Bray Building Services

Bray Building Services are a general builder with specialties in Damp Proofing and Restoration.  

They are based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire and employ 9 people plus subcontractors.  Before working with us their main problem was the time it took to create an estimate.

Estimates

Estimating are very time-consuming.  For Bray Building Services this was no different.  It took ages to complete and it was almost impossible to give a same-day price.  In part due to having to return to the office to do the estimate on a computer.  We simplified the process by adding a price list section to the App, meaning each item could be adding in a few seconds.

Also, rather than spending almost an hour creating a bespoke estimate document, they could now create a 5-page document with all relevant details in just one click.  The improvement has been so great that they can now sometimes get 3 estimates out on the same day.  Whereas their previous best was 1 on the same day.

In the example shown, this estimate pulls together dozens of different materials then groups them by work type and location/stage.  Doing this allowed Bray Building Services to quote for all works, without risking giving them a huge single price.  Since the customer could opt to remove one or more items or entire locations.  This allowed them to achieve higher project prices without risking customers saying no.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

Bray Building Services had used Zoho for a few years and, whilst it had proved useful, it was not able to offer them everything they need. So we essentially recreated the sections of Zoho they used and then added further sections that Zoho didn’t have. The key benefit was that they were able to keep a track of all their prospects and share information between the office manager, surveyor and Virtual Admin person.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

Bray Building Services had used Zoho for a few years and, whilst it had proved useful, it was not able to offer them everything they need. So we essentially recreated the sections of Zoho they used and then added further sections that Zoho didn’t have. The key benefit was that they were able to keep a track of all their prospects and share information between the office manager, surveyor and Virtual Admin person.

Work Efficiency

Like almost all construction companies, Bray Building Services struggled to understand how efficient they were. When jobs took longer than estimated, firstly there was no easy way to identify which part of the job had took more time. Secondly when this happens, this might be because of a change made by the client or an unforeseen circumstance. In which case, they would look to charge the client the difference. We implemented a system whereby the estimate created an “Expected Hours” figure for each section of the job. Employees would then create time entries each day against these items. As the job progressed, it was then easy to see if any section ran over the target time.

WHAT OUR CUSTOMERS SAY


Since 1minManager created a variations section in our App, we've been billing over £2000 per month through it

- Gavin Esberger, GME Painting and Decorating Contractors

Date published: 2019/04/19
5 / 5 stars

Thanks to 1minManagers software we can quote in a third of the time we used to.  Sometimes even up to 3 estimates per day.  Also, the software is so useable on a smartphone that (FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER!) I was able to look at a Job and Quote it in one go.  The customer said YES :)

- Daniel Bray, Bray Building Services

Date published: 2019/04/19
5 / 5 stars

Having used the App for a couple of months now.  We've found that saves AT LEAST 2 hours per report compared to our previous report writing software.  We fully expect that the time taken to write reports will reduce further as we get more proficient  

- Vin Maher, Fire Safety Specialists

Date published: 2019/04/19
5 / 5 stars

Since we've had our App created by 1minManager we've won more business, and profits have increased.  I've also found the business easier to manage and now spend much more time working on it than in it

- Richard Anthony, Digitech

Date published: 2018/01/16
5 / 5 stars