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CLEAR ESTIMATES USER REVIEW: ALMAR BUILDING & REMODELING

About four years ago, Hanover, Massachusetts-based Almar Building & Remodeling principals Craig Guido and Terry Quinn turned to Clear Estimates to help improve their construction cost estimating and invoicing system.

Guido said Almar had looked at other products, but they fell short -- Xactimate, for example, seemed difficult to use and was not compatible with QuickBooks at the time. Almar had also used pre-made Excel spreadsheets to help with construction cost estimating, but the spreadsheets lacked the ability to automatically generate a new proposal. Employees were also taking notes for a proposal on a yellow legal pad and then typing them up -- which meant that any changes to the proposal had to be manually recalculated.

Overall, Clear Estimates helps Almar catch details that might have missed with the old, manual approach. In addition, the firm can put together more professional-looking proposals with greater detail than had been possible in the past, all in half the time.

For example, on a larger project, Guido and Quinn can enter the costs for a new design piece by piece, and Clear Estimates can automatically summarize the projects. Because the software tracks all the details, the estimators rarely miss hidden costs. The program also enables them to create general templates, so they don’t have to estimate the cost of individual parts every time.

The application also lets Almar track how long it takes to do something, which is handy for revising future cost estimates. For example, if a carpenter can install a door in an average of five hours rather than six, the reports generated by the Clear Estimates software helps them revise their estimates accordingly.

Almar does not use all the features in the software. For example, the online parts update, powered by the RemodelMAX cost database, sounds like a great feature, but Guido and Quinn prefer to use their own historical data to price a project rather than RemodelMAX's regional averages.

Overall, Guido and Quinn rated Clear Estimates a perfect 10 out of 10. They believe the cost estimating software has played an invaluable role both in upgrading their professional image and in increasing their gross profits.

What kinds of construction projects do you mostly work on?
 
How long have you been using this tool?
 
Where did you obtain it?
 
How much did you pay?
 
How are you using this product?
 
Why did you pick this product?
 
Was this product compatible with the software programs you were already using?
 
Did you look at other tools on the market before picking this one? What was it you didn't like about them (or made    this product better)?
 
Before you bought this product, were you using a different one to do the same job? If so, what tool were you using?
 
How many people are using this software?
 
Comparing the way you work now with the way you worked before you bought this tool, what has changed?
 
Can you give us an example of a job where this tool really made a difference?
 
Can you estimate how much time or money you saved or other measurable benefits your firm realized using this    tool?
 
What are the best features (for your business) in this tool?
 
Do you think it's a fair value for the price you paid?
 
What would you change about the product if you could?
 
Are there features that you don't use? Why not?
 
 
How much computer experience do you think someone needs to use this tool effectively?
 
Did it take much training (or studying) to learn to use this tool?
 
Have you ever called the company's support lines and asked for help? What was your experience like?
 
How would you rate the user documentation? Is it helpful?
 
When the next version of this software comes out, will you upgrade to it?
 
Overall, on a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate this tool?

What kinds of construction projects do you mostly work on?
Residential Remodeling

Four years.

We got Clear Estimates 2.0 directly from the company's website.

How much did you pay?
I do not recall. (A Clear Estimates license currently costs $59/month.)

How are you using this product?
Two office staff members use Clear Estimates.

Why did you pick this product?
Wally and Nolan Orfield, the co-founders of Clear Estimates, were colleagues of ours. They introduced us to the product.

Was this product compatible with the software programs you were already using?
Yes, it is compatible with QuickBooks software for exporting your estimates. You can also open the proposals to be edited in Microsoft Word

Did you look at other tools on the market before picking this one? What was it you didn't like about them (or made this product better)?
Yes. We tested and wanted to use Xactimate, but found it too difficult to use. We also didn't need the "design" feature of that was in the program. We had also been using pre-made Excel spreadsheets for construction cost estimating, but that didn't have the ability to create a proposal

Before you bought this product, were you using a different one to do the same job? If so, what tool were you using?
Mostly we were using a Yellow Pad and some Excel spreadsheets. We also were just typing one-page proposals to send out to people

How many people are using this software?
Two salespersons are using Clear Estimates.

Comparing the way you work now with the way you worked before you bought this tool, what has changed?
This product helped us miss less in our cost estimates. Most importantly it allowed us to put together more professional- looking proposals that were more detailed than anything we had done in the past.

Can you give us an example of a job where this tool really made a difference?
With larger projects it is a great help. We can take our design, go through it piece by piece and input those costs into Clear Estimates. We rarely miss anything in our estimates anymore, which has allowed us to hit a steady gross profit over the past four years.

Clear Estimates has also minimized our businesses slippage. In day-to-day help, the program allows us to create templates that we can input a "Standard" project and not have to estimate the individual part every time

Can you estimate how much time or money you saved or other measurable benefits your firm realized using this tool?
It has easily cut our time spent construction cost estimating time in half since we started using it. We can estimate projects faster, which allows us to respond to our clients fast and look more professional.

What are the best features (for your business) in this tool?
The Proposal creation is the best -- they are very detailed and clear proposals. It also allows me, when I am presenting an estimate, to go item-by-item through what we will be doing on a client's house, including keeping it clean and maintaining a safe work environment.

We also like the ability to control the costs within the program. With every item -- hourly rates, material costs and so on -- you have the ability to change the cost on it and therefore keep up-to-date job costing information. If your carpenter has been installing doors in five hours instead of six, for example, you can easily go in and change the hourly multiplier and keep you costs close to exact.

Do you think it's a fair value for the price you paid?
Yes, especially since we had no other products used for cost estimating. Having used and updated the program for more than four years, it has easily paid for itself

What would you change about the product if you could?
Very little, though being able have both office computers work off the same database would be nice; we have not been able to have both computers use the same database, so currently each computer has its own database and we have to make any changes to the parts individually. A spell check feature would be nice, too.

Are there features that you don't use? Why not?
We don't use the online parts update. I think it is probably a great feature, but we like being able to control our own costs and update our own database. It allows us to use our historical data, not regional averages, to price a project.

How much computer experience do you think someone needs to use this tool effectively?
Very little. I think that is a very simple program and easily installed. It can be used right from the get-go!

Did it take much training (or studying) to learn to use this tool?
Again, very little. I went to one seminar with Nolan Orfield in 2004 when we started using version 1.0 of the product. Any time we have had any questions or problems since then, Clear Estimates support has been extremely responsive

Have you ever called the company's support lines and asked for help? What was your experience like?
Yes. They have been really helpful. They walked me through my problems over the phone and then send me an email to follow up with what I should do if the problem happened in the future.

How would you rate the user documentation? Is it helpful?
It was helpful, but I think this is a program that, once you use it day-to-day, you become easily proficient at it.

When the next version of this software comes out, will you upgrade to it?
Yes, It actually just went to version 2.0 -- and 2.0 is leaps and bounds better than the original version.

Overall, on a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate this tool?
For us this program has been a 10. It really has changed our company and allowed us to look more professional.