The Foret Group is a design, construction, and maintenance firm with clients across a diverse spectrum of industries. Founded almost 25 years ago in South Louisiana, brothers Ryan and Benton Foret built the company from the ground up, growing the business from a single-truck partnership to a full-scale contracting firm with a revenue of more than $6 million annually.
Working with industry leaders including BP, Chevron, and John Deere, the Foret Group specializes in designing, installing, and maintaining complex outdoor spaces.
Despite the company’s growth and the subsequent increase in the scale, scope, and complexity of their projects, they used Google Earth for all of their takeoffs. It was how they measured, made estimates, and tallied materials. Ask the brothers about their estimating process and they’d give you the same answer: ‘Time-consuming.’
But as every landscaper and builder knows, estimates are an essential part of the job. No matter how big or small a potential job is, clients expect an accurate takeoff.
That is why the Foret Group was so ecstatic when they learned about LandOne Takeoff. What used to take them 3-4 hours using Google Earth and a sharp pencil now takes them less than one. That’s as true for big jobs as it is for small (and let’s face it, the Foret Group doesn’t do all that many small jobs these days!).
With LandOne, Ryan said that the team had drastically reduced the time needed to estimate commercial proposals, with contracts up to $50,000 taking less than an hour from start to finish. While other programs like Google Earth require manual tallying, LandOne automatically calculates every aspect of the job, providing accurate estimates on the spot.
A Flexible Solution
For Ryan, being able to instantly view measurements and tallies has transformed the way he examines estimates, especially on large-scale projects. Using the cloud system, he can review plans from home, eliminating the need to transport reams of paper plans back and forth from the office. What’s more, all the information he needs is now in one convenient location.
He said: “Rather than having to look at multiple tally sheets, we can now check measurements via a single document. LandOne tallies everything up with meticulous accuracy, then you just click on an area to see the cubic or square yardage. It’s a real time-saver, especially when you have upwards of 40 different zones to manage.”
By making it easier for team members to double-check material lists, the software has not only reduced estimating time but also improved accuracy. This has saved time and money by cutting back on material ordering errors.
Additionally, the Foret team is able to make changes with a single click, because LandOne automatically updates material counts. This has been an especially handy tool when working with clients who need a little more time to figure out what they want.
Seamless Integration
Ryan said that although LandOne’s features are more advanced than those of Google Earth, the two interfaces were similar, so it was easy for the Foret team to adjust to the switch. The team was confident using the software within two hours, and so far they haven’t needed to use our free technical support service!
Ryan added: “LandOne has been a great partner to LMN, allowing us to quickly and efficiently switch data between the two programs. LandOne is a very good estimating software. It’s incredibly cost-effective, particularly for a small organization like us looking to level up.”
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