HubSpot for building product manufacturers, from spec to order
The architect picks you, the contractor buys, and a rep sits in the middle. We set up HubSpot around the project, so you can see which jobs you're specified on and which of those turn into orders.
Free, 30 minutes, and you'll leave with at least one clear next step.
Why doesn't a normal CRM fit building products?
An architect or engineer writes your product into the spec. Months later a contractor buys it, or buys something cheaper that's listed as an equal. In between, an independent rep carries the relationship, often for several brands at once, and a distributor may handle the order.
Most CRMs are set up for one contact and one deal. That can't follow a sale like yours. The person who chose you isn't the person who pays you, and the order shows up long after the decision. So we set HubSpot up around the project, with every firm on it and the role each one plays.
The same project in two setups
A typical CRM setup
- One deal per contact or company
- The architect and the contractor sit on separate, unrelated records
- A lost order shows up as a closed deal with no reason
- Samples and lunch-and-learns live in a separate spreadsheet
A project setup
- One record per project, with every firm attached by role
- Specifier, bidding contractor, installer, distributor and rep each labeled
- Stages from specified to bid, awarded and ordered, including lost to substitution
- Each sample and continuing-education session linked to the projects it touched
How specs slip away
Marketing and sales leads at building product companies tell us about these most.
You win the spec and lose the order
A cheaper or-equal gets swapped in at bid. Your team finds out only when the order goes to someone else.
Project leads sit in spreadsheets
Data from Dodge or ConstructConnect gets exported, pasted and copied again. No one is sure which version is current.
Reps don't use your CRM
They carry several brands and won't type the same project into every manufacturer's system.
Samples and lunch-and-learns go nowhere
The follow-up has no owner, so the effort never gets tied to a spec or an order.
How do you reach the architects and engineers who write products into specs?
Specifiers choose early, during design, and the window often closes before bidding starts. By the time a contractor is pricing the job, the product on the drawings is the one you're defending. That makes the architect or engineer the most important person on the project, even though they'll never sign a purchase order.
What they want from you is practical. They want clear product pages, current data sheets, and CAD and BIM files they can download without a sign-up wall. They want spec sections they can drop straight into a project manual, and samples they can hold. Many architects still use continuing education to keep up with new products, so a good lunch-and-learn is worth doing. The trouble is what happens after it.
In HubSpot, we treat each specifier firm as an account with its own history. You can see which projects they've written you into, which samples they've asked for, which sessions they've attended and which reps cover them. When a firm specifies you, that project gets a record and a stage. When the project goes to bid, you can see which contractors are pricing it and reach them before a substitution request lands.
We also record if you're the basis of design or an approved equal. Basis of design is stronger, and knowing the difference tells your reps where to spend their time. After a year, you'll know which firms specify you most, which ones keep the spec through bid, and which ones you keep losing to substitutions. That's the list your reps and your marketing should work from.
We built something similar for a commercial oven manufacturer that sells through owners, consultants, design dealers and contractors. Follow-up rules keep consultant projects moving, and a ventilation design request on a deal opens a ticket for the design team. Your architects and engineers play the same part those consultants do. They shape the decision long before anyone places the order.
What we set up for building product companies
One record per project
Architect, engineer, contractor, installer, distributor and rep, each with their role, and stages from specified to ordered. Project records are custom objects, which need HubSpot Enterprise.
HubSpotA rep form they'll fill in
Project, stage, contractor and expected order date, filled in from a phone. Reps get leads back, so it's worth their time.
Follow-up on every sample and session
Each sample request and continuing-education session creates a task, a short email sequence and a link to the project.
Email marketingAds that reach specifiers and contractors
LinkedIn by job title and Google for product searches, judged by sample requests, CAD downloads and orders.
Paid adsReporting on specs that became orders
Orders from your ERP matched back to the project, so you can see your spec-to-order rate by firm and by rep.
Ad tracking and reportingWe trace one of your projects before we connect anything
A spec can turn into an order months later, through a distributor, under a contractor's name. If your systems can't match that order to the project, you can't see which specs paid off. So we map it with your team first, and you sign off before we build.
Stage 1: Trace a project from spec to order
We follow recent projects from the first spec to the distributor's order and the invoice.
We spend time with your reps, spec team, customer service and accounting. We pick one live project and follow it from the architect's spec through bid, award and the distributor's order. We mark every place the project gets typed in again or loses its owner. You get a map of how projects move today.
You get A map of how projects move today, with the gaps marked.
Stage 2: Agree who owns each stage
Together we decide who owns the project at each stage, from spec to bid, award and order.
Your sales lead, spec or project lead, a rep manager and your ERP owner agree on the rules. They decide who logs a new spec and who hears first when a substitution request lands. If reps or distributors send in project updates, we agree how those arrive. The systems stay untouched until then.
You get A named owner for each project stage.
Stage 3: Decide how orders find their project
We help you decide which system owns projects, accounts and orders, and how an order gets matched to its project.
Projects, specs and firms usually live in HubSpot. Accounts, pricing and orders stay in the ERP. The hard part is matching a distributor's order back to the project it came from. Your ERP owner and sales lead decide how, often with a project name or job number on the order.
You get An ownership list like the one below, plus a rule for matching orders to projects.
Stage 4: Write the field list
You approve each field, what triggers it and which way it moves.
We list every field that moves, such as project name, contractor and order total. For each one we note what sets it off and which way it goes. Your ERP owner and HubSpot admin review the list and sign it, and the scope is fixed from there.
You get A signed field list and a fixed scope.
Stage 5: Test on live projects, then train
We test on current projects and orders, then train reps, the spec team and order entry.
We run current projects, quotes and orders through the connection before anyone relies on it. After that, we train reps in the field, the spec team and the people who enter orders. Your spec-to-order report starts with data people trust.
You get A working connection and a spec-to-order report you can trust.
What step 3 looks like for building products
Here is where most building product companies land. Reps track projects and specs in HubSpot. The ERP books the order and sends the invoice. Yours will look a bit different, and we work through it with your reps and ERP owner.
Lives in HubSpot
- Projects and their stage
- Architect, engineer and contractor firms
- Each firm's role on a project
- Basis of design or approved equal
- Sample requests and lunch-and-learns
- Rep updates and follow-up tasks
Shared, synced one way
- Distributor and contractor accounts ERP to CRM
- Orders, matched to their project ERP to CRM
- Awarded project's quote goes in as an order CRM to ERP
- Project name, so the order can be matched CRM to ERP
Lives in your ERP
- Products and part numbers
- Pricing and distributor price lists
- Inventory and lead times
- Orders from distributors and contractors
- Shipping and invoices
- Credit terms and payments
Who follows up after a sample ships?
A sample request is one of the strongest signals a specifier can send. Someone is holding your product up against a drawing. Yet in most companies the sample ships from one department, the rep hears about it a week later, and it never gets tied to a project.
We turn each sample request into a ticket in HubSpot with an owner and a due date. The request is linked to the firm and, when you know it, the project. A few days after it ships, the rep gets a reminder and the architect gets a short note asking if they need anything else.
Continuing-education sessions work the same way. Attendance gets logged against each firm, and each firm gets a follow-up plan. A thank-you email followed by silence wastes the lunch you paid for.
What a cleanup did for another manufacturer
A commercial oven maker had leads in HubSpot that had never been contacted. After an audit and three rebuilt pipelines, those leads were back with sales in just over 45 days.
Where we'd start
- 2 to 4 weeks
Trace a few recent projects
We follow several recent projects from first spec to final order and show where each one slipped. This is the paid initial analysis in our Friction Point Analysis.
- After the review
Build the project setup
Project records, roles, stages, the rep form, sample tracking and reports.
- Once tracking works
Turn on marketing
Ads, continuing-education follow-up and sample programs, each tracked to specs and orders.
Building products questions
Can HubSpot pull in Dodge or ConstructConnect projects?
Not out of the box. Getting project leads from either service into HubSpot usually takes a custom connection or a careful import routine. We look at your subscription and scope it with you before promising a timeline.
How do we see which specs turned into orders?
Give each project a spec status in HubSpot. When orders from your ERP are matched back by project and contractor, HubSpot can report how many specified projects ordered, by firm and by rep.
How do we get independent reps to update the CRM?
Ask for less and give something back. A short form with four or five fields, plus leads sent back to the rep, gets used. A long record does not.
Are lunch-and-learns still worth it?
Yes, when each one has an owner and a follow-up plan. Many architects still use continuing education to learn about new products. Most of the value comes from what you do in the week after the session.
Should CAD and BIM files be gated?
No. Keep them open, because architects dislike sign-up walls. Capture interest through sample requests, spec reviews and design-assist requests.
Do we need HubSpot Enterprise to track projects?
Only for full project records, which are custom objects and need Enterprise. If you're not ready for that, you can start on Professional with deals and association labels, then move up later.
What's the difference between basis of design and an approved equal?
Basis of design means the drawings were built around your product. An approved equal means you're one of the accepted options. Track both in HubSpot, because basis-of-design projects are the ones most worth defending at bid.
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See your projects the way your reps see them
On the call we'll sketch how one of your recent projects would look in HubSpot, with every firm and role on it.