What impact will estimating software have on builders’ merchants?

You’re either running a builders’ merchants or you’re part of the branch team and you are considering estimating software. You’re winning already! You’re thinking about the future of your business.

Perhaps you’re not doing any take-offs or offering any kind of estimating service at the moment but your competitors are?

Perhaps you’re sending off plans to outsourced estimating providers and it’s costing a lot of money?

Perhaps you’re already doing it in house, maybe a bit piece-meal and it’s manual estimating and Excel spreadsheets and a bit of a slog?

So what difference could estimating software make to your builders’ merchant business? Let’s look at the known benefits of choosing a professional programme like EstimatorXpress or the Take-off & Estimate Kit by HBXL. (Less feature-rich phone apps and trade-orientated software tools won’t offer the same benefits).

• There’s a good chance that your competitor builders’ merchants are already offering an estimating service and you’re losing business to them. The right estimating software will allow you to provide an in-house estimating service too

• A good estimating software solution will deskill the estimating process. It’s no longer the preserve of quantity surveyors! You can keep estimating costs down by using existing staff rather than outsourcing e.g. utilising existing branch staff…or of course you could centralise your estimating to where branches can send their local requests

• It’s likely if you are doing manual estimating that you’re missing things from the estimates and materials quotations that you put together for your client. You could be securing more of your customers business and a wider share of the products they need if you had the complete picture of their needs, which you can achieve with a decent estimating package

• Good estimating software also has management features. It will allow you to stay ahead of the game. Not only will you be helping your builder quote for new work, you’ll have insight into what they’re working on. You’ll know what projects to follow up with the builder, and you’ll have automatically produced material schedules at your fingertips so you can help them call off the materials in advance of their requirements. This is helpful in 2 ways. Not only will you be able to guide them to ordering products early for which there are shortages or delays, but you’ll be able to secure it early with your suppliers once the order is placed by the builder

• Automatically produced, detailed material schedules are also good for the environment! It will help you reduce your customer’s trips to and fro to the builders’ merchant. Instead help your customer nail the order in one with a complete material schedule. That’s got to be good for the environment and your clients petrol bills!

• Being able to jump on a builder’s quote request with an in-house estimating service will make you look super-efficient and help you, help them win the work

• And there’s more. Your builders’ customers will respond positively to the well constructed, professional looking quotations you produce for them. You’ll help your customer build a positive reputation. After all, a health, business-winning builder means more materials spend with you

• Efficient, fast estimating software will mean you or your team spend less time estimating and will give you more time to concentrate on securing the business itself

• Running a building company is hugely stressful for your clients. Helping them work out what materials and plant (and labour too!) are needed on site and what materials are on long order is stressful and is increasingly affecting the mental health of builders. – again helping reduce their stress will bind them to you

• Finally the very best estimating software can either/or, or both be integrated with your product range and pricing (via spreadsheet, web service/e-commerce integration or with your ERP - whatever suits you), and better still, the estimated quantities of materials and plant required be exported to your systems from where you can quote the builder from - both massive time savers, saving time copying and pasting the quantities required manually from estimating system to your quoting system.

Basically, professional construction estimating software will help you deliver more sales from your existing clients by improving brand loyalty. You’ll know what your customers are building, what they need material and plant wise and when they need it. You’ll be able to help them call it off ahead of the game. This can only enhance your reputation as a company that is supportive of the trade. The practical benefits to your team are that it will save time estimating, deskill the process, save money on outsourcing and enable to you to do it more cheaply and less labour intensively than ever before.

There are plenty more benefits, depending on your requirements and the particular version you go for. Whatever, the impact is a positive one. Staying with manual estimating or inferior software or service and you risk being left behind. So choose well and choose soon!