PJ Callaghan increases close rate by 40%

P.J. Callaghan is a fourth generation general construction firm focused solely on commercial construction. They specialize in pre-engineered metal buildings for a core group of quality clients. Founded in 1948, in addition to pre-engineered metal buildings, they also offer services in general contracting, design-build, architecture, construction management, and facility maintenance.

The problem

Before focusing on commercial construction, PJ Callaghan’s original niche was building residential homes in the St. Petersburg, Florida area. Then in 1967, they became an authorized dealer of a metal building manufacturer and their emphasis shifted to commercial projects.

When focusing on commercial construction, communication with their clients, subcontractors, and vendors is crucial to ensuring every project is successful. The company also prides itself on being a customer-centric company which has helped them to build decades-long relationships with companies like Coca-Cola, Southeastern Freight, Penske and many more.

Unfortunately, their proposal process didn’t reflect their values. The process started with a less than stellar template in Microsoft Word. Then the proposal creator had to wrangle content and info from numerous sources and copy/paste it into the template. Due to these steps, it was nearly impossible to tailor each document they sent out simply because it took too long. End-to-end, the workflow was cumbersome and inefficient, not to mention the design wasn’t able to reflect the beautiful projects PJ Callaghan has completed.

The solution

When Thomas Burket, 4th generation President, went searching for a solution he originally found Proposify and DocuSign. But these tools still weren’t the perfect fit. They didn’t make his team more efficient because they were still using numerous tools to complete one proposal task.

So back to the drawing board he went. After researching competitors of his existing solutions, Thomas came across PandaDoc and ultimately pulled the trigger because of the speed, ease of use, and the ability to embed rich media into their proposals.

Thomas also loves the PandaDoc templates. Now he and his team can create stunning, custom, media-rich proposals in minutes thanks to the templates they’ve built for every specific type of proposal they send.

“I love the templates. It helps our sales team to create standardized proposal forms that are consistent across the different types of proposals we send out. Our customers consistently say, ‘This is one of the nicest construction proposals I’ve ever seen!’” Thomas Burket, 4th generation President

Perhaps the biggest change in their process is the ability to showcase the amazing work the PJ Callaghan construction team does. Thomas and his team can drag-and-drop content library items like graphics, building plans, and photos of previous projects right into their proposals making them stand-out and more enjoyable to read for their customers.

The PJ Callaghan team also takes advantage of easy-to-use and automated features like approval workflows, assigned roles, and our Google Drive integration. Taking advantage of the PandaDoc storage capabilities, Thomas and team can keep all of their documents in one searchable place helping them to stay organized and better track proposals.

The results

PJ Callaghan’s proposal process has made a significant improvement because they’ve gone from two disparate tools to one productive workflow. Thomas and his team are not only loving their new stunning proposals and quotes, but they’re also enjoying the real-time notifications they receive when their client opens, views, or completes their documents. These insights make a lengthy sales cycle more exciting.

Speaking of exciting, PJ Callaghan is thrilled that they’ve been able to save over 3 hours on their doc creation time. This time-savings has allowed their estimators to boost productivity and increased the number of proposals they get out the door by 3x.

“PandaDoc is not only simple to use but has allowed me and my team to be more efficient and consistent with the proposals we send. We’re a 4th generation construction company that has been in business since 1948 and PandaDoc has accelerated us into the digital age.” Thomas Burket, President

Now that PJ Callaghan’s quote and proposal process is more organized and has eliminated inefficiencies, they’ve been able to get back to the basics and continue to build strong relationships with their prospects and customers. The company also reports that PandaDoc has helped increase their close rate by 40% and increase their bid volume by 180%.

Most importantly, Thomas and his team can confidently present PJ Callaghan’s work helping them to win more business and continue to complete more construction projects for generations to come.