical pieces to putting SOPs into place to set those nice expectations for clients?

Preston Reed:

Yeah. So, I think SOPs are almost a little bit different than the client interaction. Our SOPs that we’ve tried to establish are an internal tool, right? And our SOPs started very basic in a Word document. We were just typing up different steps that we would roll out to the team. But with clients, I feel like that process for the people that don’t have all the technology or don’t have Buildertrend or whatever it is, we live in such a tech world now that you have AI in your pocket and you can pull it out and record your meeting.

And a lot, I feel like the gray areas or the things that get dropped in communication are those like random text messages or mostly the in person walks you have with clients on a job site. When you’re out there talking to your trades, talking to the client and they ask simple little questions, and if you have some way to record that or at least document it right after, that would be the thing I’d tell them off the top of my head, the first thing to tell them is just start documenting, everything that you do.

Carly Ward:

No, I love that because even in my own experience, I’m a great listener, but I’m not a great note-taker and listener at the same time. And so, everybody’s a little bit different, but whatever you can do to make sure that those critical pieces are getting documented, like so important for that client experience. So going into some of the risk management and kind of how you’re handling these conversations with clients, there’s a lot of problems in construction projects with not necessarily coming from craftsmanship, but from not setting those expectations clearly and upfront. So where do you think the biggest hidden risks are showing up in construction projects?

Eric Stenger:

I think a lot of it goes back to there not being a fully laid out cost representation for everything. If it’s not within your contract, you’re going to bend to certain things and the client’s going to ask for certain things. And if there’s not a fully detailed expectation of what’s going through, you end up eating the cost. Because end of the day, it doesn’t matter if it’s not in the contract, you don’t have that much ground to stand on or the client’s going to turn his back on you or her back on you and leave you a bad review. And what does that due to your company? So, if the paperwork in regard to the contract without it like that must be broken out so well that you’re not having to go back and step back on your toes to make sure that you’re not hurt in the long run.

Carly Ward:

Right.

Preston Reed:

Yeah, I’d agree with that 100%. Misalignment and expectations of just two people assuming something different and having it documented and clear on paper so two people are exactly on the same page, it eliminates all that gray area.

Carly Ward:

So, what are some processes that you guys have in place currently to help kind of curb that from happening and both parties are aligned?

Preston Reed:

Yeah. So, I think what we realized was our miscommunication previously started early on. We’re design build, so we go through an entire design process before we even get into construction. And we implemented something as simple as recording our virtual meetings. And that was our first piece of the puzzle that was we’re documenting everything. And then we’d start, obviously we’d follow up every meeting with meeting notes and it was a summary of like, okay, this is what we all took away from this meeting. Here is your copy, here’s our copy, everybody’s on the same page. And then we started rolling that out further into the field and it was internal communication. Okay, if you have a sidebar conversation, it’s required to get documented in this location. And so internally, everybody was on the same page. And we have that through pre-construction. When projects roll into pre-construction, now they can see, okay, this is the most up-to-date synopsis of all the conversations thus far.

And then in construction, we just keep that as a live living document so that everybody can update as conversations happen.

Eric Stenger:

So, one of the things we brought in also is design was doing a really good job of detailing all their stuff on their end. And then Preston and I brought up a way to transition that design into construction. We saw that there was a broken link. So pretty much we did Preston, we created this, it’s called like a project narrative pretty much.

Carly Ward:

Project narrative, yes.

Eric Stenger:

So, we went through and pretty much hashed out all the details from design and what is being expected for the construction team on what is happening during the overall scope of the project. So not only that, so the construction team has supplied that. We do a complete round table with the design team and the project manager so that all the communication internally is addressed, that if there’s any outliers, it’s at least taken care of internally before the project manager goes and starts having conversations with the client. So, it helps with that gray area there. So, we’re not walking into a project, or at least the project manager’s not walking into a project, not having all the tools needed to address all the concerns with the client.

Carly Ward:

No, and I know you guys have talked about that when you’ve been out to Buildertrend University before, both with our clients and our CS reps. And I know that that really resonated because you’re right, there is typically a pretty good gap between production and design and being able to bridge that as much as we can and having that living, breathing document so crucial. And so, I’m curious when there are changes that happen to the project, not that it’s very often, but when that happens, is that project manager and the designer, are they kind of doing a round table again or looping back with each other to make sure that the things are still on the tracks? Yeah.

Preston Reed:

So, it kind of depends. I’d say most of the time changes are handled by the PM solely, but there are definitely situations where if it is an aesthetic decision or very much we have a particular client that’s once something done a certain way, we loop the designers back in that worked on that project to make sure that we’re achieving the end goal or end result of the clients after. So, it depends. We luckily have a close team. So, the design team sits two desks away from the PM. So, it’s not like it’s a crazy big office that nobody gets to talk to each other. So, we get a lot of good sidebar conversations inside the office to address any of those issues.

Carly Ward:

Yeah. And we’ve talked a lot about communication and processes, and those are two critical pieces to keep a business running and to keep it successful, but it takes a mindset shift from the top down. What do you think the biggest challenge with getting that relayed down throughout your team has been?

Preston Reed:

We use Buildertrend every single day for every project, but we have a secondary kind of internal system we use to track all our stuff, all our, not just KPIs and financials, but also project standings, critical action items, things like that. And we use it in kind of a sister conjunction with Buildertrend, and that is where we keep living communication documentation. And so that for us has been great. So, if anybody at any level has comments to be made on that information or that project, it all goes there and everybody involved in that project has that updated information to access.

So, it eliminates like, “Well, I told this person, but they didn’t tell this person it’s, no, it was here, everybody knows it’s here.” That’s where you go to get your updates.

Carly Ward:

That’s awesome. And just hearing all the stories about your team and how you guys have evolved, I love getting to hear from you guys how you incentivize your team and how you create this cohesive community within your team. Talk to me about some of the incentives you use with your team, whether it be for reviews or I know you guys have something going with posts and stuff like that. Talk to me a little bit about that.

Eric Stenger:

So yeah, so like we talked about, like technology, we all know that it’s not much of the door knocking anymore. So, speaking of their post thing, so we do Instagram posts and follows and how many likes are on Reels and stuff like that for some of our team members. But we also do reviews, right? It also goes back to their quality of what they’re doing for the client. Some of the incentives, what else do we do? We do incentives for … One of the big things that gets lost for a lot of companies is your timeline for products getting completed. It gets lost quickly and your clients want to know like, “Hey, listen, how long is this project going to take?” This is part of the contract. It’s like, this is an eight-week project and then if it goes past that, then that takes away from their incentive.

And if they get done even sooner, then they get a better incentive on that side of it. But I think that’s probably one of the biggest things that we learned over times over these last couple of years is it doesn’t matter how profitable the project is. If it’s a month past the deadline, then you got a problem.

Carly Ward:

Well, that kind of takes us into our next topic surrounding approvals and the actual approval with a written signature versus the handshake. So, for builders that might still be in the head space of a handshake is as good as a written signature, what would you say to those builders?

Preston Reed:

Garbage.

Eric Stenger:

First of all, I want to leave this off. Buildertrend just updated all of this recently and it is absolutely amazing.

Carly Ward:

Humble brag.

Eric Stenger:

So, I mean, Buildertrend I know has been growing over the years with it and I think it goes back to being very descriptive for the clients and them not just like, “Oh, cool, here’s your change order for $2,000.” It now allows us to go through and do very similar to the proposal y’all released a year or so ago. It’s very laid out and allows you to go through and do a whole thesis of what is going on in your change order and why we’re doing this and why you’re being charged with this. That has been a huge benefit for us and really the transparency of the client once again, but it also allows for us to go through and go back to the paper trail and say, “Hey, we talked about this. This was in your description. It’s not just a number here. You don’t just see a line item.

You’re seeing a whole entire paragraph or so of what we’re doing and why we’re doing it and why you’re asking for this change order.” And then they sign it and so it goes back to being able to hold the client accountable and hold us accountable to what’s been said.

Preston Reed:

Yeah, that’s been a huge change for us over the years because for so long, and I think every builder is guilty of it at some point in their career where you’re onsite, framing crews are there and the client comes in and say, “Hey, can we move this door four feet this way here?”

Eric Stenger:

Can we add this can light?

Preston Reed:

Yeah. Can we change this tile out instead of this to that?” And in the moment, it might be like, “Yeah, we can do that, blah, blah, blah.” And you walk away from that meeting with very two distinctive expectations in two different ways. And so being able to document that, I think is one crucial thing that we talked about earlier, but then being able to put it into something like Buildertrend where client can realize, well, this is what we talked about, but this is also the price associated to it and this is the schedule impact that’s going to happen from it. And seeing all that in one place for them is huge. It’s huge for us.

Carly Ward:

I feel like that’s where the most negative interaction with homeowners comes in when you have those disjointed expectations. It’s like, sure, we can do that. And then three weeks later it’s like, well, it’s going to cost $5,000. Maybe I wouldn’t have made that decision had I known that right up front.

Eric Stenger:

Absolutely.

Yeah. And I think, Colin, a big part of this is this must be pushed on your team also. If your team’s not doing this, if we’re doing it is one thing, but if everyone under us didn’t have that expectation like you were talking about earlier, it drops to the side because like you were just talking about, if you go through and you’re saying everyone needs to do these change orders, do these change orders, right? But that one product manager is like, “Oh, he’s just given the nod that it’ll be okay and we’ll get it resolved later.” It goes right back to that same issue. So that at least allows us with Buildertrend now is we’re going in there and every time something is talked about, we actually now have this internal group chat through our Google system, through our Google Suite, which anytime a change order is brought up with a client, it’s sent right directly to our project coordinator and she inputs it.

So, there’s no gaps in saying, “Oh, I’ll get this an hour from now.” It’s getting addressed right then and there.

Preston Reed:

It goes back to SOPs, right?

Carly Ward:

So, if I’m a homeowner and I want a different electrical plate, are we getting a change order for that?

Preston Reed:

It depends.

Eric Stenger:

It depends on what you’re saying.

Carly Ward:

Okay.

Eric Stenger:

Probably though. Yeah.

Carly Ward:

So, every little thing for the most part is being documented, maybe not always a cost coming from it, depending how small or little it is.

Preston Reed:

Yeah, getting documented for sure. Absolutely.

Carly Ward:

Gotcha. So, going along with lack of documentation and not having those processes clearly documented, can you think of a specific instance where the handshake agreement came back to bite you guys?

Preston Reed:

Yeah, absolutely. Which one? Scope changes all the way around the board, for sure. Yeah, I don’t think really clients understand the impact that it has all the way through the project and the lack of documentation there. Like I said earlier, having two people with different expectations out of a conversation, it can really get you. And if clients are assuming that after a conversation that that’s included because you’re like, “Yeah, no, we can do that.”

And we’re walking away like, “Well, that’s going to be a $6,000 change order.” And at the end of the day, we go ahead and do the work on a handshake confirmation or a sidebar conversation thinking, “Oh yeah, no, they definitely understood that that was going to be more money.” Then there’s a confrontation that must happen or at least a hard conversation that must happen on the back end of it on compensation for that.

So, we have a strict policy and we learned it early on that when a change order needs to take place, if there’s changes on site to whatever scope, it’s communicated and documented. And if there’s a price associated to that change, which most of the time there is, that needs to be signed off and agreed upon by the client in writing, we use Buildertrend for that, before that work takes place.

Eric Stenger:

I mean, that’s what broke us in the past from those mistakes, that’s what we hold ourselves to now is if that signature and that approval’s not to completed, we’re not touching it. It costs us $0 to do it. What’s that saying?

Preston Reed:

The price is the price.

Eric Stenger:

Yeah. The price is the price. And I think the biggest part to all that is there’s more harm than good if you don’t get it signed, or at least approved, right?

Carly Ward:

Well, and I feel like in a lot of situations, you’re also setting yourself up for future issues to not come up. So, it’s just protecting yourself and your client’s experience throughout the course of the project. And you mentioned earlier, Preston, how easy it is to get a text message or a random email asking about these changes. And based off what you guys have said, it sounds like you’re directing almost all your communication through Buildertrend to prevent from those slips in between the cracks. Is that right?

Preston Reed:

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, we try to document everything we can in Buildertrend to the best of our degree. There’s still, again, those sidebar conversations that you may have in person, and we utilize a different program to just capture all that information. But regardless, everything that is talked about on a project ideally is captured and documented, so our entire team’s in the loop on all of it.

Carly Ward:

And I’m curious from a client perspective, how much responsibility do you put on them to utilize the client portal and communicate through Buildertrend, or is it more so you guys taking that information and filtering into Buildertrend internally?

Preston Reed:

Yeah. So, we’ve gone back and forth over the years. I think starting out, we had had other tech stacks, if you will, of different ways to communicate in different platforms to different people. And we’ve tried to narrow that down to utilize Buildertrend and having clients use the portal, use the client chat or comment on selections or things like that that allowed us to have one location to see all that information. We just got to make sure on our end internally that we’re taking that communication and putting it in one central location for us that it’s like a one pager of this is the latest, this is the update, these are the next action items. And it’s been very helpful that way.

Carly Ward:

Oh, that’s awesome. And do you find your clients are using or a little bit more gravitated towards using the client portal or is it just kind of dependent on the clients?

Preston Reed:

I think it depends on the client.

Eric Stenger:

Yeah. I mean, some are technology savvy, some aren’t. I think most of them adapt to it. I think with us being designed built once again, we kind of force our hand in it. They must go in there and make all their selections. And they all adapt to it and figure it out quickly. It’s not like it’s not user-friendly. It’s simplistic about them being able to navigate through it. And the cool things we love about it is when you go in there, like selections. If they’re not sharing which selections, they can favorite it for now. They can put a comment next to it to at least kind of see where their pricing lays on everything. But even with all the comments and I think that has at least helped us in our path of being able to go back and look at certain items, if there’s anything related to it based upon the client’s comments on those areas and how we responded.

Instead of having to go chase through emails and say, “Oh, hey, we talked about this here.” It’s just you’re looking through this long valley of never-ending emails. So, it allows us to just go to one spot and just be able to clarify right then and there.

Carly Ward:

Well, and I imagine for the clients too, the transparency is very obviously there because you guys are working in it so often. And I imagine being able to find the answers or the things that they want is a lot easier if they’re going through that avenue rather than just doing the regular old, “Hey Preston, hey Eric, what’s the status on this?”

Eric Stenger:

Yeah.

Preston Reed:

Yeah.

Carly Ward:

We always welcome those though.

Eric Stenger:

Totally, totally.

Carly Ward:

At all hours of the night especially.

Preston Reed:

Yeah, right.

Carly Ward:

So, kind of thinking about habits that builders are taking to put them into a place where they’re going to survive in five, 10 years, what do you think some of those big habits are that people are putting into place right now that we haven’t already discussed?

Eric Stenger:

I think AI is going to be a big one, but it can hurt you also. I think you must give it grace. I think you can get a lot of guidance from it but also be able to use your knowledge and your street skills and your street knowledge to really understand how to adapt certain things and make it still make it personable. AI is great in giving you answers, but it’s in a very tech-savvy format.

Carly Ward:

It’s still a little robotic.

Eric Stenger:

In a box, right? So, I mean, I think there’s a lot of understanding with that. I mean, I think we could go on and on about all that, right? But I think you can take pieces of it and I think which will really help with expediting a lot of productivity in many ways but not taking it too far. I think that’s the kind of thing is still making your business personable in many ways because that’s what your client’s still going to want. They’re going to want that client interaction with you. They’re going to want to be able to speak to you and really talk to somebody instead of calling someone and listening to a robot talk to them.

Carly Ward:

I mean, AI could not do a gravel angel for a promo post.

Eric Stenger:

That’s right. That is true.

Preston Reed:

But we can.

Carly Ward:

Yes. How about you, Preston? Anything besides AI or…

Preston Reed:

Yeah. AI is obviously a hot topic for a lot of people right now, and I feel like we do talk about it a lot internally and just how we can utilize it to be more efficient. But I think our industry is becoming increasingly sophisticated. And I think clients are raising the bar on their expectations for their experience, their client journey through their process with builders.

And I think the builders that are going to succeed are going to be able to elevate that experience and give clients that process of transparency, really good communication, kind of live updates so they can see all those things that we’ve talked about, the budget, selections, schedule, all those things at any given time.

And yeah, I think you must be able to adapt to technology to a certain degree. And I think some people may be a little afraid of that because they, “Well, this is how I’ve been doing it for 30 years.” But I think the reality of it is that there’s going to be a gap that forms out of that. And the ones that embrace the journey are going to probably do a little better.

Carly Ward:

Yeah. And I think it’s just important to hit on just because I’ve watched your social media presence grow over the last year and a half or two years. And I think it’s so cool how you guys put so much of your personality and all your individual personalities into the way that you guys promote yourselves to showing what the client experience is going to look like.

And even just looking at your website, you guys have really taken the time to go in and document verbally and written as well as through video, this is what our experience is going to look like from start to finish. And if I’m a homeowner that wants you to do a remodel of my kitchen, that’s going to go so much further than me just seeing services, kitchen remodel. I get to know if you’re going to vibe with my family or with me, and do I want you in my house for several hours a day?

So, I think it’s so cool that you guys are really leaning into that and diversifying it across a lot of different elements, adding in YouTube and you guys are really pushing the limits with that. So, I think it’s important to mention.

Preston Reed:

Thank you Carly. Yeah. It’s been an effort.

Carly Ward:

Well, you guys are doing a hell of a job and not to dog on you, Eric, but I think Preston’s starting to, he’s starting to get the personality behind the camera.

Eric Stenger:

It’s about time.

Carly Ward:

So you got to watch out.

Eric Stenger:

Oh yeah, he’s getting there. I’m pushing him outside of his comfort zone.

Preston Reed:

Yeah, that’s the truth.

Carly Ward:

So, we’ve talked about a lot of the things that you guys have been doing. Thinking about the future, what are some things that you guys are really focused on this year that you aren’t doing, but want to start doing?

Preston Reed:

I mean, I think honestly for a long time, and Eric even mentioned at the beginning, we’ve been growing year-over-year-over-year, and it’s been good. It’s been exciting. It’s been hard and stressful and all the things. I think this year we’re not so much focused on growth. We’re focused on efficiency and streamlining our process and elevating the experience for our clients. And then I think once we really streamline that and feel really, good about all these parts and pieces, then we can get back to like, all right, let’s scale this thing to where we want to be.

Eric Stenger:

Yeah. I think our biggest part is Preston, I think we’re trying to pretty much stabilize where we’re at right now. So, I think we’re at a really good size to kind of… I think Breakthrough Academy talked about this. There’s part of a business in construction where you get to purgatory. That’s what they call it.

Preston Reed:

A couple different statements on it.

Eric Stenger:

So, it’s funny how they bring it up. You’re like, wow, all right, I’ve been drowning, but I feel good. We’re getting there. But I think now it’s like, we’ve seen a lot of the kinks, we’ve adjusted a lot of the kinks, and now I think we’re at the point where we want to finish making the system beautiful and run well and smoothly and then start climbing again. I think there’s just a lot of people would need to not be overzealous and realize that you can’t always just keep running. There’s got to be time when you start recalibrating.

Preston Reed:

Yeah.

Carly Ward:

I’m sure it feels probably good to be in the recalibration stage. So, for builders that are kind of thinking about their longevity and ways they can reduce risk within their business, what would be one suggestion you would give to them?

Preston Reed:

Start capturing decisions in one place.

Carly Ward:

Yeah.

Preston Reed:

All documentation, communication in one place. And it doesn’t have to be fancy. You don’t have to have all this crazy tech or these fancy apps or programs but just start putting it in one place. And I feel like that opens the door for opportunity and clarity. I feel like it’s going to streamline misunderstandings, get rid of the gray areas, and just give your client the clarity thereafter moving forward in projects.

Eric Stenger:

Yeah. And the other part to that, right? I think every company must have change. For you to grow, you get to change. You got to make sure the people that are with you are willing to change also. I guess it’s not just the owners that you see as a company, right? It’s all the people behind them also. And if you don’t see that they want to change, then it’s going to hurt. So, you must be able to understand that and find those people that are willing to grow with you.

Carly Ward:

And you guys are trying to grow your team, is that right? I was looking.

Preston Reed:

Yes.

Eric Stenger:

Yeah. Yeah.

Preston Reed:

Always.

Carly Ward:

Looking for a couple project manager-

Preston Reed:

Always looking for the top tier.

Carly Ward:

Yeah. Just out of curiosity, what have been some of the most successful ways that you guys have found some of your current team members that you have, because I know they’ve been with you a while.

Eric Stenger:

Wow. A lot of us been…

Preston Reed:

Yeah, I’d say a lot of the referrals… I mean, we’ve hired in a lot of different ways. We’ve explored a lot of different companies and social medias and a lot of different avenues to get people on board, but I think people-

Eric Stenger:

Word of mouth has been huge.

Preston Reed:

People that know us, know who we are and know what we’re about, and they give some recommendations, and those have been the key players that are like, they fit right in and they just run with it.

Eric Stenger:

I think the cool part to that really is… So now I think about this, right? So, a lot of our business in the last two years and our growth has… Google’s been great. YouTube is now taken off for us, but 70% of our business last year was through word of mouth. And it relates back to if a client wants to work with you, there’s probably some other people that want to work with you also on the personnel level. So, I think it’s how you carry yourselves, the atmosphere you’re creating, all that stuff, it all correlates in many ways so that you create a fun atmosphere, you want to work hard but play hard. A lot of those kinds of things, right? I think it’s also when it goes back to the client, it’s creating that family feel.

Carly Ward:

Well, you guys are doing a great job and I love seeing you get to grow. And if all else fails, I say put Eric out on a corner with a seed costume and see who comes through the door.

Preston Reed:

Personality. Yeah.

Carly Ward:

Well, guys, it’s always so great talking to you. I so appreciate you diving into what’s been going on the last year, obviously getting to see you since Cabo and helping our builders really understand from two individuals like you, what it takes in such an adapting industry and some of the things that you guys are doing to put yourself into a good position for the future. So always appreciate it and can’t wait to have you guys back on again.

Eric Stenger:

Awesome.

Preston Reed:

Yeah.

Eric Stenger:

Thanks, Carly.

Preston Reed:

Looking forward to the invitation.

Eric Stenger:

We always love seeing you.

Carly Ward:

We’ll see you guys. All right. Well, before we wrap up, I want to introduce something new to The Building Code. We want to hear from you, the builders, project managers, and professionals listening to our show.

I’m Carly Ward, your host. And one of the things that I’m most excited about is bringing your questions into these conversations. If there’s a topic that you’d like us to cover, a challenge that you’re dealing with in your business or something you’d like our guest to weigh in on, we’d love to hear it from you. So, we’d ask that you send your questions or your ideas to podcast@buildertrend.com and we may feature them in an upcoming episode. And if you enjoyed this episode, be sure to subscribe to The Building Code so you never miss a conversation that can help build your business smarter. Thanks for listening and we’ll see you next time.