Bolster

Pros: Initial promises during sales call. Initial onboarding seemingly started off okay, but things went south quickly.

Cons: Software was extremely clunky and price templates did not update properly. Payment platform is not well integrated and took a long to link. Customer service is atrocious and absolutely not on your side. They did not honor the promise their sales rep made during initial call about being able to cancel the subscription.

Pros: I love how it gives customers clear options and colors. Keeps me from having to show them all the colors everytime

Cons: It is a bit complicated to operate, but they do train us. I would wish though that the overall price went way down after we didn't meed any training anymore

Pros: The speed with which it helps me create estimates of all sizes and the job calculations (pricing, scheduling and tracking)

Cons: sometimes upgrades create bugs in the software. However, I will say they are usually fixed within a day or two

Pros: I like the new feel and concept of Bolster, being able to deliver a DYNAMIC "Good, Better, Best" option for my clients. Other competitors also offer this, but the function is not nearly there as far as how fluid they are. Once the initial setup of items is complete in Bolster, turning them into full blown selections for our clients is game-changing!

Cons: The pipeline feature that bolster has is not as customizable as I'd like to see. In similar products, you have a lot more freedom to change the way your pipeline looks, IE- more columns, split by groups/region, etc.

Pros: Sales is the top priority in our contracting business and this definitely solved it! The presentations, options upgrades and selections are the number one feature.

Cons: Set up time can be long. We took about 2 months to fully implement everything and put all our supplier pricing in the software.

Pros: The product is extremely ease of use and has a very small learning curve, it is fantastic at creating quotes and estimate in a timely manner.

Cons: The app has some issues with sizing on android apps that can be annoying at times. Looking for past jobs can be a bit of a hassle.

Pros: I really like Bolsters estimating capabilities. Once set up it is super fast to send out estimates. The home owners I have dealt with are blown away by my proposals and as a result my closing rate has gone way up. The project managment feature are also really good, they flow down from the estimate seamlessly.

Cons: The software is very powerfull and as a result can feel a bit intimidating. I recommend if you move forward with Bolster that you just get started estimating and then slowly learn the other capabilites within the software one you have some seat time.

Pros: Top two pros: Customization and Speed Love that I am able to tailor pricing to meet my company's needs. With the template features the turnaround time has sped up immensly.

Cons: Top Two: Aesthetics and Technical Issues Every now and again there are glitches or features will "act incorrectly." Best way to deal with this is to make sure you are saving your work, and double check before sending out estimates. I miss the Aesthetics and user experience of the Cost Certified version of this software. It had more visual appeal.

Pros: I like how Bolster makes it easy to track deals and manage sales activity with a clean, intuitive interface. The automation and reporting tools help save time and keep everything organized.

Cons: Some advanced features take time to fully learn, and customization options can feel limited in certain workflows. Pricing may be high for smaller teams.

Pros: Bolster’s estimating software has many useful tools, and when building an estimate, we have ENDLESS options including a prebuilt library of items we can edit to fit our needs. Before this we used QuickBooks for sending quotes, so this has been a nice step up and we have not regretted it!

Cons: With that said, there are some hassles we’ve learned to navigate when creating a proposal; when clicking the “clear changes” button, just know it will get rid of ALL work including anything saved, and when changing the theme (cover photo) of an estimate - while inside the preview layout - it will automatically change it on ALL other proposals currently using that same theme, without warning. A few other tricky features that we encountered: internal messages from prospective clients can be easily overlooked and once read, the notification seems to stay on, the processing company (Plaid) used for ACH invoice payments require personal banking information that our customers feel is too invasive, we prefer to send our own review requests after we completing a job instead of Bolster’s automatic surveys that are sent to our clients (this can be turned off, if requested). With any software program, there are unpredictable bugs that have halted our progress at times, requiring some flexibility on our part.

Pros: I loved how Bolster nails super-fast matches with killer interim execs, game-changer for quick wins without the hiring hassle

Cons: Honestly, the limited role options felt a bit narrow, not every niche leadership gap gets covered super deeply.

Pros: I really like how easy it is to use and navigate. The features help me get tasks done faster, and the support team is always responsive.

Cons: Some features could be more customizable, and I’ve noticed occasional minor bugs. The pricing feels a bit high for smaller teams.

Pros: Everything I liked everything from the overall experience to the way things are and I like how they are all related to each other

Cons: I liked least the overall experience and I liked the way it was but the least that I liked is the way the tools were managed in the company!

Pros: I like the customer support and ease of use for this application. The estimating and bidding was also a nice feature

Cons: I did not like the customer service and how you had to navigate through. At times it was confusing and then you would go back to the main screen

Pros: Estimate creation is easy, learning curve is short The estimates are appealing to look at. The interactive capabilities for the clients to build their own budget

Cons: price is a high, we only is the estimating feature. Some of our assemblies we've built and inputted all the pricing have not been accurate when presenting with clients

Pros: We love that it speeds up the process for quoting by using templates that we are able to create, specific to our type of projects. We used to spend hours on our estimates with tedious spreadsheets but this enables us to get our quotes to the customers in a fraction of the time!

Cons: We found the initial learning process a little hard to grasp but we were introduced to a great 'customer success manager' who spent a lot of time walking us through it until we were comfortable using the program.

Pros: Building an estimate and billing clients is simple. The pipe line keeps all the clients and projects and invoices all in one place. Once setup the system is very easy to learn / use.

Cons: The biggest challenge that we faced when using the Bolster system is that it doesn't integrate with Quick books desk top.

Pros: The only thing I loved was the sales call. Everything sounded so good. Too good. Turns out everything you were told the software cannot do. I think 2 kids programmed this software by throwing a baseball at the keyboard.

Cons: Let me be clear. I was the valedictorian of my high school. I created our businesses' website. I can write my own macros in Excel. I write all that to say, THIS SOFTWARE IS IMPOSSIBLE TO LEARN HOW TO USE. And even when I did, they don't have so many basic features you need in order to use it as promised.

Pros: I liked the idea of the software; however, they never finished setting up my software to allow me to use it. They would not provide a refund, so my experience felt like a total scam.

Cons: Inability to get the roofing and bathroom estimating templates created. They did not finish the templates for me to use them.

Pros: Bolster allows the clients to make specific decisions regarding the choice of the finishes as well as options that have an equivalent immediate impact on the cost. This makes it possible for clients to have their demands met fully and less require many edit of the work done.

Cons: The choice of abbreviations may be confusing for the clients due to the specificity of the construction works terminology. Breaking it down into simpler terms and use of illustrations may help ease the pressure on the clients in a very technical area.​

Pros: I was amazed at how Bolster was able to give a live price update depending on the choices of the client in terms of material choices and changes on materials or deductions on the quantity of the building materials. During the remodeling sessions that encompass far more importance to swift and clear results, it has been quite valuable.

Cons: The only thing that perhaps can be listed as a downside is the issue of package synchronization. In some situations, when adjusting the task templates with new cost levels, Bolster does not apply those changes to the saved offers.

Pros: The estimating software provided by Bolster is exceptional, and their team continuously innovates to enhance its functionality for contractors. However, what truly sets Bolster apart is their outstanding customer support. They are highly responsive to emails and address any issues promptly, ensuring a seamless user experience.

Cons: Currently, Bolster is actively updating their software, so minor bugs are expected. One feature I would love to see added is the ability to view profit in numerical values rather than just percentages.