Bracing for a possible building cooldown with the APB’s Russ Stephens

Apr 14, 2022

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Episode 147:

Today on “The Building Code,” Zach and Charley discuss “The State of Residential Construction Industry 2022” report with Russ Stephens, co-founder of the Association of Professional Builders. Russ shares his thoughts on the benefits of making future business decisions backed by data.

Listen to the full episode to hear more about the APB’s report, the data predicting new market challenges for the industry and how to prepare for a potential slowdown in building.

HOW CAN DATA HELP BUILDERS RAISE THEIR MARGINS?

“Well, what are these guys on the higher margins doing that the guys on the lower margins aren't? And it's overlaying that data and being able to prove. I think, we always say margins are linked to marketing, and we are able to prove that the guys who spent more than 1% on advertising their building company were the guys that were achieving much higher margins. And it's facts like that. As a coach, you can talk about best practice, but to have hard data that no one can really refute or argue with and show, well, this is what the guys are doing. These are the successful guys. This is what they're doing. And these are the results they're getting. That's a fantastic takeaway for us because it really does help with, yeah, showing builders the way forward.”

WHAT IS ONE OF THE MOST INTERESTING FINDINGS YOU TOOK FROM THIS YEAR’S REPORT?

“I think one of the key findings really came about in terms of the use of project management software, like Buildertrend, because what we found is that 65% of residential building companies are now using dedicated project management software. Now, to put that into context, that figure stood at 34%, just 12 months prior – that is a staggering swing. So, it's a massive trend in our industry. And I think it clearly demonstrates that builders, residential builders are becoming more professional year on year - which is fantastic to see.”

LINKS AND MORE

To learn more about The Association of Professional Builders, visit their website.

Download the “The State of the Residential Construction Industry 2022” now for comprehensive data that can help you make better business decisions.

Get these exclusive offers from the APB:

Industry Benchmarks KPI’s Action Plan (Free – $500 value)

Professional Builders Secrets book (Free + Shipping)

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