Spend less, win more: What success looks like with group purchasing organizations’ local chapters

Man standing next to a compass, which is pointing at success instead of North.

Over the past 16 years, we have found that one of the most critical parts of launching a successful CBUSA buying group is aggregating the best builders in the market. Below are some questions you may have about success with a CBUSA membership:

What kind of builder is a good fit for CBUSA membership?

A: Whether you build two high-end custom homes a year or 200 semi-custom-styled homes a year, CBUSA looks for builders that are forward thinking, diligent about paying their bills on time and always looking to strengthen their building business.

Should I have concerns about working alongside competitors?

A: This is a common misconception about how our programs work. The success of our 450+ members over the past 15 years have proven that competitive fear doesn’t need to hold you back from the power of Group Buying. Becoming a member of CBUSA alongside other like-minded business owners for strategic buying and best practice sharing does not change the unique nature of your building company’s brand. It only helps make YOU become a more profitable home builder.

Your CBUSA Chapter can raise the quality of the whole building industry in your market by setting the standard for high quality homes at the best prices, working as the builder of choice for the best local vendors, being the chosen company for the highest talent labor. Chapter Members ultimately benefit by having credible business peers to discuss challenges and opportunities.  With economic trends changing daily, you’ll come to see how a trusted network that helps keep your company profiting will become an irreplaceable business advantage.

How does CBUSA help me network with the rest of my chapter? 

A: Our CBUSA Network Representatives coordinate regular local meetings and annual network events that allow chapter members to share best practices with their peers, discuss programs, share leads and references, plus ideate around current market issues. During these meetings (live or virtual), your local CBUSA Chapter Members will work together to develop a custom Group Buying Plan together.

What is a Group Buying Plan? 

A: A Group Buying Plan is what saves builders money and helps independent residential construction companies access big brand product discounts and national manufacturing rebates that you can’t get on your own.

With local CBUSA Chapters utilizing the power of Group Buying, the nationwide CBUSA Network is able to help you with four key business benefits:

1. Deliver significant savings

2. Take advantage of longer price locks

3. Achieve stability in volatile markets

4. Become a priority business partner to your preferred local vendors by streamlining your purchasing

How do a bunch of different building companies work together to accomplish Group Buying?

A: You begin by coming together with your local chapter and comparing current buying habits. You talk about current purchasing processes and learn how your CBUSA Network Representatives, a dedicated operations team of experienced building professionals, will support you during all steps of this buying process as well as share best business practices.

In what ways does CBUSA execute Group Buying? 

A: CBUSA has two key programs that work together to maximize your savings and rebates, National Contracts Program and Local Committed Purchases Program.

For the National Contracts Program, CBUSA utilizes the power of the entire network (450+ builders) to negotiate directly with Premium Brand Manufacturers, such as Kohler, James Hardie, Tyvek, Lennox and many more. This allows us to pass upfront savings and rebates that you wouldn’t be able to achieve on your own.

For the Local Committed Purchases Program, each Chapter leverages their specific CBUSA Chapter to purchase commodity items together. Your CBUSA Network Representative will help your local chapter aggregate each builder member’s intended purchases for a certain time frame.  From this aggregated information, CBUSA will create a custom collective purchase projection that we then bid out with Preferred Local Vendors. Upon receiving all vendor bids, CBUSA creates an analysis of the vendor options and presents it to your CBUSA Chapter to vote on the vendor to award the business to.


APPLY TODAY to join a chapter near you and take maximum advantage of CBUSA’s programs and services!

About The Author

Sean Robinson

Sean Robinson Sean Robinson is a senior content marketing specialist at Buildertrend