5 ways estimating software can help grow your construction business

Did you know that construction and contracting businesses have the highest failure rate of any business type? The US Department of Business estimates that 96% of construction and contracting businesses fail within 10 years. 

This is a pretty scary stat to face if you're a construction business.

Fortunately, there are ways you can stay ahead of the game, and ensure the longevity of your construction business. One of these is utilizing the right estimating software.

Estimate acceptance is a make-or-break factor for remodeling contractors. If your estimate acceptance rate is low, so will your turnover be.

Do you want to turbo-charge your acceptance rate? Save valuable time and streamline your business? Continue reading to find out 5 ways the right estimating software can help you grow your construction business. 

1. The Right Estimating Software Will Help You Win Back Time

One of the big benefits of estimate and construction software is that it can help you win back hours of time.

How long are you spending on estimate generation right now? Probably a few hours per estimate. For some estimates, you might be spending multiple hours putting them together.

If you invest in a good estimating and invoice software solution, you can generate accurate estimates within minutes.

How is this possible? One reason is that Bolster gives contractors various time-saving features.

With Bolster you can pre-build assemblies of items for common projects. Such a kitchen remodels, bathroom remodels, patio builds, etc.

Once you have created your assemblies, you can just drop these into your estimates and input the specific dimensions of the client's space. You can group assemblies to create larger, master assemblies.

Another way that estimating software can save you time is around re-doing estimates to suit clients' requests.

With traditional estimating, clients receive a static list of line items as their initial estimate. After going through it, they might want to make different selections on some of the options. This means that you as the contractor will need to go back and create a new, revised estimate for them.

With Bolster, this isn't necessary. Bolster's estimates are entirely revolutionary because they are interactive. Clients can edit their finish selections right within the estimate. The total will change in real-time to reflect any price differences.This puts clients in the driver's seat of the end result of their project. It also saves you vast amounts of time around liaising with clients on finishes.

2. Your Construction Business Will Be One of Few That Can Stay on Budget

If you run a construction business, you know how hard it is to stay on budget.

One of the inherent issues with traditional construction estimates is that clients are often forced to sign off on estimates before making their final finish selections. Once they do, they will invariably end up over budget, often by 20% or more.

This can be a very stressful experience for clients. It also makes it almost impossible for you as the remodeling contractor to complete a project for the estimated cost.

Because Bolster allows clients to swap selections out right within their estimate, you can eliminate all of this. Your clients won't have any nasty surprises around the final cost, and you can stick to budget. Bolster construction software also allows you to track expenses during projects to help you stay on track.

3. Construction Software Like Bolster Can Skyrocket Your Acceptance Rate

One of the biggest ways Bolster construction estimating software can help you grow your construction business is via your estimate acceptance rate. 

Bolster is almost guaranteed to win you more bids. This is because it solves a big problem that consumers face in the construction and remodeling industry.

Most construction and remodeling projects are big-ticket items. Typically costing a few thousand dollars. Traditional estimates fail to give consumers any kind of confidence or visual on their project.

Consumers are required to sign off on multi-thousand-dollar estimates. Without even getting a clear visual of what the paired finishes will look like!

This is crazy, and out-of-keeping with the modern buying experience. Which is why we decided to create Bolster so that you as a contractor can give your clients an Amazon-like buying experience.

Instead of being a vague, boring list of line items, Bolster estimates automatically populate with product images. This lets clients see what their selected finishes look like.

If they don't like a selection, they can swap it out for a different option. They can instantly see how that product or finish pairs with the rest of the project's features.

Nearly half of online consumers say images are the main influencing factor in their buying decisions. If your estimates have product images and the other remodeling contractors' estimates don't—your bids are going to stand out a mile from the competition's. 

4. You Can Eradicate Friction Points in the Buyer Journey

Bolster estimating software allows remodeling contractors to eradicate the biggest friction points in the buyer journey when it comes to construction and remodeling projects.

As things are right now, consumers face multiple friction points when trying to press go on projects. These include:

Receiving vague, confusing estimates

Not getting any visuals on finishes early on in the process

Having to sign off on a list of line items that don't give a feeling of clarity on their projects

Not feeling confident that the project will turn out the way they want

Invariably going over budget once they have made their final selections

These are just some of the friction areas consumers face when trying to hire a contractor. Traditional estimates make the overall buyer experience confusing, disappointing, and financially unpredictable.

If you sign up with Bolster, you never have to put clients through this process again. Instead, you can place the buying control in their hands.

5. You Can Send Estimates From Anywhere Within Minutes

With Bolster, you can create and send estimates within a few minutes from just about anywhere. As we said above, this can save you time. Quick estimate generation can also win you more projects.

Imagine you're a consumer getting estimates from remodeling contractors for a bathroom project. Whose estimate are you most likely to go with, the one that arrives within half an hour of your meeting with the contractor, or the one that comes in after 5 days?

Bolster is so easy to use, you can generate estimates from your vehicle, from a coffee shop, or right from a client's home.

Super-Charge Your Construction Business’s Future With the Right Estimating Software

Estimating software can save you enormous amounts of time, help you stay on budget, and improve the buyer journey. However, you need to pick the right construction software solution.

Bolster is the only estimating software available today that allows you to send visual, interactive estimates that provide an Amazon-like buying experience. It can also save you hours on construction estimating. Find out how much time you are wasting estimating and how you can fix that now here! It only takes 1 minute 30 seconds.

We are 100% certain that this estimating model is the way of the future. Bolster will give your construction business the edge it needs to survive and thrive, leaving your competition in the dust.

Book a free demo today to witness the simplicity and power of Bolster in action.