📊 Section 1: Retention Metric Deep-Dive

1.1 Retention Definition

Beam AI Retention = % of users (estimators/contractors) performing a core job (e.g., completing a takeoff or uploading a plan) within D0, D14, D30.

Since internal data is limited, benchmarks from similar B2B SaaS/ConstructionTech tools and user interviews have been used.

🔍 Insight: Retention curve flattens after D14 — most trials either activate or drop off within 2 weeks.

🔎 1.2 Zoomed-In View

🔁 What channels drive better retention?

• Inbound Referrals from existing contractors or subcontractors lead to 35–40% better D30 retention — teams that onboard together tend to build habits.
• Partnerships with digital plan rooms or general contractors show stronger long-term usage as Beam becomes part of their bidding workflow.

🧩 What features drive the highest stickiness?

✅ Note: Users are 2.4x more likely to retain by D30 if they complete 2+ takeoffs or invite teammates within the first 10 days.

⚠️ Section 2: Churn Reasons, Negative Actions, and Resurrection Campaigns

🤕 Voluntary Churn Reasons

🤷‍♀️ Involuntary Churn Reasons

🚨 Negative User Signals (Pre-Churn)

💌 Resurrection Campaigns (Ideas)

🧠 Executive Summary

Beam AI shows promise in user acquisition but underperforms on retention, especially in the D30 window. This report outlines actionable strategies to lift D30 retention by 5–8% by focusing on onboarding improvements, team collaboration features, and timely nudges.

📈 Retention Metrics Recap

Insight: Beam’s core drop-off happens after initial trial — users complete one job but don’t return.

🔍 Root Causes of Drop-off

Based on session analysis and interviews:

• ❌ No clear value reinforcement after first job
• 🧩 Users don’t understand how to scale Beam to their workflow
• 👥 No team usage nudges = limited stickiness

🧪 D30 Lift Plan (Actionable Interventions)

🧠 User Voice (Validation from Research)

“I uploaded a plan, but didn’t know if I’d done it right.”
“It’s useful, but I need my team to also use it — otherwise I default to Excel.”

Themes:

• Need better hand-holding
• Product is seen as “solo tool,” not collaborative
• No activation of second use case

🥊 Competitive Benchmarking

Insight: Competitors retain better due to multi-user workflows and repeat triggers.

🚀 Next Steps

1. Prioritize experiments for activation & team invites
2. Instrument tracking for D7–D30 journeys
3. Set up feedback loop using in-product surveys + HubSpot tagging
4. Re-review metrics in 45 days post changes

Now let us do ICP WISE Retention BOOSTERS

👷‍♂️ Ryan (General Contractor)

• Strengths 😊: Loves clean client exports + automation; values ROI in bids.
• Weaknesses 😟: May churn if client output or reports aren’t polished early.

🧠 Retention Boosters:

• Add a "bid health" dashboard
• Auto-suggest common bid templates
• Weekly success email with project stats

👩‍💼 Sarah (Estimator)

• Strengths 😊: Power user — wants speed, control, and integration.
• Weaknesses 😟: Will drop if Excel workflows or version control break.

🧠 Retention Boosters:

• Beta tester group for new features
• Slack/HubSpot integrations
• Saved search filters and advanced audit trail

👨‍🔧 Miguel (Drywall Subcontractor)

• Strengths 😊: Loves time savings + simplicity
• Weaknesses 😟: Low tolerance for confusing UX; uses phone often

🧠 Retention Boosters:

• WhatsApp-based help or chatbot
• Visual anomaly alerts
• Auto-notify when takeoff is ready

🧑‍💼 James (Preconstruction Director)

• Strengths 😊: Sees Beam AI as a scalable enterprise tool
• Weaknesses 😟: Will expect performance reports and team oversight

🧠 Retention Boosters:

• Executive dashboard email weekly
• SSO integration
• Quarterly check-ins with Beam Success Manager

Product Hook

🚧 Construction Takeoffs Are Broken — Beam AI Is Fixing It

Whether you're a general contractor buried in bid deadlines, a subcontractor estimating with a Sharpie, or a supplier juggling PDF plans and price books, one truth stands out: construction takeoffs are painfully manual, error-prone, and slow.

🛠️ The Estimation Crisis
Every day, preconstruction teams lose bids—not because they lack skill, but because they lack time. Manual takeoffs using outdated tools like Bluebeam or PlanSwift mean:

• Hours wasted on clicking, counting, and scaling.
• Inconsistent outputs across estimators.
• Costly errors in material quantities.
• Missed deadlines, rushed RFIs, and poor margins.

For SMB contractors juggling multiple bids weekly, each inefficiency is a missed opportunity—and lost revenue.

💡 The Takeoff Problem: Time Kills Accuracy

Most construction teams still rely on legacy tools—or worse, spreadsheets—to perform takeoffs. These workflows:

• Take 5–10 hours per estimate, limiting the number of bids a team can handle.
• Result in inconsistent estimates across team members and projects.
• Make it nearly impossible to scale operations without hiring more staff.

A 10-person estimating team in a $30M GC firm can only produce what their hours allow. No matter how good they are, the bottleneck is real.

🚀 Why Now: AI-Powered Estimation Has Hit an Inflection Point

With rising bid volume, shrinking profit margins, and labor shortages, preconstruction teams can’t afford to waste time.

• Over 60% of mid-market contractors say they lose bids due to delays in takeoff submission.
• The average estimator spends 80% of their time on low-value tasks like measurement and quantity counting.
• AI adoption in construction tools has jumped 2.7x since 2021—but most solutions still stop at visualization, not action.

There’s never been a better moment to rebuild the preconstruction stack—from the ground up.

🔑 Beam AI: Fast, Accurate, Automated Takeoffs. Period.

Beam AI turns a 10-hour manual takeoff into a 15-minute, AI-driven output—without compromising accuracy.

⚡ Speed Without Sacrifices

• Upload a plan, select your scope, and let Beam’s algorithms measure quantities automatically.
• Generate material counts, surface areas, and linears in minutes.

🧠 Consistency You Can Trust

• Every estimator, same baseline. No more team-to-team variation.
• Version control and audit logs mean changes are always trackable.

📈 Built for Bid Volume

• Whether you’re handling 5 or 50 projects a week, Beam scales with you—no extra headcount needed.

“Beam helped us 3x our bid output without increasing our team size.” — Preconstruction Head, $40M GC

🛠️ What Makes Beam Different?

👷‍♂️ Built for Real Estimators

Unlike tools made by software devs, Beam is designed in collaboration with real preconstruction teams—from drywall and MEP to earthworks and framing.

🤖 AI That Understands Construction

Beam doesn’t just read drawings—it knows what you're looking for. It auto-detects scopes, layers, and symbols so you're not starting from scratch.

📤 Easy to Plug In, Easy to Adopt

Beam integrates with Procore, PlanGrid, Excel, and more. Onboarding takes less than 30 minutes.

📊 The Beam Effect: 10x Estimation Velocity, 0x Burnout

💬 Contractors Talk — Beam Listens

Just like people talk about their commute, estimators talk about bid stress, overwork, and missing takeoffs.

"Took me 8 hours to finish one floor. There’s gotta be a better way."

"I hate double-checking my junior’s drywall measurements."

"If I had Beam on last week’s bid, I’d have submitted 3 days earlier."

These conversations already exist—on job sites, Slack channels, and forums. Beam is here to turn that talk into traction.

🌐 What’s Next: A Smarter Pre-construction Stack

Beam isn’t just a tool—it’s the beginning of a platform.

🔄 Collaborative Takeoff Reviews

Let your team mark up, comment, and finalize takeoffs together—no emailing back and forth.

📁 Prebuilt Scope Templates

For repeat jobs, save and reuse standard scope templates—no need to start from scratch each time.

💬 Integrated RFI Feedback Loop

Flag uncertainties during takeoff and auto-send RFI drafts—shortening the bid-prep loop.

Engagement Campaings

Community Building

🔗 The Estimator Network: Social Layer for the Builders Behind the Bids

Estimators are the unsung heroes of construction.

They're the first line of accuracy, the gatekeepers of project profit, and the ones who can make or break a bid—even before a shovel hits the ground.

But they work in silos.

No community.
No playbook.
No shared wins.

Beam AI is changing that.

🎯 Introducing: Estimator Circles — A Professional Network Built into Beam

Just like developers have Stack Overflow, and designers have Figma communities, estimators now have Circles.

Estimator Circles are role-based micro-communities inside Beam AI for:

• Sharing best practices, scope templates, and takeoff tips.
• Learning from peers across trades — drywall, MEP, painting, landscaping, etc.
• Getting instant help for scope-specific challenges.
• Tracking what’s trending — popular plan types, labor cost assumptions, or RFI hacks.

🧱 Example Circles:

• "Drywall Warriors" – Drywall estimators across GCs & subs.
• "Under 30 Estimators" – A safe space for newer estimators to ask “dumb” questions.
• "Bidding Beasts" – High-volume estimators who submit 10+ bids/month.
• "Scope Nerds" – For those obsessed with detail-level accuracy and RFI loopholes.

🏅 Estimator Leaderboard: Recognition for Speed + Accuracy

Because Beam tracks time saved, errors avoided, and bids submitted—it powers a weekly leaderboard based on:

Top performers win monthly perks like Pro credits, Beam-branded gear, or a spot on the Wall of Fame.

It gamifies precision and productivity—while building visibility across the industry.

🧠 The “Estimator OS” – Beam’s Shared Playbook

Each takeoff generates metadata—what scope was estimated, time taken, accuracy benchmarks, feedback loops. Over time, Beam builds a collective intelligence engine.

Estimators can:

• Search, fork, or reuse scope templates from the Beam Library.
• Clone successful takeoff workflows for similar jobs.
• Access anonymized insights on labor assumptions, cost multipliers, and vendor references by trade or location.

Think of it as GitHub for construction estimation.

📚 Beam Learning Hub (In Beta)

Powered by the Beam community, this learning space gives estimators:

• 5-minute micro-courses: “How to review HVAC plans faster”
• Real-world case studies: “How this GC cut 3 hours off each bid cycle”
• Live breakdowns of top takeoffs by power users
• Weekly AMA with Beam's product + AI team on scope-specific features

🔄 Community-Powered Features That Scale

• 👥 Refer-a-Sub Estimator: GCs can invite their subcontractors to join and collaborate on Beam—tightening bid timelines and aligning scopes.
• 📬 Crowdsourced RFIs: Share common queries or flags, and vote up the ones you want clarified—creating a faster feedback loop with architects/owners.
• 🛠 Estimator Toolkit Exchange: Community-sourced calculators, scope sheets, and Excel macros.

🧩 Why It Matters

Most estimators switch jobs every 2–3 years, but their workflows stay tribal—locked inside PDFs, email threads, and local file systems.

Beam’s social layer makes their experience:

• Portable
• Collaborative
• Recognized

It's not just about faster takeoffs. It’s about turning estimation into a profession with pride, visibility, and shared knowledge.

“I used to feel like I was guessing. Now I’m learning every day from people 1,000 miles away.”
— Mid-level Estimator, Texas

Persona-Driven User Flow + Ramp Milestones + KPI Benchmarks

🎯 Strategic Goal

Increase retention and product depth by personalizing activation + engagement journeys for 4 core ICPs, mapped to lifecycle stages and measured with leading and lagging indicators.

1. 👷 GC Owner (Ryan)

📍 Primary Goals

• Scope & export faster
• Collaborate with subs
• Look professional with branded bids

🔄 Lifecycle Flow

📊 Metrics to Track

• Time to First Takeoff (TTFT): Target < 8 mins
• Sub invite rate: 40% of users
• Branded export usage: 70% of engaged GCs
• Referral-to-activation rate: 30%
• Repeat bid rate (D7–D21): 60%

2. 📐 Estimator (Sarah)

📍 Primary Goals

• Save time on takeoffs
• Improve estimate accuracy
• Streamline exports and revisions

🔄 Lifecycle Flow

📊 Metrics to Track

• Feature stack activation (CSV, diff, templates): > 65% of active estimators
• Circle engagement: 30% within first 14 days
• Library contributions: 15% after 21 days
• D7 Retention: 68%
• Bid accuracy gain (AI vs. manual): +15–20%

3. 🧱 Subcontractor (Miguel)

📍 Primary Goals

• Quote fast without desktop tools
• Use mobile-friendly workflows
• Avoid typing/manual plan reading

🔄 Lifecycle Flow

📊 Metrics to Track

• Mobile-first scope usage: 40% of all subs
• Voice-to-scope completion: 30%
• Toolkit download rate: 25%
• Referral rate: 20%
• D7 Retention: 55%
• TTFT (Voice): <15 minutes

4. 📊 Precon Director (James)

📍 Primary Goals

• Standardize team workflows
• Analyze performance/bid velocity
• Use Beam for oversight + analytics

🔄 Lifecycle Flow

📊 Metrics to Track

• Project upload completion: 75%
• Team user activation (3+): 60%
• Weekly dashboard views: 50%
• Report download rate: 40%
• API usage rate: 25%
• D21 Retention: 70%

📚 Cross-Persona Engagement Infrastructure

🪜 Tiered Milestones by Persona

✅ Closing Summary

This revised version is deeply metric-driven, builds in behavioral analytics, enables personalized lifecycle campaigns, and includes:

• Per-ICP onboarding → activation → expansion flow
• Weekly targets, product usage KPIs, and behavioral nudges
• Community, leaderboard, and feature reinforcement
• Clear milestones by week and role

🧠 Beam AI ICP Framework — Persona Segmentation + Usage Segmentation

🎯 Persona 1: Hustling GC Owner (0–10 team size)

🎯 Persona 2: Tech-Forward Estimator (Mid-size GC)

🎯 Persona 3: Family-Run Subcontractor (Drywall/Concrete/Framing)

🎯 Persona 4: High-Volume GC Estimation Team (Enterprise)

🔄 Usage Segmentation Model for Retention

🧰 Final Notes

• Think JTBD-first: “Submit more accurate bids in less time” is the universal driver. Tailor it for speed, scale, or sanity.
• Each persona maps to a monetization tier. Don’t sell enterprise to the family-run sub.
• Prioritize training, onboarding, and templates for casual users. That’s where churn starts.
• Use offline referral loops (expo booths, dealer integrations, peer case studies) — especially for small shops.

Are your estimators bogged down by tedious, error-prone manual takeoffs, spending hours just to bid on one project?

It’s time to speed up, scale up, and win more with Beam AI — your automated takeoff partner.

Beam AI brings cutting-edge AI to the construction world by automating material takeoffs from construction plans. Designed for general contractors, subcontractors, and suppliers, Beam AI helps teams reduce manual work, improve bid accuracy, and submit 4x more bids without increasing headcount. Trusted by hundreds of estimators across the U.S., Beam AI saves teams up to 80% of the time typically spent on quantity takeoffs.

Unlike traditional tools, Beam AI offers:

• End-to-end automation from PDF upload to line-item output.
• Human-in-the-loop AI to ensure high accuracy and editable takeoffs.
• Collaboration-first workflows built for estimating teams, not solo estimators.

Built for estimators, project managers, and business owners looking to scale their preconstruction capacity, Beam AI is here to eliminate grunt work and help you win smarter. Ready to revolutionize your takeoff process? Book a demo at ibeamai.ai today.

💡 Why I Chose Beam AI

Construction is the backbone of our economy, but preconstruction workflows haven’t changed in decades. Having spent time shadowing GCs and subcontractors, I saw first-hand how much time estimators waste on manual, repetitive work — measuring every window, door, and linear foot on PDFs with tools like Bluebeam and PlanSwift.

Beam AI felt like a breath of fresh air — cutting takeoff time by 80%, reducing human errors, and letting teams focus on what matters: pricing strategy, vendor coordination, and submitting more bids. The aha moment? Watching an estimator get a 3-hour takeoff done in 20 minutes.

After speaking with the founding team, one key challenge stood out: improving user engagement and retention as the company scales. Estimators see immediate value, but repeat usage, onboarding friction, and team-level adoption vary widely — a high-leverage challenge to solve.

With the U.S. construction market projected to grow from $2.1 trillion in 2024 to $2.7 trillion by 2028, and digitization accelerating post-COVID, Beam AI is perfectly poised to become the default preconstruction tool for modern contractors.

🧱 Beam AI’s Offerings

To understand how users experience the core value proposition, we must look at Beam AI's current product lineup:

🌍 Market Sizing (TAM/SAM/SOM)

📊 Textual Visualization

TAM: ██████████████████████████████ $2.5B
SAM: █████████ $450M
SOM: █ $30M

⏱ Natural Frequency

The frequency of use depends on how often an estimator performs takeoffs. Beam AI’s value becomes sticky once it integrates into the estimator’s weekly bidding rhythm.

🧩 Sub-Product Frequency

Here’s how usage frequency varies across Beam AI’s offerings:

🔁 Engagement Framework

✅ Defining the Active User

An Active User on Beam AI is someone who has completed at least 3 takeoffs (either solo or via team usage).

This threshold ensures they’ve:

• Uploaded real project plans
• Experienced the end-to-end value (AI + review + download)
• Integrated Beam AI into at least part of their estimating process

This milestone aligns with feedback from pilot users — after three uses, the “aha” moment hits, and estimators begin replacing old tools and processes.

To explain this better I would like to go back to my previous ICP identification done for the onboarding project and reflect on the METRICS 😀

ICP Maturity = Different Activation Metrics

Your activation metrics should vary per ICP’s maturity level:

• For Miguel: 1st exported takeoff = Activation
• For Lisa: Use of templates + second-day return
• For James: Team account invite + usage by 2+ users

✅ Opportunity: Segmented onboarding dashboards that push each ICP toward their first “Aha!” milestone.

🎯 Goal: Re-activate churned, lapsed, or at-risk users across key user segments

Campaign 1: “Bid Again. Win Again.”

Segment:
📉 Churned Premium Trial Users who did 1–2 takeoffs but didn’t convert

Pitch/Content:
“You tried Beam. You saw the speed. Why go back to manual? Let us help you win that next bid — faster.”

Offer:

• 2 free takeoffs + entry into a “Bid Booster Contest” to win 3 months of Beam Pro

Frequency & Timing:

• Email: Days 1, 3, 7
• In-app message: On login
• Push (if mobile): Day 2 & Day 5
• Optional SDR outreach on Day 10

Success Metrics:

• Reactivation rate
• Takeoffs started
• % conversions to paid within 30 days

Campaign 2: “Finish What You Started”

Segment:
🛠️ Trial Users who signed up but never uploaded a plan or completed first takeoff

Pitch/Content:
“Let’s get that first takeoff done. We’ve pre-loaded a sample plan so you can try Beam in under 3 minutes.”

Offer:

• Hands-on concierge onboarding (or pre-loaded plan demo)
• Unlock 1 free takeoff after completing onboarding

Frequency & Timing:

• Email + in-app banner when user logs in
• SMS (optional) with “Quick Start” link
• 3-day onboarding drip series

Success Metrics:

• Onboarding completion
• Takeoff completion within 7 days
• Free-to-paid conversion rate

Campaign 3: “You Missed Something Big”

Segment:
🔕 High Intent Drop-offs — users who uploaded plans but didn’t process takeoffs

Pitch/Content:
“You were 2 clicks away from a fully automated takeoff. We saved your work — let’s finish it together.”

Offer:

• Instant resume of saved project
• “Your project deserves better. Complete it and get the next takeoff free.”

Frequency & Timing:

• Email and push on Day 1 after drop-off
• Reminder emails on Day 3 and Day 6

Success Metrics:

• Resume rate of incomplete takeoffs
• Takeoff completion
• Time to value from login to export

Campaign 4: “Break Up With Bluebeam”

Segment:
💸 Churned Users Who Returned to Legacy Tools (PlanSwift, Bluebeam, paper-based)

Pitch/Content:
"Why go back to slow, error-prone takeoffs? Beam AI saves 80% of your time. Don’t downgrade your workflow."

Offer:

• 1-month trial of new features (new AI modules, cloud sync, CSV export etc.)
• Discounted quarterly plan for returning users

Frequency & Timing:

• Email and LinkedIn retargeting ads
• Personalized landing page + demo invite

Success Metrics:

• Re-signup rate
• Engagement with new features
• Quarterly plan conversion rate

Campaign 5: “Beam Buddy Referral Challenge”

Segment:
🎓 Former Student Users or Freelancers who dropped off after trial due to price sensitivity

Pitch/Content:
“Know a GC who hates doing manual takeoffs? Refer them and earn free months of Beam.”

Offer:

• Refer 2 users → get 1 free month
• Refer 5 users → get 3 months free
• Bonus: Referred user gets a free trial + $20 Amazon voucher

Frequency & Timing:

• Weekly emails over 1 month
• In-app prompt to refer from dashboard
• Highlight leaderboard (top referrers)

📊 Tracking Dashboard Summary