Every construction project has a lot of people and companies involved with it, which is why many companies employ a CRM software to help manage those relationships more efficiently.
If you’re not familiar with a CRM, it stands for Customer Relationship Management, and, at its most basic level, is a way to keep track of the companies, contacts, leads, opportunities, and projects that your company deals with, whether it’s someone you speak to on a daily basis or someone you need to follow-up with after an initial meeting.
For me personally – and I’m sure it’s true for many of you in the industry, as well – contact information for suppliers, subs, and potential clients are usually kept on my co-workers smartphones, in their email contacts, or on a piece of paper on their desk. If that person leaves the company or is out on vacation, it can be a mad scramble to find out who we need to get ahold of. A CRM acts as a single source of truth for those contacts, so nothing falls through the cracks.
I was able to speak with Cosential, a CRM firm focusing on the AEC industry, at this year’s Groundbreak technology conference. Many software companies are figuring out that construction requires much more than a generic, off-the-shelf solution that works across many industries and Cosential made it clear that they formulated their CRM platform to make sense for the construction industry. One of the key differences they note is the fact that their solution is built around projects and the complex relationships that exist in the construction industry. Most CRM platforms are built around selling products, as opposed to projects.
Cosential believes they offer so much more than a traditional CRM. They have also developed a proposal automation solution, a mobile app, and several integrations with leading construction industry platforms. Together, they refer to their platform as a Growth and Relationship Management software.
Integrations with other software plays a huge role in catering to the construction industry and Cosential currently integrates with 20 different financial, accounting, contact and lead, and project management solutions. Notable for the construction industry are CMiC, Sage, Dodge Data & Analytics, Outlook, and Procore. These integrations help you gather all your data from other apps, helping to reduce double work.
For more information about Consential, you can check out my interview below, follow them on LinkedIn, or visit www.cosential.com.
