PRESTON DUGAS LAW FIRM EXPANDS CLIENT BASE AT STORM-DAMAGE EXPO WITH THE
BUILDERA SMARTGAUGE® MULTICOMPARATOR

Case Study

TREVOR DALTON, BUILDERA

Summary

Determined to elevate Preston Dugas Law Firm above the competition at the “Win The Storm” Conference and Expo in Phoenix, director of business development Alex Connell consulted Buildera for a custom forensic gauge sporting the law firm’s logo and contact information. Buildera Founder Greg Lowitz worked directly with Alex to customize the BUILDERA SMARTGAUGE® MULTICOMPARATOR™—a powerful, multipurpose tool ideal for PJD Law Firm’s hail and slope measurement interests offered to contractors, inspectors, and insurance adjusters globally. The durable SMARTGAUGE was an instant hit among the abundance of trifle giveaways at the storm expo; Alex handed out hundreds of the unique instruments, receiving positive feedback and additional product requests from multiple roofing and contracting firms.

Preston Dugas Law Firm (PJD) Background

Established in 2016, PJD Law Firm is a leading insurance and property litigation PLLC based in Fort Worth, Texas, with additional operations in Louisiana, Colorado, and Oklahoma [1]. Born and raised in New Orleans, property-damage lawyer Preston Dugas experienced the devastating impact of Hurricane Katrina first-hand, and has devoted his professional career to helping clients recover appropriate insurance payouts due to property damage. Dugas and his legal team of 10 employees focus on three areas of law practice in commercial and residential sectors:

• Property-insurance litigation 

• Fire and flood insurance 

• Property-tax litigation 

PJD Law Firm prides itself on its compassionate customer service and high case success rate. 

CHALLENGE 

• After representing PJD Law Firm at multiple trade shows, Alex Connell observed a monotonous trend: nearly all participating companies sought customer attention through inexpensive material means, regularly giving away easy-to-dispose items such as pens, hats, towels, notebooks, snacks and drinks. 

• Connell sought a differentiated product that would set her firm apart from the crowd, and was determined to try something unique for the 2020 Win The Storm Conference and Tradeshow Expo. She searched for a quality professional product that was not only innovative and versatile, but that also directly appealed to hail and slope measurements of interest to the contractors and storm-damage specialists at the trade show.

• Upon conducting a Google search for hail and slope gauges, Connell found Buildera’s unique set of structural forensic-monitoring tools. She contacted Greg, who offered to build a custom version of the Buildera SMARTGAUGE.

SOLUTION 

• Buildera modified the SMARTGAUGE graphics, highlighting the PJD Law Firm logo and reverse-side contact information to fit the firm’s demand for an easy-to-use, state-of-the-art instrument that roofers and contractors could employ for precise monitoring and assessment of hail damage.

• Built from hefty structural-grade polymer in a 2x6 inch form factor, this patented tool features an extended measurement range with 7-in-1 measurement functions, allowing the user to: 

  • Assess hail-impact diameter, slope and common-nail size;

  • Measure length and lippage, and

  • Quantify crack width and material thickness [2]

• The hail-gauge capability is of particular interest to property owners and roofers making insurance claims against insurers for hail damage—common to the region where hail diameter can exceed 2-3 inches.

• According to Alex, the Buildera SMARTGAUGE functioned as an effective talking point at the expo; she handed out over 250 gauges to numerous roofers and contractors—PJD Law Firm’s main source of business—who expressed enthusiasm about the product’s compact and durable design. 

RESULTS

• Since the February 2020 trade show, PJD Law Firm has received positive feedback on the SMARTGAUGE from a variety of clients. At the time of publishing, several companies have requested additional product shipments keeping the PJD Law Firm brand front and center.

• Connell notes that the weight of the device prevents it from sliding or blowing off the roof—important for avoiding loss of the device and for capturing photographs for insurance and litigation documentation. 

• In light of recent record-breaking hail sizes in Texas, PJD Law Firm plans to work with Buildera to develop an even larger hail gauge for the custom product. 

• “There aren’t products out there like [the Buildera SMARTGAUGE],” Alex notes, “having seven different measuring tools in one… it’s a good talking piece. I like the fact that it has a QR code on the back for the user guide, and Greg is willing to work with me to make this product more specific to our clients.”

• The next stop for PJD Law Firm and the Buildera SMARTGAUGE is the 45th annual Texas Roofing Conference in San Antonio, sponsored by the Roofing Contractors Association of Texas.

Acknowledgments

Buildera is grateful to Alex Connell and PJD Law Firm for their cooperation and invaluable contributions to this case study, including photographs and other critical project information. SMARTGAUGE photographs courtesy of Franco A. Guerrero of 1st Choice Roofing, San Antonio, TX.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Trevor Dalton is a writer and filmmaker at Wesleyan University with a background and interest in film production, environmental sciences, and statistics. He is a frequent contributor of case studies and customer-success stories for Buildera.

References 

[1] Preston Dugas, 2020. Preston Dugas Law Firm, PLLC. [online] Available at: <https://www.pjdlawfirm.com> [Accessed 2 July 2020].

[2] Lowitz, G., 2020. SMARTGAUGE® Multicomparator™ — BUILDERA. [online] BUILDERA. Available at: <https://www.buildera.com/smartgauge-multicomparator> [Accessed 2 July 2020].