Searching for the ideal software to help drive your contractor business forward can be a challenge. As new options continue to emerge, you may find yourself needing to update your tech stack accordingly. I've worked in the software industry for contractors for many years, and people often ask me which solutions are best suited for home improvement businesses. To help you choose, I've compiled a list of my favorite contractor software solutions along with my honest opinions. Hope it helps!
A powerful project management solution without the huge price tag.
JobTread offers a cloud-based project management software solution designed specifically for contractors in the construction industry. The system has features for bidding, project scheduling, task management, job costing, document management, and invoicing. JobTread's software aims to help contractors manage every aspect of their construction projects more efficiently and effectively, from pre-construction to project completion.
Jeff’s Review of JobTread: I know the JobTread founders personally, and have been impressed with their growth. Their easy yet very powerful estimating features seem to be where JobTread is head and shoulders above the rest. Many of their users are in general contracting, but they also have a bunch of outdoor living and other specialty contractors benefitting from their tool. If you are looking for a fairly priced business management system with a ton of impressive features, check out JobTread.
A project management tool for top-to-bottom efficiencies
Buildertrend is a construction management software designed to help builders, contractors, and remodelers manage their projects more efficiently. The product includes tools for project management, scheduling, budgeting, and communication, which can be accessed through a web-based platform or mobile app. Users can also track project progress, share documents, and communicate with team members and clients in real-time.
Jeff’s Review of BuilderTrend: BuilderTrend and CoConstruct joined forces a few years ago. Both tools are powerful for remodeling contractors and new home builders. These systems are the gold standard in the industry and have an impressive line up of features. These systems are typically much pricier than other options but work well for larger companies with more complexity. They are generally not API-friendly, so be sure to examine whether you would like to connect other systems into your business management software.
An AI powered sales intelligence software for larger sales teams.
RillaVoice is the leading speech analytics software for outside sales and service.Their software listens to your reps' conversations and analyzes the data for you. The results help you modulate how you talk to customers, and what you say to them to improve your service and increase your chances of making sales.
Jeff’s Review of RillaVoice: Rilla Voice is a next-level sales tool for anyone with a group of sales reps in the field. While RillaVoice might not be a great fit for smaller contractors, those with 5+ reps who rely on in-person sales conversations, the insights that RillVoice can provide are powerful and can help level-up lower performing reps based on real time voice data.
A turn-key CRM for Contractors
MarketSharp is a customer relationship management (CRM) software designed for home improvement contractors and remodelers. The software offers various features, such as lead tracking, job scheduling, estimating, marketing automation, and reporting to help businesses streamline their operations and improve customer relationships. It also includes integration with popular platforms such as QuickBooks, Google Calendar, and Mailchimp. With MarketSharp, businesses can manage their sales pipeline, track job progress, and communicate with customers, all from one centralized platform.
Jeff’s Review of MarketSharp: MarketSharp has been around a while - and that speaks to the company’s value. It may not be as modern as some of the other systems on the list, but it is a powerful system specifically for window replacement, exterior contractors, and other high ticket businesses. It has more built in marketing features than some of the other systems, so if you are looking for something along those lines, check out MarketSharp.
The tool every contractor needs to protect their business
CompanyCam is designed to help contractors and construction professionals streamline communication and documentation processes. The platform includes features such as photo and video capture, annotation, and organization, as well as team collaboration tools and project management capabilities. CompanyCam's software aims to help users improve efficiency, reduce miscommunication, and simplify the project management process.
Jeff’s Review of CompanyCam: CompanyCam’s tool is simple but so helpful. It removes the “he said she said” for contractors to owners. It also enhances communication between your team in a valuable way. They started in the roofing industry but have rapidly expanded the industries they serve. If you go to a project site of any type to do work, you can benefit from CompanyCam. We also like the team over there - good people :) CompanyCam is easy to use, improves team communication, and covers your butt. It also integrates directly with Groundwork.
To send proposals quickly and easily
SumoQuote is designed to help construction contractors create professional-looking proposals and quotes quickly and easily. The software automates the process of creating estimates, quotes, and proposals, allowing contractors to generate accurate pricing and job details in a fraction of the time it would take to do manually. The software offers customizable templates and integrates with popular project management and CRM tools, allowing contractors to streamline their workflows and improve their business processes.
Jeff’s Review of SumoQuote: If you are looking to step up how you present your proposals to potential customers, definitely check out SumoQuote. It’s the clear winner for well-designed digital proposals. Typically, SumoQuote is integrated with a more full featured estimating and project management system and SumoQuote provides the customer-facing proposal. It has e-signature and “Good, better, best” pricing options that allow customers to make selections right from the proposal. SumoQuote pulls in photos from CompanyCam seamlessly as well to make the proposals personalized and visually appealing. Oh, and it handles payments!
For Contractors using Salesforce
Improveit 360 is designed to help home improvement companies manage their sales, marketing, and operations more efficiently built on the Salesforce platform. The platform includes features such as lead tracking, appointment scheduling, job estimating, project management, and reporting. It also provides tools for email and SMS marketing, customer relationship management (CRM), and lead generation. Improveit 360 aims to streamline business processes and improve customer satisfaction through automation and data analysis.
Jeff’s Review of ImproveIt 360: ImproveIt360 is another software tool that’s been around for a while. It is a full-featured system with a lot of solid functionality. Like a few others in this article, it has some marketing automation features built into it. The reporting suite is built to give users a view of key metrics from across the business.
To eliminate time consuming and outdated processes
Leap to Digital offers a complete platform for professional contractors that combines the feature sets of JobProgress & Leap. The platform provides CRM, project management, and point-of-sale functionality to home improvement contractors and remodelers, allowing them to manage customer interactions, track project progress, and automate the sales process. Leap provides seamless teamwork and communication, real-time lead alerts, and automates lead capture and distribution to maximize the chances of closing a sale.
Jeff’s Review of Leap: Leap recently joined forces with JobProgress, which brings a powerful combo of communication and project management features under one umbrella. Billed as an all-in-one system, Leap can streamline business processes and communication - both internal and external.
The top-to-bottom software solution for project management
BuilderPrime is a suite of software tools for contractors, builders, and project managers to manage every aspect of a construction project, from pre-construction to completion. The platform includes features such as project scheduling, document management, budgeting and cost tracking, and collaboration tools. BuilderPrime aims to streamline the construction process, improve communication and transparency, and increase project efficiency and profitability.
Jeff’s Review of BuilderPrime: BuilderPrime is the all-in-one tool for contractors. The team is scrappy and the product is impressive from what I’ve seen. We’ve also heard from customers that they provide great customer support. BuilderPrime is also Zapier-Friendly.
To organize customer communication and create better customer experience
Hatch is a customer contact center platform that helps businesses improve their contact rates and increase sales. It is a feature-rich text messaging contact center software that allows users to manage thousands of customer conversations across multiple agents and organize contacts by location, team, or strategy using workspaces. Hatch also offers multi-touch, multi-day, omnichannel campaigns that allow users to create outbound sequences and personalized snippets, out-of-office messaging, and reply rules.
Jeff’s Review of Hatch: Hatch made its mark with “Rehash” campaigns that help contractors reconnect with customers that were presented with a proposal but didn’t move forward. Hatch’s campaign feature is robust and their system is API-friendly, allowing users to pull in info from their other systems to run the campaigns.
A flexible and powerful CRM that’s Zapier friendly
HubSpot provides a suite of marketing, sales, and customer service tools designed to help businesses grow and succeed. The company's platform includes features such as lead generation, email marketing, social media management, CRM, marketing automation, sales automation, customer service automation, and analytics. HubSpot aims to help businesses attract, engage, and delight customers, and ultimately increase revenue and profitability.
Jeff’s Review of HubSpot: We know, HubSpot isn’t a trade-specific tool. However, if you are looking for a free or low cost CRM, it’s pretty powerful. It can get pricey to add on the more advanced features, but for a smaller company, the free or lower cost plans can be very helpful.
A sales tool to pre-qualify and convert leads faster
Groundworks is a sales software designed specifically for contractors in the residential contracting industry. The virtual selling tool helps contractors streamline their sales processes, from qualifying leads to closing deals. With Groundworks, contractors can create and manage leads, nurture prospects, schedule meetings, qualify leads, and capture valuable project information.
Jeff’s Review of Groundwork: I founded this company, so I won’t necessarily give you a “review.” What I will say is that we’ve built something to help contractors solve the frustration that I’ve experienced first hand in the sales process. I felt like there was so much wasted time for both the customer and contractor. We’ve been working since 2019 to solve that problem. I’d love to show you what we’re building - try the software out for free.
There are many great tools out there for contractors to make their business run smoothly. Whatever the size of your business, the 12 software solutions listed and reviewed here can all help you streamline processes and increase profitability. Now more than ever is the time to be prepared for a successful 2023 in construction.
If you’d like to meet with our team to get a free tech stack consultation, click here.
Thanks for reading my reviews on the top tech tools for contractors in 2023 - I hope this helps you evaluate the various options available to help you grow and succeed in the residential contracting industry.
Founder + CEO of Groundwork
Jeff is an expert on technology in the trades. In his career, he has spent time in commercial and residential contracting, small business consulting, and technology. He is a champion for innovation and is passionate about building technology to help contractors run better businesses. He has an Engineering degree from Purdue University and a Masters of Business Administration from the University of Richmond. He is also the Founder and CEO of Groundwork, a video-based sales system for landscaping contractors and other residential trade businesses.
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