In view of the fast change in the business operating strategies, every business owner has to be on the toes to adapt and adjust to it. In the construction business, advanced sales and marketing techniques show an increase of 10 to 30 percent, which underlines the immense potential hidden underneath. Some people feel that the figures aren’t realistic and speculative but they are true. Research and studies substantiate that the use of modern age tools like CRM has been greatly beneficial for real estate developers and builders. They have been able to showcase the products and services more effectively and could earn more revenues.
Old habits have to change fast
Real estate experts say that looking at the extreme competitiveness and dynamism in the market; real estate developers and builders have to be flexible. The old ways of doing business should change. From the use of personalized computer software for job costing, estimation and business forecasting they should move to sophisticated and comprehensive Real Estate CRM system. The industry didn’t show much readiness to accept the new things in the past, but there is no way out other than changing the attitude.
Studies show that the industry show signs of change. Builders and real estate developers today review and invest better and more powerful software for managing the sales process. Having said it, there is still a hitch and resistance for investing big money in full-fledged CRM software. They feel that the hefty amount spent for it will not get substantiated with actual business profits.
What do research and studies indicate?
CRM or Customer Relationship Management is a generic term used for a set of comprehensive software program modules that manages every aspect of business. It handles business development and manages the customers well. It does business forecasting and keeps track of the customer profiling.
Not only operational benefits, but it brings immense strategic benefits as well. During focused research projects, it was found that a good quality CRM system improves all the business functions well so that business owners reap humongous profits. Here are some prominent business findings.
It improves pipeline tracking
When you are a builder, pipeline of project underlines the business prospects. Health and long-term business viability largely depend on optimal utilization of resources. When a builder bids for projects that are being tracked by several other competitors, there is a high probability of not winning the deal. A well-managed CRM software offers excellent visibility about the projects running, the sales process involved in each project and the bid due dates. It also tells about the milestones achieved in the projects.
CRM software keeps the history and audit trail. It also standardizes the processes and improves business functions and components.
It keeps customer accounts well in order
CRM is the systematic and structured way of managing customers (in the case of builders sellers are customers). A “relationship” can be associated to the customers to classify them. For example, some sellers are one-time customers whereas some have a long-term relationship. You can include business partners, e.g. suppliers and contractors, real estate agents, valuation service providers, etc. It achieves a centralized repository of information that can be accessed without hassles. Comprehensive information about a customer can be fetched at a glance.
A real estate business immensely gets benefited by single-view CRM software which offers comprehensive details about business partners and clients. It is the reason it becomes a preferred thing for real estate builders.
Contact management made easy using CRM
CRM plays the key role of making the information joined and accessible. As a real estate developer, you need every bit of information about the potential clients. It helps in accurate decision making. With impactful and effective contact management tool, you resolve the needs of your clients in an organized and systematic manner.
Exploring business opportunities using a well-versed CRM
When you bid for a construction project, CRM keeps the information manageable. You key in valuable information such as name and contract value of the project, type of construction, market segments, bidding info, etc. When you store allied details like name of architects or subcontractors, and owners, comprehensive information can be extracted from the system.
Standardize the sales process
As the real estate builder, you need a systematic sales building process. CRM sets the sales stages so that you bid and win the best projects. When you know the price and takeoff of a project, understand the timeframes and estimate the proposal accurately; chance of winning the bid increase dramatically. The sales team can have a list of “to do” items ready. Workflow based CRM systems make the task further simple because it keeps everyone in the loop. Since everyone in the team can look at the transaction, there is transparency in the system.
Conclusion
A well-developed CRM system helps a construction company in managing customer accounts and tracking potential construction projects. Since every vital piece of information is available in a single-window platform, the incredible increase in the efficiency can be seen. Those who want to enhance business by bidding more and winning more must use CRM system. Studies reveal that they have been greatly effective in the past. Hence, make it part of the business strategy and climb new heights of success.
Whether you are a well-established builder or a struggling newcomer, it is always a good strategic decision to use it. Since the business world becomes more and more data centric, you need fast and effective ways of managing the same.
Choosing the right CRM is not a great deal. Just ensure that it is compatible to the latest technical trend, e.g. cloud technology. It has to be handheld device friendly. The software is available at affordable rates, and it is flexible and customizable. Look at the competitive software in the market and choose one that matches your set of requirements the most.
