Buildxact was founded in Australia and has been successful there for many year—what factors have led to that success?
Buildxact’s success is completely attributed to our ability to solve our clients’ challenges with a servant leadership attitude. We see every customer as a collaborator from day one, learning from their direct feedback how we can improve our product and enhance their experience with their dealers.
We started as a digital takeoff service but have grown into
a comprehensive platform that helps small- and medium- sized construction businesses manage projects from start to finish. We’ve continued to develop the capabilities of our takeoff, estimating, and quoting tools, while adding cost tracking and connections to the builder’s homeowners and dealers.
What similarities do you see between the Australia and U.S. markets?
The U.S. market is larger and more fragmented, with thousands of dealers compared to Australia’s dozens. There are also significantly more technology solutions in the U.S. that are competing for the same customers, many starting as CRM tools that add takeoff capabilities as an afterthought.
Dealers and builders in both markets are dealing with a housing crisis, labor shortages, and rising building product prices. These challenges make Buildxact’s solutions even more relevant, as the need for a more efficient digital connection between dealers and builders is more prevalent than ever.
We know from our research that while dealers find value in offering takeoff services, they prefer if builders have the option to self-serve. We’re currently rolling out a modified version of our takeoff tool for dealer’s websites that will allow builders to do a free takeoff, offering dealers an easy way to improve their customers’ experience while boosting their company sales and reducing operational costs.
How can LBM dealers benefit from technology that addresses their unique challenges?
We know dealers have operational challenges with coordinating a platform integration into their existing systems and cultural challenges with getting long-time employees to adopt new tech and processes. However, technology is truly the only way forward, so it must be embraced in an effective way.
We believe in technology’s value, but people come first. Buildxact creates efficiencies so people can focus on value- added tasks like building and providing expertise, instead of chasing lost orders or dealing with incorrect quantities in purchase orders.
How can Buildxact strengthen customer relationships in a relationship-driven business?
When dealers offer services like ours, pros recognize the added value to their business and that the dealer cares about helping their business succeed. For instance, a unique feature of Buildxact is the ability for a dealer to upload their price lists or connect to their ERP system, giving pros full cost visibility to better plan and manage their projects and time.
Our platform makes project pre-planning faster and more accurate, reducing back-and-forth communication, which save everyone time, money and stress.
How can technology investments help lower an LBM dealer’s bottom line?
Buildxact gives dealers a quantified view of sales team activity, for easy insight into how many estimates turn into purchase orders. Dealers can also cut the time it takes to quote material cost by 50%, as Buildxact reduces back-and-forth communication and gives pro customers access to do their own takeoffs.
When a dealer uploads their price list into Buildxact, customers gain complete visibility to their catalog, which increases the dealer’s share of wallet and can potentially raise their revenue by an average $5,000 per connected pro customer.
Connected dealers also gain access to business and usage data, which creates immeasurable opportunities and gives connected dealers a unique competitive advantage. Although this capability is new for many dealers, it helps them quantify business opportunities and grow market share.
