Insights From Ryan Conley Of Windsong Properties: Improving Communication With Trade Partner Meetings

Are your trade partner meetings enhancing communication and efficiency? In this interview, Ryan Conley of Windsong Properties shares how effective meetings can improve relationships and boost project success.

When builders support their trade partners, communication improves, work gets done more efficiently, and profitability increases. One way to create this win-win relationship is through trade partner meetings. We sat down with Ryan Conley, purchasing manager with Windsong Properties, to discuss their recent trade partner meeting to learn more about it.

ECI: Why do you hold trade partner meetings? What is the format of those meetings?

Ryan Conley (RC): We hold a “State of the Union” type meeting at least once a year. I invite all our trade partners to review what we had done the previous year. We thank them for their help and outline the work we expect in the current year and what the following year will look like. We want our trades to understand where we are and, more importantly, what they can expect from us the following year. Not only does this help everyone anticipate the amount of work, but it also provides an understanding of the revenue perspective.

For the meeting, we ask our trade partners for an executive member, a person from their accounting group, and, if they have one, somebody from the scheduling group to attend. We find these sessions are most beneficial for our trade partners when the scheduling and back-office support attend the meeting. In addition to sharing business objectives, we provide safety information. Anybody who shows up on our job site to do work must go home at night. And this year, we decided to add technology training to the session.

ECI: Why did you include ITK training in this year’s trade partner meeting?

RC: We included ITK training after meeting with Krissy Majkutowski at IBS. We saw this as a great opportunity to give our trades a refresher course on using ITK. Krissy was extremely organized. Before the event, we had a weekly call set up, and we worked through a comprehensive document that took us through all the details we needed for training. Krissy was amazing during the training session. Her presentation was engaging, and she actively interacted with the audience to elicit feedback. The material she delivered hit all the key points we needed to. I could not have been any happier with how it went.

ECI: How has the ITK helped improve communication with your trade partners?

RC: As a MarkSystems builder, I find the ITK extremely helpful. It's the lifeline between us, Windsong, and our trades. Our important information can be accessed from the ITK—we have plans, POs, payment information, schedules, and all our option selections. I’ve worked with other builders; you go to six places to find information. With the ITK, it’s all in one place. We put everything there, so if anybody needs information, they can find it in the ITK.

In conclusion, regular and well-structured trade partner meetings are vital for improving communication and efficiency in the home building industry. Implement these strategies from Ryan Conley to enhance your trade relationships and project outcomes.