We consider ourselves a pretty modern home builder….not only in the aspects of using technology as much as we can (read about the portal here and the Nest system here) but we also see a modernization of our product as a whole,especially when you compare floor plans from even a couple years ago to what you see today.
First, a recent article from Forbes, An Enormous Change is About to Hit This $15 Billion Industry, really hit home for us. Obviously, we work with trades every day, and while many still see the industry as old fashioned, we are trying to bring everyone to the same page. As Forbes explains…
“You call the plumbing firm and a middle aged lady named Miriam answers the phone. You ask to schedule an appointment. She checks the calendar. She tells you that a plumber can come out on Tuesday anytime between 1PM and 6PM. You agree. The plumber arrives that Tuesday afternoon at 3:37. He performs the work. You are pleased. He fills out a work-order. You sign the work-order. He leaves the work-order with you. Two weeks later you send a check with the work-order. Job over. You never hear from him again. Until the next problem.
This is what it’s like for most of us to use a plumber in 2014. It’s also what it was like to use a plumber in 1974. Nothing’s really changed. It’s not just the plumber. It’s the landscaper too. The painter. The company that installs the new water heater and fixes your air conditioning system. The service firm that replaces your garbage disposal, cleans your gutters, washes your windows or
sweeps your chimney. It’s a $15 billion industry made up of millions of service providers around the world and you know what? Most of them are still operating like they did 40 years ago.”
How many of you are nodding along to this? We’ve all been there before, right?
Now, let’s momentarily cross over the fact that once you build a Silverthorne home, your home is covered under a one year warranty, but we as builders still need to contact the necessary trades, so as much as I love scheduling those appointments, we
actually use the back end of our portal to schedule and contact most of our trades. It is a hard cycle to break, but we are seeing the trend start to take hold with our trades.
But how does this effect you, our homeowner? We use our portal the same way to schedule your 30 day service post-closing and your 1 year warranty items. Take this quote, from Professional Builder magazine in regards to the old way of warranty processing “… Previously, someone…would have to distribute inspection notebooks to all the warranty technicians. The technicians would
carry those notebooks to a customer’s home, have the homeowner complete their information, and sign off on the inspection. Then the tech would tear off that sheet and bring it back to the office, where someone would have to input that data into the computer system or at least scan it….” Sounds like a nightmare, not only as a home owner but as the homebuilder! Can you believe that we can do all of this now, with no more than our handy dandy iPads?! No wonder you’ll never see me without mine, right? Not only have we been there before professionally, but I went through it when I built my first house, and let me tell you…this process is SO much better. We are constantly looking at ways to streamline our homes and love embracing technology to help everyone from our trades to our home owners.
Are you wondering how else we are modernizing our homes and changing the face of homebuilding? Check back next week for Part 2 of our modernization series…