As a small business owner wearing every hat, Bryan was looking for a way to grow and better manage his custom home building business without having to be his own marketing department or hire staff. After six months of using Houzz Pro, Bryan has accelerated his revenue and profit by two years, and is able to truly enjoy his work.

The Challenge

“As a solo entrepreneur, I need to streamline”

Bryan knows his time is valuable, and best spent on project details and client management so he can deliver the custom homes and great experience his clients have hired him for. Bryan was looking for business management software that would help him stay organized, keep clients happy throughout the process, and enable him to do more with his limited time. He was also looking for a way to outsource his marketing to save time, build his credibility, and bring him the right kind of clients. 

Bryan was searching for ways to be a really efficient one-man show. He needed to find a way to take on more projects without hiring staff. He tried a host of different and often expensive and overly complicated tools none of which worked for him.

On the marketing front, Bryan was familiar with advertising platforms and lead generation tools, but he didn’t want to be his own marketing department. He was concerned about the risk of spending hours he didn’t have to screen leads that didn’t meet his criteria, but needed to bring in projects located closer to home, to minimize time spent driving between projects. 

The Solution

Houzz Pro gave Brian an all-in-one solution that checked all the boxes:

• Tools to manage projects and deliver a great client experience
• Targeted marketing and brand-building to build client trust
• Tools to help close the deal and efficiently convert leads to projects

Delivering a Great Client Experience

To deliver a great client experience, Bryan shares the client dashboard with every client, “Clients love the dashboard. It gives them not only confidence in me, but it gives them peace of mind that they know exactly what's going on with the project at any given time. The timelines are on there, payments and paid invoices are on there, and all the communication we've already had -- they can see it right there in black and white.  It makes it easy to go back and say hey, what did we decide on that? And it also saves me so much time - there are fewer calls with me, which is super helpful.”

“I used to use super expensive timeline tools that are complicated, and that clients don't understand, but now with Houzz Pro it's actually built-in, and clients are able to see it right in the dashboard. I'm able to see it. All right in one spot.”

“Clients love the online payments. They already trust the platform, everything is recorded and captured. It shows right up on their dashboard that an invoice has been paid - super simple.”

Targeted Marketing & Brand-Building

All of Bryan’s marketing is now outsourced to Houzz Pro. He was able to step away from managing the day-to-day of marketing his business, and feel confident doing so. "Houzz Pro has allowed me to not be my own marketing department. And I love that you guys do it all for me. All the marketing and all the advertising builds confidence with clients so I can just focus on the project.”

The Houzz Pro team also built the Many Mansions website, says Bryan, “I used Houzz Pro to build my website and that’s saved me a lot of money.  It's super important to have a professional front for clients to see before they talk to you. And Houzz is a platform that my clients already use and trust.”

Closing the Deal: Efficiently Converting Leads to Projects

Following up with leads is now an incredibly efficient and productive process. “The leads Houzz sends me are already meeting my criteria - one, they’re in the right area, two, they’re in the right value for the type of projects I do and and three they're in the right location.”

And when it comes to closing them?

“Houzz Pro has a notes feature that lets me take every answer and lock it into the record, so every time I talk to that lead, I have all the background information. Even if I talk to twenty leads, I know exactly what this client wants because all my notes are there. Plus there's all the information they input themselves when they reached out to find professional help. So I have all that information at hand for that lead and it just builds trust when we're on the phone and I don't have to ask them the same question twice. A client told me that they went forward with me because I didn't have to keep asking what they wanted. They just felt very heard and so were very comfortable moving forward.”

The Outcome

In Bryan’s own words, “Houzz Pro has been an incredible return on investment for me. It's launched my business ahead by two years." 

Houzz Pro is now Bryan’s only marketing channel, and the only software he uses beyond QuickBooks.

“Houzz Pro has saved me an incredible amount of time and an incredible amount of work just because it's all in one place and on one platform. It simplifies everything for me and my client so I'm able to save money, time and stress. With Houzz Pro, I have this streamlined system in place, so I can actually have fun, I'm not stressed by it all anymore. I love what I do and Houzz Pro allows me to continue enjoying it.”