It’s become customary in the age of COVID-19 for companies to put out a press release or Facebook post about the steps they’re taking to ensure the safety of their employees, customers, and the general public. Construction management software company Buildertrend, however, determined to make the most of their website to educate, inform, and keep their customers’ businesses moving forward.

“We view ourselves as more than just vendors for our customers,” said chief operating officer Scott Siegert. “We want to give customers content that will help them run their businesses more efficiently, and sometimes that assistance comes outside of our platform.”

When the quarantine and social distancing became the norm in mid-March, Omaha-based Buildertrend created a support page on their website to help their construction industry customers navigate this new COVID-19 economy. The wide range of content includes articles such as “How to Master Buildertrend From Your Sofa,” highlighting eight ways to maximize productivity from home, to articles on how small business owners can take advantage of the Coronavirus Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act. They are also producing podcasts on everything from what it takes to be a compassionate contractor to the economic effects of the virus, often asking noted industry experts to be a part of the podcast.

“We realized that we had in-house legal and financial experts that our customers could utilize,” said Siegert. “We just threw our content team on it full [time].”

The company also moved its annual educational seminar, Buildertrend University, online so that they could offer assistance to their new clients. Siegert said they plan on holding additional webinars as a way to interact with and educate their customer base.

Part of that communication is coming during “COVID Conversations,” Buildertrend’s Instagram live series. “The goal is to have candid conversations with our customers on how they are managing their businesses and coping during COVID-19,” said Megan Longo, Buildertrend’s vice president of brand and public relations. She said the company has plenty of great content, including posts on building a marketing strategy, diversifying revenue, and why now is the right time to invest in  your business. 

Siegert says everything is holding steady for Buildertrend. The company had not laid off a single employee at the time of publication. Since construction is considered an essential industry, Siegert said that most of Buildertrend’s 14,000 customers across the world have seen virtually no drop-offs in construction.

“We’re still signing up a bunch of new customers and doing as many support training sessions as ever,” he said. “Contractors are super resilient people and we know that from working with them for over a decade.” 

A silver lining for Buildertrend is that the virus might push more customers to demand a digital experience from their contractors, though that’s not a concern for Siegert at the moment. He said that Buildertrend is planning on keeping the site up as long as COVID-19 is a threat.

“Keeping customers safe and informed is our main concern,” Siegert said. “We’re worried about taking care of the people first, everything else is secondary at this moment.”

Visit buildertrend.com/covid19-resource for more information.

This article was printed in the June 2020 issue of B2B Magazine.