When Alana Boone joined Bloomhouse Landscape as their commercial install estimator, she assumed the grind of manual takeoffs—construction paper, one plan a week, and stress—was just part of the job.
Here, Alana shares how Bobyard transformed her estimating process to not only land more projects and catch details that would have slipped under the radar, but also uplevel her professional skills and career impact.
Watch the video below to hear Alana explain how Bobyard has transformed the estimating process at Bloomhouse Landscape:
Before Bobyard, commercial install estimating at Bloomhouse Landscape meant lead estimator, Alana Boone, would have to bust out the construction paper and pencils.
"Before Bobyard, I was struggling. I was maybe doing one plan a week. I was using physical construction paper, drawing it out, measuring."
And without reliable measurement tools, material estimates were more gut feeling than science. The accuracy problem compounded the speed problem.
"I was basically guesstimating how much tile would be out there, how much topsoil they need."
Alana was also managing a full plate of other responsibilities across the business, and is a working mom. The combination of manual takeoffs and everything else on her desk meant Bloomhouse simply couldn't keep pace with the volume of bids they needed to get out—and that Alana was under a lot of pressure to finish work each day and also be there for her child.
When Alana onboarded with Bobyard, the shift was immediate.
"When the Bobyard onboarding happened, it really showed me that there are faster ways to do things. I needed to take that step forward."
With Bobyard handling the measurements with more speed and accuracy, Alana could move through takeoffs faster and spend her time where it actually counted—like finding the right vendors and building tighter budgets based on the numbers she saw.
That made a big impact right away. On one project, the client specified a type of sod that Bloomhouse couldn't locally source. In the past, that would have been a dead end.
"I probably wouldn't have found anybody. I probably wouldn't even have gotten the numbers, but because Bobyard already helped me with measuring it so much quicker, I was able to find somebody that was able to deliver within that budget they were asking for, and we were able to get that project."
Now, instead of working on gut feelings, Alana says, “I can get more accurate numbers, I can get that pricing, crunch better in their budget."
The impact on Bloomhouse Landscape goes beyond Alana's own workload. With faster, more accurate estimates, the company can show up competitively on bids they might otherwise have had to pass on.
"Bobyard is definitely helping us stay in there with our competitors."
For Alana, it's been a personal and professional transformation. She came in thinking manual takeoffs were just part of the job and that the stress would never go down. Now she knows better, and is relieved that Bobyard has taken the time-consuming estimating work off of her plate and shown her the power of technology in her trade.
"The initial experience with Bobyard has been great. It really showed me that there are faster ways to do things. It changed my life."
If your estimating process is holding you back from the bids you could be winning and adding stress into a big workload, it's time to see what Bobyard can do for you.
Book a free demo, and see how Bobyard can transform your estimating process (and your estimators’ work).