Bolster

RATING:

4.4

(30)

About Bolster

Transform Your Construction Business with CostCertified! Our cloud-based software redefines cost estimating, offering interactive proposal designs that let customers tweak their choices in real time. Packed with features like line item creation, customizable templates, and task management, it's a game-changer for efficiency. For contractors, it's a breeze to manage estimates, collaborate with vendors, and oversee costs and payments. CostCertified enhances team coordination with user permissions, lead management, and progress tracking. After project completion, easily gather customer feedback. Plus, adjust profit margins on the fly for instant quote updates. Get personalized pricing, inclusive of complete support and onboarding. Revolutionize your construction process ...

Bolster Pricing

CostCertified offers multiple packages based on users and usage rates. All packages include complete onboarding and support.

Starting price: 

$1,224.00 per year

Free trial: 

Not Available

Free version: 

Not Available

CostCertified pipeline
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Bolster Reviews

Overall Rating

4.4

Ratings Breakdown

Secondary Ratings

Ease-of-use

4

Customer Support

4.5

Value for money

4

Functionality

4

Most Helpful Reviews for Bolster

1 - 5 of 30 Reviews

User Profile

Micheal

Verified reviewer

Construction, 2-10 employees

Used weekly for less than 2 years

Review Source: GetApp
This review was submitted organically. No incentive was offered

OVERALL RATING:

5

EASE OF USE

3

VALUE FOR MONEY

4

CUSTOMER SUPPORT

5

FUNCTIONALITY

4

Reviewed March 2024

Great dedicated team that are there for you each and everyday

My Rep, [sensitive content hidden] is been exceptional in being there for our business. When urgent questions are asked he will call on his own personal time to sort out the issues, amazing customer support.

PROS

Presentation of the information to our clients

CONS

understanding the various formulas that can save time

Reason for choosing Bolster

Interactive with clients is the way to go!

Reasons for switching to Bolster

Bolsters is friendlier to our customers and appeals to todays consumers. Not raw data but a pleasant way to read your estimate.

Miles

Construction, 2-10 employees

Used daily for less than 6 months

Review Source: Capterra
This review was submitted organically. No incentive was offered

OVERALL RATING:

5

EASE OF USE

5

VALUE FOR MONEY

5

CUSTOMER SUPPORT

5

FUNCTIONALITY

5

Reviewed June 2022

Best Business Purchase For Growth

Every contact point with the Cost Certified team is a breeze. They are genuine people who are trying to help contractors improve their processes and grow their business. They have answered every question, responded to every email and call, and even set up last minute meetings with me to make sure I can make the best use of the platform. The sales team is exceptional, the customer service and onboarding is phenomenal, and the resources available are amazing!

PROS

I have saved so much time on estimating. I used to spend at least 10-15 hours each week calculating estimates and typing up fancy proposals for my customers. I could only see a limited amount of prospects just because it took so much time. Since I started using Cost Certified, each quote takes me about 10 minutes tops! I can spend more time actually talking with my customers about their projects and providing better service instead of wasting time estimating. The best part is, the whole proposal is interactive. My customers love it! It gives them the ability to choose their own budget, and I end up having more productive conversations now that they can pick and choose on their own. Cost Certified is so detailed, precise, and professional, that I ended up booking a big project over the phone. That is something that I have never done before in my 4 years in home improvement sales!

CONS

The ONLY potential downside is the time it takes to set up. However, just like anything in business, you need to invest before you can make profits. I invested a decent amount of time to understand how the system works and to customize it to my specific projects. The time it has saved me just in the last few months is easily a 5-10x return. This software is an absolute "must have"!

Reason for choosing Bolster

I looked at a couple different products, but Cost Certified was the only one that I really felt comfortable with the support and service. The other companies sent me email after email, but Cost Certified was the only one that called and took the time to talk with me. Once I made the purchase, it was a seamless transition to the onboarding team, and they have spent countless hours making sure my estimating process is as easy and professional as possible.

Reasons for switching to Bolster

I made my own excel sheet to estimate, but it took way too long, it didn't look professional, and I had typos and errors that were impossible to find or fix.

Deann

Construction, 11-50 employees

Used daily for more than 2 years

Review Source: Capterra
This review was submitted organically. No incentive was offered

OVERALL RATING:

5

EASE OF USE

5

VALUE FOR MONEY

5

CUSTOMER SUPPORT

5

FUNCTIONALITY

5

Reviewed April 2024

This program has been a huge Gamechanger!

The support we have received from their team has been absolutely amazing!!! I can not say enough. We have never experienced such a knowledgeable supportive team that genuinely wants to problem solve as needed and stay on top of any request. A+

PROS

The professional proposals that we accurately and quickly get to clients where they have options right within the system. How easily it customizes to our niche business and makes the process clean from start to finish.

CONS

There’s really nothing we did not like. Because our company offers a very custom product, it took some time to get our items into system but it has paid off!!!!

Reasons for switching to Bolster

Looking for an option to help streamline our estimate process. We couldn’t be happier!

Christi

Construction, 2-10 employees

Used daily for less than 6 months

Review Source: Capterra
This review was submitted organically. No incentive was offered

OVERALL RATING:

2

EASE OF USE

1

VALUE FOR MONEY

1

CUSTOMER SUPPORT

2

FUNCTIONALITY

2

Reviewed April 2024

Buyer beware

After 7 or so hour long meetings, we were increasingly feeling like this was going to take more time/energy and money (we were paying our guy to set the things up that the Bolster team should have been doing). We met with a "success management" person (who is nice btw, but not really helpful) a few times to go over the pros/cons and took the time to explain the issues we were having. The best they could offer was a "do-over" and basically start from the beginning and go through the whole process again. He said we weren't properly onboarded and assured us if we spent the time again to be onboarded correctly, we would be happy. We decided we didn't have the bandwidth to invest more time and energy into this product, we weren't even sure it was going to be a good fit for us. If you choose to move forward, be sure what they offer will be a good fit for your particular situation. Know you will be spending at least $4000 a year for this product, which will one day be worth that... but currently, it is not. Way too expensive for what you get. I wish the on boarding team would have directed us more, maybe the way we were supposed to be in the first place. But, they did not and now we have to move on and are out $4000. Good news is, we found a better fit for us and its half the cost. Guess I have to chalk this up to an expensive lesson, but hopefully our story will help another business owner save their money.

PROS

The concept of what they have to offer is what we liked best. During the sales process, we were shown a beautiful estimate (similar to what we would be sending our potential customers) that had a WOW factor for sure. We liked that the customer could interact with the estimate, upgrade or downgrade to make the project fit their wants/needs and their budget.

CONS

It is a super complex system to get up and running. We had read this in other reviews and were prepared to spend the 6+ weeks working with the team to build out the templates, calculators and back-end processes to make the product work for us. Unfortunately, meeting with the development team didn't quite pan out the way we anticipated. We attended 7-8 meetings and somehow the message was sent to them that we only wanted to meet to ask questions, rather than get the help we needed to build this out. Also, the project management side is non-existent. So, you'll have to purchase another program to manage that side of your business. The price is crazy expensive for what you get. You only get one user for the $4000 and have to pay extra for additional users, this made it challenging for 3 of us to use the software for estimating, reporting and assigning tasks. No trial period. Which they say is because it's too customizable to offer..Okay, fair. It is very customizable, but if you believe in your product, you should have a way to stand behind it. Even with stipulations would be understandable, like you can get a percentage of a refund if you attend all 6-7 of your scheduled training sessions. That to me tells the customer you need them to show up for their part of the deal, but you believe in your product enough to make users feel confident in their $4000 purchase.

Reason for choosing Bolster

In the end, we did go with Contractor Foreman because of their robust project management features, all the training available to learn the software and it's half the cost for 15 users. While they don't have the ability to interact with the estimate in the same way Bolster does (which is really a great feature). When weighing the pros/cons of both programs, Contractor Foreman won hands down for us.

Reasons for switching to Bolster

The sales process showed us a way to create estimates in 15 min or less. We were looking for a way to speed up estimating and manage our projects in one place. They also have an incredible onboarding process and a money back guarantee (make sure you understand it though, there are stipulations to receive your refund).

Lewis

Construction, 11-50 employees

Used daily for more than 2 years

Review Source: Capterra
This review was submitted organically. No incentive was offered

OVERALL RATING:

5

EASE OF USE

5

VALUE FOR MONEY

5

CUSTOMER SUPPORT

5

FUNCTIONALITY

5

Reviewed November 2020

Wow, Game-Changer!

This software has really increased efficiencies in my sales cycle while adding huge value through its unique interactive quoting engine. Overall my experience has been excellent, and the feedback from my staff and customers has been amazing!

PROS

After years of trying Construction software programs, I've finally found one that works. Cost Certified has been a complete game-changer to my business. I can't say enough good things about this software, but here are some highlights: - Cost Certified is extremely intuitive and easy to use. This is critical for my business if I can't get my staff to buy in and start using a program it doesn't really matter how good the software is. Pretty much anyone can set up the backend of this software with a little bit of time. Once the backend is set up the software is Ipad level simple from a user perspective, which means I can train anyone on it in hours. - Cost Certified has streamlined my sales and estimating process, but cutting estimating time significantly. What once would take an hour now takes 15 minutes. This has allowed me to reduce fixed overhead in my business while raising the profile of my business by allowing me to create truly unique deliverables for my prospective customers - One of the most unique and impressive things about Cost Certified is the ability to create interactive quotes. This function not only allows you to add pictures of the spec products, but it allows customers to upgrade products. I typically have 3-5 upgrades available with every product within my estimate. This is truly a game-changer, not only does it separate me from the competition, but it also puts customers in the driver seat and encourages them to engage with the quote.

CONS

I really do not have any negatives. I'm told that the services and capabilities of Cost Certified are going to be expanding in the near future. I am very much looking forward to what will be coming next.

Reason for choosing Bolster

I spent years trying to find estimating/management software that works for my custom home building and renovation business. I tried a few established construction management software programs over the years with the hopes that they would make life easier by streamlining my business processes. The reality is they typically did the opposite and it was like pulling teeth trying to get my employees to use the programs, and they typically lacked flexible simple to use costing and estimating tools. In the end, I ended up resorting back to excel after trying several reputable software programs. Just over two years ago I learned about a new software called Cost Certified that focused on estimating. Sales and estimating are the lifeline of my business and the lack of estimating abilities of other software programs I tried in the past, is a primary reason I eventually abandoned them. I reluctantly gave Cost Certified a try with the expectation I would once again be disappointed. After only a few days of learning how to use this amazing software, I was sold! This software has been a complete game-changer for my business. Not only has Cost Certified created significant efficiencies which actually allowed me to reduce staffing cost, but more importantly it has contributed to sales success through their proprietary interactive estimating tool that puts the customers in the driver seat allowing them to upgrade products early on in the sales cycle. What a game-changer!

Vendor Response

Wow, thanks Lewis for such a detailed review. It means so much to us to know we are making this kind of difference.

Replied November 2020