To mark its 20th anniversary, Procore wanted to celebrate its customers and share some of the highlights of their journeys with Procore. This article is the second in a series of customer stories that Jobsite will feature throughout the year.
Founded in 1994, Discovery Land Company, (DLC) is a real estate developer and operator of private residential club communities and resorts. Its vast portfolio of club properties spans the globe, with every building seamlessly blending unique architectural design with the unspoiled natural beauty of the surroundings.
Heidi Heitz, a Senior Procore Success Specialist for DLC’s building arm, Discovery Builders, is responsible for leveraging integrated solutions and implementations as properties and homes come onboard. As a seasoned Procore user, Heitz was instrumental to DLC’s successful Procore rollout in 2017.
Getting processes up to speed with Procore
One of Heitz’s first priorities was to standardize DLC’s cost coding and integrate their accounting system with Procore.
“The construction industry, in general, was late to the table with technology, but Procore was one of the first products to really get everybody up to speed. Being able to see data in real-time versus old-school reporting is invaluable,” she said.
As a 25-year industry veteran with experience both in the office and the field, Heitz has a deep understanding of the various roles and how best to influence and encourage Procore users. She believes in hands-on training and coaching until team members feel confident with the software.
Working hand-in-hand with the customer success team
As DLC has progressed in its Procore journey, Heitz specifically singled out the Procore customer success team as instrumental in achieving what they’ve accomplished.
“Procore’s support exceeds the norm. I could not do my job without the customer success team. I always find them to be professional, timely, and friendly,” said Heitz.
Since many of DLC’s projects involve purchasing and developing remote land, the company deals with unique logistical hurdles, such as managing deliveries in the continental U.S. as well as overseas. The company especially appreciates Procore’s open API when it comes to this challenge. Taking a step further, DLC uses custom-written software that connects directly to the Procore API with help from the team.
“It’s vital to our model that we are able to generate custom reports,” said Heitz. “We not only report internally but we also provide our members consistent updates with financial and construction data pulled from Procore.”
A front-row seat to an evolving industry
Heitz has had a front-row seat to construction’s evolving relationship with technology over the last two decades.
“The immediacy and accuracy with which we can get information out to people over the last few years is indispensable,” she said. “Our stakeholders want to know, in real-time, where they stand from a timeline perspective to how their money is being spent.”
Heidi Heitz, Senior Procore Success Specialist, Discovery Builders
As a company whose work runs the gamut from residential buildings to multiphase golf clubs, the team at DLC appreciates Procore’s flexibility to accommodate a wide variety of project types. Moreover, with Discovery Builders’ success so evident, other parts of the company are starting to take notice.
“Discovery Builders has proven what can be achieved in Procore, and it’s very exciting because now our development teams are showing interest. It’s a solid platform that can take the whole company to another level in technology as well as enhanced communication,” said Heitz.
As for what Heitz expects to see with technology in the next decade, she said DLC will continue to standardize processes and further break project information out of its traditional silos, adding transparency and making the information far more usable to field teams.
The company is also in the process of integrating its cloud-based accounting software with Procore.
“I think our technology is only going to grow and get better. We have an IT team that supports innovative business solutions and understands the importance of a return on our investment.”
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