Introduction to Lead Management/CRM Solutions

Every building and trade business starts with generating leads. You may call them something else; inbound sales, referrals, or inquiries, but ultimately these are leads. A lead is a potential sales contact that has expressed an interest in your goods or services. Until the person has signed a contract or completed a transaction (becoming a customer) they are a lead.

A CRM (Customer Relationship Management) solution is a tool used to manage these leads. A CRM can range from a simple (free) spreadsheet that you designed yourself, to a fully automated and integrated (expensive) software solution such as HubSpot or Salesforce.

The main CRM features needed for a building and trade business are a register to record all of the information related to a lead, and the ability to move leads through a repeatable sales process (sales funnel) to ensure as many leads as possible are being converted to paying customers.

Sales are a function of your number of leads multiplied by your lead conversion rate:

Sales = No. of leads x Lead conversion rate

So, to increase sales we need to improve one (or both) of these factors. An effective CRM solution can help you improve both of these numbers.

Benefits of implementing a CRM solution in your building or trade business

  1. Better customer relationships: A sure-fire way to lose a lead is to annoy them. Too much communication or repeating the same message twice will get them offside. But so will not responding fast enough to their inquiries. A CRM solution gives you full visibility over all communication from every member of your team. If a key team member is out sick, others can pick up the trail. And if you have your team record every interaction with the lead, you can begin to understand their needs and preferences. This allows you to personalise your sales messaging and convert more leads.
  2. Improved sales efficiency: Do you ever worry that you are focusing on the wrong bucket of leads? You could spend hours going back and forth with a lead to eventually find out they are just a ‘tyre-kicker’. A CRM solution can help you track and prioritise different types of leads. After some time, you will notice that trends develop with certain types of leads. Additionally, automated follow-ups and reminders ensure that the best potential leads are nurtured promptly and effectively.
  3. Increased accountability: In my personal experience, sales-related employees can be a little bit rogue when it comes to following company policies and procedures. Typically, a person who is willing to forego a guaranteed salary to make a variable commission naturally has a higher appetite for risk. They are more likely to ‘bend’ the rules a little bit to make that extra sale. With a CRM, there is a clear recording of all correspondence and a trail of accountability.
  4. Scalability: An influx of new leads flowing in is always welcome. But if you can’t effectively manage this increase in leads it will be very stressful for you and your team. Maybe you just finished building a beautiful custom home in a highly visible location and your inbox is being flooded with new inquiries. A CRM solution can help you apply a repeatable sales process that can be scaled as you grow. You will be able to keep track of where each lead is within your sales pipeline without compromising the quality of your customer service.

With a CRM, there is a clear recording of all correspondence and a trail of accountability.

Construction management software for lead management

If you're still with me at this point, then you either already have a CRM solution in place or you are interested in implementing one.

The issue is that some CRM solutions are too basic for the needs of a building or trade company, and others are too complex (and too expensive). A spreadsheet CRM looks clunky, requires lots of manual data entry and there is no traceability about who edited the data. A high-end CRM will cost you thousands of dollars per month and contains a lot of features you don’t need.

The JACK construction management software contains a CRM solution built specifically for builders and trades. Our software allows you to record all the relevant details and store all communication in one place. You can also use our pipeline view to easily understand where each lead sits in your sales process and move them through the sales funnel. We have also added system automation features so that you can set up automated rules or notifications to reduce the amount of admin time you need to spend on lead management.

We would love to provide you with a quick 10-15 minute demo of how JACK can improve your business processes when it comes to lead management.

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Liam Cook is JACK’s financial management expert.

With 10+ years of experience as a chartered accountant ranging from small business advisory to CFO of an ASX-listed company, Liam can provide important insights into the financial management of your building or trade business.