Quality Foundation Repair Austin uses ArcSite to standardize their drawing, quoting, and takeoff process. Owner Simon Wallace says not only do his customers appreciate the professionalism and transparency that ArcSite provides, but his employees love it for its efficiency and time-saving capabilities.
When Simon Wallace moved to Austin, Texas, he noticed that his house needed some foundation work done. The owner of the company he hired noticed that Wallace was a bit of a handyman himself and started referring customers and excess work his way. After a while, Wallace earned a reputation himself as a foundation specialist and started his own company, Quality Foundation Repair Austin.
"From very early on, with my understanding of foundations, I would go under the house and put together a hand-drawn sketch. I would use graph paper, everything was to scale, and I would put a lot of detail in these sketches," Wallace said. "I would come out from the crawl space, sit down with the homeowner, and through the drawing I could explain how their foundation was built, what was wrong with it, and the repair method."
"As a result, through the power of drawing, I would win trust with the client, and that would result in a sale. And I realized early on the client was buying me and my explanation and the promise. So early on I realized that was the way to go."
Quality Foundation Repair Austin started in 1969 out of the back of a VW bus. Today, they have a 7,000 sq. ft. space, a fleet of trucks, several install crews, and have earned the reputation as one of the top foundation repair companies in the region.
"It's definitely grown, and with it the different systems. Back in the day, I used to have a manilla folder with each job, the original paper field sketch, all my receipts for materials and labor costs, and a one-sheet with my profit margin. Now we use Quickbooks."
In the same way the company's accounting process has changed, so too has the way in which they create drawings in the field.
"All of my guys were trained originally doing their own field sketches on grid paper, but the integration with ArcSite has worked beautifully," Wallace said. "The finished product is more standardized. So if you have someone like myself who doesn't have great handwriting and might be rushing, with ArcSite it slows it down, standardizes it, and everything looks beautiful."
Wallace says the transition to using a digital drawing tool has been a smooth one. "We had maybe two or three inspectors in the field doing the paper field sketches and then when we brought in ArcSite, it's kind of intuitive. It's pretty straightforward and speaks for itself. It was a pretty easy transition."
Sometimes it's hard to let go of the way you used to do things. For Wallace, he is "old school" in the sense that he likes the tangible pen and paper sketches that he used for decades. But when he realized the benefits of modernizing this aspect of the business, he hasn't looked back.
"With ArcSite, once you upload it, it's in the cloud or on your computer system for generations to come."
Wallace says this also helps with their returning clients. Instead of digging through filing cabinets for old sketches and notes, ArcSite's unlimited cloud storage allows them to instantly pull up jobs from 8 years ago, assess the work that was done, and make an informed plan based on those old files as to what might need to be done now.
"It's all on the cloud, it's all saved, so when we come back in 8 years, 10 years, 20 years' time, it'll all be there. That's one really nice thing about ArcSite."
Above all, Wallace says ArcSite has helped his company standardize its output. Even as a small business, Wallace believes in systemizing the process. This helps with their ability to scale when business is good.
"To create systems like you were going to reproduce your company several times, it makes it easy for everyone," Wallace said. "I'm all about creating tools for my employees to go out and do their thing, then they can go home enjoy their family, and shrink work time. Increase productivity but shrink work time. So using something like ArcSite makes a lot of sense."
In addition to standardizing their process to scale, ArcSite's drawings provide a more consistently professional output, so every customer receives the same level of quality from start to finish.
One of the best things about ArcSite is its ability to take what was once a multi-step process and cut it down to a one-step solution. With products and prices built into the tools you use to draw a sketch, your quote is calculated and generated instantly.
"When we first started using ArcSite, we were actually just using the draw tool. Then we would take that away, present that to the client, and then create the quote again in a separate invoicing and quoting software," Wallace said. "But we finally bit the bullet and took on the product software and it just streamlined everything a lot."
Businesses are often faced with a cost-value balance of implementing new system. While businesses want to use processes that increase productivity and sales, they also want to ensure that the cost of the new system is worth the return on their investment. Wallace says that his company is better off with ArcSite and for what they get in return, it easily pays for itself.
"I am a believer in 'charge it to the game.' This is the game we're in now. If you want to be the top foundation repair company in our area, we have to produce a professional-looking output and pen-and-paper is just not doing it anymore," Wallace said. "I think there a hundred different ways to pay for ArcSite. Charge it to the game, implement it."
"I think my employees would agree it's money well spent. It systemizes the company to where we have a standardized output that people like to see."
Another reason Quality Foundation Repair Austin loves working with ArcSite is the ongoing relationship they maintain with their users. Wallace credits ArcSite's Customer Success team for their fast communication, helpful guidance, and responsiveness to feedback.
"One of the great things about working with ArcSite is once you've upped the implementation and you've already started working, it's not like they just drop you like 'oh, you're already in the bag as a client.' The customer service is 100% fantastic."
If your business could benefit from a standardized drawing and sales tool like ArcSite, get in touch with us for a free personalized demo. You'll see why companies like Quality Foundation Repair Austin love using ArcSite as a way to increase productivity and produce a professional output.
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