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Since purchasing Insight in 2018 and combining it with a specification writing software, Superior Aluminum Products has secured a massive increase in product specification and quote requests, with its independent manufacturer representative network burgeoning. According to Schemmel, "It’s great to see leads start to convert to sales..." Founded: 1956 Headquarters: Russia, Ohio Company Size: 50 Role: Manufacturer Specialty: Manufacturer of custom aluminum railings, columns, and fences Business Challenge: Needed a solution to help identify opportunities to increase spec share. More Information: www.superioraluminum.com Find out how you can increase your spec share. Learn More Today "It’s great to see leads start to convert to sales after a significant investment in time and money." —Dustin Schemmel, Marketing Specialist, Superior Aluminum Products INTRODUCTION For over six decades Superior Aluminum Products never lost its focus in becoming a respected leader in the aluminum railing, column, and fence industry. Each product they manufacture is custom-designed by full-time engineers and built by an experienced production team who ensure products are compliant with local, state, and federal building codes. All products are fabricated in Russia, Ohio and materials are sourced in North America. "You can throw the best party in the world, but if no one shows up it doesn't matter." —Doug Borchers, President, Superior Aluminum Products THE CHALLENGE Although Superior Aluminum Products has a strong history of producing excellent products and providing exceptional customer service, Dustin Schemmel, a Marketing Specialist, recognized that communicating to various audiences can be challenging. Schemmel states: "The main thing is, the building product industry, is a little behind...at times...technologically. A lot of people are working in the industry a little longer than other industries. The distribution methods we need to use for our messaging are a bit trickier." In the retail industry, when a new product is launched, social media or TV advertisements are used. "About 95% of the [retail] customer base will see it in those locations," Schemmel continued. "We don't have the option to reach most of our customer base with those options. Trying to figure out a way to communicate our message is a key component of our strategy." Schemmel closed with a quote from Superior Aluminum President, Doug Borchers: "You can throw the best party in the world, but if no one shows up it doesn't matter." THE SOLUTION Determined to achieve Superior Aluminum Products' business objectives, Schemmel received a demonstration of Insight, a ConstructConnect subscription software service for the construction industry, focused on providing leads, market analysis, competitive analysis, among other tools to improve team effectiveness and efficiency. Ultimately, Schemmel received approval to purchase Insight, received tutorial sessions with an assigned Customer Success Manager, and began incorporating Insight into his workflow process. One of Schemmel's workflow tasks is lead generation - finding, vetting, and sending leads to independent manufacturer representatives - per territory at the beginning of each month. He proactively provides necessary support to sales representatives who need additional project details such as plans, specifications, addenda or specific contact information. He is now able to do all of this through the Insight platform, allowing him to better use his time, and provide more timely and accurate information to the manufacturer representatives. Near the end of the month, independent manufacturer representatives send Dustin feedback about due diligence activity regarding targeted projects. "Sales representatives like the leads better..." —Dustin Schemmel, Superior Aluminum Products THE RESULTS Since purchasing Insight in 2018 and combining it with a specification writing software, Superior Aluminum Products has secured a massive increase in product specification and quote requests, with its independent manufacturer representative network burgeoning. According to Schemmel, "It's great to see leads start to convert to sales after a significant investment in time and money. [Insight is] intuitive to use with a higher quantity of leads. Sales representatives like the leads better because they are not all the same public projects like other services tend to have." Find out how you can improve your team's efficiency and effectiveness. LEARN MORE

Tariffs, Trade, and Transition: Post-Election Design and Construction Outlook November 15, 2018 | 2:00 PM ET Presented by ConstructConnect, AIA, & AGC

ConstructConnect Insight provides us with intelligence to find the specific glazing projects tailored to our kind of niche projects, early on in design, so that we can disseminate those leads to our reps for prompt follow up to get us involved and specified. Once the search criteria is established and a delivery schedule is set, it is "set it and forget it" to receive targeted information that helps provide leads for our business while monitoring our competition. We find great value in this service.

About a month after Daniel Mack joined crane fabricator Somatex, the company president called a team meeting. “Jason said that if we wanted to hang with this industry, we had to grow. He said if any of us had any ideas, we needed to bring them to the table.” Daniel told the team about LeadManager+ and how it would bring the leads to them. Shortly after, they started a free trial. “We got two or three jobs right out of the gate—before the trial even ended. It’s really a no-brainer.” Founded: 1989 Headquarters: Detroit, Maine Company size: 50 employees Revenue: $8+ Million Role: Manufacturer Specialty: Fabricator, installer and servicer of overhead cranes, hoists and lifting devices More Information: www.somatexinc.com/ Find and win more work Learn More Today A few years ago, Daniel Mack moved back to his hometown in Maine. Shortly after his return, he ran into a high school friend, Jason Amara, at a gathering. Jason was now running his family business, Somatex, which builds, designs and services overheard cranes, hoists, and lifting devices. Jason knew Daniel’s background in construction and project engineering would bring value to his company and offered him a project manager position. Shortly after Daniel joined the company, Jason called a team meeting. “Jason said that if we wanted to hang with this industry, we had to grow,” remembers Daniel. "He said if any of us had any ideas, we needed to bring them to the table."   Daniel had recently heard about LeadManager+ and thought it might help. “I told the guys about LeadManager+ and said that we could get a free trial,” says Daniel. “I explained that it would bring the leads to us. We starting looking into it and pulled it up on the big screen. We figured this can’t hurt, so we signed up for the free trial.” “We got two or three jobs right out of the gate—before the trial even ended,” says Daniel. “It’s really a no-brainer. We decided, given the cost, it was worth it.” Before signing up for LeadManager+, Daniel would call the same network of people they’ve worked with previously. “We’re in Maine, we’re in the corner of the world where the infrastructure is not rapidly expanding. We were trying to find new customers and it was hard. We were relying on the internet to tell us where people and projects were happening and it was extremely time consuming. “I knew we needed you [LeadManager+] when I jumped on there and I saw how projects just popped out at me. It doesn’t waste my time.” “It’s really a no-brainer. We decided, given the cost, it was worth it.” – Daniel Mack, Project Manager, Somatex Daniel worked with his LeadManager+ account manager to set up his searches, so the most relevant projects would come to him. They set up search tags that immediately lets Daniel know which projects are worth looking into. “Over time, we’ve dialed in our searches but it’s so easy to use. I log in and it’s already set up and I just scroll down. My search tags tell me this one is irrelevant, and this one is something I need to look into.” “This thing will tell me what’s going on in all of my areas and it allows us to get as big as we want. If we wanted to go down to the Carolinas, we could.” Daniel recently took advantage of a free trial to see projects in the Carolinas. From that trial, Daniel pulled in a $48,000+ job. “We’ve done really, really well with LeadManager+,” says Daniel. “We’ve pulled in money and work relationships out of it. It’s good, it’s really good.”   “With LeadManager+, I’m able to see exactly what’s going on in real time. I reach out to the people involved in the project and let them know what we have to offer and if they need pricing to let me know. Usually, they immediately get back to me and say, ‘Yes, please price Division 14/13/41.’ I’ll then get back on LeadManager+ and get into the project docs to get the information I need to estimate a system matching their specs and needs.” LeadManager+ also shows Daniel everyone interested in bidding a project. “One project had as many as 27 contacts—and I’ll reach out to all of them to see if they’re want our pricing.” “It has brought us a ton of accounts and these people now call me. I found them on LeadManager+ and we’ve done a project with them and apparently, we’ve done well because they’re calling us and saying we’ve got a job, seeing if we would send them pricing. It brings stuff to our doorstep every day. “It only makes sense for us to keep growing and this tool will allow us to do that. Today we are competing in Rhode Island and Connecticut and Massachusetts. We are competing in new markets, there’s really no reason why we can’t keep growing.”   “You’d be crazy not to have this system. It’s not every day that a building needs an overhead crane. If it’s doing this good for us, I can’t imagine what it does for people in everyday construction materials.” – Daniel Mack, Project Manager, Somatex Download a printable copy of this Case Study   Download the PDF 1.7MB

Before iSqFt, Kelly Basinger, project manager with Security Vault Works, would spend days tracking down subcontractors. Now she can launch a project and reach out to hundreds of local subs in a couple of hours. SECURTIY VAULT WORKS Founded: 1985 Headquarters: Laurel, MD Other Locations: California; Texas; Missouri; Indiana; New Jersey; Virgina North Carolina; Florida Company size: 250 employees Role: General contracting, project management, facility maintenance services Certification: National Women’s Business Enterprise Certification. More Information: www.svwinc.com/ Find more relevant leads Learn More Today Before iSqFt, Kelly Basinger, project manager with Security Vault Works, would spend days tracking down subcontractors. Now she can launch a project and reach out to hundreds of local subs in a couple of hours. “Have you ever felt like the phone was growing into your ear?” asks Kelly Basinger, project manager with Security Vault Works. She’s talking about a project in Everette, Washington that Security Vault Works had. It was in a new market and she didn’t have a database of local subs. “I called every sub I could find. I remember it was a solid two weeks of calls,” she remembers. “They would say, ‘we’re too busy,’ or ‘we can’t get to it within your scheduled time,’ or ‘we’ll send you a price,’ and then constant follow-up. It wasted so much time.” Thirty years ago, Security Vault Works started as an ATM rigging company, and for years they worked with financial institutions and did ATM rigging almost exclusively. As their customers started asking for buildouts and other work, the company saw an opportunity to diversify into general contracting. "I was surprised to find something like iSqFt even existed... It was something we definitely needed." - Kelly Basinger, Project Manager, Security Vault Works   Today, the company has offices throughout the U.S., including the general contractor division that operates out of its North Carolina office. “We had a sub database because of those 10 offices, but it was primarily for concrete and asphalt guys. When we were looking for a plumber or a painter, we didn’t have the database,” says Kelly. “We would get on the phone. We would do anything we could do to find subs. It took an extreme amount of time.” “Before, it would take me close to a week to nail down a good sub base that’ll price a project. With iSqFt, I can bid out a project in half a day” - Kelly Basinger, Project Manager, Security Vault Works A little over two years ago, Kelly was considering online plan rooms where subcontractors could look at their plans online that was not tied to the company’s website, their cloud or their server. That’s when she came across iSqFt. “I was surprised to find something like iSqFt even existed. That’s when I got the powers-to-be to jump on board,” says Kelly. “It was something we definitely needed.” Kelly uses iSqFt’s bid management tool. “We have our own private customers that we work for and we use the bidding side of iSqFt. We put our plans on there and if the project is in Missouri, I’ll use it to find subs to bid in that area.” Security Vault Works sends hundreds of ITBs every month for projects across the country. “Before, it would take me close to a week to nail down a good sub base that’ll price a project. With iSqFt, I can bid out a project in half a day,” says Kelly. Subs can easily respond to the ITBs, letting Kelly know if they intend to bid. This gives her a better grasp on bid coverage and whether she needs to find additional subs for the project. Subs can access the project plans and specs directly from iSqFt to provide a price. “It’s been great, I get an excellent response every time,” says Kelly. Security Vault Works is authorized to work in 48 out of 51 states and partners with local firms in the other three. The company is committed to be where its customers need them to be and assures its customers that they “no longer need to wonder where we are, simply know we are there.” Last year, the company completed more than 15,000 jobs, working in every state across the U.S. iSqFt’s nationwide subcontractor database has helped them more effectively serve the needs of their customers.   Download a printable copy of this Case Study Download the PDF 315KB