ANDRES Construction, a well-respected and award-winning Texas-based general contractor, is one of the premiere builders in the Dallas, Fort Worth, Austin, and Houston markets. Ranked 138th on ENR’s Top Contractors list last year, ANDRES is a 100% employee-owned company that prides itself on creating long-lasting relationships with their clients and instilling a familial culture amongst its employees.

Headquartered in Dallas with satellite offices around Texas, ANDRES utilizes lean practices to eliminate waste, improve trade handoffs, and increase productivity. Their expertise lies in construction management, design/build, adaptive re-use, and historic restoration while their project repertoire includes multi-unit housing, high rise residential, commercial, adaptive re-use, office, and hospitality projects.

On the eve of its 30th anniversary this year, ANDRES Construction is proud of its stellar reputation and adaptability within a shifting industry. As construction sorts out its identity crisis accelerated by a worldwide pandemic, GC-prospect and GC-client relationships have bled into makeshift hybrids of “digitally-enabled” and “the old way.” ANDRES identified that its business development was due for a leveling up—a breath of fresh tech for a department in need of more organization and clarity in an increasingly lean and digital industry.

In short, ANDRES asked: “What systems will help keep us on track with our business development goals?”

Challenge

Appointing one of their own into a business development-specified role was the first step for ANDRES. When Jonathan Haywood was selected to run point and take the reins as ANDRES’ Business Relationship Manager, he desired a less manual and more streamlined way of handling BD duties: “I’m an organized person but the process was a bit scattered. Usually a quick spreadsheet, Word doc, or a quick note in a handy dandy journal. ‘Call this person, I’ve got a hot lead over here.’ That’s really all it was prior to getting engaged with a construction CRM like Buildr.”

With a pandemic propelling the convenience of remote interaction, ANDRES identified that a technological solution was required to bolster a BD department that had, to this point, been grounded in the physical. “Business development has been a handshake, a ‘let’s go to dinner, play a round of golf,’ kind of deal,” explains Haywood. “Post-pandemic onward, there’s much more of an emphasis on written skill and technical competency. Setting up those interactions and meetings will forever be different.”

ANDRES Construction sought out a CRM that would not only aid in its ability to manage its ever-increasing client base, but also help them keep pace with their lofty business development goals in alignment with the core principles that have brought the company from its humble beginnings 30 years ago: collaboration, community, conviction, integrity, and respect.

Working closely with Buildr the last few years on optimizing closeout, warranty management, and project handover processes made for a sturdy partnership based on trust and transparency that laid the tracks for a new solution for ANDRES.

Solution

Leaving spreadsheets, notebooks, and other piecemeal management systems in the dust, ANDRES adopted Buildr CRM to better manage its client relationships, instill team collaboration on pursuits, and accurately forecast their project pipeline.

With an ever-evolving industry and an emphasis on intentional, organized, and analytics-driven business development, ANDRES was impressed with Buildr’s ability to equip them with a system that keeps them on track with their growth goals without the complication that can come from adopting a new technology. “Buildr CRM is extremely user-friendly and easy-to-learn,” said Haywood. “I was comfortable using it and teaching others how to use it within the first week. And if I can use it, anyone can use it.”

“With Buildr, our client information’s right at our fingertips. It’s extremely user-friendly and makes us a much more powerful force in the market. The first thing I do when I come into the office is look at Buildr.”

- Jonathan Haywood, Business Relationship Manager at ANDRES Construction

Key Benefits

Organization:

ANDRES values Buildr’s ability to help them have an all-knowingness with their clients, on top of instilling a formal system for record-keeping that will outlive any one of its employees. Haywood explained: “It’s interacting with those clients and remembering ‘Oh yeah, this person enjoys steak. This person has 5 kids, this person has 2 kids.’ It sounds silly but that specificity means something on the business development side. If you’re paying attention, it makes you powerful in this industry. People age, memory fades. When I interact with clients, I can refresh with a quick look at my flash cards that is Buildr CRM. It’s powerful data aggregation that lives beyond you.”

Collaboration:

ANDRES Construction appreciates how Buildr better connects their teams, breaking the inherent siloing of scattered and disconnected methods of traditional relationship management in construction. “If I’m working with a client, and another team member’s working with a different member of that client’s team: ‘Hey I’m talking with X, you’re talking with Y. What are you hearing, what are we getting?’ Those notes are being passed back and forth instantaneously and that’s unbelievably beneficial,” said Haywood.

The Future of ANDRES Construction

Through Buildr’s forecasting features, Haywood and the team at ANDRES have a clearer understanding of their full project pipeline, which allows them to identify gaps and make better-informed decisions about the future. “Taking care of our employees is everything, we’re a family,” said John Andres, Operations Technology Manager. “Forecasting gives us stability and agility, because we can see where we’re at, then look ahead and make judgments on the best way to maneuver so we’ll always have work for our project teams, no matter what.”

With ANDRES Construction empowered and secure with their new system to visualize and execute their business development goals, the next 30 years are on pace to be brighter than the last. Jonathan Haywood looks forward to continuing to utilize and facilitate Buildr as his business development team grows, along with the rest of the company.

“Buildr gives us systems and processes where we didn’t have them prior. I can’t speak highly enough of the Buildr team and their dedication to building tools that make us smarter, leaner, and faster. Our goal is to be the leading GC in the DFW-Houston-Austin markets and Buildr is an integral part of that roadmap for us.”

- John Andres, Operations Technology Manager at ANDRES Construction

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