Contractor-Marketing Expert Crowns Builder Prime “King CRM” (Part 1)

A Lead-Generation Professional Spills Why He Recommends
One—And Only One—CRM To His Clients: Builder Prime.

Brandon Miller is the Co-Founder of Uplevel Digital Services, a lead-generation and lead-management firm for home remodeling contractors. Uplevel Digital Services works with home improvement companies in every industry. Windows and doors. Roofing and siding. Bathrooms and flooring. You name it.

One of Uplevel Digital Services’ growth solutions for contractors includes CRM setup and management. Over the years, the company has worked with every CRM software you’ve ever (and never) heard of. And do you know which CRM software Uplevel Digital Services recommends to every single one of their clients… big, small, and everywhere in between?

Builder Prime.

Not because we have some quid-pro-quo, “you scratch our back, we’ll scratch yours” arrangement with Brandon’s company. But because out of all the contractor CRMs and software Brandon and his team have worked with over the years—from MarketSharp to Estimate Rocket to JobNimbus—they have determined Builder Prime is the best CRM solution for home improvement contractors. Hands. Down.

We recently sat down with Brandon so he could share his thoughts on why he believes Builder Prime is the top CRM solution for contractors. We recorded our conversation, and you can watch video clips of the interview below. We’ve also transcribed Brandon’s answers under each clip if you’re unable to watch the videos.

Here’s Part 1 of our conversation:

*Note: Some transcribed answers have been trimmed and/or slightly altered for readability purposes.

What was your initial reaction when you discovered Builder Prime?

Brandon’s Answer Transcribed:

“During my tenure over the past decade, I’ve encountered almost every CRM on the market. And when I came across Builder Prime, I had to stop and say, ‘Woah, this is something absolutely worth checking out.’ Knowing what I know about CRMs and what a remodeler truly needs to get out of their CRM, Builder Prime is truly a one-stop shop for everything a remodeler needs to power their business.”

What do you notice about Builder Prime in comparison to other contractor CRMs you’ve experienced?

Brandon’s Answer Transcribed:

“Builder Prime offers a very simplistic user interface that a lot of CRMs truly don’t offer. Some of them are very cumbersome. They’re bulky. It’s really difficult to go in there and run your reports and set up your lead flow. But Builder Prime makes it very, very simple for a remodeler to get in there and scope it out their lead funnel… it is a powerful, powerful engine.”

What’s one big thing that sets Builder Prime apart from other CRM software?

Brandon’s Answer Transcribed:

“That is something I have never seen in a CRM… the ability to input your marketing cost by source and have that calculated in real time within your reporting dashboard.

“Builder Prime has a very effective and powerful reporting functionality built right into it natively in order to provide the metrics a remodeler needs to run an effective lead funnel.

We’re looking at when a lead comes in… to set appointments… to issued appointments… to the demo… to gross sold… to net sold… to retention rate… and more importantly, your cost and marketing as well. All of these metrics are found directly within the reporting engine within Builder Prime.

You’re able to see, in real time,the count of every single metric. But you’re also able to see the cost associated with it. That is something I have never seen in a CRM out there—the ability to input your marketing cost by source and have that calculated in real time within your reporting dashboard.

On top of that, we’re looking at the percentages between each step as well too. What is your lead-to-set rate, your set-to-issue rate, your issue-to-close rate? Having all of that in the dashboard bypasses the need to have to go into your CRM, download the data, kick that over to a spreadsheet, and do all of your calculations over there.”

What has frustrated you about CRMs not named Builder Prime?

Brandon’s Answer Transcribed:

“Reporting is the biggest pain in most CRMs that [Uplevel Digital Services incorporates] with. If a remodeler is not updating it because it’s too cumbersome to update, we don’t have clean data. On top of that, I’ve used numerous CRMs where the data is there, but the reports are missing a few things, so it’s really hard to identify the metrics throughout the entire funnel.”

Can you elaborate on Builder Prime’s reporting power?

Brandon’s Answer Transcribed:

“I have never seen a CRM that actually shows you your set rates, your issue rates, your close rates, and your cost of marketing with the report natively inside the CRM. Builder Prime offers all that to a remodeling company to be able to truly power their business and make effective decisions about where to deploy marketing funds.”

How do Builder Prime’s internal automations help contractors reduce their speed to lead time with prospects?

Brandon’s Answer Transcribed:

[Y]ou can do everything within Builder Prime. That bypasses the need to integrate with another software… you have the tools necessary to maximize the leads inside of your system.

“So we talked about the lead-management component [and] knowing the reporting along the way. But on top of that, Builder Prime has the ability natively, to incorporate automations to maximize your lead engagement to book more appointments—so being able to send text messages and emails directly from Builder Prime.

Traditionally with a CRM, you’re going to have to sign up for a third-party software and integrate directly into it. That data may not go back and forth in a timely manner. On top of that, you have to pay for those extra fees for all those other third-party softwares.

The last thing I’ll say here is it also offers the ability for in-home quoting, which is another software tool a remodeling company would have to pay for—a separate fee on top of that. But you can do everything within Builder Prime. That bypasses the need to integrate with another software. Everything is contained from lead to sale in one singular platform, and you have the tools necessary to maximize the leads that are inside of your system.”

On that note, how does Builder Prime’s all-in-one functionality help with speed to lead?

Brandon’s Answer Transcribed:

“Most CRMs don’t have everything built natively into their platform. You’re going to have to integrate with a texting software… with an in-home sales software. All of these integrations, while they work, it’s never a 100% guarantee. With the time back and forth for updating the data… you might send a text too late, and the lead status might have changed. The homeowner might get a text a couple days later when they already have an appointment booked. They’re going to say, ‘Why are you texting me?’

Or a lead comes in, and the homeowner doesn’t get a text for three, four, five hours. You need to have that immediate speed to lead as soon as a lead hits your system to start engaging with that homeowner.

Otherwise, if that homeowner doesn’t hear from you, they’re going to go to your Competitor One, Competitor Two, Competitor Three. And whoever answers the call or texts first, they’re going to book an appointment. So [Builder Prime not having to integrate with all those programs] is a huge advantage compared to most CRMs within the market.”

Watch Part 2 Of Brandon’s Builder Prime Interview

We’re not done talking to Brandon yet! In Part 2 of our interview, we discuss…

• The top 3 things a home improvement contractor should look for in a CRM program
• How Builder Prime’s automated text messaging increases response rates
• The quality of Builder Prime’s customer service
• How Builder Prime helps contractors cross-sell their services
• Why Builder Prime’s automations make rehash campaigns ultra-easy

Watch Part 2 Of Our Interview With Brandon Now

And if you want to know more about Uplevel Digital Services, here’s the link to check out their website.

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