The Hidden Cost of Inefficiency: Are You Overpaying for Symbility Estimates?
Symbility is a powerful estimating platform, but without proper training and process optimization, it can become a costly drain on your business. Many contractors don’t realize how much time and money they lose when staff members struggle through estimates, leading to delays, rejections, and lost revenue.
The issue isn’t Symbility itself—it’s the inefficiency that arises from a lack of training, standardization, and process optimization. In this article, we’ll break down the true cost of inefficient estimating, and explore four ways to improve your process—whether through internal changes or by outsourcing to a specialized solution like ECM-AI.
The True Cost of Inefficiency in Symbility
- Wasted Time & Increased Labor Costs
Every hour an estimator spends searching for line items, troubleshooting system issues, or revising estimates is an hour not spent on revenue-generating activities.
- If a trained estimator completes an estimate in one hour, but an untrained employee takes three to four hours, you’re paying 3–4x more in labor costs for the same result.
- At an average hourly wage of $25–$50, that inefficiency adds up quickly, leading to thousands of dollars in lost productivity each year.
- Higher Rejection Rates & Delayed Approvals
Uploading an incomplete or incorrect estimate leads to delays in TPA or MRP approval, causing:
- Longer claim processing times – Poorly formatted estimates require multiple revisions, leading to delayed job starts.
- Increased back-and-forth with adjusters – The more time spent correcting estimates, the higher the administrative burden and labor cost.
- Lost revenue from missing billable items – Untrained estimators may overlook key line items, reducing the final claim value and cutting into profits.
- Employee Frustration & Decreased Productivity
Forcing staff to work in a complex platform without proper training creates frustration and disengagement, leading to:
- Low morale – Employees feel overwhelmed and discouraged when they can’t efficiently complete tasks.
- Burnout and turnover risks – When staff are constantly reworking estimates and facing rejections, they may seek employment elsewhere.
- Declining productivity in other areas – Frustration with estimating can spill over into other responsibilities, impacting overall performance.
Four Ways to Improve Your Symbility Process
If your estimating process is costing you time and money, there are several strategic improvements you can implement to streamline operations and reduce inefficiencies.
- Develop Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) & Templates
A clear, standardized process ensures consistency, improves accuracy, and reduces time spent on each estimate.
✅ Create an Internal Estimating Guide – Outline step-by-step instructions for writing estimates, including best practices for Symbility navigation.
✅ Use Pre-Built Templates – Establish templates for common job types, reducing manual entry and ensuring consistent formatting.
✅ Implement a Quality Control Checklist – Before submission, estimates should be reviewed against a standardized checklist to ensure accuracy and compliance.
By removing guesswork, contractors can reduce rejections, improve approval times, and increase overall efficiency.
- Establish a Peer Review or Secondary Review Process
A dedicated review process ensures that estimates are accurate, complete, and formatted correctly before submission.
✅ Assign an Internal Reviewer – Designate an estimator or quality control specialist to perform a final review before submission.
✅ Use a Checklist Approach – Ensure estimates are checked for line-item accuracy, scope completeness, and MRP/TPA compliance.
✅ Automate the Review Where Possible – AI-powered tools can help flag missing or inconsistent line items, reducing errors before submission.
A structured review process minimizes rejections, reducing the costly back-and-forth with TPAs while ensuring faster approvals.
- Invest in Symbility Training for Your Team
If you want to keep estimating in-house, investing in proper training is essential to increase efficiency and reduce errors.
✅ Enroll Staff in Formal Training – Symbility offers training programs to help estimators become proficient in the platform.
✅ Host Internal Training Sessions – Conduct in-house training led by experienced estimators to reinforce best practices.
✅ Encourage Continuous Learning – Regularly review past estimate rejections to identify common mistakes and refine estimating techniques.
Training requires an upfront investment, but reduces long-term inefficiencies by increasing estimator accuracy and confidence.
- Outsource or Automate Estimate Writing
For contractors who want a cost-effective, time-saving alternative, outsourcing or automating Symbility estimates eliminates inefficiencies.
✅ Use an AI-Powered Conversion Tool – ECM-AI seamlessly converts Xactimate to Symbility, eliminating manual entry and reducing errors.
✅ Partner with Professional Estimate Writers – Instead of struggling with estimates in-house, leverage experts to write accurate, approval-ready estimates.
✅ Reduce Overhead Costs – Rather than paying for internal estimating inefficiencies, outsourcing allows contractors to only pay per estimate while ensuring accuracy.
By outsourcing or automating the process, contractors can eliminate inefficiencies without investing in long-term training or additional staff.
Final Thoughts: Find the Right Solution for Your Business
If your team is struggling with Symbility inefficiencies, the question isn’t if you’re overpaying, but how much.
🔹 If you want to keep estimating in-house, invest in SOPs, training, and a structured review process to improve efficiency.
🔹 If you need an easier, more cost-effective solution, outsourcing or automating estimates can save time, reduce costs, and improve accuracy.
By choosing the right improvement strategy, contractors can increase profitability, speed up approvals, and reduce wasted labor costs—all while ensuring higher-quality estimates.
Want an Easier Solution? Let ECM-AI Handle It.
If you’re tired of overpaying for inefficiencies, let ECM-AI manage your Xactimate to Symbility conversions and custom estimates.
🚀 Contact us today to streamline your estimating process and save time!