Olde South Homes, Inc. was ready to expand the production and scheduling areas of its business. The leaders were comfortable with their existing accounting program, but wanted one system that did everything from A-Z.

The Builders CoPilot customer relationship management (CRM) software team listened to Olde South’s needs and recommended a switch to Sage Timberline Office combined with Builders CoPilot. Information entered and stored in Builders CoPilot easily translates to the Sage Timberline Office program and updates in real-time.

“They are very responsive and want to satisfy the customer. They were able to customize their product to fit our needs,” said Memory Strong, Olde South Homes’ controller.

Olde South Homes is excited about the potential to go straight from contract to production in one program with Web-access and real-time information. The custom-built solution provided Olde South with one integrated system for prospect tracking, contracts, a document library, scheduling, purchasing, punch lists, warranty and “back office” augmentations.

“The product is efficient. It saves time and money. It handles everything from walk-in to contract, to production, to closing and is an all-encompassing program,” said Strong.

Builders CoPilot generates beneficial reports so each team member can see what is going on in all facets of the business without picking up the phone or going out into the field. The real-time information decreases the chance for error and ensures that everyone is on the same page at all times.

Olde South Homes is currently building throughout the Raleigh, N.C., metropolitan area. The company was recently named the Building Company of the Year for the seventh time by the Wake County Home Builders Association at the 2008 MAME awards gala. Olde South Homes builds approximately 80 homes annually, and its president, Frank Wiesner, is the president-elect for the North Carolina Home Builders Association.

Scenic Homes, Inc. was in need of real-time reports to analyze and manage traffic to its communities and Web site. They did not have a sophisticated method of tracking that could provide relevant reports based on daily visitors. Scenic chose the sales component of Builders CoPilot because of its real-time, Web-based information that can be accessed from anywhere and is updated continuously.

The new customer relationship management (CRM) software was implemented in early 2008 and is currently being used in the Charlotte and Triad area markets of North Carolina. The Raleigh market is “shadowing” the implementation and will likely begin using the software later this year. Sherry Strohl, vice president of sales, is using the software to learn from their traffic.

“I want to know if the traffic we are seeing is the right type and what trends emerge from our traffic. We can develop a marketing plan for the future based on this traffic analysis,” said Strohl.

Strohl joined Scenic in February and plans to implement the various features of the sales component over time. “Eventually being able to send out e-mail blasts, thank-yous and follow-up communication to all traffic will be great instead of doing it all by hand,” said Strohl. She is also eager to use the software to auto-fill contract documents which will decrease time spent and overall errors. 

This is the first software of its kind for Scenic Homes. According to Strohl, the transition to using Builders CoPilot was pretty simple and easy to learn. She especially likes that now, her team is able to pull data from wherever they are, and everyone has access to the same information.

Scenic Homes is a large-volume, residential production builder headquartered in metro Atlanta. They build new homes in 71 communities throughout the Southeast, including Ft. Mitchell, Ala.; Atlanta, Ga.; Charlotte, Raleigh and the Triad area of North Carolina; and Rock Hill, S.C. Scenic Homes was recently ranked 56 in the nation on the “Top 100 National Builders” of 2007 list, released by Builder Magazine.