Opiniones de Buildertrend

Comentarios: I used other CRMs in the past, but love using BuilderTrend. Its simple setup has allowed me to keep track of my customers as well as provide better follow up to my clients. I just utilize the Sales section of BuilderTrend, but it has improved my client relationships and increased my overall sales.

Puntos a favor: Buildertrend is great--I love using the Activity Calendar and Lead Report to keep track of my follow up with my customers. I can use activity notes to remember what I discussed with customers when we last spoke, and this helps me engage in better dialogue when I follow up with customers. Our installation team loves using the project management feature to keep track of our installs and provide an easy transition from sales to installation.

Contras: The user interface is kind of clunky, especially on the app. Sometimes it is difficult to find stuff and the filters can get annoying.

Comentarios: Amazing. Has been a game changer for our small business and has the capacity to grow with us!

Puntos a favor: BuilderTrend is built for us, builders! It has what we need, without hassle. All of our employees, from the most tech savy to those used to pen and paper, have been able to use with ease. All notes, photos, documents and more all in once place, with access to all. So Much Better than the physical folders we were using just a few years ago. So Thankful for BuilderTremd!

Contras: Sales Reports to track year to date, month to date, etc would be helpful for our sales team. The data is there, it just needs programming to make this happen.

Comentarios: Overall, it was great! They were always improving the program and were always available to help.

Puntos a favor: The best thing this offered to my company was clean and clear communication with my clients. It set us apart from other companies - allowing the clients to have their own sites to pay, see updates, track communication, sign documents, and more. As we do renovations, many of our clients are not local enough, so using this program allowed me to keep them updated and get draws without us feeling hounded by them and without them ever worrying about progress.

Contras: The worst part would be the cost/benefit factor - specifically as it pertained to our company. When we changed to do smaller projects ($5K-$20K) the value decreased because we had to pay per project. Our company is just a little too small to truly benefit from the monthly payments.

Comentarios: I would recommend this to other companies. My friend is using it perfectly for her real estate sales and marketing company. They're not even building but I'm finding that this platform is flexible and adaptable like that.

Puntos a favor: My favourite bit about this software is that I can add as many users as I like and not incur extra charges like we do for other software. At one point we had over 40 users. It's extremely helpful to us to have this feature because as a small business, we want to grow and it's difficult to do that if we can't include all the people we need in a system due to cost.

Contras: We had issues with the cost codes. There were issues that could only be dealt with through the backend. I wish we had the ability to fix things like that ourselves including uploading a csv into the system.

Comentarios: We are a boutique custom home builder; each project is unique and personalized. Although I was not involved in the selection of this software, my understanding is that we wanted a program that could be accessed by all the parties involved, handle the scheduling and move us away from paper checklists - ultimately allowing all users to be both informed of changes and to be able to plan for future events without having to directly communicate with each person. As far as scheduling goes this system has failed. It has caused more time consuming questions. My complaint is that you can only link item to item by a (or a couple) predecessor(s) that, ultimately, the program struggles with which item is next in the list if a few of them share the same linked task. Also in a best case scenario, this scheduled list is how you build a house - but in most cases something, whether it be trade related or whether related or inspection related, cause a task to be delayed but the other ones would continue on schedule however the program has linked the start date to the the delayed task and now the whole calender is messed up. Or perhaps the exterior of the house generally starts after framing and roofing but maybe a winter storm makes this impossible so you continue the interior for weeks. Then you try and adjust backwards and because your best case scenario template stated it should commence at framing completion and you delayed that. Thus your left with a domino affect of wrong dates. and a series of emails sent to vendors informing them of the delay that really didn't apply to them. So they change schedules and you are left with no trades to do the interior work that in your mind could and should be fine. I also find that the program doesn't offer enough flexibility in the selection section. It allows me to upload a previously created document to be stored that a homeowner could then log on and download. They then fill out and can't re-upload this document, so they are forced to fax or scan and email back to us. This is neither time effective nor practical. Perhaps it would be better if we were able to create a checklist that was interactive in this section, similar to the change orders where we type out the change and the client could update decisions. In our company we don't limit our clients to three choices of floor plans and two cabinet doors and 4 granite selections, they are free to choose anything they can dream of. As a result we cannot load a document that would apply to all builds. However, I believe the change orders tab is well thought out, easy to use and provides all the options to make it a valuable asset. The warranty section does a great job of tracking and notifying and saving time and assuring that service and warranty items are handled and accepted. The daily log and messaging capabilities that allow us to keep a record of notes or messages in one area logged by date and job site is extremely valuable and a good system. Furthermore, the software as a whole is easy to learn, has a logical and simple layout so even those who are not computer savvy can fumble through without creating errors and won't be too intimidated by the complexity of the software to attempt to use it. Finally, the technical support and training provided is always quick to help resolve an issue or aid in a question. New training is scheduled in a very quick time frame for free and is tailored to the person that requires it. This is handled exceptionally well in a time when often companies forget you exist once the purchase is complete. So, we have decided that we will use BuilderTrend for those things that they excel at and don't use it as a scheduling tool.

Comentarios: Overall- if you are a builder it would be great. If you are a specialty contractor or remodeler, there are better options.

Puntos a favor: This is good software for a builder but my company does remodeling. I liked the idea of the product but it just didn't work for smaller projects. Very robust.

Contras: Too many features and not simple to use. Great for long projects but not good for projects that take 2 weeks or less.

Puntos a favor: Buildertrend offers one window solution for all the documentation and maintaining records for old and new projects.It offers best communication platform between client and service provider.It communicates the clients the progress of their service or project step by step. As it is an online application so all the employees can access data from every nuke and corner of the world. In this way it offers a compact way out to deal with customers by eliminating chance of miscommunication

Contras: what frustrate me is the slow speed of BT. Furthermore i do not like its single page working. there should be a feature for users to work on multiple sheets at a time.

Comentarios: I found it by chance on the Internet and watched some videos about what it does. I jumped immediately to the trial because it is very helpful in the construction when I work at. I've found very helpful the task scheduling feature so far, it's easy to work with.

Puntos a favor: I love I can manage the construction activities from my phone in an app. Amazing. I tried scheduling the daily activities of the workers and I could track them all easily.

Contras: Nothing so far. I think I'll get this app once my trial time has ended because it has a lot of features I can use at work.

Puntos a favor: Quickly find and organize every aspect of my jobs. The optional phone and iPad apps are very useful for on site use.

Contras: Can be a little bit complicated at first.

Comentarios: It all depends on the person, and what type of business they own, weather your building a home or remodeling a home or building, you need to have a software that works specifically for you. From the experience I had by watching the system, and seeing the enjoyment of the person using it, it really depends on the person its self.

Puntos a favor: So once or if you can get used to the way this system works, you may or may not like it. I know someone with a construction business and they used Buildertrend, and I watched the way this worked for them. Buildertrend has some unique features like financial tools, building tools and customer management.

Contras: This software specifically I thought was a bit difficult to get used to. You really have to have the patients to get used to the system and exactly how it works. I wouldn't use this software, but many others do and its just like anything else. You have to use it to get used to it. Not every system is for everyone.

Comentarios: Buildertrend has made us look much more organized than we are, since the customer can see the project progress if they’re tech savvy. We are also able to see cost of project and markups as we do proposals.

Puntos a favor: The best aspect of Buildertrend, would have to be the daily logs and customer ability to follow their daily project progress. Time tracking for employees, lead tracking, customer tracking, ability to sign projects electronically, receive payment online with minimal fees, and communicate with everyone involved with each project.

Contras: Buildertrend is a bit convoluted and cumbersome for the small company like myself. Being out on the job physically working to make ends meet due to employee shortages, leaves me with little time for office work. When I do have time for office work, I struggle to find the time needed to enter enough information in BT, to get back what we are paying for it. The more we enter the more we benefit. BT was difficult to learn in some areas of the program, and upgrades sometimes require even more training. We struggle with scheduling, and getting project information to show up on quickbooks.

Comentarios: The schedule keeps jobs on track. The PO process keeps costs in check. The time card keeps man hours job costed.

Puntos a favor: It provides a solution for managing a construction company

Contras: although the program performs many tasks, and even more than we need, it is glitchy and does not provide a smooth experience. When we click on windows to update budgets for instance, the windows flash and reload and resize multiple times. I have tried different browsers and different devices. This is not a user problem, but a problem with the way the data is served up. To perform some routine tasks, there is too many clicks required to get where you need to go. Too many windows and drilling down to get a number changed etc.
Too many places for messages to be hiding. Customers send a message and think we have it, but we have at least three places to check to find the message. Sometimes, messages that come to email cannot be replied to. Very frustrating.
BTW: We used Co construct for a while and liked the flow of the program much better. It ran smoother and was much quicker to get what we needed. It kept the spec sheet in front of the customer and kept good organization of communication. We switched to BT because of job costing and the time card feature, which we now understand are available with CC.
Another huge grind, the budget sheet does not do a good job of showing the running cost on the job and whether we are over or under our budget (variance). Several reports can be created, but none of them do that. We have to export to excel and manipulate it ourselves. Seems like this should be a basic function. CC does this well also. Just sayin' :)

Comentarios: Job costing has been more accurate than using spreadsheets (As long as people bring me receipts and clock in to the correct job, which has been a challenge). Customer communication has improved, and thus, customer satisfaction has improved.

Puntos a favor: I like the sense of security it provides to our customers since they can log in and see how their job is doing.

Contras: It does everything, but it doesn't do everything WELL. For instance, it does time tracking and GPS tracking.... but it only tells us where our guys are when they clock in and out. It doesn't give us a map of where they went the whole time like T-sheets did, so we have no way of knowing if someone went to the job site, clocked in and then left. It sync's to Quickbooks for payroll, but not correctly. It sends over all of the guys time as Regular time. I have to manually input their hours if I want to pay them for their overtime. It has this Buildertrend Flat Rate Code that nobody can edit or delete and it causes a lot of problems for us. The list goes on..... Whenever I ask them if they can help, I'm told, "Well it doesn't have that feature." Then I ask if they can put in a tech request, but they go on telling me how I should do it online, it will be more effective. That's not right. They should be able to put in a tech request for me and have it be just as effective as if I did it online.

Comentarios: With BuilderTrend, we've eliminated the need to have the classic "job binders" for our projects. Through the mobile app, we've enable our field carpenters and project managers to have all the accurate and current project information they need available on their tablets or phones. We've also enhanced communication with our client homeowners by enabling them to have on-line access to key information on-demand.

Puntos a favor: BuilderTrend has been a good solution for us to enhance our project management capability and ultimate become our CRM as we've migrated from an older CRM system. The subcontractor management and bidding, client selections, project management and scheduling, and client invoicing have all worked well for us, especially with the links to QuickBooks. We've recent adding timekeeping for our field personnel which also has simplified that aspect of our process. We also have enabled the client portal to allow our homeowners to see their selections, contracts, change orders, drawings, and payment schedules. In the 5 years we've have been using BuilderTrend, we have been impressed with the enhancements that have enable us to consolidate more of our software to BuilderTrend.

Contras: Migrating old client data did not work well and we were not provided great support with this task. The front line support people were not up to the task and continually blocked us from dealing directly with their development people to come up with creative solutions to this problem. As a result, our old client information does not have accurate date records from when they became clients. Also, as new capabilities and features are added, the custom fields that we created are no longer needed but are difficult to remove as the past information is dependent on these now redundant data elements.

Comentarios: I have used Buildertrend for almost 3 years now and I have appreciated having it.

Puntos a favor: I like how easy BuilderTrend is to navigate and use. The system is definitely more user friendly than any other platforms I have used in the past. I also like how visually appealing it is, rather than only focusing on functionality, creators also focused on it being nice to look at every day, which truly does make a difference when working in the same program for hours every day.

Contras: The quickbooks connection to desktop is very very clunky and can can and has caused major issues for us in the past. In terms of accounting, there are somethings that could be better. I would like to be able to see what has been sent over vs. what has actually been paid out to a sub, so the builder can tell without having to ask the accounting department whether or not someone has actually been paid, a more detailed status report would be great. I would also like for it to play better with the "projects tab" in quickbooks. Quickbooks has made a great projects tab, but it is not usable without how the information is brought over. this may not be possible, but it would be nice. :) Buildertrend is designed mostly for custom builders in the way that it is designed to connect homeowners and use allowances. I would like in the future if there were more production building type features.

Comentarios: Overall we've had a very positive experience and don't foresee us switching anytime soon.

Puntos a favor: Having one place to manage all of our field operations has been a game changer. Especially the iunlimited document & photo storage -allowing us to grant access to all paperwork and details to the field team with just a few clicks. The flexibility of the scheduling platform and ability to connect tasks and create interdependent "living" schedules is great and the ability to have multiple levels of permissions for subs/clients & our team is very comprehensive as well and allows us to customize for the way we use the system. Their customer service is top notch and there is always someone available to chat about an issue and they are on top of any issues with updates and consistently adding valuable features to the platform based on very specific user feedback.

Contras: I think they need more work on the Lead/sales managing side of the platform -we had been using ACT customer management system and would love to have the ability to also manage all client contacts and leads in Buildertrend but it is not nearly as comprehensive although they did just roll out a reports function that will help I think more option for customization would be helpful. Even if they were able to integrate with ACT or the like. I also wish they integrated with more accounting software as we use Sage and it is not supported. Admittedly it is not as common as quickbooks but the lack of integration creates more work for us on the accounting side of things.

Comentarios: This program is integral to our operations, and I am looking forward to eventually using all of the functions it is capable of. I am still learning!

Puntos a favor: Using Buildertrend replaced an entire full time position, at least. It allows the information from the Sales to Project Management to Accounting to be all in one spot and easy to use. The project records are complete from lead opportunity stage to completion- which is incredibly valuable.
Setting up the software took time and effort, but it was mostly transitioning that took the most effort. But every time I am not sure what to do I just call the Customer Support and my problems are solved! It is an incredible service.
We have spent the last year and a half streamlining our business to remain competitive in a changing market- and Buildertrend has allowed us to reach the next level of business.

Contras: There are some functions that could work better for us (ie: limited things you can do with a project while in lead opportunity status etc) but there are constant updates and changes being made to the system. I am confident that there will continually be developments to suit our needs better.
Another challenge was getting all of our vendors on board to accept PO's from the program etc. Also- the fact that the emails come from buildertrend.com instead of my own email address is confusing for some of our clients and vendors. Some clients have so much difficulty with their Owner portal that we have to accept sign offs outside of the system- which I hope to change.

Comentarios: Prior to Buildertrend, we had to use three programs to manage our jobs and purchase orders, now we just use Buildertrend. We are saving time and are able to keep everything in one spot!

Puntos a favor: I love that buildertrend is so customizable. The software was able to be tailored for our specific needs while many of the other programs we looked at were not. The purchase order feature has allowed us to streamline and reduce our expense processing time. The app works well for our field operations and sales reps. Tech support and online chat people are very helpful in quickly answering questions.

Contras: Although it's infrequent, we sometimes struggle with internet connections in storm/rural areas and the software does not have an offline mode. I dislike the receive payment feature as you can't record a payment by itself, you do it inside the invoice and although you can receive partial payments, you can record multiple checks in the payment box

Comentarios: We are able to keep track of more jobs easier with Buildertrend. Our production volume was at our limit before searching for online databases and project management software; with Buildertrend we have been able to make our business work significantly more smoothly, and we have information at our fingertips which in the past was like finding a needle in a haystack.

Puntos a favor: Buildertrend is a wonderful way to keep track of what is going on. This includes scheduling; creating, recording and sending documentation; organizing projects neatly; and staying aware of finances. It also has a very helpful Leads section, which helps me keep track of prospects from the earliest stage of when I become aware of them. In a word, I would say I appreciate most the organization which Buildertrend offers.

Contras: To be succinct, the user interface (UI) is decent but could use some improvement. The Files section in particular could use some work. I would like it to be versatile and able to navigate easily. An example of improved versatility is being able to access information in a simpler and faster way, such as Windows Explorer offers in how I see and can analyze various folders and files. An example of easy navigation is being able to tile multiple view windows so I can compare file locations across multiple Jobs to keep similar file types in the same locations, and so I could ensure my folders all have identical names across multiple Jobs

Comentarios: Incredible team product. It takes a lot to learn and get everybody on-board but it ties all parts together in an organized system that can be shared by all on the team. The Daily reports and budget are the most important part to running the business. I know more of what is going on in each job now than when I would try to visit them daily. Great program I do not know how we managed without it

Puntos a favor: Daily Reports, Budgets, Owners Portal , Lead tracking and use. file management great. All information is in one place & organized. The To-do Ap is great and has a task check off sheet which is great except for one fatal flaw.

Contras: Messaging comes from Buildertrend and not from our own email or our name in front. Confusing clients, reducing branding opportunities for us, creating junk-mail issues with our clients. - We just do not use it. The Billing side is weird but improving. The payments to subcontractors has improved and can be done on a percentage basis but the billing to clients does not. We use an AIA billing form and use that with the Buildertrend system but the Change orders appear and add to the bill making it awkward and we have to tell clients not to ignore the amount owed on the bottom of the billing. The selections ap is a good idea and is believed in by some in our organization. It is awkward and confusing and I personally think it would work better if it was treated somewhat like a change order. I think if the change orders show up on Billing page so should selections. The To-do Ap is great except that it allows the task to be assigned to multiple people. In a way that is good but if more than one person is responsible than no one is. I think it should have a primary responsible person (this can bye done by assigning tasks but that is cumbersome and has other issues.
-The To-do Ap is great and has a task check off sheet which is great except for one fatal flaw. The task check off sheet inside the to-do task is great except that the task can be marked complete by anyone though not all the sub tasks have been marked complete

Comentarios: Buildertrend has proven to be exactly what we were looking for to track daily functions such as Daily logs, change orders, purchase orders etc. The real time inputting of mobile devices and the function of the mobile app are very thorough and invaluable. The new internal user permissions are a bit more difficult to individualize. Edits affect all users within each label so the only way is to create a new title to edit a single user.

Puntos a favor: A great construction management tool. Offers flexibility in formatting of different components within the program. Leads are easily tracked with notifications, summary page is very thorough and useful, job info, templates, scheduling, daily logs, To-Do's, Change Orders, time clock c/w geo-fencing, docs & photos, surveys, estimates, bills & PO's, Budget and owner invoices all flow well and again are customizable to fit individual company needs. Owner view is a great option and allows for owner participation and information flow.

Contras: No tax module is addressed within the system. This adds a lot of steps and confusion to make sure taxes are added independently in QuickBooks Online (QB). It also confuses the customer on their Buildertrend site. We send all invoices out of QB for contract invoices and change order invoices. A big negative. A great management tool but weak on the interface with QB.

Comentarios: When I started at this company, they did not have any kind of project management in place. People would refer to documents within OneDrive to obtain details, and that was not always updated nor where details provided at the time needed. Everyone would always scramble at the last minute to find out order details and whatnot. There also was not any security with certain documentation. Now Buildertrend provides the ability to screen certain people from certain information.
The ability to upload photos has helped to prevent issues from becoming bigger ones, as it's not always possible to get out to every jobsite, but getting a visual on progress is extremely helpful.
Overall, everyone seems to be quite happy with the program.
The level of customer support Buildertrend provides is outstanding. Their Live Chat option or contacting your coach for assistance is easy and typically has great results. They are always looking to ensure you are satisfied, and will go beyond to inquire or find out information if they are unable to assist with the issue.

Puntos a favor: I like that Buildertrend brings together all aspects of residential construction - homeowners, sub-trades, vendors, internal users, and allows everyone to see the information they need to see, as well as provides them the ability to upload photos, documentation and even provide comments to certain areas within the program. This gives everyone an overall sense of what is happening within the project.
Having everyone tied into the program eliminates a lot of extra searching for information, as well as lessen the overall messages one needs to send out to verify parts of the projects - selections, drawings and pricing can be Approved or Declined. This also helps to eliminate outdated/non-approved details from occurring.

Contras: The program has a lot to take in, which I suppose is expected, but for me, knowing how things affect something else is really important, as we are a Canadian company trying to work with an American program and American terminology. I have had to experiment a bit with how best to enter information, and sometimes redo it altogether.
I do not like how often I have to press on users to be entering information and using the platform for communications, but that does not have anything to do with the program itself.

Comentarios: Overall I am happy with our investment into Buildertrend, but we have also put a lot of work to get it working for what we need. It can be very time consuming to solve how you operate in Buildertrend unless you use it at a very basic level. They really need to walk you through how to set up and use Buildertrend as a new user and how to more fully customize it for your company needs. I have not been very pleased with how slow and unresponsive they have been in implementing changes. They need to take customer feedback more seriously and utilize their customers who are heavy users to help show them how to improve the software.

Puntos a favor: I really like that there is unlimited storage and that since it is cloud-based, everyone sees the same data as soon as it is entered. There are also ways to customize the software in several areas, especially To-Do's. Permissions are very granular which can be good, although it can be complex as well.

Contras: Understanding how all areas of the software interact is complex, you can't customize fields in Events/Schedule, most of all I dislike the search and filter settings. They are very poor and make it hard to deal with large data sets. Their filters are missing exact matches between items in the same category. There are a handful of other little complaints, but they really need to add custom fields to Events and then update their filter settings to allow exact matches only and also use standard search engine criteria in the text fields.

Comentarios: We began using Builder Trend a little over 2 years ago as a move away from Build Tools. I have been very happy with the response time on customer support, and it is nice to always be able to reach someone when you have a question. We as a company are not currently using some of the features including scheduling and none of our subs or homeowners are going into the system, but we are trying to change this. We are actively using documents, selections, budgets, etc.

Puntos a favor: I like the ability to get notifications for a variety of transactions, the ability to log in & see things from a variety of devices, the tracking features for every transaction, and I love the amount of storage space for documents & photos that it has.

Contras: I wish it was more affordable to purchase more jobs so that we could use the system for our remodel projects, currently, we do not enter them in as many of them are small projects and do not warrant the expense it would cost us to have that many jobs. It is unfortunate because it puts us with two different processes for selections, budgets, docs, etc. depending on what type of project it is. I wish it was also possible to mark a selection as "Ordered," much like you can mark it as "Approved" it would help the designer & client know when it is absolutely too late to make changes. Lastly, I wish the transition to QB was more efficient. If you are using a desktop version of QB, which is the only way to have the contractor version, when PO's are pushed to QB, they do not populate the customer's job to the items on that PO even though it is tied to that job. I am not even sure what the point of tying the jobs together is as it does not seem to connect them at all in the transfer process.

Comentarios: Our team has been using Buildertrend for just over 2 years now and we would be lost without it. It's a no-brainer! The program has given our team a competitive advantage by providing our customers with their own project website, has improved the efficiency in our processes dramatically and has made project management on site incredibly easy. Even after 2 years, I'm still learning about new features that will help our team. The program's unmatched support team, detailed and highly-developed features and complete integration has helped us increase our volume, revenue and profits... It's completely changed the game for Owen Homes.

Puntos a favor: The included customer service team and support are unmatched. When you're running your business through this program, sometimes you need an immediate answer or need to learn a new feature on the fly and having instant access to those webinars and forums is invaluable. I also love how detailed and thought through each feature is - it's what made the switch from our old process so easy because they literally thought of everything! I could go on forever... the custom fields, different types of users and permissions, project templates, sync to Quickbooks... Buildertrend is doing it and doing it well.

Contras: Some of the features like selections, financials, and the gantt chart portion of the calendar are definitely more challenging when trying to switch from our current process over to Buildertrend. However, I'm not sure if there is a better way for any of those; I know those will have a learning curve because those are the more difficult parts of the project. It's hard to come up with cons for the program because I feel a lot of my issues could be resolved by learning more about the feature. I guess I'll leave with a suggestion: maybe emailing or notifying users of the next month's available webinars or reminders to use the resources -- I forgot these existed for about a year, I was just watching the videos available. I would like to see more videos uploaded -- long and short on specific features.