A customer relationship management, or CRM, is a software that has been around for several years now in the construction industry. Like most software packages, they have improved and expanded over the past twenty-years, providing more options for the contractor. But is CRM right for you? Well, before we decide, let’s explore a bit more about CRM software.
What is CRM software? It is a customer relationship focused software that helps a contractor to manage their accounts, hence the acronym CRM. A CRM software most often provides means to track customers, the bids we create and submit, preconstruction or pre-start qualifiers, forecasting of pipeline, WIP, backlog, document creation and exchange, communication with customers, and post-project management of accounts including repeat project opportunities, warranty services, financial history of projects, etc. The opportunities are simply mind-boggling for most contractors.
With such fire power seemingly in this product, it might initially look to be a “no brainer” for any contractor to purchase. As a famous college football commentator and icon says, “Not so fast.” There is work to be completed before you go live with your software. There are three primary stages, each stage with several executions that should be made to gain the maximum benefits of the software.
Three Stages
A. Pre-Implementation & Preparation
B. Roll-Out of Software & Continued Coaching
C. Post-Implementation & Fine-Tuning
The Stages should not be a surprise to any contractor but trust me, if you are clear, transparent, and committed to perform “A.”, you might rethink investing in such a statistical juggernaut. Briefly, A. involves mapping our current processes your company has, how does your lead generation operate, how do you bid, what do you current proposals look like, etc. You will also need to clean up existing data from Excel sheets, Outlook, cell phones, notebooks, etc., anything that will be needed and managed with the new CRM.
The Roll-Out consists minimally with configuring of the CRM, customizing fields for your project types (by division), markets, service areas. Clear selling stages that align with your bid cycle and automated reminders for required bid deadlines. You might even set up tracking “hit rates” and backlog, etc. This stage is also overwhelmed with training, especially your PMs and Estimators, and any individual (including the owner) responsible for Business Development.
The Post-Implementation primarily focuses on workflow adjustments, the creation of “dashboards” that track backlog, expenses, priority status, extended projects, “KPI’s” that are being met or not, and a continued need for coaching those struggling to learn the new software.
The advantages for integrating, or expanding, a CRM software are many, not the least is having a measurable picture of what your company is doing, how they are doing, and what needs to be more in focus throughout the season. Having such reminders posited to your sales oriented folks when to follow-up, what to follow-up on, and how to retain your clients for long-term relationships is the strengthen of most CRM software.
The list of advantages of CRM is undeniable however, like most good things, there can be some drawbacks and challenges should you go the CRM way. Adapting to a new software is just tough for many. Many estimators and PMs just hate to do more data entry than they have to and if the system isn’t exactly simple, that escalates the challenges. If the CRM doesn’t integrate with your estimating, job costing, and project management software you currently use, it will be challenging for your users to add yet another software tool that requires double entry, killing adoption! Though some CRM providers claim that their package is compatible with your other systems, many, not all, contractors have simply not found this to be the case.
Here are a few things to look out for if you are considering purchasing your first CRM package or, expanding your current system. First, the cost ranges greatly between companies, mostly due to the amount of available purposes you may want to purchase. It is tempting to buy more than you need now but this decision may be a large expense that may never be realized. To have more than one software in your office providing duplicated data will become obvious if you are not careful, and the users will more often stick with the one they have danced the longest with.
So, is CRM right for you? That’s your decision but I think YES, you need to move toward making CRM part of your company’s efforts to grow and be sustainable. Because CRM is more customer focused, I see many growing contractors who eventually invest in CRM. (Hitting ten to twenty million should draw your consideration to purchase a CRM system.) The time of integration can be an issue for contractors, but I have found that most contractors, who planned on about three to six months of integration, soon realized that this may be more of a twelve to eighteen months journey. It doesn’t have to be, but this will depend greatly on the number of preparations you executed AND that you not only provided initial training but maintained a consultant to be available for users for another six to nine months. If you do this, you will see much better results sooner!
If integrated correctly, most CRM products can become a great resource for business development acumen, positively influencing your bid management system, keeping needed forecasts in view regularly, and add to your customer retention strategies, with dates, that can fill in those schedule cracks for customer appreciation, reminders, and references for new jobs.
It starts with the owner who must support the integration, but more, drive its use daily, weekly, and involve the developing information in regular weekly meetings, monthly planning meetings, and quarterly strategic meetings and updates. A CRM based company should view CRM as a key new specialty department for their company’s growth, quality, and customer satisfaction.
