A Great Resource and Asset to Our Firm

The overall product is great!! I had been using BB alongside another program since 2015. I now use BB exclusively for all of our projects.

Pros

What first caught my attention about BB was the User interface. It is very simple and neatly organized in a manner that makes it easy for any electrical contractor to navigate and confidently complete a competitive bid.

I also like having the added takeoff program included with the estimating program. It's ability to automatically transfer takeoff information into the estimate portion of BB, in my opinion, is second to none. Having the two programs work congruently removes a lot of the headache and potential for error that can commonly occur when doing takeoffs by hand or in a standalone program.

The program has a myriad of features including reports that translate well into the field. We are able to use many of these reports to track and compare the progress of each job to how we bid it. Having this ability is priceless, because it allows us to sharpen our pencils and correct errors (if any) on the next bid.

I am also impressed with knowing that I own this program and I don't have to pay annual fees/subscriptions.

Lastly, customer service has been awesome!!! I encountered issues when installing the program. Customer service was prompt and knowledgable. I was up and running in no time.

Cons

Ran into issues with installation when upgrading from an older version. As a result of the issue I lost old data. The issue was more than likely with my computer, but having an option to backup and restore the database, may have saved me the hassle.

The Best estimating software my company has used

I would recommend this software to anybody wanting to use estimating software or any company upgrading or changing the way they do take off's and estimating. By far this has been the best choice i made. I have been using their software for about 10 years now and have never regretted purchasing this software once. The support team is amazing and if i ever run into something that doesn't quite work for me they are there to help me out always.

Pros

Ease of use
Great integration between take off and estimating packages
Allows me to do take off's and estimate my way not have to change to the way the software wants it
Support is amazing
Has allowed more efficiency and production in the office
I believe we have more awarded projects because of this software
Allowed us to be more competitive and profitable and allowed us to keep better track of material and man hours

I am an electrical estimator for R&C, a small electrical contractor that does residential and commercial electrical work ranging from 1,000 sq. ft up to 80,000 sq. ft of lease spaces and ground up projects. Before I used McCormick and On Screen Takeoff, or entered projects manually on paper from blueprints. As you may know, paper form is now obsolete and using the bigger programs such as McCormick, which is not very electrician-friendly, is the best way to do estimating. I personally believe that the best estimators are electricians whom work out in the field. Unfortunately, many of them are not computer savvy and Best Bid is actually friendly enough to use that these electricians can learn to estimate. The software programs must be easy to use to save time and to create the competitive edge for landing jobs for a company. Therefore, the more user-friendly and simple the software, the easier it makes estimating. Best Bid is user-friendly, efficient and productive and has cut the data entry of projects in half. The software bidding program, Best Bid, is very user-friendly for electricians that are electrical project estimators. It is very easy to create custom assemblies and has a large range of assemblies to choose from, which helps to save time when bidding projects. There are also built in proposals that help to make bidding a project more efficient and quicker, as well as the ability to create a change order. It also has a large range of material and supply costs readily available to make bidding easier and the net price feature helps to make the pricing more accurate. Best Bid’s customer service representatives are second-to-none and their response to assistance inquiries is quick and helpful. I personally own the following; Best Bid, First Choice, Digi-Count, and Panel Scheduling and am very satisfied with what the programs have to offer. I look forward to seeing what other programs that they have in store in the future. Best Bid has benefited me, as an electrical estimator in the following ways: submit more accurate bids, shortened the length of time spent on a project and freed my time to put in extra projects per week which I would not have had the time to do.

Great tool to have on hand when estimating for electrical jobs

Pros

What I liked most about this product is how a good tool it is to have on hand when one is rushed into making a estimate on a job.

Cons

Aside from it being a great tool to have on hand when rushed to estimate a job, sometimes it's not as accurate as one hopes. I prefer estimating ourselves instead of using the program but when in need, it's a life saver!

Simple To Use- The Complete Package

As an electrical educator, I have taught over 40,000 students in my time. When I talk estimating to folks I want to show them something simple and easy to understand. The complexity of a software means the difference in using it and putting it on the shelf to collect dust. I can promise you that will not the case with the Best Bid Hybrid Pro software because it is so easy to use and is so amazing affordable that it is a no-brainer for any electrical contractor.

Pros

I have been an electrical industry expert for over 30 years and author many articles and books on electrical codes and estimating. I have used a wide variety of estimating software in my 30 years and the Best Bid Hybrid Pro is by far the easiest and quickest on the market. Regardless of the size of the project the Best Bid software makes it easy and painless.

Cons

I am unable to think of any "cons" at this time. The price is so affordable that the only con may be for the company as they could probably charge twice what they do and it would still be a bargain.

At Chase Power Solutions we provide a full line of electrical services and installations from high end apartment complexes to commercial and industrial projects. We also provide security, data, and telephone systems. We have been using another system for 3 years. We were convinced by the company that this was the best approach to estimating. After 3 years of paying for the original purchase price, extra seats, plus tech support fees and yearly up-dates we had a fire that destroyed our computers. To our surprise the company basically said we had to start all over from scratch. Yes we were upset! We just purchased the Best Bid Electrical Estimating Software a few months ago and we kept looking for the complicated screens and choices that were used to but they just were not there. After we removed what we were taught from the other company we are now able to complete an estimate in no time. It took about 2 phone calls to tech support, which is free, and we knew everything that we needed to know about the system. Best of all everyone at Best Bid has an electrical background so they know firsthand what you need. As the owner I love the 1 time cost with no extra fees that never stop. My estimators love the simplicity and flexibility. Overall from what we were used to this experience could not be better.

This is by far the best software I have used; It should have been the first.

If you are looking to take the leap and purchase estimating software, this is the least expensive, easiest to use, full featured program available at a great price point. Don't make the mistake of getting software that requires an ongoing financial investment to use. This program lives on your local hard drive, not in the clouds. Support is provided promptly by living people, not a menu of FAQ's. You will not regret making this decision!

Pros

The support is excellent. When I have a question or problem, I shoot an email and have an answer. The software is very intuitive for the user. I can build an estimate any way I want. Big job or small, this is the best way I have found to produce an estimate. The best part is that when I purchased the program I got the whole program with all the features intact. There are no additional hidden charges, fees, services or memberships like others I have used.

Cons

I have had a little trouble finding the items I'm looking for in the item description fields. Some folks call items by different names and it can make it tough to locate the item needed. There is a good chance that I just haven't stumbled on a better way to search.

My experience with Best Bid Electrical Estimating Software has been great. We were using another system but the price was getting out of hand so we looked for another estimating solution. We have been using this software for 1.5 years and are very happy with the product and the support. For example, the software locked me out and I needed to get an estimate out that day. After talking with support they had me up and running within the hour. Best Bid is very easy to use. We also use DigiCount Pro, another excellent product. We no longer use paper prints - we get them in PDF format and do our counts right on the computer and transfer to the estimating software. No more prints to hang on to! The paper and money we have saved has paid for the software. I have won many bids with this software and everything was covered. Best Bid Estimating Software to me is a great product. It was easy to learn and to use and has helped us be very competitive in this very tight market. We are an electrical company that does commercial, industrial and service work in the state of Florida.

We just started using Best Bid Electrical Estimating a few months ago and the experience has been great. We handle mostly commercial work but the ability to do both residential and commercial estimating in the same program has been wonderful. The item list of prices is enormous and we have yet to find an item that is not covered. We also use the Net Pricer integration which allows us to get very accurate pricing from our distributors without ever picking up the phone. I can't tell you how much time this saves. In the past I spent half a day just getting updated prices for items we use all the time. With the constant changes in copper cost we can't afford to use outdated pricing and the Net Pricer feature has saved a boat load of time. The solution was very easy to set up and we were up and running in no time at all. The ability to customize all of the price sheets and reports is great and I love the fact that you can rearrange the screens any way you want. We are very happy with our purchase.

Best Bid Hybrid

Pros

The software does everything that I need done, and it does it the way I like it.
I could actually talk to a person that estimates and understood what my needs were.
It was not like talking to a sales person.

Cons

I find it hard to post anything negative. I do wish they had a FREE pricing service.

Will from Stephenson Electric llc

What a wonderful product. I had a few issues in the beginning with my computer and the agent personally walked me through every step that I needed. Has saved me a tremendous amount of time on bids and has been very accurate on pricing. Great product

Pros

The user friendly interface and convenience of the vast amount of pricing incorporated into the system.