How Dynamics 365 CRM Gives Construction Companies the Competitive Edge

by | Jan 25, 2017 | Dynamics 365 CRM for Vertical Markets, Microsoft Dynamics 365, Microsoft Dynamics CRM

With today’s tough economic conditions, construction companies are finding it increasingly difficult to win projects and keep up with the competition. Unless they adopt better software tools to manage their sales process they’ll continue to struggle.

CRM software uses cutting-edge technology to standardize your sales process and give you valuable insight into all aspects of the bidding process.

It gives you a clear strategic vision of your business as it correlates and brings all the various pieces of data together in one place. Its easy-to-use dashboards, configurable reports and additional tools allow you to analyze data and gain immediate business insights.

This means you can effectively manage relations with your clients and suppliers, plan and carry out projects, meet operational challenges, analyze sales patterns, reach revenue targets, maintain client correspondence and much more.

So, it doesn’t just help you get more business, it also greatly improves your customer relations, enhances your customer satisfaction and grows your profits.

Wins You More Projects

A constant pipeline of projects being bid is vital to the health and longevity of your company. Once a project has been identified CRM tracks all the important bidding information – contract value, bid dates, construction type, market segment, sales stage, tasks to be completed and key players.

This means you’re more likely to win over new clients in the following ways:

  • Empowers you with reliable market data to identify target clients and tailor your marketing activities to generate leads.
  • Gives you visibility so you can focus your resources and efforts on winning projects that can be won, and so, maximizes your return on investment.
  • Facilitates your sales team as it keeps track of project bids and ensures they follow up with prospects in a timely and effective manner so opportunities are taken advantage of.
  • Gives you all the valuable information you need to make decisions on the projects being bid, what needs attention and which has the greatest chance of success.
  • Automatically creates tasks like the capture of phone calls, emails, notes and observations at each step of the sales cycle when an opportunity is created.
  • Gives you a complete picture of partner subcontractors and the architect, owner, GC or other relevant relationships to the bid and ultimately the project.
  • Makes faster sales, better closing rates and more satisfied customers as it walks them through your processes, properties and rental options to give them a more enriching customer experience.
  • Gives you a consistent approach to bidding and winning work in respect to qualifying prospects, bidding, proposal development, negotiations and closing.

This means you can undertake cost-effective customer acquisition activities, gain more customers and achieve faster growth.

Enhances Customer Service and Builds Stronger Relationships

Dealing with all your clients and business partners can be overwhelming. Unless details and contact information are all organized it can slow customer service and affect customer satisfaction. However, CRM software can help you keep both your customer and partner data organized and easy to access.

  • Stores all key information about customers, prospects and business partners in a single location, so employees can quickly find the details about a company, contract or bid.
  • Streamlines all the principal areas of customer engagement, such as setting appointments, managing contacts, and handling customer service so you’re always on top of things.
  • Improves your customer service practices as you can immediately track customer feedback, monitor performance and insights into order trends and overall status.
  • Helps you effectively manage clients, invoices, documents and schedules and gives you real-time access to project-related documents
  • Allows your clients to view contracts, make orders, change orders, and modify construction schedules.
  • Increase customer satisfaction as it allows your clients to compare loans and view rental options with finance calculators.
  • Builds deeper relationships as it keeps track of customer birthdays to remind the firm’s sales team to send prompt gifts and birthday wishes.
  • Maintains a contact list with important customer information such as telephone numbers, emails, and buying history.
  • Enables you to build strategic relationships with business owners, clients, governments, engineers, architects, subcontractors and suppliers.

 

Streamlines Your Processes

CRM helps you streamline important processes to save you time, reduce costs and promote flow. It automates almost all critical processes in the construction industry which results in better management, increased customer satisfaction and bigger profits.

  • Streamlines the supply chain and improves supplier relationships to promote flow and increase productivity.
  • Implements strategies for better efficiency and customer satisfaction which enhances your reputation and attracts new clients.
  • Reduces the time spent on document creation and sharing with contract templates and document controls.
  • Synchronizes critical data like important tasks and deadlines with a calendar so you don’t miss important appointments.
  • Facilitates growth and overall scalability as it automatically gives you instant metrics on a variety of aspects within your business.
  • Gives you more visibility into your client base, allows you to make better and more informed decisions for your business.
  • Keeps track of and gives instant access to important data, archives email correspondence, manages warranties and operational ground with your clients.
  • Tracks time and labor spent on tasks and goals to ensure your staff are being productive and resources are harnessed to their full potential.
  • Facilitates construction projects as it helps you allocate resources, manages the delivery of materials, delegates tasks and ensures workers’ quality and safety.

 

Generates and Nurtures More Leads

CRM software gives you more opportunities to reach out to your target market and generate more leads. It organizes leads through multiple sources- referrals, social media, and networking to simplify the process and improve your conversion rate.

  • Can be integrated with social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and LinkedIn so you can increase your exposure to your target market.
  • Gives easy tracking of all aspects of your company’s social media campaign so you can see what’s working and make any necessary changes.
  • Helps you design and implement effective marketing campaigns with its campaign management features.
  • Creates campaigns that meet your overall marketing strategies by targeting the right clients with the right messages.
  • Identifies the social networks that result in most traffic, tells you what clients think of your brands, and their overall customer experience.
  • Allows you to adjust your activities so you can maximize returns while boosting your brands’ online presence.
  • Keeps track of inbound and outbound leads, and run targeted campaigns specific to your prospects.

Increases Client Retention and Helps Maximize Your Upsell

CRM enhances client retention and upsell as it notifies you when a client is potentially available for an upsell or increase in services. So, you can capitalize on and increase your sales from your existing clients.

  • Provides updates on client and prospect status so you know exactly where they are in the sales cycle.
  • Tells you exactly which prospects and clients are on hold, and who’s interested in additional services.
  • Spots trends and patterns in your engagement with customers so you can become aware of opportunities.
  • Collects, organizes and analyzes information on buyer patterns, preferences and trends.

Now it’s Your Turn

enCloud9 has one of the most experienced Microsoft Dynamics CRM teams in the US. From pre-sales to project management, and user support, we respond quickly with our expertise to answer your questions.

Our history dates back to 2009, but our experience dates back even longer. Our consultants have been advising companies for almost thirty years to give them the tools to achieve their goals. Our experience leads to your success. We use our unique approach to help small and medium-sized businesses lower their costs and boost productivity through Microsoft’s powerful range of cloud-based software.

We can be contacted at our webform or call us today at 402-235-8540.

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