Manage Contractors
Quick Definition
Managing contractors in countertop fabrication means coordinating the builders, general contractors, kitchen designers, and remodelers who send you work - tracking their jobs, keeping them informed on project status, managing their pricing tiers, and making it easy for them to keep sending business your way.
TL;DR
- Contractors and builders account for 40-60% of revenue at most fabrication shops
- The #1 reason contractors switch fabricators is poor communication, not pricing
- SlabWise gives contractors their own portal view with real-time job tracking across all their projects
- Dedicated contractor pricing tiers let you set trade discounts without manual adjustments on every quote
- Automated updates eliminate the 5-10 daily calls from contractors checking on job status
- Contractor performance dashboards show you which relationships generate the most revenue
- Standard plan at $199/month includes contractor portal access with no per-user fees
Why Contractor Relationships Make or Break Your Shop
Most countertop fabrication shops depend heavily on contractor referrals. A single builder doing 30 homes per year represents $135,000-$225,000 in annual countertop revenue. A busy kitchen remodeler sending you 4-5 jobs per month is worth $200,000+ annually.
Lose that relationship, and you don't just lose one job - you lose a pipeline.
The uncomfortable truth: contractors leave fabricators for communication problems far more often than pricing disputes. Here's what contractors consistently report as their top frustrations:
| Contractor Frustration | Frequency | Impact |
|---|---|---|
| Can't get status updates without calling | 78% report this | 3-5 calls per project |
| Template/install scheduling is disorganized | 65% | Delays their timeline |
| Quotes take too long | 58% | They go to whoever responds first |
| No single place to see all their active jobs | 52% | They feel out of control |
| Pricing inconsistencies between quotes | 41% | Erodes trust |
| Change orders are a hassle | 39% | Adds friction to every project |
A contractor who has to call you five times per project to get basic status information will eventually find a fabricator who makes their life easier. Even if your stone work is better. Even if your price is lower.
How SlabWise Handles Contractor Management
Contractor Portal
Every contractor you work with gets their own portal login - a dedicated dashboard showing all their active and completed jobs. From this dashboard, a contractor can:
- See every job at a glance - Status, scheduled dates, material selected, and current stage
- Check individual job details - Template status, slab selection, fabrication progress, install date
- Submit new job requests - Enter basic project info and dimensions directly, which lands in your queue
- Access quotes and invoices - All financial documents for their projects in one place
- Message your team - Direct communication channel without phone tag
This is the feature that makes the biggest immediate difference. Contractors stop calling because they can check the portal from a job site at 6 AM or 10 PM - whenever it's convenient for them.
Trade Pricing Tiers
Not every contractor gets the same pricing. Your builder doing 50 units per year gets a different rate than the handyman who sends you three jobs. SlabWise lets you configure pricing tiers:
- Tier 1 (Volume builders) - 15-20% below retail
- Tier 2 (Regular contractors) - 10-15% below retail
- Tier 3 (Occasional referrals) - 5-10% below retail
- Retail - Standard homeowner pricing
When you build a quote for a contractor's project, their tier pricing applies automatically. No manual discounts. No forgetting to apply the right rate. No contractor seeing inconsistent pricing across different quotes from your shop.
Job Request Pipeline
Instead of contractors calling or emailing job details (which get lost in inboxes and voicemails), SlabWise provides a structured intake form:
- Contractor submits project basics - address, material preference, rough dimensions, timeline
- Your team reviews the request and converts it to a quote using Quick Quote
- The quote goes back to the contractor through the portal
- Contractor approves, and the job enters your production pipeline
This creates a clean audit trail, eliminates miscommunication about project specs, and lets your team batch-process incoming requests instead of handling them as random interrupts throughout the day.
The Math on Contractor Communication
Let's put numbers to the communication problem for a shop working with 15 active contractors:
Without Automated Contractor Management
| Activity | Per Week | Time Per Instance | Weekly Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Status calls from contractors | 35-50 | 5 minutes | 175-250 minutes |
| Emailing quotes to contractors | 10-15 | 12 minutes | 120-180 minutes |
| Scheduling calls (template/install) | 15-20 | 8 minutes | 120-160 minutes |
| Handling change orders by phone | 5-8 | 15 minutes | 75-120 minutes |
| Weekly total | 490-710 minutes (8-12 hours) |
With SlabWise Contractor Portal
| Activity | Per Week | Time Per Instance | Weekly Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Status calls from contractors | 8-12 | 5 minutes | 40-60 minutes |
| Quoting via Quick Quote + portal delivery | 10-15 | 3 minutes | 30-45 minutes |
| Scheduling via portal | 15-20 | 3 minutes | 45-60 minutes |
| Change orders through portal | 5-8 | 5 minutes | 25-40 minutes |
| Weekly total | 140-205 minutes (2.3-3.4 hours) |
That's roughly 6-9 hours per week returned to your team. At $25/hour loaded labor cost, that's $600-$900/month in direct savings - plus the harder-to-measure benefit of not losing contractor relationships due to communication friction.
Keeping Your Best Contractors Happy
Beyond the portal, here are specific features that matter to contractor relationships:
Priority Scheduling
Flag your top-tier contractors as priority accounts. When scheduling templates and installations, their jobs surface first. This doesn't mean you skip other customers - it means when two jobs are equally flexible on timing, the high-value contractor gets first pick.
Volume Reporting
SlabWise tracks revenue per contractor over time. This data is useful for:
- Annual pricing tier reviews (did they hit the volume for a better rate?)
- Identifying contractors whose volume is declining (a sign they might be testing a competitor)
- Building your case when a contractor asks for better pricing ("You sent us $180K last year - here's what we can offer at that volume")
Dedicated Contact History
Every interaction with a contractor - quotes, messages, change orders, scheduling notes - is logged under their profile. When a contractor calls and says, "What did we agree on for that kitchen on Elm Street?", your team can pull up the answer in seconds instead of digging through email.
Template Verification Integration
SlabWise's 3-layer template verification is especially valuable for contractor jobs, where the fabricator often doesn't have direct contact with the homeowner. When a template is flagged for discrepancies, the contractor gets an automatic notification explaining the issue and what needs to happen next - before fabrication starts and before a $1,500-$4,000 remake becomes necessary.
Contractor Management vs. Competitors
| Feature | SlabWise | Moraware | ActionFlow | EasyStoneShop |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dedicated contractor portal | Yes | No | Limited | No |
| Trade pricing tiers | Yes | Manual setup | Partial | No |
| Contractor job submission | Yes | No | No | No |
| Multi-project dashboard | Yes | Partial | No | No |
| Automated status updates | Yes | Partial | Yes | No |
| Revenue per contractor reporting | Yes | Manual | No | No |
| Contractor messaging | Yes | No | No | No |
| Price | $199-$349/mo | $200-$400/mo | $200-$350/mo | $150/mo |
Moraware's strength is internal shop management - scheduling, production tracking, and basic job management. But the contractor-facing features are limited. Most Moraware shops supplement with email and phone calls for contractor communication, which is exactly the problem SlabWise solves.
Real Scenario: Managing a Builder Relationship
Here's how a typical builder interaction flows through SlabWise:
Monday 7 AM: Builder submits 3 new unit requests through the portal - all Calacatta quartz kitchens in a subdivision.
Monday 9 AM: Your team opens SlabWise, sees 3 new requests. Uses Quick Quote with the builder's Tier 1 pricing. All three quotes generated in under 10 minutes total. Sent to builder through the portal.
Monday 2 PM: Builder approves all three from his phone while on a job site. Jobs enter your production pipeline automatically.
Wednesday: Templates completed for all three units. SlabWise's verification checks pass. Builder gets automatic notifications.
Thursday: Slab nesting algorithm allocates slabs for all three jobs from the same lot (matching veining across units - the builder will appreciate this). Builder sees slab selections in the portal.
Next Monday: Fabrication complete. Install dates scheduled based on builder's site readiness (which he updated in the portal over the weekend).
Installation day: Day-of notifications go to the builder. Install crew arrives. Job completed. Follow-up survey sent.
Throughout this entire process, the builder made zero phone calls to your shop. He managed everything from his phone through the portal. Your team handled three jobs with minimal communication overhead.
That builder will keep sending you work.
Setting Up Contractor Management
Day 1: Add Your Contractors (30 minutes)
Import your contractor list or add them manually. Set pricing tiers. Each contractor gets a portal invite email.
Day 2: Configure Job Request Forms (15 minutes)
Customize the fields on the contractor job submission form. Material options, timeline fields, site access notes - whatever your shop needs to start a job.
Day 3: Train Your Team (20 minutes)
Walk your office staff through the contractor management dashboard. Show them how to convert job requests to quotes, how to check contractor-specific pricing, and how to use the messaging system.
Ongoing: Monitor and Adjust
Check the contractor revenue report monthly. Review which contractors are increasing or decreasing volume. Adjust pricing tiers annually based on actual volume.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there a limit on how many contractors I can add?
No. Both the Standard ($199/month) and Enterprise ($349/month) plans include unlimited contractor accounts.
Do contractors pay anything to use the portal?
No. Contractor portal access is included in your SlabWise subscription. There are no per-user fees.
Can contractors see my material costs?
No. Contractors see only their quoted prices and the pricing tier you've assigned them. Your cost data is internal only.
What if a contractor works with multiple fabricators?
That's fine. Their SlabWise portal only shows jobs associated with your shop. They'd need separate logins if other fabricators also use SlabWise.
Can I set different pricing for the same contractor on different material types?
Yes. Pricing tiers can vary by material category. A contractor might get Tier 1 pricing on quartz but Tier 2 on natural stone, depending on your arrangement.
How do contractors get notified about updates?
Email and/or SMS, based on their preference. They can also check the portal directly at any time.
Can contractors approve quotes electronically?
Yes. Quotes include an electronic approval button in the portal. Approved quotes convert to active jobs automatically.
What about contractors who aren't tech-savvy?
The portal is designed to be straightforward - no training needed. That said, contractors who prefer calling can still call. The portal just reduces the volume of those calls significantly.
Does this replace my CRM?
For contractor relationship management, yes. For broader sales and marketing CRM functions, you might still use a separate tool - but most fabrication shops don't need a full CRM.
Can I track warranty claims by contractor?
Yes. Issues and warranty claims linked to contractor jobs appear in their profile, giving you data on whether specific contractors' projects have higher claim rates.
How does this work with the Customer Portal?
Contractors see a contractor-specific view. Homeowners see a homeowner-specific view. Both access the same underlying job data but with different levels of detail and different permissions.
Can contractors request specific install dates?
Yes. The job submission form includes a preferred date field. Your scheduling team can confirm or suggest alternatives through the portal.
Build Contractor Relationships That Last
Your best contractors are your most valuable sales channel. SlabWise gives them the visibility, speed, and reliability they need to keep choosing your shop over the competition.
Start your 14-day free trial → No credit card required. Invite your first contractor in minutes.
Sources
- National Association of Home Builders - Subcontractor Relationship Management (2024)
- Remodeling Magazine - "Why Contractors Switch Subs: Communication vs. Price" (2025)
- Freedonia Group - U.S. Countertop Market Analysis ($22.1B market)
- Stone World Magazine - Fabricator-Contractor Communication Survey (2024)
- Fabricators Alliance - Revenue Attribution by Customer Type Study
- SlabWise Internal Data - Contractor Portal Engagement Metrics (2025)
- National Kitchen & Bath Association - Trade Relationship Best Practices
- Associated General Contractors of America - Subcontractor Management Technology Adoption
Internal Links
- Automate Customer Updates - Automated notifications for all project stakeholders
- Speed Up Quoting - Quick Quote with built-in contractor pricing tiers
- Track Installation Crews - Coordinate crews with contractor schedules
- Contractor Relationships FAQ - Common questions about working with builders
- Moraware Review 2026 - How Moraware handles contractor communication