Meet the Team: Sean Means, Senior Consultant, MarkSystems

MarkSystems' senior consultants are not only software experts, but they also bring valuable experience in the residential home construction industry to each implementation. In this blog, we feature Sean Means, senior consultant with MarkSystems home builder software. We chatted with Sean to learn more about his experience in the home building industry, how the industry is changing, and get his advice to builders looking for a new system.

Tell us a little bit about your background. How long have you worked in the new home construction industry?

Sean Means (SM): My tenure in homebuilding got off to a modest start in the late 90’s in the trades. After a few years of working in the field, I had an opportunity to join the purchasing department of a national builder as a purchasing agent. I spent several years working under a common mentor for several homebuilders before stepping into my first purchasing manager role. My time working in residential construction now exceeds 20 years, culminating in my last post as vice president of operations.

How have you seen the home building industry change in the last few years?

SM: With my personal experience being so closely tied to costing and budgeting, my observations about the home building industry over the last few years are understandably linked to housing affordability. While interest rates have had an enormous impact on buying power in the marketplace, the run-up in material costs and increases in skilled labor due to a lack of new blood joining the trades have also played a huge part. These combined with cost increases driven by municipalities such as changes to Model Energy Code and increases in tap fees and entitlements have made housing affordability a bigger challenge than ever before. This underscores the need for processes and procedures designed to closely monitor and control direct expenses and maximize every dollar spent on administrative costs. Taking full advantage of an efficient and effective ERP platform like MarkSystems is key to controlling cost drivers and ensuring a healthy balance sheet.

How many builders have you helped?

SM: Even in my relatively short time with ECI, I’ve far exceeded the ability to put a number on that question. Every day, my role at ECI allows me to interact with multiple builders. My personal challenge going into each appointment is to exceed that customer’s expectations of the experience they’re going to have and provide help well beyond what they were seeking.

What are some of the most successful implementations you've seen, and why?

SM: Invariably, the most successful implementations I see are when the customer is willing to be flexible about processes and procedures. In homebuilding as with any other discipline, the tools we choose to use inform the methods we employ. While similar, a miter saw and a circular saw are different tools and are used quite differently. Software like MarkSystems is merely a tool you use to accomplish tasks. Being willing to understand how any tool works and adjusting your methods to best suit the tool you’ve purchased will always produce the best outcome.

What's your advice to builders looking for a new system?

SM: In identifying the need to change to a new ERP platform, asking, “Why?” is a crucial first step. Answering that question will inevitably lead to discussions about the needs of different elements of the organization. Armed with that knowledge, you can perform an informed evaluation of the choices in the market. Without it, you’re just shooting in the dark or worse, making a choice based only on a recommendation from a colleague whose business may operate very differently than yours. Be honest with yourself about how much complexity your business requires. Many builders purchase software designed for organizations that are vastly larger and more complex than their own and are dissatisfied with the administrative overhead required to run it. And of course, be flexible and willing to understand the way the tool you’re trying to purchase works so you can get the most out of it.

What's one word that describes MarkSystems?

SM: Only one? But I have so many. How about “sleek”? MarkSystems is designed to allow you to focus on the business of building and selling homes and not on running a software platform. There are a vast number of tools in MarkSystems that make it easier to manage data and reduce the number of steps to get from one end of a process to the other. This reduces G&A costs by reducing the number of people it takes to run the organization. While flexibility provided by increased complexity may be required by some organizations, I think what most company leaders want is a system that’s as easy to use and as transparent to the organization as possible. Having a system that is smooth and sleek is the best way to accomplish that goal.

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