Keep a generic CRM if…
- One account means twelve contacts and a year of meetings.
- You need newsletters, lead scoring and drip campaigns.
- You sell without a site visit, a quantity or a completion act.
Helmar.AI vs a generic CRM.
A CRM tracks conversations. A contractor’s job is a measured scope, an accepted version, an advance and a completion act. Here is where a generic CRM stops and Helmar.AI starts.
Product preview. Helmar.AI is in development. The features shown are planned; accounts and integrations are not open yet.
- Built for six tradesstarter price books with units
- Documents, not just dealsestimate, act, invoice
- Lithuanian rulesan advance request is not a VAT invoice
Verdict
Keep the CRM for long sales cycles. Switch when the deal is a measured job with documents.
Switch if…
- The estimate is a PDF attached to a deal, and nobody can say which version was accepted.
- “Won” means someone moved a card, not that the bank confirmed a payment.
- Invoices are retyped from the quote in another tool.
- The crew needs today’s jobs and photos, not a CRM login.
The same job
One facade, stage by stage.
Lukas asks for a price on a 240 m² facade. Here is what happens in each tool, from the site visit to the money on the account.
- 01Quote
a generic CRM: A deal with an “amount” field. The estimate is a PDF made somewhere else.
Helmar.AI: The estimate is the record: lines, measurements, versions, options, margin check.
- 02Send
a generic CRM: Email logged on the deal. The customer gets an attachment.
Helmar.AI: A page and a PDF of the exact version; the customer needs no account.
- 03Silence
a generic CRM: A sequence that keeps sending, even after the customer answered elsewhere.
Helmar.AI: Follow-ups on real silence, stopped within 60 seconds by any reply.
- 04Yes
a generic CRM: Stage moved to “Won”. Which version, by whom, when: not on record.
Helmar.AI: One exact version accepted, with name, time and hash; changes become v2.
- 05Invoice
a generic CRM: Another tool, retyped from the deal value. One number where the law expects three documents.
Helmar.AI: Advance request, completion act and VAT invoice from the accepted plan, never retyped.
- 06Paid
a generic CRM: Somebody ticks a box.
Helmar.AI: Paid means matched to the bank; the job is created when the advance lands.
Feature by feature
What each one does, honestly.
“Partly” means it can be done with effort or an add-on. Hover or tap a row for the detail.
a generic CRM covers 2 of 26 fully and 7 partly. Helmar.AI covers all 26, some on Team or Business.
| What the job needs | a generic CRM | Helmar.AI |
|---|---|---|
| Quoting | ||
| Price book with rows you confirmed | ||
| Quantities measured on site, linked to each line | ||
| Assemblies: one measurement becomes every line | ||
| Options the customer ticks, priced and locked | ||
| Margin, VAT and validity checked before sending | ||
| Sending and acceptance | ||
| Customer page and PDF, no account, no appa generic CRM: a proposal add-on, often with a portal login | ||
| One exact version accepted, changes become v2a generic CRM: an e-signature add-on on a PDF | ||
| Evidence: name, time, version and document hasha generic CRM: the add-on’s certificate, outside the deal | ||
| Smart-ID and Mobile-ID when it matters | Business | |
| Change orders accepted before the extra work | ||
| Follow-ups and replies | ||
| Follow-ups on real silence, day 3, 7 and 14a generic CRM: sequences that do not know who already replied | ||
| Any reply stops the sequence within 60 secondsa generic CRM: when the reply lands in the connected inbox | ||
| Replies queue with an owner and a due timea generic CRM: tasks, without the reply’s context | ||
| Safe mode: preview the next seven days | ||
| Money and documents | ||
| Advance request, act and VAT invoice in the Lithuanian order | ||
| Payment plan frozen with the accepted version | ||
| Bank feed matches payments to documents | Team and Business | |
| Bank link and card payments from the customer's phone | ||
| Rivilė sync, i.SAF export, Peppol e-invoices | Team and Business; Peppol on Business | |
| Crew and jobs | ||
| Crew app without prices, also offline | ||
| Checklists, photos and the signed handover | ||
| Job margin against the estimate as costs arrive | ||
| Purchase orders from the accepted lines | ||
| Control | ||
| Audit trail nobody can edita generic CRM: activity log on the deal | ||
| Roles: the office works without seeing margins | ||
| Export everything, any time | ||
- Yes
- Partly
- No
- “Partly” means it can be done with effort, a workaround or an add-on.
Your numbers
What silence costs you, in your own numbers.
Most estimates are not lost to a competitor. They go quiet. Put in your own figures; the defaults are only examples.
Example values. Change them to your own numbers; nothing here is a benchmark or a promise.
At stake every month
€5,760
€69,120 a year
Work that goes silent and is never followed up. Helmar.AI follows up on day 3, 7 and 14 from your own address, and any reply stops the rest within 60 seconds.
How follow-ups workSwitching
An afternoon, then a real customer.
Bring what you have. Nothing goes out to a customer until you approve it.
01
Import your prices
Upload your Excel or CSV, map the columns and confirm each row. Or send it to us and we import it for you.
02
Add the quotes you already sent
Add them in 30 seconds each, forward the email or import a list. Follow-ups start from the real sent dates.
03
Approve the follow-up templates
Read the day 3, 7 and 14 notes, edit the wording, and check safe mode: the next seven days before anything goes out.
04
Invite the office and the crews
The office answers replies without seeing margins; crew app users are free and never see a price.
When a CRM is right
Honestly: sometimes it is.
Long sales cycles with many contacts
If one account means twelve people and a year of meetings, a CRM’s contact graph earns its keep. Helmar.AI keeps one customer per estimate.
Marketing automation
Newsletters, lead scoring and drip campaigns are CRM territory. Helmar.AI sends follow-ups on real silence and nothing else.
You sell without a measured scope
Software, consulting, subscriptions: no quantities, no site visit, no completion act. Then a CRM fits better.
Questions
Straight answers.
- Who is Helmar.AI for?
- Owner-led teams of 2–20 in renovation, roofing, facades, windows and doors, terraces and pergolas, and landscaping construction — starting in Lithuania.
- Is the job created automatically?
- When the advance is matched, the job is created from the accepted version with its scope, customer and dates. You assign the crew.
- Does AI write to my customers?
- AI can draft customer messages. You review and approve each one before it is sent from your address in business hours. A reply stops the sequence.
- Can I keep the CRM for marketing?
- Yes. Helmar.AI holds the estimate, the acceptance, the documents and the payments; the API and webhooks on Business tell your other tools when a proposal is accepted or a payment is matched.
See the preview
Put the estimate at the centre, not the deal.
Explore the product preview in a 20-minute demo. Accounts are not open yet. No card, no obligation.