Building Your Business Foundation: Choosing the Right CRM for Your Construction Business
I know I’m preaching to the choir when I say that building homes is a complex process. You’re already managing budgets, timelines, building codes and permitting, efficiency in your processes, your team, and so much more. To put it lightly, there’s a lot to keep up with — and that’s before you even think about all the different people involved in a project.
That’s where a CRM comes in.
A construction CRM can help you keep track of your leads and where they’re at in the sales process, as well as your current clients, and what they need from you at any given time.
Of course, there are a ton of CRMS out there. While there are many that are specific to home builders and construction projects, there isn’t a “right on” for every business.
This week, we’ll talk about how you can find the right construction CRM for your company!
How to Choose the Best CRM for Builders and Remodelers
First things first — what is a CRM?
CRM stands for “Customer Relationship Management” and is a technology used for managing company relationships and interactions with current and prospective clients.
“The goal is simple: Improve business relationships to grow your business. A CRM system helps companies stay connected to customers, streamline processes, and improve profitability.”
- (Salesforce, What is a CRM?)
Think about what you actually need out of a CRM
The whole point of a CRM is that it makes things easier for you when it comes to managing relationships with your clients before, during, and after a project. That means that before you can know what construction CRM to choose, you have to think about what you actually need it to do.
Think about how things like:
Size of your company
Complexity of your projects
How many clients you work with at a time
Features and functionalities you need
For example, as a contractor, you may also want a project management tool as part of the functionality of your CRM. Or perhaps you want your CRM to do things like lead management, bid tracking, project scheduling, document control, collaboration, and field service management.
Make a list of functions and features your company needs so you can find the right tool for you.
Consider whether you need a construction-specific CRM
As I mentioned earlier, there is a ton of CRM software to choose from. Think about whether you want a program that’s designed specifically for custom home builders or remodelers, or whether you think you can get by with software that’s more industry-agnostic (it can work no matter what industry you’re in.)
It’s possible to use a generalized CRM and do just fine. But I encourage you to really think about this point, since construction is such a unique industry. There are things you do as an integral part of your daily work that other industries don’t include, and some of that can tie into your relationship with your clients. Not only that, but by choosing a CRM geared toward construction, you can also save monumental amounts of time, energy, and money with more efficient processes.
Think about the long-term
It can be tempting to buy the right CRM solution for right now, but chances are that your business is going to grow and change throughout the years. Make sure to look for a CRM that can adapt and change with your business.
Spend a little time planning scenarios and think about what features you might need down the road as your business grows. You should also consider the ease with which you can scale back, so you don’t get stuck with a big, expensive CRM that you don’t really need. Ideally, you’ll find one that can quickly scale up and down depending on the needs of your business.
See how well it plays with others
Different general contractor CRMs offer different integrations, so you need to spend some time thinking about what programs you need to have working together for your business to function. While this is less of an issue if you’re using an all-in-one program that does things like project management, CRM work, and accounting, you’ll still need to make sure that you can integrate things like contract software, and that it’s easy to integrate with your bank or payment processor, at the very least.
If you decide to go with a program that only serves CRM functions, then you’ll need to make sure that it can integrate with all the other programs you use, including your project management software, accounting software, payment processor, website, and anything else you use to keep your business running. Most programs are pretty good when it comes to integrations, but always double check. There’s nothing more annoying than having two pieces of software that won’t play nice with each other.
Get a demo and test it out
There’s no point in buying a CRM that’s a pain to use. It’ll just annoy you and take up a ton of time — which is exactly what you’re wanting to avoid.
Whichever CRMs you’re considering, take a little time to play around on the platform. Many systems offer a free trial, so you can get a sense of what it’ll really be like when you’re using the CRM in your day-to-day operations. Create some projects and do a trial run from start to finish so you can see whether this is actually going to work for you or not.
If you don’t have the option of a trial, at the very least get a demo.
While you should expect to have some kind of short learning curve with any new software, it should be just that: short. If you’re still struggling to learn something after a few days, chances are it’s not right for you.
Finally, think about the cost
I get it, your budget is your budget.
But running a business without a CRM can cost your construction company big time.
A CRM can be so integral to making your business work well that it’s worth spending a little more, if you can.T ake a look at the different costs of whatever construction CRMs you’re considering and think about whether a subscription or a one-time payment model makes sense for your budget. You’ll also want to consider whether there are going to be any other start-up costs, like training fees. Finally, think about the money you’ll be able to save and make as a result of using the CRM. This will help you determine what program will give you the best ROI over time.
12 Construction Industry CRMs to Look Into:
Procore: You’re probably familiar with Procore, though you might think about it more as a project management platform. It does have a CRM built into it though, and you can use it for lead tracking, bid management, document control, project management, as well as collaboration across different Procore accounts.
Buildertrend: Buildertrend is one of the most popular construction CRMs, and it’s designed specifically for construction projects. (As opposed to other CRMs, which can handle construction projects, but aren’t specifically made for them.) You can use it to manage leads, track customer interactions, schedule appointments, create estimates, and track project progress.
CoConstruct: CoConstruct is another construction-specific CRM/project management program, and it’s specifically targeted towards custom home builders, remodelers, and design-build firms. It has all the features you’d expect, including lead tracking, estimating, project scheduling, change order management, and client communication tools.
JobNimbus: JobNimbus is another one of those combination CRMs and project management systems specifically designed for roofers. It includes lead management, job tracking, document management, and communication tools.
Autodesk Construction Cloud: Autodesk Construction Cloud (formerly known as BuildingConnected and BIM 360) offers CRM features tailored to the construction industry. It helps with construction project management, collaboration for all stakeholders, and quantification. Plus, it’s got some features that work specifically for subcontractor management, which is great for bigger projects.
Houzz Pro: You may know of Houzz as the tool that homeowners use to find contractors. But did you know they actually have an all-in-one management software for professionals in the construction world? Well now you do! A great choice for builders, remodelers, interior designers, architects, and specialty contractors.
Jonas Enterprise: Jonas Enterprise is a bit of a mix of construction management that also does accounting and CRM stuff. It provides features such as lead management, opportunity tracking, estimating, project management, and financials, which can be really nice if you like to keep everything in one place.
Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate: Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate (formerly Sage Timberline Office) is an all-in-one construction management software that includes construction CRM as part of its package. They do lead management, contact tracking, estimating, project management, and accounting, so you can do pretty much everything you need to do with one sign-in.
Followup CRM: Followup is a specialist program that only acts as a CRM and is designed specifically for contractors and homebuilders. It includes lead management, sales tracking, contact management, and follow-up automation features. These are great for streamlining your sales process (no more needing to keep up with who you need to email back) and it can help you make your leads and customers feel really taken care of.
eSUB: eSUB is a project management and field operations platform for subcontractors. While primarily focused on project management, it also offers CRM capabilities for lead management, contact tracking, and communication with customers.
PipelineDeals: PipelineDeals isn’t specifically designed for construction and contracting projects, but it’s still a solid CRM, and you can customize it for construction work. It’s especially good for helping you manage your sales processes, offering lead and contact management, sales tracking, document sharing, and reporting features.
Pipedrive: Again, Pipedrive isn’t specific to construction, but you can customize it to fit your needs. It’s got everything you need — pipeline management, contact management, email integration, and reporting features that can be useful in managing construction-related sales and projects — and has some extensive onboarding support, including a training team.
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