Sharpening the Tools of Trade Partnerships for Lasting Constructs

Get ready to elevate your construction collaborations as Cameron, a seasoned electrician turned engaging podcaster from Tennessee, joins us to unravel the secrets of successful partnerships between builders and subcontractors. With his unique blend of on-the-ground experience and storytelling flair, Cameron reveals the eight key attributes that subcontractors must embody to catch a builder's eye, far surpassing the basics of craftsmanship. From syncing communication styles to standing strong in your business acumen, this episode is your blueprint to thriving in the competitive world of construction.

Step behind the scenes of homebuilding with us and challenge your perceptions of a "perfect" house. As we navigate the subjective nature of quality and craftsmanship across trades, Cameron shares tales from the trenches that emphasize the importance of clarity in expectations and the often-overlooked impact of a clean job site. These real-world anecdotes serve as a testament to the dedication required for crafting homes that not only look good but endure the test of time with respect and meticulous attention to detail.

Concluding our deep-dive into the construction industry's dynamics, we dissect the delicate dance of pricing and partnership, spotlighting the need for integrity and market know-how to ensure mutual profitability. We also chart the course for tradespeople aspiring to forge connections and make their mark, highlighting how involvement in community building associations opens doors to opportunities. With the foundations set, stay tuned as we pave the way to actionable insights on meeting builders and securing your place in the local development sector.

Chapters

• 0:03 What Builders Look for in Subcontractors
• 10:39 Homebuilding
• 19:51 Considerations for Partnering With Builders
• 25:19 Community Involvement and Finding Builders

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:03

Oh, I love that, love that.

Speaker 2: 0:05

Hey y'all, welcome back to another episode of Feed Me your Construction content. I am Carolyn McMahon.

Speaker 1: 0:10

I am Joshua McMahon and we're back.

Speaker 2: 0:12

We're back. I mean, it's week to week, it is week to week but this week we're back.

Speaker 1: 0:20

We feel good Watch the Super Bowl, which way, way too late.

Speaker 2: 0:25

But what a great game. It was pretty good.

Speaker 1: 0:27

Yeah, I mean, I didn't like the outcome, but I love the game, the atmosphere, just it's the best game we saw of your and, honestly, it's probably one of the only games that we saw all year, if we're being honest.

Speaker 2: 0:39

Exactly. All right, let's get it on.

Speaker 1: 0:41

That's right. So here's what we wanted to do. I had a. I was actually a guest on a podcast I recorded with the individual on Saturday, and he's an electrician out of Tennessee. You might remember Cameron from Tennessee Electrician. We interviewed him this time last year and now he's gone on to great things. He started his own podcast, which is on YouTube, and we were talking about what do builders look for in subcontractors? How do subcontractors find builders? So it was a really good discussion around that type of topic and it just made me wonder what are we looking for? What are we looking for in builders? And we've got eight different points that we want to touch on. There's no particular order and, to be clear, this doesn't speak for all builders. Every builder is different. Some people are going to have different priorities and different objectives and everybody's going to be a little different, but this is just some things, as a subcontractor, that you should be thinking about when you're approaching builders and how to get that work.

Speaker 2: 1:35

All right. Well, I'm looking forward to hear it, because you know, true to form, I've not seen the outline.

Speaker 1: 1:39

You didn't read the outline. I emailed it to you. Bullshit. Yes.

Speaker 2: 1:45

The podcast process is oh crap. Let me do an outline real quick.

Speaker 1: 1:50

We're recording. Here's my notes Go, go Okay, but that's where I think we do our best work.

Speaker 2: 1:55

Right, we're going to go in so that's under pressure, we can do it All right.

Speaker 1: 2:01

Number one. What?

Speaker 2: 2:02

do you think it is? What's the subject? Oh my God.

Speaker 1: 2:05

What do we look for in trades? What's the top priority for you and your role?

Speaker 2: 2:10

I mean, I mean someone who can do the job, yeah, I think that's important.

Speaker 1: 2:14

But your side, your design, your you're doing a lot of preconstruction, so you will Sure Communication. It's got to be communication for you, it is for me too, on the production side and in every other side. If they can't communicate, then how the heck do you partner with them? How do you, how do you discuss pricing? How do you discuss the specifications, the expectations? How do you get to any of that part without good communication? So I think that's where it all starts. What's your communication style? How do you communicate? There are many different ways to communicate. If you want to be a trade that's partnered with a builder, you have to figure out how that purchasing manager wants to communicate.

Speaker 2: 2:48

Well, in vice versa, like I work for a trade and I could email him three or four times and he's like you know what? Just I'm a much better phone person. Just pick up the phone.

Speaker 1: 2:58

Yeah, cause I think at your stage it probably works, or it could work if. If that's what they prefer, then you you want to reach them at their, their method. But early on is a trade. You have to figure out what's their communication style, because to get into the door you have to get through the purchasing department.

Speaker 2: 3:15

Well, yes, we have to get through the gatekeeper.

Speaker 1: 3:17

That's right. You have to get through the gate To get to purchasing. So you have to figure out what they're looking for, what they're interested in. That's when you have to bribe them. But you have to figure out some kind of in. You have to be creative.

Speaker 2: 3:29

Now are we speaking from the point of view of the sub-trade looking for work, looking for that builder, or for a builder looking for?

Speaker 1: 3:39

No, I think today we're talking about what do trades need to do to get our businesses builders?

Speaker 2: 3:44

How do?

Speaker 1: 3:44

you, as a trade, get in the door with us, because, sure, we have trades and they're doing our work, which is great, but they're not only doing our work, they need to be doing other builders work. So this is a way to help them understand what builders are looking for, at least again from our perspective.

Speaker 2: 4:00

Well, it's hard because I was on the trade side.

Speaker 1: 4:06

Great.

Speaker 2: 4:06

And I hated looking for business. I hated it. We've talked about it before. I was the worst Girl Scout ever, and you know, and that just has followed me into my head, but you recognize that it wasn't your genius and you just had to get away from that piece of the business, right.

Speaker 1: 4:24

So it's not that you're bad at it.

Speaker 2: 4:25

You just don't like it. No, I didn't enjoy it. I'm not passionate about it. I mean, some folks were just made to sell and while I'm good at my job, I'm confident. I like someone to just, you know, hand deliver them to me. That's not complete.

Speaker 1: 4:39

Oh, maybe hand deliver the lead per se. Right, yeah, to be clear, yeah, cold calling sucks yeah you don't like cold calling, you don't like looking in the yellow pages or any other means.

Speaker 2: 4:50

What is the?

Speaker 1: 4:51

yellow page. Well, back when you were a vendor, right, you weren't you in the yellow pages. What was this like 35 years ago before?

Speaker 2: 4:57

cell phones. Whoa, that's going to sting for you later, yeah, but what is it? They say something like you know it may take 12 times. Yeah, 12 touches, that's right 12 touches, 12 no's for that vendor to hang up with somebody that they're pissed off. And then you know, oh, you're calling at a great time, you know.

Speaker 1: 5:18

Well, I mean, that's what it takes, right? So key thing being is communication and just not giving up. Knowing what your pitch is, understanding what it is, but then when you get in the door, once you get through that gatekeeper, have good communication. How quick do you get back to? People set really good expectations with how you communicate? Sure, because I had an electrician reach out to me last week and said oh, I'm so sorry. I know you reached out to me in the fourth quarter of last year and I was just so busy I never got back to you and I was like, okay, okay, no problem, like I don't remember you, but let's grab coffee and let's talk about each other's business and see if there's mutual interest.

Speaker 1: 5:53

We got together, we talked about core values, of course, and I said this is what's important to me and this is what I'm looking for in a trade, and everything's lining up Like we're checking the boxes. We both feel really good about things. I said I'm going to leave here, I'm going to go to the office. I'll send you a set of plans for our house that we've already roughed in, simply to see where you'd be price wise. I'll send you the specs, the plans, everything. Take the time, give me your pricing. Let's just see where we are in the pricing scheme, and then you can even go walk the house, right, because then you can see really what we're doing and what you're getting into.

Speaker 2: 6:23

I feel like I know where this is going.

Speaker 1: 6:24

You feel like you know that they never responded to my email.

Speaker 2: 6:27

Right that it never went anywhere.

Speaker 1: 6:28

So, even though I need an electrician, you think I'm calling that guy back Like you're not interested in my business. You showed me that you're not reliable. You showed me that I can't hold you accountable.

Speaker 2: 6:38

Right, or that you're half in Right.

Speaker 1: 6:39

So I'm not interested, so I'm not going to move on with those people. Their communication style is not good. I got to do something different. It is what it is, sure and it's unfortunate, all right. Next thing for me is reliability, and I just touched on that with this electrician. They show they're not reliable.

Speaker 2: 6:56

Yeah, they can't even get back with you.

Speaker 1: 6:58

Because I'm busy, right, I am bogged down, I've got a lot of things going on. So if I make time for you to meet for 30 minutes to talk about our businesses and mutual interests and I say I'm going to go back and do something, I'm going to do it. I'm showing you that I'm reliable. I'm showing you that it's important. Reliability is important to me. That's what I showed that individual and I think for your role too, it's important to you because you referenced a vendor that you have to email three, four times before you get anything.

Speaker 2: 7:23

Right and again, maybe that's not understanding his preferred method of communication. A lot of folks that I deal with are the owners of the business, sure, particularly not really the guy on the ground and they're not always available by email, that's right.

Speaker 1: 7:42

And then sometimes I think you could say they don't have a process. They don't have processes in place to kind of get that dialed in and done right. So I think some of it is them having processes and understanding what to do and who to do what and, I think, setting those expectations up front because if you're the one man band, you're the owner and you're also doing all these different things I think you need to create that expectation that I'm a one man band, yes, I can get all of your work done. I will do all. Say request for information stuff. I'll do it all on Wednesdays. I'll do this all on Tuesdays, like set their schedule and make sure everybody understands, because here's the deal. We might not be okay with that. We should know early on so that we have a really good understanding and we don't set you up for failure, because that's ultimately what it is.

Speaker 2: 8:23

Right, and then you know if you're okay with it, then be okay with it, don't change it. You know, mid midway you know it's like those project managers or supers that have on their voicemail hey, you know, do you ever call someone and get the message? You know hey well, text me.

Speaker 2: 8:40

I have a vendor that actually does that, which is kind of bizarre. It's like I went through the motions to call you and now you're telling me to do something else. But anyway, you know those folks that set an expectation hey, if you call before a certain time I'll get with you. You know, by four if you call after this time, then you know, expect me to call you the day after. You know, right, you're setting your own ground rules.

Speaker 1: 9:05

Yeah, which I think is good.

Speaker 2: 9:07

And then again make sure you're follow through following through. Exactly yeah be reliable.

Speaker 1: 9:12

If you set the expectation, hold yourself accountable and do what you say you're going to do.

Speaker 2: 9:17

It's still funny. Those, those folks that thank you for calling them back and you know they gush with gratitude Just always find that funny and it's like what do you mean? I'm calling you back is that's the right and the expected thing for me to do, but so many people don't.

Speaker 1: 9:35

Because so many people aren't reliable anymore.

Speaker 2: 9:37

Right.

Speaker 1: 9:37

And they and again, I keep touching on it. But the accountability. Accountability is the next piece in my puzzle. They don't hold themselves accountable to do what they say they're going to do and it's it's so frustrating, it's hard to find these people.

Speaker 2: 9:49

Well, what kind of tax does that put on on your folks? You know, if they've got the greatest widget, they have a great price. But if they make you go through hell and high water to get what you need, it's, to me the price is is irrelevant. At that point it's it's not worth it.

Speaker 1: 10:05

It diminishes the relationship. If it's bad early in the pre-construction stages, how do you think it's going to be in the construction stages? And then, how do you think it's going to be in the service stage? Right, because service is where you make your money as a. As a home builder. You need good reviews. You got to provide good service. Half-assed service, you're not getting good reviews and you can blame everybody else, but the service is where it really matters. So if you have people that are not reliable and accountable in the early pre-construction stages, oh, the red flags are there, but I'm sure there's another bullet on this list. That is the reason why we're going to that vendor Next up.

Speaker 1: 10:39

For me, quality Quality is subjective. So this is this is an interesting thing. You need to understand what your quality is, what is your quality expectation? Because you remember, my first manager in home building said we have to build the perfect house. 20 years later, I still have no idea what the hell he was talking about, because I don't know what perfect is and I'm yet to find it. And I'm building some two, three, four, five million dollar houses and we're not finding perfect, we're finding damn good.

Speaker 2: 11:05

Well, it's a dumb and unreasonable expectation.

Speaker 1: 11:09

Well, it's subjective. So that's where. What is your quality expectations? Because some trades okay, I'm a custom home builder, you're a semi-custom home builder, production builder. There's production builders. Okay, there's production builders and custom builders. Right, there's your two builders, we straddle the line.

Speaker 1: 11:26

You guys try to figure out where you are in that mix. You have trades that are built for custom homes and you have trades that are built for production homes. You have to hire the trade that fits the mold. If you're a custom builder building a $3 million house and you hire a trade that typically does $500,000 homes, they're not going to meet your quality expectations. They might meet your price expectations, but you're delusional, you can't do that. So you set that individual up for failure and then, when they fail, you turn and tell all your people oh they suck, they don't know what they're doing.

Speaker 2: 12:01

Well, to some of it, I feel like it's still the same material right.

Speaker 1: 12:06

Material is the same. In most cases, the material is the same, it's the same, it's the same. I mean very subtle differences, really.

Speaker 2: 12:09

So there are crews that just pay more attention.

Speaker 1: 12:14

It's a skill set, right. So go back to my time when installing cabinets. When I first started installing cabinets, it took me 12 hours to do the job, and then I get down to four hours to do the job, and then I would go from four hours to six hours because I was putting more time into it to make sure the quality was dialed in and right Because I didn't want to get the crap kicked out of me by you when you came in through your punch block.

Speaker 2: 12:32

Oh, and you did.

Speaker 1: 12:33

And I did. I took a beating because you forced me to bring my best all the time, so you had to find that happy medium on what you could do. So the trades can do it. You just have to get inside their head and help them understand what the expectation is.

Speaker 2: 12:47

Right.

Speaker 1: 12:48

So you really have to be clear on what the quality expectation is. It's not just every project manager is different. So you know, Project Manager A holds them to this unreasonable standard that they always fall short of, and Project Manager B doesn't even walk the house. He has no clue what's going on at home. That Project Manager is waiting for the homeowner to put it on their list.

Speaker 2: 13:10

Right, or how about this? Oh well, the homeowner didn't catch it.

Speaker 1: 13:14

Oh, that's, exactly right.

Speaker 2: 13:15

Love those.

Speaker 1: 13:16

That's the quality expectation is well. Whatever the homeowner catches will argue if it doesn't meet the standards, or will accept it and will let warranty do it or somebody else All right.

Speaker 1: 13:26

Enough of that. Here's my next biggest thing and this is like so critical because I think it's the easiest thing we do and it's cleanliness. Do your work and are you clean. Customers hate walking through the house and it's trashed. If you have a dirty house, if you have dirty tools and you just look like a mess, customers think you don't care about their home. They think the builder no longer cares about their home. And then the customers start saying I got to walk this house two or three times a day because nobody else is doing it.

Speaker 2: 13:54

Exactly. It does speak volumes, and it's unfortunate that that's the perception. It's like okay, I'm a mess when I cook Does that mean that my food, that you're a bad cook. Yeah, that my food isn't going to be good. No, I'm just, I'm creative and I am I am a hot mess.

Speaker 1: 14:12

It's perception, and that's the unfortunate part, because I think you're very organized, but I bet your desk looks like.

Speaker 2: 14:19

Oh Jesus, it's a tornado. It's like calamity, carolyn, it's bad, but it's for me and that's the joke. It's organized chaos. If someone needs something, I know exactly where it is. Could I tell someone to go find it?

Speaker 1: 14:34

No, no, but you're very organized, you're very, very detailed and you're one of the best at what you do. But if somebody just went off with the perception of your workspace, they would think what a shit show this person is.

Speaker 2: 14:47

Wow, I don't see how she can take care of the details my two million dollar house.

Speaker 1: 14:52

Yeah, exactly. But if they really knew you they would understand. And that's the unfortunate part, because for homebuilding you get to go out there and see what they're doing. You get to watch them as they're on the factory line putting it together. You don't get to do that when they're building your BMW. That thing's built on a plant and it ships out and you jump in the car and you drive it off.

Speaker 2: 15:12

I don't know, man, you can go to Europe and watch that BMW.

Speaker 1: 15:15

That's right, but not every single day. You're going to go watch that BMW Hell. You can go to what Arizona and watch the Tesla is being built, but Elon's not going to let you stand on the production line critiquing what he's doing.

Speaker 2: 15:27

But in homebuilding. You can do that so.

Speaker 1: 15:30

I need to make sure our vendors are clean, not clean like bodily. Their work area is clean, they take pride in what they're doing. They clean up after themselves, they sweep the job every day when they're done, and every trade needs to do it, because it's a respectful thing to do and you want to set it up for everybody else. You want everybody to feel good working there.

Speaker 2: 15:48

Well and follow the leader right.

Speaker 1: 15:51

Yes, that's correct. So if the project managers aren't saying, hey, we need to clean up the houses when we're done, if they're not forcing the trades before, nobody's going to follow that rule.

Speaker 2: 16:01

When you set that expectation, I mean really, you know when we should install cabinets and you have these giant boxes, you know with cultured marble and and I used to hate those. And I used to argue with one of the project managers, but he was so right. He's like look, I know that you didn't get a chance to do your trash, but what happens is if you leave it, then someone's like oh, it's a receptacle than to dump my trash and then my trash and then everyone else's trash, and suddenly you have a hundred and fifty pound box and and they had every right to say, well, you need to come pick it up.

Speaker 1: 16:35

That's right.

Speaker 2: 16:36

It follows us at home and I joke with you about the dishes.

Speaker 1: 16:41

Yep Right the dishes is a great example Right.

Speaker 2: 16:43

The dishwasher is empty and I make a little note like, hey, I did dishes and you know dishwasher is empty. And then you put a plate in the sink and then I'm like, well, effort, I'm going to put a plate in the sink and then all of a sudden, you have a dishful or a sink full of dirty dishes, when they could be dirty dishes in the dishwasher. And so it's like you're setting that expectation you can follow the leader.

Speaker 1: 17:07

Yeah, and it's just not efficient when you start doing that stuff like right, I'm doing it twice.

Speaker 1: 17:11

How do we get more efficient? So so then, with the cleanliness what's on the builder's side, make sure you have a dumpster Right, make sure the dumpster is convenient to the house site, make sure the dumpster is not overflowing, because if you're not doing your part, the trades are just going to put it wherever they want. They're going to put it in the garage, they're going to leave it in the middle of the house, and then it. And then you get to the point of hey, need to come back and take your trash. It's like no, when I was there to take my trash, you didn't have anywhere for me to take it. Right Now, it's your problem. So we both have a part in this.

Speaker 1: 17:39

Next thing for me, and this is this is probably one of the most important things for me and its attitude. Attitude is so important when you walk into a house Remember, we were building our house Almost every trade that was on this job had a good attitude. They weren't cussing and moaning and complaining the whole time they might have when you weren't here to walk in the house.

Speaker 2: 17:59

Well, okay, fair listen.

Speaker 1: 18:01

Happy contractors are complaining contractors. That's just how we are Right there. I don't have a problem with you complaining, but when the homeowners walking through the house stop complaining, have a good attitude. Show people that you want to be there, because again it comes back to perception oh my God, they're in there whistling while they're working. They're really happy to work on my house.

Speaker 2: 18:20

I love to hear things. When you know they strike up a conversation with the trade, straight to the trade starts bitching about something like what are you doing?

Speaker 1: 18:28

exactly Zip it. Every single person on that job site is a sales person. You're in sales, you're selling your craft. You made the right choice hiring this builder. You've got really good trades on this job. Whatever, be positive. How to good attitude.

Speaker 2: 18:44

Well, exactly, it's just as bad as if the builder is complaining about their sub-trades. It's like wait a minute, you're in charge of that. You hired them.

Speaker 1: 18:54

One quick story on that. Remember early on my career. Again, this person in the warranty, the warranty manager, would tell customers this is by far the worst painter in the state of Virginia. He would tell the customers that when we're doing the warranty and I had this moment like I never heard it from the customer but as I'm driving away, I said wait a minute, didn't we hire that painter? So we hired the worst painter in Virginia. What does that say about the builder I work for? How do you think I felt working for that builder after that day?

Speaker 2: 19:20

Well, maybe you thought that they hired the worst project manager.

Speaker 1: 19:24

Well, I didn't know.

Speaker 2: 19:25

Maybe you were the worst superintendent.

Speaker 1: 19:28

Oh, but the back. Then I was just the warranty tech. So then I was like, oh, I made the wrong choice here. But then I, being the smart ass that I am, I would tell the painter. I said oh, I tell everybody, you're the second best painter in Virginia. He said why can't I be the number one painter? I said because you make mistakes too, and if you make a mistake, who the hell am I going to get if you're the number one painter? I'm like I got to have somebody else I can bring in here in a pinch. And he's like you're full of shit. That's good, but anyways, it was funny.

Speaker 1: 19:51

Next thing is price. You can't deny it. Okay, here's the thing. Everybody thinks that builders want the cheapest price. Okay, everybody needs to understand. We're in business to make money. It's not that we want the cheapest price. Is that we want to sell the house. If we can't sell the house, then we can't get the work, and if we can't get the work, then we don't have anything for you to do. It's not all about getting the lowest price so we can make more money.

Speaker 2: 20:16

No, I think the point is that everyone needs to make money. I mean, I've encountered that's right. Subtrades who put such a high markup on products to me. That makes it then hard for me to sell.

Speaker 1: 20:30

That's exactly right Fair and reasonable pricing.

Speaker 2: 20:32

Fair and reasonable, because what happens is, if I put the juice on it that I need right, then it's too expensive and we all lose.

Speaker 1: 20:42

No, that's exactly right, because you're not making money. Okay, so from a production builder standpoint, you're probably going to charge the least on the standards, right? You just? This is entry level. We want to get you in the door. We want to sell the house because that's how we make money. Next thing is let's do some upgrades. Right, you can upgrade your paint, you can upgrade your trim package, you can upgrade your flooring. Now, everybody has an opportunity to make money, but you have to be reasonable. I did some due diligence on countertops today. I found that the going rate was X and the competitor, the price that I got that we were presenting to the customer, was $60 more a foot, $60 more. I couldn't even do the math on how much margin they were charging. I sent them an email and said, hey, thanks, but no thanks, we're going to go this direction. It was unbelievable. I can't even make money on that. I can't even sell that job at that price.

Speaker 2: 21:34

Well, you'd look like a fool.

Speaker 1: 21:36

I would. The customer probably doesn't know the difference because they're not in this industry, but I do know the difference. I have a high level of integrity and I don't want to do something that challenges or goes against my core values.

Speaker 2: 21:48

Yeah, I mean that's just. I mean it was just wrong. I mean I even looked at it and I was like holy shit.

Speaker 1: 21:56

Oh yeah, we thought we were getting countertops, cabinets, and I'm like no, no, that's just the countertops Folks we're not talking about like courts, high level courts or courtside exotic, exotic high end like shipped on a freaking John boat across the ocean. Type of stone Like this was basic stuff.

Speaker 2: 22:14

Listen. If you've been in our industry for a minute, everyone knows what UbaTuba is.

Speaker 1: 22:20

Yeah, the stuff we shouldn't sell.

Speaker 2: 22:21

Right, it's like your price leader. Yeah, no one ever chooses it.

Speaker 1: 22:26

Yeah, so I have. I've helped the customer understand. We got better pricing. Everything's working out. We're moving in different directions, right, right.

Speaker 2: 22:32

Because what was happening is they were compromising on their design choices because this was so far out of their reach that they were actually picking UbaTuba. And I talked to Josh this morning and I'm like what do you mean? That's their selection. No way did they pick that. I'm like, well, no, they really want this, but they had to. So I was like, oh, you got to do something.

Speaker 1: 22:54

Oh yeah, and that's where, when you partner with the right builder, we find the right trades, we find the right people who embody what we're doing and we'll find those right deals. All right, last one and one another, one that's important time.

Speaker 2: 23:06

Time isn't like how long it's going to take you to do the job, absolutely Okay.

Speaker 1: 23:09

How long will it take you to do the job? How long will it take you to turn things around? How long will it take you to get your submittals done Right? So, if it's cabinets, how long will it take to get the design done? How long to get the stuff turned around? Will you hit your schedule on time? Will you finish on time? That is important. How many people are you going to put on the job? You have X number of builders. How many people are you assigning to me?

Speaker 2: 23:28

Well, I think it's an important to know, especially because we make this joke, that we put this vendor out of business. It's not funny, but they were never equipped to handle our business and they accepted it anyway.

Speaker 1: 23:44

It happens. I don't think all trades are doing their due diligence and thinking about that stuff, and I don't think all builders are doing their due diligence.

Speaker 2: 23:51

Well, they do it like oh well, if I take the work, I need to get the work first, then I need to figure it out how to get it done.

Speaker 1: 23:57

And I'm okay with that strategy. But you better be putting a plan in place and you better be moving very quickly, because not everything is going to be paid quickly, right? Net seven isn't real. Most builders are paying net 30, which means you're not going to get your money for 45 to 90 days.

Speaker 2: 24:12

Right yeah, net 30 isn't that you get a check in 30. It's like oh well, if it's you know invoice by X, then we pay on the next cycle, which you know gosh, I remember being in that boat.

Speaker 1: 24:24

You have to have the cash to be able to carry that. But that's, that's for another episode. So this one eight different points on. If you're a trade partner looking to partner with builders, what things are we looking for? And I'll just run down it real quick Communication, reliability, accountability, quality, cleanliness, attitude, price, time, slash, schedule. I think those are the most important things, and when you're interviewing with a builder, you need to make compelling arguments while you're checking these boxes and again, this is my perspective. So every builder is going to be different, but I think this does give you a leg up.

Speaker 2: 24:58

Well, I'm sure that everyone agrees to most of those points.

Speaker 1: 25:02

And if you don't, hit us up and let's get on here and talk about it, because, not because I want to be challenged. I do like to be challenged, but I want to know what other things. What are you looking for? What are you interested in? Because I think this is important.

Speaker 2: 25:13

Well, sure, and then, as a trade trying to get that business, how do you get it? We're going to do some episodes on how to get involved within your community, your building association, HBAV, that kind of thing. How do you meet the builders to even get?

Speaker 1: 25:30

in the door. I think that's great. I think this is a great entry to this segment, Like, hey, this is. These are the things you need to focus on. But then how the heck do you find these builders? Maybe that's our next week's topic.

Speaker 2: 25:41

Possibly y'all.

Speaker 1: 25:42

Let's think about it at the last minute, then we'll jump on and record.

Speaker 2: 25:44

All right thanks.

Speaker 1: 25:45

Till then see ya yeah.