The Builder1440 Blog

Builder1440 Marketing Director, Tim Kassouf explores how popular social media websites and tools like Facebook & Twitter can be used to help sell new homes.

This webinar looks at using social networking sites to connect with buyers and prospects as part of the sales and follow-up process, and also highlights some exciting concepts and case studies for marketing a builder or community through social media.

Stay up to date on all of Builder1440’s events & webinars at:
http://www.builder1440.com/builder1440/Content.do?pageID=12

During the fourth annual Technology Day conference in Chicago, Builder1440 was recognized by Constructech Magazine with a 2009 Vision award. The award was given specifically for the work that Builder1440 has done with Provident Homes, a client from the Pennsylvania area, and was the highest recognition in the category.

The annual Vision Awards serve to acknowledge companies providing and implementing industry-leading technology services that support the efforts of home builders. With the superior tools that Sales1440 & My1440Home provide to builders, it is no surprise that Builder1440 has gained recognition for its commitment to innovation.

Vice President Matt McShane said it best, “Our number one job is to help builders sell more homes and make more money – and we build innovative technology that makes this possible. We’re honored by the award, but it really is all about our builders.”

Builder1440’s client, Hovnanian Enterprises, Inc. has been ranked in the InformationWeek 500 list!

The list ranks the nation’s business technology leaders, and Hovnanian was listed number 205 - the only home builder to break the top 250!  According to Chris Murphy of Information Week, the thread that runs through this years’ honored list is “relentless innovation.”

You can see where Hovnanian Enterprises on the list, but if you have time, you should also take a few minutes to read the full article on InformationWeek.

As the #1 Business Technology Home Builder, Hovnanian uses Builder1440’s Sales1440 CRM & Sales Automation software, as well as My1440Home - the award winning home buying portal created by Builder1440.

We’re proud to have them as a client, and thrilled to see their success, innovation, and dedication recognized!  Congratulations!

Builder1440 Improves Performance of Home Builder Sales Software by 90%

For Immediate Release

Baltimore, MD - Builder1440 is announcing significant performance improvements to Sales1440, the nation’s leading Sales & CRM software for the home building industry.

Since implementing improvements, Sales1440 is moving 25% more data every day, loading pages in half the time, and running long queries 40 - 80% faster.  Most notably, database performance has improved by 90%.

Builder1440 also used the advanced web security tools of sister division G.1440 to ensure that Sales1440 is free of vulnerabilities to web hacking threats like SQL Injection and Cross Site Scripting (XSS).  Web threats like these could threaten the security of user data, affect the application’s performance, or even infect its users’ computers, and in the face of these dangers, Builder1440 remains committed to web security.

According to Sean Wilhelm, Director of Application Development, “Throughout the remainder of 2009 we have planned initiatives that will deliver greater performance and scalability for our customers.” According to Wilhelm, these initiatives include usability enhancements and load balancing for additional performance improvements.

These performance improvements have far reaching implications throughout the home building industry, as hundreds of builders across the United States and Canada use Sales1440 to manage customer relationships and automate sales follow-up functions.

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About Builder1440
Builder1440, LLC is the leading provider of sales and marketing solutions for home builders. Skilled with a deep vertical knowledge of the home building industry and extensive technical expertise, our team designs and develops Internet-based software solutions that are currently in use by hundreds of builders across North America. Builder1440’s software and IT services increase profits and decrease costs throughout all stages of the home buyer life cycle.

Tricia O’Brien, Builder1440’s Director of Client Services demonstrates the enhancements to the latest version of Sales1440, the home building industry’s leading CRM & Sales Software.

Tim Kassouf, Director of Marketing shows how Advanced Email Marketing services can empower your new home sales, and how Sales1440’s campaigns (coupled with experience in email marketing) can work with third party email marketing software like Blue Sky Factory or Constant Contact.

Sales1440 v6.7 ® has been rolled out to the SaaS (Software as a Service) Production Environment as of 7am, Tuesday July 7, 2009.

Upon release, for those clients that are self-hosted, please contact the Builder1440 Support Center to schedule the update to your environment. Our support center can be reached by calling 866.462.1440 or by logging on http://supportcenter.builder1440.com.

This release contains many technical upgrades usability enhancements requested by the users of Sales1440.  The highlights of Sales1440 v6.7 are listed below.

Please click the links to jump to additional information on each feature.

• Sales Maintenance Phase II
• Usability Features in Customer Tab
• Customer Contact List

We hope that you find these changes improve the usability of Sales1440 and we look forward to hearing your feedback.    If after reviewing the documentation you would like additional training, feel free to call our support center to schedule any training you or your organization may need.

Our support center can be reached by calling 866.462.1440 or by logging onto http://supportcenter.builder1440.com. Your login is your email address, and the password is 1440, if you haven’t already changed it through the support center.

The most up-to-date manuals can be retrieved from the Support Center under the Downloads section later this week.

Best Regards,

The Builder1440 Team

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Sales Maintenance Phase II

Phase II has been released and it includes:

• The ability to create your own view and to filter the views
• Adjustments and Incentives can now be modified, as they were read only prior
• Additional Export triggers

If you’re not sure how Sales Maintenance can help your team, please feel free to contact us at the support center for clarification and pricing.

Click on the image for a larger version.

Usability Features in Customer Tab

• In the customer nameplate there  is now a link to add a to do item directly for the selected customer.  This is extremely helpful to the sales people who need to add a quick call or appointment reminder that is not tied to a set follow up program.



• When searching for a customer, you can now use their First Name and Ranking as criteria to find
  them.
• After a list of customers has been retrieved, often times you want to get back to that specific list.  Now you can in version 6.7 as there is now a Back to Results button in the customer tab.  By clicking on this button, it will return you to that previously searched for list of customers.
• When looking at the list of retrieved customers, the ability to sort this list has been enhanced.  Community has been added as well as being able to sort this list by customer rank, first visit date, and last visit date.  To do this, just click on the column heading that you want to sort by.
• On the Information Card, to edit the information the button used to say Complete which was inconsistent.  That has been changed to Modify to be like all other pages in Sales1440.
• One piece of feedback that we’ve heard throughout the years is when you’re on a long page that you have to scroll down to click save, it was an inconvenience.  We listened and placed a save and cancel button on those pages so no matter where you are you can see a save and cancel button and no longer have to scroll.  Here is an example:


Click on the image for a larger version.

Customer Contact List

By popular demand, we have added the ability to export the customer ranking and traffic source via the Customer Contact list under the Campaigns.  To review, here is everything that you can gather out of Sales1440 for any external marketing/tracking that you want to do:

Click on the image for a larger version.

Superior contract generation is fundamental to a successful sales process…

Can your current sales system do this? Generate a sales contract “just to do it” — for a prospect Make a change to a contract “just because” a phone number or email address changes Generate multiple contracts tied to a single prospect who is NOT yet a buyer Use HTML templates

The BENEFITS are clear! Imagine being able to PREVIEW a contract BEFORE you print or BEFORE you convert that customer to a sale.

If you are ready to “get with the program” that allows you the contract flexibility you need, then don’t hesitate one moment longer. Sales1440’s “intelligent contract management” lets YOU control the program.

Visit www.Builder1440.com today for more details and a complimentary demo!

Options make a new house a home. As a result, efficient lot option selection is extremely important, not only for a smooth design process but for your company‘s bottom line as well.

However, ensuring the correct options are selected for each lot can be a tricky and confusing process. This could be an ID that can make or break your sales process.

How confident are you with your current lot-specific option selection?

If your lot option selection has resulted in costly mistakes or a frustrating process for your sales staff, find out how Sales1440’s Options Rules Engines Online (OREO) can dramatically improve your sales process! Sales1440’s innovative OREO allows you to define inclusive as well as exclusive options down to the lot(s) within a community.

Click here to sign up for a complimentary demo of Sales1440 and the exclusive Options Rules Engine Online.

Only one third of new home sales agents follow up with prospects… Are you capitalizing on every lead that contacts you??

Sales1440’s exclusive Closing Action Plan (CAP) Follow-Through System developed exclusively by Bob Schultz and the New Home Specialists makes it easier than ever to follow up with leads and prospects by email, direct mail or telephone.

In June 2008, users of Sales1440’s SaaS application generated over 9,500 documents, which enabled sales representatives to stay-in-touch with and follow up with prospects.

To learn more about CAP system or any of the products in Builder1440’s software suite, visit www.Builder1440.com.

Among Professional Builder Magazine’s 100 Best New Products for 2008, Sales1440 Enterprise Edition v6.2 was selected.

Unveiled at the International Builders Show (IBS) 2008, the newest edition of Sales1440 is “easier to use and has better reporting functionality as well as includes enhancements for advanced customer management and tracking.”

To view the complete write up, visit http://www.probuilder.com.

For more information about Sales1440 or any of the innovative products in the Builder1440 suite, contact us by email or call toll-free 877.604.144.