Integrating Home Builder-Friendly AI - Zach Archer

Greg Bray: And we're excited to have joining us today, Zach Archer. Zach is the founder at XACT AI. Welcome, Zach. Thanks for being with us today.

Zach Archer: Thank you so much, Greg. Thanks, Kevin.

Greg Bray: Well, let's start off by getting to know you a little bit, Zach. Give us that background and overview about yourself.

Zach Archer: Cool. I'm Zach Archer, founder of XACT AI. I've spent about 20 years in construction working for builders, [00:01:00] engineering firms, owners, reps, across many different types of projects. Throughout my career, I've always been very interested in applying technology to make projects run better. You know, whether that's building information modeling, scheduling and estimating tools, field inspection tools, I was always just looking for ways to optimize efficiency and help teams execute at a higher level.

One thing I noticed, that was quite obvious along the way the whole time, is that construction has always lagged way behind other industries when it comes to technology adoption. I did understand why. It's really because the tools are clunky, the implementations were disruptive to the flow of a project, there's never any time for research and development in production. So, the ROI was a lot of times never there, and if it was, it just wasn't clear. So, everyone just sticks with what they know, even if it wasn't optimal.

I knew that it was going to take [00:02:00] something very revolutionary to actually change that. And then finally, along comes AI. So, suddenly you can automate repetitive tasks, enhance decision making, and deliver better customer experience without actually forcing people to completely change the way that they work. Finally, this was the breakthrough that I was waiting for.

 About five years ago was when I actually started XACT, before AI really hit the scene. And then in the last year or so, I've really been able to adapt to all these new technologies and really start moving the needle for builders. After about 20 years of seeing all of those inefficiencies, yeah, we finally have the tools to actually solve a lot of them, practical AI that helps construction companies capture more revenue, get more leverage from their existing teams, and really deliver the level of service that clients expect.

Kevin Weitzel: Don't give it all away now. We have more questions for you. Before we take a deeper dive into that, I've got two [00:03:00] things. One is the dyslexic in me wants to know why you didn't name your company X Zach AI?

Zach Archer: It is a little play on like the sound, the alliteration, I suppose. So like, there's some intention there for sure.

Kevin Weitzel: Alright, well, anyway, before we get started, this is something we do on all of our episodes is we need to know an interesting factoid about you that has nothing to do with work, family, or the home building industry in general.

Zach Archer: All right. You got it. So, one thing that I really enjoy is aviation. I've done over 400 skydives and earned my private pilot license.

Kevin Weitzel: You're way past the static line, because that's all I've ever done is static line.

Zach Archer: Yeah.

Kevin Weitzel: Jumping out of a C-130.

Zach Archer: Yeah, I did one tandem skydive, and then from there I was like, I need my own parachute. I need to do this on my own. So, I just went straight through the student course and never looked back.

Kevin Weitzel: That's awesome.

Greg Bray: Four hundred in what timeframe?

Zach Archer: About three years, three, four years, something like that.

Greg Bray: What's the most interesting place that you've jumped?

Zach Archer: [00:04:00] Well, it was always pretty much at the same spot. I mean, I had my home drop zone that I did most of my skydives at. I went to a couple other places from there, but you know, it's just right out on the peninsula of Washington State. It's beautiful. We've got the Olympic Mountains right there. On a clear day, we can see five volcanoes, just all the way up the Cascades. It's an incredible place for sure.

Kevin Weitzel: Then you are in for a treat, my friend. If you ever come down to Phoenix, we have a place called Eloy, which is a big jump center. Instead of that beautiful cascade mountains that you get to see, we just have a bunch of beige desert that all looks the same, no matter where you are. The landing spot is easy. It's just anywhere that's beige desert.

Zach Archer: Anywhere.

Kevin Weitzel: Don't land on the cactus.

Zach Archer: Yeah, definitely not. I've heard a lot about Eloy. It's a really big operation down there.

Kevin Weitzel: Oh, it's huge. Yeah.

Zach Archer: Yeah.

Kevin Weitzel: Alright, Greg, loop us back into reality. Where are we at here?

Greg Bray: Zach, give us a little bit more detail about exactly what you guys are offering for services for builders at XACT AI.

Zach Archer: Yeah, of course. So, what I've noticed is [00:05:00] most construction companies are sitting on an extra 20 to 30% in revenue, and they just don't realize where it's hiding. That's what XACT AI helps them find. So, we take a consultative approach. We start by first understanding how your business actually operates, your workflows, your team structure, where time and money is going, and then we identify from there, where are the specific places where AI can create the most impact for you. So, the solutions that we build are custom to your business, not just a generic software that you have to bend your operations around.

Greg Bray: So, a lot of people are throwing the word AI around when they're selling software. What does it really mean when you say we're going to apply AI to help you do X, Y, or Z differently, hopefully better?

Zach Archer: It really depends on where the use case is, where the problem areas are. So, first it's like, let's do a deep [00:06:00] discovery on what's going on in your business, what are the pain points, what are we trying to solve, and then it could be all kinds of different things that could come up. So, we just have to go and find it. Every conversation is going to be a little bit different. You know, if we're talking about home builders, there are a lot of similarities, but different sides of business, different team structure, there's going to be all kinds of different systems and operations that are already in place.

What I usually see is that everybody's very busy. The team is on job sites, in meetings, managing crews. There's all kinds of activity and everybody's working really hard, but when you're busy all the time, you're definitely not capturing every dollar that you could be, unless you have the right systems in place, of course.

So, let's say leads come in at 7:00 PM. You're talking to a home builder who has some advertising going on, they got lead forms on their website, things are coming in late at night, and they don't get touched until the next afternoon. A prospect could ask a follow-up question, and then it sits in somebody's inbox for a couple [00:07:00] of days. So, small communication gaps create friction that costs you referrals and even warm traffic that's coming directly to you. None of this might even be in like direct awareness. It doesn't feel catastrophic in the moment, but it all adds up to real money just walking out the door or never walking in the door, I guess.

Greg Bray: So, as you are walking into a builder, say for the first time, and they're like, okay, we need some help. They're open to it. Are you finding that builders have already tried to do this on their own, and they really haven't gotten very far, or are they just not really even there yet when it comes to how to use AI? What's been your experience in how people are exploring and experimenting, and adopting this type of technology?

Zach Archer: Yeah. I would say most builders are still in the awareness phase. They know AI exists. They know it can do all these things, but like, how do I even get [00:08:00] started? You know, maybe they have somebody on their team that's really getting into it. Maybe they've played around with ChatGPT a few times, but they're not systematically using it in their business yet. They don't even understand what all the opportunities are there.

The ones who are experimenting are mostly using it for one-off tasks. You know, maybe they're writing some ad copy, maybe they're using it to generate images for social media or something like that. Or maybe they're just having a conversation with ChatGPT, which it can be very, very helpful, generating an email, but it's generally pretty simple stuff. It's not necessarily getting into more complex tasks of like building a tech stack to solve a specific problem.

Kevin Weitzel: Let me make sure I understand this right. You're telling me there's more to AI than just ChatGPT?

Zach Archer: Yes, sir.

Kevin Weitzel: There was boatloads of sarcasm in my face when I asked that question.

Zach Archer: There are a lot of tools out there, hundreds, thousands, and there are more coming up every single day. [00:09:00] ChatGPT is kind of the market leader. It was the first to really come out and be the one that everybody knew as a household name, but there's many different versions that do similar things to ChatGPT. And then there are also tons of other, more specific tools that are being used for all kinds of different things.

Kevin Weitzel: Alright, so that brings me into a problem. And this problem is twofold. One is the number of companies that Greg alluded to that just have the initials AI in their name or AI in some sort of product that they're offering, and is hoping that they're just going to hit the mark. And two, there's also the bleeding edge of this technology and the fact that a lot of home builders need to concentrate on being home builders, not necessarily on vetting all these different technologies.

So, what is your advice to a builder that knows they need some of these systems, knows that they could utilize and leverage AI to their advantage without falling victim to just a passing fancy that a company or some investor has that they drop as soon as they realize they can't monetize it, [00:10:00] or two, something that just doesn't even apply to what their application would be necessary to do business. So, what are your thoughts on that?

Zach Archer: There's a thousand different companies out there that are all saying, Hey, I can do this and that for you. Probably ignore most of them, if not all of them, and really try to identify what's the problem that I'm trying to solve and how can I do that? And that could be a very simple conversation with a ChatGPT. How can I solve this problem? Maybe you can figure some stuff out on your own. There are a ton of very, very helpful companies out there. And there's a ton that'll just say, Hey, I'm going to solve X, Y, Z, and guarantee you 10x on whatever. There's all kinds of crazy claims that are coming out. There's a lot of noise, and it is difficult to really cut through all of that, to really find what's actually going to be helpful.

I haven't found something that is so consistent that like everybody needs this, so that's why I take the approach of discovery. What's really going on? What's the [00:11:00] problem you're trying to solve? What is the nuance in your business to where we can really start with the highest leverage opportunity instead of just getting distracted by all kinds of other fancy bells and whistles? There's a million of them, and it can just totally take all of your time and not get you anywhere. So, we want to find out what's the most helpful thing that you can do first?

Greg Bray: So, Zach, how do we find the most helpful thing you can do first? Where would somebody start looking for something like that?

Zach Archer: It all starts with that discovery process, looking into what's going on in your business, who are the major players, where's your time going, and ultimately, what's going to make me more money, how do we drive revenue? Once we have a solid grasp on the revenue system, then we can start looking into more operational stuff. Kevin, when we spoke before, you actually brought up a very interesting point [00:12:00] about lead management. There's a really high leverage thing that we could explore to help companies make sure that they're taking advantage of the inbound leads that are already happening without having to go and change anything. It's just how can we make sure we're not losing track of or dropping the ball on customers who are just coming in the door already?

Kevin Weitzel: I've got to give you kudos because in my world of sales, Greg just teed you up for the perfect opportunity to totally plug XACT AI, and you took the high road and literally just talked about the benefits and how you can actually seek these things, when they could just come to a fantastic consultant such as yourself and do that. So, Greg, thank you for teeing him up, and Zach, kudos for not to just using that as a selfish platform to just discuss your company, which is great. Although I do hear good things. I hear scuttlebutt, if you will, talk around the water cooler, that the services you offer are highly sought after.

Greg Bray: So, Zach, one of the things [00:13:00] I've seen for myself is that when I hear examples of what other people have done with AI, I go, Oh, I never thought of that. I should try that, or we should look into that. Oh, they did that kind of a prompt. Oh, they did that kind of a workflow. Somehow it's kind of hard when it's your own thing and you're just kind of staring at your paper, going, Oh, I should make a list of everything that I could use AI on. Right? Are there a couple of examples you've seen or helped people implement, ideally in kind of the sales and marketing side of the company, that you were just like, wow, that is a great idea that everybody should learn from? Anything come to mind?

Zach Archer: Yeah. I'll give you a playbook on how to tackle marketing. The first priority really is that lead management piece. That's where the money is. If you're spending thousands of dollars every month on, you know, Zillow leads or Meta ads, or even on SEO, whatever it is, and then your leads are sitting around for hours or even days before they're getting a [00:14:00] response, you're basically just lighting that money on fire.

You guys have been around sales long enough; you probably heard the stats of, if you respond to your leads within five minutes versus 30 minutes or an hour, you're a hundred times more likely to actually connect with that lead and 20 times more likely to actually convert them into a sale. This is studies from Harvard Business Review, and a lot of other people have looked into these stats. Regardless of whatever the numbers are, it's huge. The first five minutes, you have a way better chance of actually talking to someone and obviously a better chance of closing a deal.

So, that's where AI can come in and really help you right away, is instant responses, qualification, appointment setting, getting warm leads in the door so you can actually take them to the next step. It's not just that leads never get touched, it's also the ones that get on that initial call showed interest, but then they fell through the cracks because someone forgot to follow up or just all kinds of other things are going on, [00:15:00] and that happens all the time. But with the right AI tools, you can make sure that nothing slips through those cracks. You have automated follow-ups, reminders, a nurturing sequence that helps to keep them engaged until they're actually ready to buy.

And then, from there, so let's say you fixed that leak and you've actually been able to capture all the leads that are coming in, then it makes sense to start creating more activity at the top of the funnel. So, AI can help you stay visible with social posts, email sequences, blog content, without just dumping hours of your own time into it every week. You definitely want to be giving it your voice and helping it to create things that are going to look good and be effective, but this is where it really becomes powerful because the content becomes you're advertising, the best social posts turned into Facebook and Instagram ads, the best blog content becomes retargeting campaigns. You're creating once and then distributing to multiple channels, which [00:16:00] generates more leads, the flow into the system they've already built to capture them.

But again, like the key there is the content has to be strategic as well. It's not just volume. You can create all kinds of generic AI slop that sounds like everybody else, but that's actually going to hurt your brand. So, yes, automate it, but also make sure that it's trained in your voice, your customer stories, and your differentiators, so that it actually speaks the messaging that you want to be sending out to your customers.

Greg Bray: So, as you look at, let's stay with the example of lead response time, and I want to improve that, but I've already invested in this existing CRM, I've already got these processes everybody's been trained on. How do we start to bring in some AI tools without just throwing everything out and starting over, and who is kind of the best person, maybe on the team, that leads something like that? Is it marketing? Is it more of an IT kind of function? Where does that sit [00:17:00] well, in your opinion?

Zach Archer: It depends on the team that you have. If you have an IT person, then that's probably the one that's going to be able to approach those new tools the most effectively, I guess. But that concern of, we have systems. I don't want to throw everything out and just start all over; nobody really wants to do that, and that has been the challenge that I've always experienced in trying to implement any new technology. Because, in the past, it has always been that stuff's no good, let's try this new thing. And then it's learning curve and investment in new tools and things. Nobody wants to do that.

So, this is where AI actually comes in and can help to solve that problem because a lot of AI implementations can actually just connect to existing tools. So, if you already have a CRM that has an API, then we can just connect our tools into that system and be able to speak with the data that's already there. [00:18:00] So, it doesn't necessarily have to even look like anything has changed. The user experience from the team can just be enhanced with data fields being populated automatically or appointments being set onto the calendar automatically.

Our philosophy is simple. We layer AI on top of your existing systems. We don't want to replace all of them, at least not initially. Here's what it looks like in practice. Let's say you're using Buildertrend as your CRM. We integrate with an API. When a lead comes in from your website, from Zillow, whatever, our AI system can capture that, send an instant response, qualify the lead, and then push all that data back into the CRM. Then your sales team can work in the system that they're already used to, and they just have better data, faster response, and fewer manual tasks that they have to keep up with.

Greg Bray: As you described that, I think sometimes it's easy for someone who [00:19:00] isn't as comfortable with this AI to get kind of overwhelmed when they hear some of this stuff, and just think, oh, it's either really easy, AI just fixes everything. They're looking for a plug, right? They just need to plug in the AI and boom. Or it sounds really like, oh my, there's a lot of moving parts here to make sure everything is tuned properly and all of that. How do you deal with that overwhelmed feeling when you're talking to people? Because I know when we get overwhelmed, we kind of like say Never mind and walk away from it if it's too hard to kind of process.

Zach Archer: Sure. Yeah. That's where we come in. We want to make this process as seamless as possible for you, so we can really understand what's going on in your business, what problems are you trying to solve, and how can we just support you, bringing in an export to solve these problems without creating a whole new mess for you. That is the service that we offer, really is to make it plug and play. There are so many different things.

A lot of people don't even know what an API is. It's basically a way to connect two pieces of [00:20:00] software together. But if you don't know what that is or how it works, then how are you even going to get started? So, if you have an IT guy, great, maybe that guy can start working on some stuff. If you don't, then talk to us or talk to somebody like us that can come in and help you to create systems to optimize your processes for you.

Greg Bray: If there are builders that still haven't kind of started playing with any of these AI tools, what's a good entry-level way for them to start to get comfortable and just start to understand some of the things that are possible?

Zach Archer: Cool. Yeah. That's a great question. Here's a really practical way that you can start using AI right away that has actually nothing to do with sales and marketing, but is very applicable to production, building a home. You got problems that are coming up. How can we use AI to help us out? Think about project scheduling. If you have your schedule, wherever it is, you know, some guys have just an Excel, they kind of made a Gantt chart in Excel, or maybe they're using Microsoft Project [00:21:00], or maybe it's just a whiteboard, you're keeping your schedule on a whiteboard or a sticky notes. I've seen it done all kinds of different ways.

You can just take a photo of whatever it is that you're using for your schedule and feed that to ChatGPT and say, Analyze this schedule, identify any issues with the sequencing, and suggest ways to compress the timeline, improve coordination between trades, and watch it work. It can actually look at your schedule, understand the logic, ask you clarifying questions to stress test that critical path, and give you suggestions that maybe you haven't even heard of before or thought of.

I can also hear my old superintendent in the background saying, I've done this a thousand times. I know what I'm doing. Well, just hear me out for a second. AI is far better than any human at chess right now. So, at the very least, you have a highly intelligent assistant [00:22:00] who can confirm that you are in fact the smartest man alive, and you don't need any help, or at the most, it will uncover opportunities to save you weeks or even months off your schedule.

Greg Bray: I think that's a great example, Zach, too, of how the input doesn't have to be something maybe as complicated as people might think. These tools have gotten really good at processing things, like you said, from screenshots or pictures and figuring out what's there. Which is pretty amazing that it can just take this picture of some type of schedule and actually understand what's really going on there.

Zach Archer: I'll give you another one that can save you a ton of time, whether it's the foreman or owner of the company, whatever's going on, whoever's managing issues that come up on a job. When you come up against a problem, some constructability issue, you got to send in a request for information to the architect, right? So, instead of sending some vague question and waiting [00:23:00] several days for them to respond back, just asking for more information from you, use ChatGPT to help you ask a really clear question first.

So, a simple prompt. Here's the issue I'm dealing with, and then describe the problem. I can't install this the way that it's shown on the plan because X, Y, Z. Help me write a clear, specific question to the architect that includes all the context they need to give me a useful answer, and watch it work. Once ChatGPT helps you write that question, then you can take it to the next step. You can ask it, now, help me figure out what the answer should be based on best practices and code requirements. Ask me any clarifying questions you have in order to give me the best possible solution.

Then you can send this RFI to your architect. And you're not just asking a question, you're bringing a solution for them to review and approve, and that way, your architect can respond right away, hopefully. Maybe they like your solution. Maybe they want [00:24:00] to give you something different. Either way, you've provided real value and helped them think through the process to keep the project moving. That's the kind of practical AI use that can make your day and your whole life on a job site a lot easier starting today.

Greg Bray: I love the fact that you didn't say, and then ChatGPT will answer instead of the architect.

Zach Archer: Yeah, no, we don't want that. That's not the answer. Not yet.

Greg Bray: But it is true that it will bring some things to light that maybe you hadn't thought of, and you're like, oh, yeah, I should ask that too. So, you do it all at once, and if you save two back and forths that all take a day or two in between, that's real schedule time right there.

Zach Archer: Absolutely. Yeah. And you can do multiple iterations with that question. You know, you can have a conversation with the AI, trying to figure out, how do I really want to think about this problem? You know, maybe it's not just a ask it one question and get the answer, spend a few minutes with it trying to really get to the root of the problem, and a real solid solution to it, and you take it from [00:25:00] there.

Greg Bray: Well, Zach, this has been a great conversation. Do you have any last thoughts or words of advice on how folks can get started or maybe think more effectively about their AI use?

Zach Archer: Yeah. The one thing that I want you to remember is that whether you are already just crushing it or if you're struggling to keep up, the worst thing that you can do is wait to start adopting this incredible technology that's now available. So, if your business is doing really well right now, you're hitting your numbers, projects are on track, this is exactly when you should be optimizing. Not later, when things get tough or you're stuck with a bunch of problems. Right now, if you have the resources to do it, then get ahead of that curve, get ahead of your competition, because a lot of them are just comfortable coasting, and this is an opportunity to really take advantage and pull ahead.

At the same time, on the flip side, if you're already overwhelmed, losing leads, missing follow-ups, feeling maxed out on [00:26:00] everything that it takes to run a business, you might need help even more. So, the gap between where you are and where you need to be is only getting wider. AI isn't going to just magically fix everything overnight, but it will stop the bleeding and help you start capturing revenue or time that you're letting slip through right now.

Greg Bray: Well, thank you so much, Zach, for sharing some thoughts and insights with us today. If somebody wants to learn more and wants to connect with you, what's the best way for them to get in touch?

Zach Archer: Yeah, the best way to reach me is by email. It's Zach with an H, zach@xact-ai.com. It's xact-ai.com. Whether you want to explore how AI can help your business, you have questions about what we discussed today, or just want to talk through your specific situation, just shoot me an email, and we can figure it out.

Greg Bray: Awesome. Well, thanks again, Zach, and thank you, everybody, for listening today to the Builder Digital Marketing Podcast. I'm Greg Bray with Blue Tangerine. [00:27:00]

Kevin Weitzel: And I'm Kevin Weitzel with OutHouse. Thank you.