Over the past decade, we’ve had the wonderful opportunity to work with some of the best companies in the home building and construction industry. Here is a list of partners we are proud to work with!
Whenever possible, we love getting our team together to share some expert tips and advice about technology, sales, marketing, and preconstruction. View all our previous and upcoming webinars here.
As many of you have already seen, we’ve updated the user interface with the launch of TopBuilder 2.0. One of the largest changes we made was increasing the amount of information you could see on your screen at one time.
We accomplished this task by building a collapsible menu system. This collapsible menu system includes settings and filter options for the page you’re viewing.
Not only did this change increase the amount of information you can see, but it also increased the number of filter options available. These changes give you even more flexibility and control over your information.
Below we’ll walk-through how to access the new collapsible menu system and how you can edit the filter options inside.
1. Accessing the Collapsible Menu
You can access these new collapsible menu systems by clicking on the hamburger menu in the upper left-hand corner of your screen.
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Example One:
On the main Dashboard, if you click the hamburger button in the left-hand corner, you’ll see the widget options available for your dashboard. By clicking on the options available, you can customize the information you see when you sign-in to TopBuilder.
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Example Two:
If you are on the Manage Leads screen, by clicking the hamburger button in the upper left-hand corner, you’ll see Filter Leads options available for this page.
This gives you the option to change or adjust multiple variables for your lead information. Additionally, this menu includes keyword search options for this screen. This gives you even more functionality for finding the information you need when you need it.–
2. Editing Filter Options
Each page has its own filter options available. For each page, please go through the Accessing the Collapsible Menu option above.
Once the menu has been opened, you’ll be able to select options by clicking checkboxes, selecting drop-down menus, and/or typing in text boxes. Regardless of the filtering option you select, they can only be applied to the page once you click the Refresh button or press Enter/Return on your computer’s keyboard.
The Refresh button can be found by looking in the upper right-hand corner of the filter panel. Once you’ve clicked Refresh, the filter menu will slide away and the page will load your new filter options.
Looking for additional training & support?
If you’re looking for additional support, please click on the Help Center tab located in the dark blue navigation menu at the top of the page.
Once clicked, you’ll be directed to the Help Center. Once you are in the Help Center, please click on the menu option How to Get Support in the dark blue menu at the top of the page.
From this page, you’ll find a variety of options to help you get the support you need.
With the introduction of TopBuilder 2.0, the team at TopBuilder added a new report. We’ve named this new report the Sales Cycle Trending Analysis.
This new report helps you monitor the trends in your sales and marketing statistics. In other words, you can track your sales and marketing performance week-over-week, month-over-month, quarter-over-quarter, and year-over-year.
Below we’ll highlight who should use this new report and how you can access it.
Highlights of the Sales Cycle Trending Analysis
Who can use it?
We’ve built this report to benefit each of our clients. However, each customer type does receive unique benefits from using the report.
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Contractors
As a contractor, you can easily track RFQs, Bids Submitted, and Win/Loss trends by Job Type, Lead Source, and even Division/Territory.
With this new capability, you can quickly measure company progress over any desired time period. Additionally, you can also measure your sales progress per individual. This means you can measure sales activity for each sales member to see how their numbers are trending.
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Home Builders & Real Estate Professionals
As you all know, traffic is everything for selling new homes. Healthy traffic into your models and community is how you maintain a steady flow of new home sales.
With this new report, you can quickly measure and monitor online leads and onsite traffic trends. This gives you the capability to measure your marketing effectiveness.
It’s important to note, you can filter this report by lead source. As an example, if you’ve launched a new digital marketing campaign, you’ll be able to measure progress for that digital marketing campaign specifically.
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Owners & Investors
It’s quite common for business owners and investors to measure company progress each week. With the sales cycle trending analysis, you’ll be able to make better business decisions by quickly reviewing important business statistics at a glance.
Of course, if you report these weekly sales and marketing statistics to your business owner or investor, this report is your next best friend.
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How do you access this report?
The sales cycle analysis report can be found in two different locations. Regardless of the path you take, it’s the same report.
Location #1
Begin by visiting the TopBuilder CRM Dashboard. Once you are on the dashboard, look for the menu item Reports & Analytics in the dark blue navigation menu.
Once you’ve scrolled over the Reports & Analytics tab, you’ll see a drop-down menu appear. Look in this drop-down menu for the section title Advanced Analysis.
Underneath the section titled Advanced Analysis, you’ll find text that reads Sales Cycle Trending Analysis. Once you find that text, use your mouse to click on that menu option. Once clicked, you’ll be taken directly to the Sales Cycle Trending Analysis report.
Location #2
Begin by visiting the TopBuilder CRM Dashboard. Once you are on the dashboard, look for the menu item CRM in the dark blue navigation menu.
Once you scroll over the menu item CRM, you’ll see a drop-down menu appear. Look in this drop-down menu to find the text that reads Sales Cycle Trending Analysis. Once you find that text, use your mouse to click on that menu option. Once clicked, you’ll be taken directly to the Sales Cycle Trending Analysis report.
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How to edit your Sales Cycle Trending Analysis Report:
Once you’ve reached your sales cycle trending analysis report, you can edit the variables in that chart by clicking on the hamburger button in the upper left-hand corner of the screen. It’s located to the left of the TopBuilder logo.
Once clicked, the Settings panel will open. From here, you can select and edit all of the variables displayed in the report. Once you are done changing the filter options, click the Refresh button located at the top of the Settings panel or you can press Enter/Return on your keyboard.
By following this step, you’ll be able to edit and change your sales cycle trending analysis report to your liking.
Need additional training & support for this report?
If you’re looking for additional support, please click on the Help Center tab located in the dark blue navigation menu at the top of the page.
Once clicked, you’ll be directed to the Help Center. Once you are in the Help Center, please click on the menu option How to Get Support in the dark blue menu at the top of the page.
From this page, you’ll find a variety of options to help you get the support you need.
Ever get an email and think, “Why did I get this?”
Who hasn’t? You likely received a dozen this morning.
Not only does this waste your time, it tells you to take the sender less seriously next time they email you. That’s if you haven’t already unsubscribed.
If a company sent it, then there’s likely a group of people all working towards high open rates, interactions, and conversions. So, what went wrong? For many, they skipped one crucial step. They didn’t segment their email list. They took a generic message and sent it to everyone in their contact list. Sound familiar?
Below we are going to highlight the 3 main reasons why contractors should segment their email lists. That’s if you weren’t already convinced by the introduction.
What exactly is email segmentation?
If you aren’t familiar with this process, think of a deck of cards.
You can separate the deck of cards into different colors, suits, low cards, high cards, face cards, etc. They’re all the same cards, but you can separate them into groups based on one or multiple variables.
Example:
One variable: I want all the red cards in one group.
Multiple variables: I want all the red cards, that are diamonds, minus the face cards in one group.
However, this does mean you need more than just an email address to segment your list. You’ll need additional information to make proper groups.
Example:
One variable: I want to email all existing customers.
Multiple variables: I want to email all existing customers, that we worked with this past year, minus the contacts that live outside our zip code.
As you can see from the above example, you need the contact’s name, email, project date, and location to create the list with multiple variables.
If you don’t have multiple variables or the ability to store those variables, then email segmentation will be much more difficult to complete. If you’re looking for tools that can help you manage that information, we invite you to review our email marketing tools here.
Why should contractors segment their email lists?
Today, we are going to cover the three main reasons why you want to segment your email lists.
Better open rates
Send laser-focused email campaigns
Lower unsubscribes
We’ll begin with email open rates. Obviously, without this step, the other reasons really don’t matter. We will then cover how the content is interacted with. Hopefully, leading to some sort of conversion. Lastly, we’ll focus on reader retention. Making your readers eager to see more emails from you.
Let’s get started…
1. Better Open Rates
So, how does segmentation lead to better email open rates?
Email segmentation naturally helps you build smaller more defined groups. Instead of trying to find a message that speaks to everyone, you can send more targeted emails.
Let’s start with an example. Imagine you’re a roofing company. A hailstorm has passed by a neighboring town and it’s a good opportunity to re-engage previous customers. You decide to quickly email your entire email list to offer a free hail damage assessment. By emailing your entire list, it includes other towns, cities, and territories that weren’t involved in the storm. To those readers, your email doesn’t make sense, and they’ll likely pass right over it.
Now, in that same example, you could segment your email list to the town that was hit directly, possibly, the surrounding towns and cities just to be safe. It’s the same message, offer, and subject line, but it’s sent to a specific group. A group that was directly affected by the hailstorm. The result… higher open rates because it excludes the groups that weren’t affected.
Of course, this was a simple example, but it demonstrates how incorporating this step can drastically increase your open rates.
2. Send Laser-Focused Email Campaigns
With segmentation, you can send tailored promotions, discounts, and offers.
Want to increase business in a specific territory?
Send a promotional email to just that territory.
Want to reward previous customers?
Send a loyalty voucher to your previous customers.
Want to cross-sell services?
Send a promotional email to current active customers.
Again, these are simplified examples, but it shows how segmentation can help you specialize your promotional emails.
Of course, you’ll never get every single person who opens an email to convert, but segmentation will help you increase your conversion averages.
3. Lower Unsubscribes
The goal of email segmentation is to increase your chance to send the right message to the right person at the right time.
Without email segmentation, you run the risk of sending an email that:
Doesn’t apply to your reader
Doesn’t make sense to them
Doesn’t add value to their day
Doesn’t engage them
Doesn’t interest them
Or worse, annoys them
Whenever any of the above happen, you run the risk of getting an unsubscribe. Don’t get me wrong, you’ll get a couple unsubscribes here and there, but you don’t want a bunch.
If you get too many, it’ll lower your email reputation. If your email reputation score falls too low, it’ll start putting your emails in a spam folder. This is the last thing you want.
Conclusion
Today, we reviewed the top three reasons why a contractor should segment their email lists.
To begin, it helps you increase your open rates. Once your emails are opened, it helps keep your readers engaged and more interested in the promotion, offer, and/or discount. With continued effort, it’ll lower your unsubscribe counts and keep your readers wanting more.
However, email segmentation isn’t the only step in making an effective email campaign. If you’re wanting to read our full list of email marketing tips, you can find them here.
If you’re a contractor or home builder who needs help segmenting their email lists, please view our email marketing tools. These tools are built specifically to help contractors and home builders get the most out of their email campaigns. You can find more information here.
We’re proud to announce TopBuilder 2.0 is being launched this week!
At the end of January, I announced my desire to raise the industry standard. To be more proactive on releasing new upgrades, updates, and additions to TopBuilder. It’s been a long couple of months, but we’ve finally made it! At the end of this week, we’ll be releasing TopBuilder 2.0!
Of course, we are overjoyed to be sharing this huge step forward with all of you. There are a number of changes we’ve made to our system, but many of them fell into three distinct buckets. Below I will be outlining those three buckets and a few of the major changes you can expect to see.
3 Major Changes with the Launch of TopBuilder 2.0
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1. New Look & Feel
As many of you have already seen, we’ve updated our logo, colors, and fonts to look more modern and crisp. It only made sense to carry that over to our software. With the launch of TopBuilder 2.0 you’ll see the same software structure you’ve grown to love, but with a brand new look. Here are a few changes you can expect to see:
New Logo & Colors
Improved Navigation & Menus
Cleaner Page Layout
If you are wanting to read more about these changes, you can read more here or you can watch the video below.
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2. New Customizable Dashboard
With the new look and feel, we wanted to give you additional control over your dashboard. This added functionality gives you the ability to organize the dashboard based on your own individual preferences.
With the launch of TopBuilder 2.0, you’ll see a standard dashboard created for you. From there, you can immediately start adjusting and tweaking the dashboard to your liking. Here are a few new dashboard features you can expect to see.
Add, Remove, and Organize Widgets
New Widget Settings and Preferences
Quickly Collapse Widget Panels
New Dashboard Adjusts to Different Screen Sizes
If you are wanting to read more about these changes, you can read more here.
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3. New Reports & Widgets
Now that TopBuilder 2.0 offers a customizable dashboard, I felt it necessary to upgrades the items (called widgets) in that dashboard.
These widgets show you information like active leads, tasks, alerts, agenda items, sales pipeline, etc.
With the launch of TopBuilder 2.0, you’ll see each of these widgets have been updated to mirror our new look and feel. Additionally, my team and I have decided to upgrade a few of these to be more efficient. Also, we added a report that I know you’ll all love.
Here are a few changes you can expect to see:
New Sales Funnel Trend Report (Count & Revenue)
Upgraded Key Statistics Widget
Upgraded Daily Agenda Widget
New What’s New Widget
New Feature Highlight Widget
New News & Events Widget
Again, we are so excited to finally be making these changes live. Over the next month, we’ll be offering training sessions to review TopBuilder 2.0. We’ll be sending out announcements next week for those training dates and times.
With the launch of TopBuilder 2.0, we’ve focused on efficiency items.
In other words, what can help you find important information quicker and easier. To make this happen, we’ve introduced some navigation changes, some page layout upgrades, and the customizable dashboard.
The new customizable dashboard is unique to each user and gives you the ability to display information that matters most to you. Do you want to log in and see just your daily tasks? Not a problem, go ahead and make that front and center. Want to see your leads, tasks, alerts, and agenda? Also, not a problem, organize your widgets however you like, it’s entirely up to you.
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4 Key Features of the Customizable Dashboard
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1. Add/Remove and Organize Widgets
TopBuilder 2.0 provides the ability to add, remove, and reorganize dashboard items (called Widgets).
In other words, each user can select the widgets they want to include in their dashboard. Additionally, if there is a dashboard item you don’t want to see, simply clicking the (X) in the upper right corner of each widget will remove it from your dashboard.
Don’t like where your information is placed? You can reorganize the widgets in each column by clicking and dragging the widget panel. It will automatically click into place once it’s near an available slot on the dashboard. Again, these are all based on individual preferences, so don’t worry about tinkering with it.
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2. Widget Settings
Your individual dashboard now includes settings and preferences.
These additional settings and preferences give your more even more customization over each widget. For example, you can decide to see lead information for your entire team or just yourself. Once you’ve changed the user preferences, simply click the refresh button in the widget header and new information will display for you.
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3. Adjusts to Different Screen Sizes
The new TopBuilder 2.0 Customizable Dashboard is now responsive.
This means the dashboard items will adjust and align based on your screen size or the device being used. The image above shows the customizable dashboard on a smaller screen. Since it’s on a smaller screen, the dashboard items automatically line up vertically. In other words, this feature make it easier for you to see all the items on your screen, regardless of the device.
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4. Collapse Widgets/Panels
Each dashboard item is collapsible.
With TopBuilder 2.0 you can collapse each widget panel to only display the header. This is useful for those who want to hide content without completely removing it. To collapse a widget panel, simply click the (⌃) icon located in the widget panel header. Once clicked, the widget panel will immediately collapse.
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Final Comments
Today we’ve reviewed our new Customizable Dashboard.
You can now add, remove, and reorganize your dashboard items.
Your individual dashboard now includes settings and preferences.
The new TopBuilder 2.0 Customizable Dashboard is now responsive.
Each dashboard item is now collapsible.
We are proud to be incorporating new updates to our system that improve efficiency. TopBuilder 2.0 is only the beginning. We are working hard to continually make improvements across the system. Have an idea for an upgrade or update to the TopBuilder system? Please fill out the contact form on our contact us page and leave your suggestions there. We’ll gladly review them!
As many of you have already noticed, we’ve updated our logo, colors, and fonts.
The updates to our brand image have been occurring slowly over the past few months. It started with our logo, next was the website, and now, we’re changing our software. Launching this week, the TopBuilder software will receive a variety of updates, upgrades, and additions. One of those major changes is our new look.
We want to emphasize, it’s still the same software you have grown to love, but with a brand new look. Below we will be outlining a few of the major changes you can expect to see with the launch of TopBuilder 2.0.
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3 New Look & Feel Updates to TopBuilder 2.0
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1. New Logo & Colors
Yes, the old TopBuilder logo has been replaced. With this logo change, we also updated the colors seen throughout the software.
This change is most obvious with the removal of all powder blue backgrounds. These powder blue backgrounds have been replaced with the new TopBuilder color palette. Additionally, many of the old icons have been completely removed or replaced with simpler, cleaner looking icons.
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2. Improved Navigation
With the launch of TopBuilder 2.0, we wanted to make it easier for you to find the information you needed.
To help accomplish this, we’ve adjusted our menu systems. Our first cosmetic change was to make the top header a contrasting color from the information below. Additionally, we’ve adjusted our sub-headers to display buttons. That way you can quickly see where to save, delete, and/or create new.
Additionally, we’ve decided to add a new menu system. This can be found by clicking the hamburger menu to the left of the TopBuilder logo. This will give you additional functionality over the page you’re viewing. We’ll be highlighting this information more in this week’s Feature Highlight.
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3. Cleaner Page Layout
This was one of the largest changes we implemented with the new look and feel of TopBuilder 2.0.
It was our decision to make every page look less cluttered. In other words, we wanted to simplify the viewing experience and make it easier to find information that’s been added to each page. To begin, we’ve moved the titles for each input field above the form, rather than next to it. Additionally, we’ve been working on making each input field the same width. Lastly, we made the forms with text added highlighted, that way your eyes are naturally drawn to fields with information. Making it easier for your team to quickly see the most important information for each contact.
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Final Comments
Our team at Topbuilder is excited and proud to share all of these updates and changes. Of course, our work is never fully complete as we are always working to make TopBuilder the best sales and marketing software for you, but this is a huge step forward.
As we proceed with our launch of TopBuilder 2.0. We will be holding dedicated training sessions for anyone wanting a deeper dive into each major change. Stay tuned, we’ll be announcing these training sessions next week.
5 Tips for Managing a Remote Office Staff as a Construction Company
As the coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to grow, more and more construction companies are being affected.
Whether you have a few employees working from home or your whole office staff, your projects must continue.
However, as many have experienced, maintaining a high level of communication and collaboration for these projects is a growing challenge.
That’s why our team developed 5 tips to successfully manage a remote office staff, particularly for construction companies. If managing a remote office staff is a growing concern for you, it’s okay, you’re not alone. Below you’ll find our top recommendations to help you navigate these uncharted waters.
Top 5 Tips for Managing a Remote Office Staff
1. Create New Communication Channels
For many construction companies having remote employees is an entirely new experience. Building new communication channels for your team is important. If you don’t, you can experience a severe loss in communication and collaboration, both necessary when handling projects.
Implement a Chat Tool
To begin, we recommend you implement a chat system for your team. Slack, Microsoft Teams, Google Hangouts, and Discord are just a few options that help your team stay connected as if they were in the office.
In other words, it’s best used for quick questions and/or comments, similar to shouting over a cubicle wall. These tools give your team the ability to create groups, like a finance group, marketing group, leadership group, etc. That way each department can quickly communicate with each other without cluttering their email inbox.
Implement a Video Conference Tool
Next, your team will need a video conference tool. Skype, Join.me, GoToMeeting, and Google Hangouts give your team the ability to meet virtually. As long as your device has a camera, you’ll be given the opportunity to see each other.
These video conference calls are similar to an in-person meeting. Meaning you can see who is speaking, read facial expressions, and feel more connected than a traditional phone call. Additionally, it gives your team the opportunity to share their screen. This can be exceptionally useful if the team needs to review something together.
Implement a Construction CRM
Lastly, we recommend you implement a construction CRM. Now that your team isn’t collaborating in person, they’ll need to collaborate through a different channel. A construction CRM will give you the ability to share client and project information in one location.
In other words, all job specifications, customer details, project documents, labor requirements, photos, and emails can be stored in your construction CRM. Additionally, it’ll give you the ability to set up automated tasks and alerts when each task has been completed, keeping each team member in the loop. If you are looking for a construction CRM, you can find more information here.
2. Create New Meeting Schedules
Creating a new team meeting schedule is next. You likely already have a meeting schedule in place throughout the week. However, you’ll need to schedule more meetings throughout the week to account for impromptu office meetings.
As a manager, we recommend you speak with your team and ask them if they need more time to meet as a team and with you. If they do, even a fifteen-minute meeting at the beginning and the end of the day could be enough to keep everyone aligned and on the same page.
Pro Tip:
If you do schedule more meetings, be sure to create an agenda for these extra meetings. Have a clear plan for each meeting. If not, those fifteen-minute meetings can quickly grow in thirty-minutes or longer.
3. Communicate Consistently
It’s easy for fear and panic to spread throughout a company if employees are left in the dark. Create a communication schedule to notify employees, contacts, partners, and shareholders how the company is doing and company next steps.
It’s important to be as honest and consistent with your notifications as possible. Going dark in a time of crisis can make panic escalate quickly. Additionally, make sure to inform your employees, contacts, partners, and shareholders when they will hear from you again. This will help keep everyone aligned and on the same page.
4. Create an Open-Door Schedule
Throughout the workday, in-office employees have the ability to speak with you. This can be through a structured meeting or just stopping by your office space. Once everyone is working remotely, they can lose that ability to speak with you and ask questions. This can quickly create a disconnect between you and your team.
We recommend creating a virtual open-door policy. Throughout the week, explain to your team you’ll be waiting on a virtual conference call during designated times of the day. If someone needs to speak with you, they can join the virtual conference and speak with you. If not, you’ll continue with your workday.
5. Be Flexible & Communicate Results
All new distractions can form once an employee is working from home. Yes, they aren’t meeting in the break room anymore, but they now have family members, children, and/or pets that can interrupt their day.
With these new distractions, a whole new level of flexibility must be given to your employees. It’s now up to the managers to explain to each employee their weekly goals and objectives. That way, if there is a family crisis, they can deal with it and come back to work later that day. This gives your employees a new sense of responsibility and keeps them from calling you each time they need to step away from their computer.
Final Thoughts
As a manager, it’s common to feel uneasy with a remote work force. You are now trusting them to work without supervision. However, by following these five recommendations for successfully managing a remote workforce, we are positive it’ll be easier.
If at any point you need help navigating your remote workforce, don’t hesitate to reach out to our team at TopBuilder. We been working with remote employees for over ten years. We’ll gladly help you and your team increase communication and collaboration.
