How a construction company should choose a CRM
Construction companies already pay for project, estimating and accounting software. A CRM earns its place only if it covers what those tools skip, which is everything before the contract is signed. Here's how to judge one, and how HubSpot compares.
Free, 30 minutes, and you'll leave with at least one clear next step.
What should a construction CRM do that Procore doesn't?
A construction CRM should track bid invites, go or no-go decisions, owner and GC relationships, and the handoff once a job is won. Project tools like Procore start after the contract. The CRM covers the months of selling before it.
That gap is bigger than it looks. Bid invites land in three inboxes. The estimator who knows why you passed on a job is out on a site walk. The owner who gave you your last two projects hasn't heard from anyone since closeout. None of that belongs in your project software, and most of it never makes it into a spreadsheet.
So the first test for any CRM is simple. Can it show you, by GC and by estimator, how many jobs you bid, how many you won and why you lost the rest? If it can't show that after a few months, it isn't doing its job.
What a construction company's CRM has to handle
Most sales software assumes one buyer and one deal. Construction sales rarely work like that.
One project, several GCs
A specialty sub may bid the same project to four GCs. The CRM needs one project record linked to every GC bidding it, so you can see who won the job and whether they used your number.
Reasons on every decision
A go or no-go reason and a loss reason, such as price, scope, relationship or no response. Without them you can't tell which work to stop chasing.
Relationships that outlast one job
Owners, developers and facilities directors as accounts, with every past project attached, so repeat work doesn't depend on one person's phone.
A clean handoff to operations
When a bid is awarded, the scope notes, contacts and promises from the bid meeting should reach the project manager without retyping.
HubSpot and the other CRMs construction companies shortlist
HubSpot
Flexible enough to model bids, projects and GCs, with email, marketing and reporting in the same place. Linking one project to several GCs works best with custom objects, which need Enterprise. Procore connects through third-party tools or a custom build.
Custom objectsConstruction-specific CRMs
Products such as Unanet CRM (formerly Cosential) focus on pursuits, proposals and project experience records for qualifications. They suit firms that write a lot of formal proposals. Marketing and email tools tend to be lighter.
Lead tools inside residential software
Buildertrend and JobTread include lead tracking next to scheduling and job costing. For a remodeler or home builder with a small sales team, that may be all the CRM you need.
Salesforce, Zoho and Pipedrive
General sales CRMs that some construction firms use. Salesforce can model anything but usually needs an admin. Zoho and Pipedrive are quick to start, and you'll need to set up bid stages and reasons yourself.
What lives in the CRM and what stays in your project tool
Construction companies that buy a CRM often try to run projects in it. That ends badly. This is the split we set up, so each team works in the tool made for its part of the job.
CRM governs
- Bid invites and bid dates
- Go or no-go and loss reasons
- GCs, owners and developers
- Preconstruction contacts
- Referral sources
- Business development tasks
Shared, synced one way
- Awarded bid opens a project CRM to ERP
- Client and site contacts CRM to ERP
- Project status and completion date ERP to CRM
Project tool governs
- Drawings and specs
- RFIs and submittals
- Schedule and daily logs
- Change orders
- Budgets and job cost
- Punch lists and closeout
How does HubSpot connect to Procore, Buildertrend and accounting?
HubSpot connects to Procore through third-party tools such as Zapier, Workato or SyncEzy, or through a small custom build. Buildertrend offers its own HubSpot connection. It sends HubSpot contacts to Buildertrend and turns sold deals into Buildertrend jobs. Accounting systems vary, and we check what's available before promising anything.
Which route you need depends on what has to cross. If an awarded bid only needs to create a Procore project with a name, address and client, a ready-made tool often handles it. If you want budgets, contract values or status flowing back, a custom build is usually more reliable. Our guide on connecting HubSpot to other systems covers how we decide which system owns each field, and the same rules apply to project software. We use HubSpot workflows to fire the handoff tasks the moment a deal is marked won.
Photon Brothers, a Colorado home solar installer, shows what the custom route looks like. We connected OpenSolar to HubSpot so designs, proposals and signed contracts flow back to each deal and file themselves in Google Drive. Sales orders go to the inventory system, and every deal links to its utility and permit office on its own. From the first month of the new matching rules, every deal was linked to its utility and permit office without anyone looking them up.
When should a construction company skip HubSpot?
Skip HubSpot if your project software already tracks leads well enough, or if nearly all your work comes from public bids won on price. In both cases a separate CRM adds cost and another login without changing many outcomes.
Residential builders with a small team. If two people handle sales and Buildertrend or JobTread already tracks leads through to a signed job, adding HubSpot mostly duplicates that. It starts to pay off once you run steady marketing, have several salespeople or want to stay in touch with past clients for referrals.
Mostly public, low-bid work. When the lowest qualified bid wins, relationship tracking matters less. A bid log and hit rate report may be all you need, and a spreadsheet can carry that for a while.
Firms built on formal proposals. If you write a lot of qualifications packages with staff resumes and past project sheets, a construction-specific CRM with proposal tools may suit you better. HubSpot can store the relationships but doesn't assemble those documents for you.
If you can't tell which group you're in, our Friction Point Analysis follows a few recent jobs from invite to invoice and shows where the delays are.
What a construction CRM rollout looks like with us
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Log every invite first
We start with the bid list, including jobs you pass on, with stages that match how you estimate.
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Load owners and GCs
Past projects, contacts and referrals go onto each account, cleaned and de-duplicated on the way in.
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Connect the handoff
Won bids create tasks and pass the essentials to your project tool, through a ready-made connector or a custom build.
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Read the hit rate
After a few months you get win rates by GC, sector and estimator, plus a weekly list of owners to call.
CRM for construction companies questions
Is HubSpot or a construction-specific CRM better for a construction company?
It depends on how you win work. If repeat owners and marketing drive your growth, HubSpot is usually the better fit. If you win through formal proposals and qualifications packages, a construction CRM with proposal tools may suit you better.
Do residential builders need a CRM if they use Buildertrend?
Often not at first. Buildertrend's lead tools cover a small sales team. A separate CRM helps once you run paid ads, have several salespeople or want regular contact with past clients for referrals and reviews.
Should change orders go in the CRM?
No. Change orders, RFIs and budgets belong in your project tool. The CRM can show the final contract value once the job closes, so you can see which clients and sectors make you the most money.
How long before a construction CRM shows results?
Plan on a few months. You need enough bids logged, won and lost, before win rates by GC and estimator mean anything. Logging every invite from day one, including the jobs you pass on, gets you there faster.
What does a construction CRM cost?
Licenses depend on the product, the plan and how many people need full access, so check current pricing on each vendor's site. Setup and any Procore or accounting connection are separate. We scope ours after the first call.
Can a CRM help with public and government bids?
Some. It can log each bid, its due date and the result, and show your hit rate by agency. It won't help you write the bid. For proposal-heavy public work, look at tools that assemble qualifications packages.
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Bring one recent job, won or lost. We'll show you where it would sit in a CRM and whether you need one at all.