Is CRM a Construction Management Software?

Construction Management Software often comes to mind to quite a number of people whenever they encounter the word construction CRM. While CRM is not what Construction Management Software is abbreviated for, it can be directly associated to it in as far as construction business strategies are concerned.

Construction is one fast-paced industry and efficient customer relationship management (CRM) is key to scale one’s business in this field. This is in consideration of varied factors from bid management up to project completion. Before the existence of a construction project management software, CRM for construction primarily has the main purpose of being able to drive corporate performance by centralizing customer-oriented data and processes in a single database. In a way, therefore, construction CRM can be in the form of a construction management software. And while it is possible to manage construction customer relations the traditional way, it’s just more efficient to do so through a contractor CRM software.

The scope of construction project management is vast. Business processes and best practices of every contractor vary alongside workflows and systems set in place. This way, the means of managing customer relations match an ideal software to work around it. To simplify, let’s stick to the concept of construction to define these broad terms.

WHAT CRM IS

 

1.Helps track information. Pretty much everything in construction is all about information. In a pre-construction business process alone, going through bidding cycles require a lot of information. There are specifications from about one to eight customers, pricing jobs that require costing methods, even the sourcing of materials through the supply chain, and the list just does not end. Customer relationship management (CRM) is a working system that tracks all these information and puts everything in place. What’s the best part about this is that one administrator can be responsible for tracking all the information and make it available for the convenience of an entire team.

 
2.Establishes clear lines of accountability. Working in a construction business means working with different teams. For sure, you work with your bidding coordinator, engineers, planners, estimators, you name them. Efficient CRM not only delegates the tasks in the right teams, it also ensures every department that works for your construction project is held accountable. CRM aligns your team to focus on their individual tasks guided with metrics in place.
 
3.Improvesdecision-making process. Whether you work for a construction company, you own one, or you are a contractor, yourself, you know not a day goes by that you don’t make decisions for your project. And if that sounds overwhelming to you, it’s definitely twice as overwhelming to your team. Customer relations require critical decision-making and a good construction CRM is going to make it a lot easier for everyone involved in your project. Utilizing a CRM means making useful customer data handy and accessible anytime, anywhere. This way, you and your team can make accurate decisions faster.
 
4.Automates routine tasks. Productivity is so crucial in construction to the point that project progress is measured up to the smallest percentage there is. The same is true for those working on administrative tasks or easily called the routine tasks in construction. A routine task like managing incoming and outgoing bids from GCs can get time-consuming at some point. This is where the use of CRM emphasizes higher efficiency of your workforce. In addition to that, it also increases interaction between different departments as routine tasks are easy to track and follow through together. These four main points give a clearer picture of what to expect when a construction management software is integrated to either a general contractor or subcontractor CRM. Either way, a CRM for construction company is a contract, plans, and bidding software altogether that works best with construction business processes ranging from the simplest even up to the most complex ones.
 
These four main points give a clearer picture of what to expect when a construction management software is integrated to either a general contractor or subcontractor CRM. Either way, a CRM for construction company is a contract, plans, and bidding software altogether that works best with construction business processes ranging from the simplest even up to the most complex ones.

WHAT CRM IS NOT

1.One CRM fits all. While a CRM may not be limited to construction businesses, it is important to note that a construction management software may not be implemented entirely the same to every business in the industry. It is possible that you’re currently using a CRM for general contractors while what you need all along is a CRM for specialty contractors. Work principles in construction are already quite established from start to finish. However, construction businesses have their own proven best practices.
 
A CRM is not a system that would limit and restrict these best business processes. It can’t be limited to just be an outgoing bid software alone nor can it be limited to functioning as a contracting bid software only. Instead, it can be designed to adapt to every construction business there is. This would usually depend on key issues like bid management, GC relations maintenance, cost proposal creation, etc.
 
2.Shortcut to scale your business. A CRM is not your instant ticket to growing your company and increasing your revenue. Just because you have invested in a construction bidding software or CRM, doesn’t automatically mean you have found the holy grail for your business. It’s one thing to be already using a construction management software for your business right now. Making sure you’re using the right one that works best with your business practices is completely another. Often, contractors mistake mere compliance to a required construction project management efficiency as their key to success. When in reality, it requires work—working with CRM consultants, comparing construction CRM usage data, and multiple testing. If you’re willing to go through or at least get help to do the work required, then you’ll most certainly scale your business.
 
3.Highly adaptive to new users. Most construction businesses are excited at the idea of working with what they know to be the best CRM for construction. However, only a few will show up to actually use it. For a CRM for contractors to be labelled successful, its benefits to the construction company should feel like an innovation instead of pure work to the entire team. A construction management software could either be a short-term investment or long-term failure. The only way you can define it as a success is if your construction company maximizes it to its fullest potential by committing to adapt to the workflow changes.
 
4.Just another tool or platform. A CRM is not just any Excel file you share to anyone from your team who wishes to go over your bid log. It is not one of those platforms that your team has gotten comfortable of using interchangeably with the rest. CRM could be the only tool your construction company could be using because it is a cloud-based software.
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While the rest of the tools take longer periods of time to access, a construction CRM software is centralized to make all needed data in just a few clicks. No more requests for access to information just to keep your team in the loop. There is no better way to know more about a construction management software than to be able to draw the line of what CRM is not.
 
As summarized in the points above, a CRM is not just another construction bid software. It is a system that can centralize more than just bids in the construction industry. CRM for trade contractors may work different with a CRM for GCs. However, it does not mean its functions are limited to that extent. It only means, a CRM can be customized and tailored to fit to different construction business goals with the help of CRM consulting services. With the construction industry revolving around many customer relationships, GCs and specialty contractors already know how client and customer relations management make or break one’s business growth. Building trust is important in construction and it starts with efficient customer relationship management. Without it, there would be no foundation of trust that is usually based on projects completed, overall work quality, and more. When it comes to choosing the right construction project management software for your business, you need to make sure your chosen CRM is trusted and top of mind.
 
Salesforce CRM is one of the most trusted CRM platforms worldwide helping different aspects of a wide array of business processes in different industries. Salesforce ERP and CRM has built their reputation on scaling businesses through its cloud-based software. And while such platform has not primarily focused on construction industries, BidBook is a CRM designed to be the Salesforce for construction. BidBook was developed on the Salesforce platform with the goal of helping Salesforce subcontractors, specialty contractors, and GCs bid better.
 
BidBook has since addressed major CRM concerns in the construction industry and has efficiently functioned as an outgoing and incoming bid software and a unified business organization tool. More than just a bid management software, BidBook has helped scale construction businesses and support continued growth through innovative solutions. If you want to learn more about BidBook on Salesforce CRM pricing, click here.