Computer Software

I am looking to get away from written estimates ready to load up the trucks with laptops and printers to give our customers a quick and professional bid. Was wondering what software has everyone had the best luck with?

Thanks

Hi Mike, We are having a good year this year. We are on track to have our 2nd or 3rd best year out of the last 13 years. The last 2 years the market here was extremely competitive. This year its less so due to a couple small to medium sized hail storms earlier this spring and steady rain all year long so far. Rained again today. Replacements have always been very competitve. I handle the repair side of things and have a salesman who handles the replacements. So i guess i was speaking from the repair point of view where many times the first guy out can leave with a signed contract. We stick to the upperscale areas of the metro which is where our office is located. This allows us to give quick service to the folks who have the money and actually keep up their homes. Increasing our ratio of sales made versus estimates ran. You would do very well over here too Mike. Theres not that many commercial guys here and loads and loads of large buildings with flat roofs. Little cometition. I have a lot of respect for the work you do. You've posted tons of great pics on here over the years. Keep up the good work! :)

The number 1 concern of customers is speed of service, especially concerning repair work or warranty issues.(I know, it should be quality but they don't know what that entails)( even after being told ) lol It has less significance with replacements due to the large amount of money a homeowner has to consider. They will take more time before deciding. However it is still very important. Using a lap top and printer will not speed up your service at all. So all you will gain is a little more professional looking document. Nothing wrong with that. I have considered it many times myself but ended up just sticking to the old preprinted forms. They are quick and easy. If i made the change the only difference would be all writing on the form would be printed instead of a mix of hand written and pre-printed. I use a combination work order/purchase order on one sheet of paper which is quickly and easily done on the office computer using microsoft word. Maybe i should change my name to Fred. As in Flintstone! lol I dunno! But it has and still does work very well. I'll give you a good example!Last week my estimator had an appointment to sign a contract with a customer. Upon arriving at the customers house, there were TWO other roofing companies estimators ON the roof measuring for their estimates. Little did they know we had not only already done the estimate but we had already sold this job as well. The homeowner was the 4th and last one to pull up and he ran the other two off his property upon arriving. lol

We developed our own template in Word that I have been using in my van for a couple years. I print off the contract and pictures on site. Works well.

gonzo877 Said: I am looking to get away from written estimates ready to load up the trucks with laptops and printers to give our customers a quick and professional bid. Was wondering what software has everyone had the best luck with?

Thanks

I have been using a laptop and a full color printer in my truck for years. On the spot estimates have worked for me. When both parties are not there is when I change the sales pitch and come back with the quote when they are both there. Keeps me from hoping I didn't waste my time. This year I have ran into more people asking why we are higher than other companies. Within 15 minutes we get past that and I have a new client/customer. We even utilize our laptops to keep customers aware of bad wood by using pictures and email update/s during the day. People love our customer service, our crews and the whole experience. Our reputation has started to outway any price objections.

This is not rocket science and unless the house is really cut up or it's not a standard roof install there is no reason that you shouldn't be able to get a bid to your customer within two hours of meeting with them the first time.

We use a good/better/best proposal system with most of what you would use on a roof in a word program. We change things to suite where we are.

Hope this helps.

I use Contrackerez. It was designed by a roofer in Connecticut. I like it a lot. It works really well for us. It also prints work orders, purchase orders, and invoices. We do not use it for the invoices. Dave and Melanie are really good people to work with if you have any problems.

There is a lot to be said about thinking about a job before you put numbers on paper. I write up estimates with a full description of what I am doing and why. I don't do that many, and am very selective. I use "WORD" from Microsoft

Same as Mike. Unless it's a simple $700-900 quesstimate. Then, I'll just say that and leave to the client.