How To Grow Your Construction Business With TopBuilder CRM

You have everything in place. You’ve got the equipment you need, workers ready to go, and the expertise to do a great job on nearly any construction project. You can grow your construction business and tap into a $2 trillion industry. Now you’re just waiting for projects to come rolling in. The problem is, projects don’t roll in by themselves — you have to find them.

Most businesses reach out to potential customers, talk about their products and services, and hope they’ve made a good sales pitch. Construction works differently. The bidding process makes securing a project more like an auction than a sales pitch. It’s a competitive market out there, and factors ranging from your company’s financial stability to the local economy all work together to make project bidding more complicated the more your business grows.

The bidding process in construction is so different from other industries that most customer relationship management software leaves you unprepared. Even after you’ve won a bid, you’ve still got to track job progress and send follow-ups. That’s why centralized communication, automated follow-ups, and integration with other tools are essential. Let’s take a look at why you need a CRM that’s built for you.

Why Contractors Need a CRM That’s Built for Them

There are many challenges when managing projects in the construction industry. Do any or all of these sound familiar?

• Disorganized data: Tracking bids with paper notebooks or spreadsheets means you spend hours keeping data organized, often leading to costly mistakes.
• Missed follow-ups: One missed call could cost you the job.
• Scaling problems: Keeping two or three projects on track manually is doable. Managing ten at once without help? Nearly impossible.

General CRMs help with some aspects of construction management, but they weren’t designed for construction workflows. The bidding process itself is also far outside the scope of most CRM solutions.

You need CRM software that fully integrates with estimating, bidding, and project management platforms. On top of that, customers want highly specialized reports for ongoing projects. With a general CRM, you’ll spend precious time customizing reports rather than using done-for-you templates.

Using a CRM specifically built for construction, like TopBuilder, perfectly aligns with the contractor sales workflow. It has many features that streamline every step of the process so you can successfully grow your business and avoid common pitfalls.

Key Features That Streamline Daily Workflows

Any good CRM offers email tracking and automation. But to grow your construction business, you need more:

• Centralized Bid Management The more you grow, the more bids you’ll juggle. When your CRM gets this right, it’s a game-changer. Bid management helps you score and prioritize your best leads based on custom criteria.
• Advanced Automation Rather than hire an army of virtual assistants, save time and money with behavior-triggered follow-ups and bid scoring. No more manual outreach or data crunching.
• Centralized Communication Keep project owners, managers, contractors, and subcontractors on the same page. A single project can involve dozens of stakeholders who need to be in the loop. Multiply that by 10 projects to see how important a CRM becomes!
• Proposal and Quote Templates Building an accurate quote is already complicated; you don’t need to add formatting and extra research. CRM software for construction should feature ready-made templates that integrate with your estimating software and offer electronic signatures.
• Business Intelligence Track KPIs and metrics with features like single-screen lead funnel views and KPI analysis so you can adjust strategies in real-time.

These features go a long way in streamlining the process, but make sure the CRM you choose integrates with your estimating tools and account platforms to avoid manual (and menial) data entry.

How TopBuilder Integrates With Your Existing Tools

TopBuilder CRM takes your existing data and integrates it into an easy-to-use interface so that you don’t waste time manually reentering data. Not only does this save you time, but it also ensures all your data is consistent. No rework, fewer errors, and centralized communication helps keep projects moving.

TopBuilder connects with your ERP, project management, estimating, and accounting software so you can grow your construction business faster. Integrations include:

• Sage ERP and accounting systems: Lets you track expenses and forecast revenue to help you score leads and remain profitable.
• Procore project management: Ensures proposals are created quickly and accurately.
• Outlook, Gmail, and Excel: Pulls information from multiple sources and organizes it based on how likely you are to land the job.
• And more!

TopBuilder CRM In Action

Let’s walk through the process with a hypothetical. Suppose you specialize in working with prefabricated and modular construction.

First, a lead looking to build an addition to a local school enters the system through your website, email, or personal contact. You enter this lead into your TopBuilder CRM to start the process.

Next, TopBuilder CRM sends follow-up emails and assigns a sales rep to call the prospect within 24 hours.

Your sales rep collects all the information they need on the proposed timeline, budget, and scope. Using TopBuilder’s Procore integration, you see that the project is within your capabilities and would be a great fit.

Once you have an accurate estimate, TopBuilder generates a proposal based on your template, and the proposal goes right to the client.

Finally, the lead either accepts or rejects the proposal.

The result? Faster response times, higher conversion rates, and less time lost to data chaos.

While this was a hypothetical, here’s a real example of client success:

Using TopBuilder’s Bid Management Software, all nine of Hatzel & Buehler’s divisions met bidding deadlines and tracked opportunities more easily. The result? This top electrical subcontractor increased their bid win rate by 28% and reduced average turnaround time by six days!

Ready To Grow?

With seamless integration, construction-specific features, and powerful automation, TopBuilder CRM can help you run a more efficient, scalable, and profitable business.

See what streamlined operations can do for your construction company. Schedule a demo today.