What is a custom CRM for a construction company?
It’s your own system for running jobs, built to match how your crews, office and salespeople already work. You don’t bend the company to fit somebody else’s software. You own the code, the database and the accounts.
Rented software is built to fit everybody, so its stages and screens are a compromise. A custom CRM starts from your whiteboard: how a lead comes in, who goes out to look at it, what has to get signed, when the crew gets scheduled and when the money gets collected.
At Big Bob’s, that’s a pipeline that runs from Lead to Paid and a job file that holds the photos, the estimate, the signed contract, the roof order and the invoice. The crew clocks in from their phones, and where a job stands is on the screen, not in somebody’s head.
Rented CRM or a CRM you own: what’s the difference?
Who holds the keys. With rented software you pay every month to see your own jobs, and the vendor decides what changes. With a CRM you own, you pay for the build, and the code and the data stay yours whether you keep working with me or not.
| Question | Rented CRM | A CRM you own |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly fees | A subscription, every month, for as long as you use it. | You pay for the build. No subscription to a CRM vendor. Ongoing care is optional, $1,000 to $5,000 a month. |
| Who owns the data | It lives in the vendor’s system, on the vendor’s terms. | You own the code, the data and the accounts. |
| Fit to how crews work | Your crew learns their screens and works around what doesn’t fit. | Built around your stages, your paperwork and your crew’s phones. |
| Changes you need | On the vendor’s schedule, if they get to it. | You ask, it gets built. On my last migration, features shipped the same day they were asked for. |
| If you leave | You take what their export gives you and start over somewhere else. | Nothing has to move. It’s already yours. |
If a contact list is all you need, renting may be the right call, and I’ll tell you so. We do the math on your numbers first. If a build doesn’t pay for itself, I’ll say so.
What goes into a contractor CRM?
Whatever your jobs need, and nothing they don’t. These are pieces I’ve built into CRMs that crews use every day:
Lead to Paid pipeline
Every job on one board, stage by stage, so you see what’s stuck.
The job file
Photos, estimate, signed contract, roof order and invoice, kept with the job.
Crew time clock
Clock in from the phone. Every clock-in carries a location check.
Built-in e-sign
Contracts get signed inside the job, not in a separate app.
Fuel receipts read by AI
Snap the receipt. AI reads it and logs it to the job.
Receipts and returns
Receipts with uploads, and returns entered as negatives, so job costs stay honest.
Role-based access
Owner, office, sales and crew each see only what they should.
Change log
Who changed what, and when. No more “I never touched that.”
More than one office
Multiple office locations in one system, plus vehicle inspection checklists for the trucks.
What does moving off a rented CRM look like?
Here’s a real one. A $4M–$8M construction company left a big-name roofing CRM for a CRM of its own, and moved its records in with it.
They could fire me tomorrow and keep every record.The code, the data and the accounts are theirs.
Talk about yoursOn top of the move I built them the crew time clock, AI-read fuel receipts, built-in e-sign, role-based access, a change log, vehicle inspection checklists and support for more than one office. Their job files live with their photos. When they asked for a feature, it shipped the same day.
Bobby, you are a freaking stud.
That company’s ownerThe morning the new crew time clock went live. He’s my longtime friend and a paying client. His results are his own; yours may differ.
How does a custom CRM build work?
Four steps, and you can stop after the first one. The first call is free and takes 20 minutes.
The call
You walk me through how a job moves today. We do the math on your numbers first. If it doesn’t pay for itself, I’ll say so.
The map
We lay out your stages, your paperwork and who needs to see what: owner, office, sales, crew.
Build and move
I build it and move your records in: jobs, payments, photos and documents, as far as your current software lets them out.
Go live
Your crew starts using it. Support runs 30 days on a single system, 90 days on the Business Install.
Payment: 50% down to start, and the balance is due within 7 days of completion.
How much does a custom CRM cost?
A custom CRM starts at $5,000, installed as a single system with 30 days of support. Your company’s own full app, with your playbooks and new-hire training built in, is $25,000.
AI Audit + Guided Build
$1,500I find where your shop leaks money and rank the fixes.
Single System
$5,000One system, like your own CRM. 30 days of support.
The Business Install
$10,000Two or three systems wired together. Team trained. 90 days of support.
Custom Command App
$25,000Your company’s own app, with your playbooks and new-hire training built in.
You own the code, the data and the accounts. Ongoing care is optional, $1,000 to $5,000 a month.
Who builds it?
I do. I own a roofing company, and I built the CRM my company runs on.
Owner, Big Bob’s Roof Pros in Sherman, Texas: 54 contracts and $1.8M sold in 10 days. Recent builds: a $4M–$8M construction company and a $120M-a-year construction company. You talk to me, not a sales rep.
Custom CRM questions
What is a custom CRM for contractors?
It’s software built around how your company already runs jobs: leads, estimates, signed contracts, photos, payments and crew hours in one place, on the phone. It’s built for your stages and your paperwork, and you own it instead of renting it.
How much does a custom CRM cost?
A CRM installed as a single system is $5,000 with 30 days of support. A full company app with your playbooks and new-hire training built in is $25,000. You can start with 50% down; the balance is due within 7 days of completion. Ongoing care is optional, $1,000 to $5,000 a month.
Do I own the CRM and my data?
Yes. You own the code, the data and the accounts. If you stop working with me, everything stays with you.
Can you move my records out of my current CRM?
That’s what I did for a $4M–$8M construction company: 6,004 jobs, 24,430 payment records and 1.1 TB of photos and documents moved into their own CRM. What comes over from yours depends on what your current software lets you take out, and we go through that before you commit.
Will my crew actually use it?
It’s built for the phone and for how they already work: clock in, open the job, add photos. The CRMs I’ve built are used by crews every day.
Is it only for roofing companies?
No. I build for contractors and construction companies. My recent builds were for a $4M–$8M construction company and a $120M-a-year construction company. Roofing is where I started, because it’s my own business.
Can the CRM text my customers?
Texting, like missed-call text-back, can be added. Texting numbers need 2 to 3 weeks of carrier registration before the first text goes out, so I start that on day one.