Builder Prime vs. Salesforce

Which CRM Software Solution Is Better For Home Improvement Contractors?

Are you a contractor trying to decide on the right CRM software to run your business? Salesforce definitely has name recognition, and it’s a program worth considering. But how does it compare to Builder Prime—the home improvement industry’s only all-in-one CRM, estimating, and production management solution?

Let’s take an in-depth look at the two CRM software programs and find out.

Comparing Builder Prime And Salesforce

Contractor CRM Vs. General CRM

Most of the differences between Builder Prime and Salesforce are rooted in the type of CRM they are.

Salesforce is a general CRM program. It’s meant to work for a wide variety of industries, from retail to healthcare to automotive. To cater to multiple industries, Salesforce A) offers an extensive product line and B) comes with broad, universal default settings that typically need to be customized to fit a particular company’s operations.

Builder Prime is a contractor-specific CRM solution. It was made exclusively for the home improvement industry for home improvement companies. By focusing on just one industry, Builder Prime is able to deliver tools, features, and functionality 100% geared toward contractors—right out of the box.

Here are a few ways the “contractor-specific vs. general” distinction affects how each software performs…

Setup And Implementation

Since Salesforce is a general CRM solution, it needs a fair amount of setup and initial customization before it can be implemented. Companies report that this costs anywhere from a few thousand to a few HUNDRED thousand dollars and require hours of configuration. After the setup, it essentially becomes a bespoke application that requires someone to consistently maintain and enhance it.

Since it’s made with contractors in mind, Builder Prime comes with built-in automations and workflows for contractors. The program’s default settings were meticulously calibrated based on how businesses in home improvement industries operate. Once your account is set up, Builder Prime is immediately usable.

Plus, customizing settings in the program is simple. Builder Prime syncs up with 80-90% of your operations out of the box—and fine-tuning that remaining 10-20% is incredibly easy.

Estimation And Production Management

Salesforce has a field service add-on that you can bundle with the main CRM program. This provides some production management features such as scheduling tools, timesheets, and customer follow-up automation. This field service function comes at an additional cost to Salesforce’s base CRM program.

Builder Prime was made to be an all-in-one solution. As such, powerful estimation and production management tools are included in the software.

Here are some of the contractor-specific production management features that come with Builder Prime:

  • Production scheduling and Gantt charts
  • GPS time clock
  • Job costing
  • Subcontractor bidding and management
  • Automated timesheets

And here are some of the estimation features and tools of Builder Prime:

  • 100% customizable contract, estimate, and proposal templates
  • Online payment and e-signature collection
  • Fully adjustable permission controls
  • Multiple projects per customer
  • Post-proposal price customization

The “does literally everything” nature of Builder Prime allows you to take jobs from start to finish seamlessly.

Lead Tracking, Follow-Up, And More

Salesforce is primarily a CRM software solution, so it has some strong marketing and sales tools. Solid KPI reporting, lead tracking, and follow-up features are all baked into the program.

Builder Prime’s CRM features rival Salesforce’s, but they’re geared specifically toward (you guessed it!) contractors:

  • Fail-safe lead tracking automatically classifies, tracks, and escorts leads into over a dozen categories based on job progression.
  • Worry-proof follow-up provides all the tools and automation needed to stay on top of leads, customers, and internal communications.
  • Streamlined scheduling systems for sales AND production keep operations running like a well-oiled machine.
  • Precision reporting automatically crunches company numbers for 100% accurate data for all of the key contractor metrics.

User Interface

Being a general CRM platform, Salesforce’s user interface has to cater to a wide range of industries. This can create a steep learning curve for contractors, since the interface isn’t specifically optimized for the workflows of the home improvement industry. Due to this, some contractors report that navigating Salesforce can be a bit challenging.

Builder Prime is made specifically for contractors, so its user interface is based on the actual workflows of contractors. Every aspect of Builder Prime feels intuitive and logical, making it easy to perform any task. And with the ability to be fully customized, Builder Prime can be molded to fit the specific operations of any contractor in any industry.

‍

Summary

Salesforce is a juggernaut in the CRM industry—there’s no question about it. But since it’s a general CRM program, its features aren’t made specifically for the home improvement industry. As a result, the software can require substantial setup time and cost for contractors to implement into their operations.

Builder Prime, however, was engineered top to bottom exclusively for the home improvement industry. Every feature was meticulously developed for the needs of contractors. That’s what makes it the only all-in-one solution contractors can utilize right out of the box.

Explore all Builder Prime has to offer with a 100% risk-free trial or live demo.

‍

See More Comparisons

‍

‍

‍

‍

‍