Trim-Right
Trim-Right is a quality trim contractor in Georgia with a passion for precision - specializing in custom closets, pantries, mantels, wainscoting, shelving, crown molding and a variety of home services!
You can find Trim-Right's professionalism on many different projects, including decks, ramps, interior & exterior trim, as well as interior remodeling work and custom design!
Plus, this business hosts a top-notch DIY trim carpentry YouTube channel, where homeowners & contractors alike can learn and master the trim trade! We spoke with Trim-Right to find out about their experience using Clear Estimates.
Before using Clear Estimates, how would you estimate? Was there a particular tool or method you used?
Estimates were done strictly on paper in the early stages, then we moved to Excel where we stored linear feet pricing and per piece pricing. This worked up to a point.
Years ago we used actual books to gain pricing standards in a national, then regional, area.
Older folks in the trade might remember the “Craftsman Book“ company. For years this company produced a series of individual books for each of the trades. The Craftsman Book company then produced a PC only CD-ROM version of the printed books that could be used as a digital reference, with some capabilities to build an electronic estimating book.
The Craftsman Book company fell behind in the electronic age, but oddly enough they still produce the written books today. Eventually they did launch an online version that fell very short of being a viable answer to estimating jobs online.
What was your biggest estimating pain point before using Clear Estimates?
The time spent doing the actual estimate. Time spent doing the actual estimate does not factor in the time we spend maintaining books, spreadsheets, and referencing past jobs to compare pricing. Manually preparing a professional looking estimate was time consuming, and a huge pain point. We often forget that the time we spend maintaining a system is time we could have spent winning new business, as these are real dollars in any business.
We have literally cut our time in half - from the very start of the estimating process to the time that a client receives a finished professional estimate.
Undoubtedly! After using Clear Estimates, have you been able to measure improvements in estimates produced or time saved?
Yes, absolutely yes on both accounts. We have literally cut our time in half - from the very start of the estimating process to the time that a client receives a finished professional estimate.
If you also factor in the fact that I am no longer responsible for maintaining my old system (Excel and other referenced materials for current pricing), then my expenses dedicated to estimating drop even lower. I don’t want to sound like a broken record here, but maintenance is a huge time-suck and is a big money waster.
Clear Estimates manages the maintenance for me and my team, they keep my data secure and they automatically provide updates/upgrades to the software for me. They are continually adding new features and capabilities to the software to increase my estimating speed on a regular basis.
Clear Estimates provides pricing for time and materials based on my specific location in the country. This is huge!
We love to hear it! When using Clear Estimates, what features or tools do you find most useful?
It is the combination, or the suite of tools working together, that provide the overall package. That is what is most important to us. Our team breaks down the Clear Estimates software package as follows (we don’t claim to be experts in the software, this is just an overview from our experiences using the software on a daily basis).
A centralized and dynamic database that holds all of the parts and pieces of the Clear Estimates application. Clear Estimates provides pricing for time and materials based on my specific location in the country. This is huge! Instant access to what jobs and materials are costing in my specific area is incredibly valuable.
Libraries and job parts for every trade in the construction industry. Having what I need for my particular trade is the key for all of the trades represented in Clear Estimates.
Imagine starting your first estimate in Clear Estimates, quickly searching the vast library for your specific trade, filtering by a category within your trade, then finding the actual job part or parts of the estimate that you need - adding the needed parts to your live estimate, and all of this happening in just a few clicks.
The real power for our team is the ability to start an estimate in Clear Estimates, quickly find the part of the estimate that we need, and then being able to fully customize a particular part. Not only do we have the ability to customize anything and everything in the software, but we have also built our very own custom libraries and parts catalog based off of and on top of the Clear Estimates software platform.
Being able to send the estimate to a final proposal, and directly to the client. Clear Estimates gives us full control over how our proposals look, how they are formatted, the information that is contained within the proposal, and to what detail we want in the proposal. This means that we have global and granular control over every aspect of each proposal as a whole, and on each individual proposal as well.
Imagine being able to present a proposal broken down by line item, or just a general summary with a total price - the options are endless and completely up to you, as you have full control of what makes it into the estimate and what does not.
A one click import of the template brings in every job estimate part that we need to cover all of our basic needs in almost any given estimate.
How do you find the pre-built templates work for your business?
We love the power of templates in Clear Estimates. Our process when working with templates goes something like this: We start a new estimate and pick a template that Clear Estimates has provided, or we pick a custom template that we have created.
A one click import of the template brings in every job estimate part that we need to cover all of our basic needs in almost any given estimate. This importing of the template jumpstarts the estimate and includes approximately 95% of everything we will need.
Example from a Trim Carpenters perspective:
We know that almost all estimates are going to include trimming windows, trimming and hanging all the doors, as well as baseboards throughout the house. So, we have a “Basic“ template that we import into the live estimate that instantly brings in all of our basic parts of the estimate for windows, doors, and baseboards.
Now, if this estimate also has stairs, we would then import our custom “Stair Template“ into this live estimate, which includes all of the job parts required to produce a trim package for most stair estimates.
Our customers LOVE this format.
Are there any other tools you’ve found particularly valuable in your estimating?
Alternates and Components. We have found these features to be incredibly valuable. Our team has the ability to offer options or “alternates“ in any estimate. We think of these as options that the client might add to a live job.
For example, we recently had a client requesting estimates on custom closets - a coat closet, linen closet, a custom pantry and custom closets for all of the bedrooms (including the master).
Before Clear Estimates, this would have been a time consuming process. Now, we simply (and quickly) build the estimate as a list of “alternates” or “choices” for the client to pick and choose from.
Once the client has picked what they want, we can then simply move/convert the “alternate” choices into the live estimate as “components“.
These components now serve as groupings of parts inside of the live estimate.
Another example: The client picked all of the alternates listing the different closet types, and we simply moved all of the alternates to components. This provided my team (and the client) with summary pricing for each of the closets to be built.
Now the client can see a summary of the master closet, the materials used, and a fixed one price total for the master closet component - as well as all of the other components (linen closet, coat closet, etc) - and our customers LOVE this format.
In addition to your trim business, you’re also the brains behind a fantastic YouTube channel, Production Trim Carpenter.
Your channel helps thousands of trim contractors and DIYers learn about the trade. Has your channel helped your own trim business as well, or do you see the channel as a separate venture?
The YouTube channel originally started as a library or history of my trim work and capabilities, as well as a way to share knowledge with other trim carpenters and the DIY community.
Also, it is a very small way to contribute back to the YouTube community. I was feeling guilty about taking from the community for years and not contributing back. The channel has become one of the tools I use when calling on new clients.
New potential clients can go to the channel and see my work, the quality, and view it all in an actual environment very similar to their own environment. The channel also offers a way to help the client dream of additional ideas. Ideas like adding ceiling beams, wainscoting, chair rail, crown moldings, etc... which in return has generated more business.
What do you enjoy doing outside of your trim work and channel? What are some of your hobbies?
Playing with our new grandchild. Ask any grandparent and they will tell you that a grandchild is the very best thing ever! Spoiling the child rotten is the most fun! We live on a lake, so boating is a big part of our lives as well.
If they ask, I will point them to Clear Estimates.
Absolutely! One last question. Would you recommend Clear Estimates to a competitor or another contractor in the industry?
Very tough question. In all honesty, I hope that they are all still doing their estimates the old way on paper or Excel. I feel kind of bad saying this, but business is business, and any advantages I can have over a competitor is an advantage that my company will surely take and make use of.
But, if any competitor asks me what estimating software I use, I will always tell them about Clear Estimates and point them to the video on my YT channel that shows the whole process from start to finish on how to use Clear Estimates in a real world example.The funny thing in life is that we tend to think we have things figured out, and it is very rare to have a competitor ask me what software I use to do my estimates.
But, if they ask, I will point them to Clear Estimates and help them anyway I can, and this generally starts a mutual dialogue of sharing other information that might be beneficial to my business as well. You never know it all, and we all can learn something new every single day.
Take a look at Trim-Right's projects, tips & tricks on their YouTube Channel, Production Trim Carpenter!
