7 Best Construction CRM Software in 2024

Investing in a customer relationship management system can be transformative for construction businesses and contractors that have traditionally managed client and lead interactions through disparate Excel spreadsheets, phone calls, emails, and paper documents. 

For example, CRM software can solve costly challenges including:

• Workflow inefficiencies: Time wasted tracking client information (work orders, estimates, invoices). Repeated, manual data entry into multiple apps and spreadsheets throughout every project.

• Communication delays and mishaps: Failing to correspond with clients and leads promptly. Lacking the ability for project managers, crews, and office team members to collaborate in real-time. Miscommunicating about important project details and tasks.

• Lost revenue opportunities: Difficulty tracking unsold estimates, and failing to follow up and convert open opportunities in your sales pipeline. 

As you can imagine, solving these problems can make a significant impact on the performance and profitability of your business, which is why construction companies are increasingly adopting CRMs.

If you’re in the market for a CRM system, the software you’ll likely come across first are platforms such as Salesforce, Pipedrive, Zoho, and Hubspot CRM. These generalized CRM platforms serve a wide range of industries and business types, and are primarily designed for tracking and managing customer and lead interactions in a sophisticated and granular way. 

However, while these solutions offer robust features for a broad spectrum of businesses, construction contractors may find that their specific needs are better met by CRM solutions tailored for the construction industry. This is what we’re going to focus on in this article.

First, we’ll explain how our construction management software, ServiceTitan, helps contractors optimize customer relationship management. Then, we’ll share 6 other CRM solutions on the market that are also built for construction.  

Best Construction Industry CRMs

1. ServiceTitan

2. Jobber

3. Buildertrend

4. BuildOps

5. Houzz Pro

6. Buildr

7. Leap

1. ServiceTitan

To illustrate how the best CRMs improve construction business management, let’s walk through what customer relationship management looks like for specialty contractors who use ServiceTitan.

Lead and Contact Management

Capture + Track Leads

The main way that leads are captured in ServiceTitan is through our call booking workflow (although they can also be created manually or captured through online bookings).

When a call comes in, customer service representatives (CSRs) are guided through a series of fields to collect as much information as possible from the caller, including creating a new customer and location record if one doesn’t already exist. 

If there are existing leads associated with the caller, you’ll see those below the Lead tab within the Calls screen.

Otherwise, CSRs can classify the call and capture the lead for tracking and following up. They’ll be prompted to document the reason for the call, schedule a time to follow up, and enter a start date to create the open lead.

From there, leads can be managed from the Follow Ups screen where users can track and manage individual leads. Filters can be used to find the lead you want to view.

Once selected, CSRs can access the information they need, including:

• A call summary

• Basic lead information including date created, priority, lead status, etc.

• Attached customer or location records

• Notes, tags, events, and more

In addition, a variety of actions can be taken, including:

• Dismiss the lead

• Convert the lead to book it as a job

• Call the lead

• Add follow-up notes

• Edit or remove existing notes

• Pin/unpin notes 

• Update the lead status to Open, Converted, or Dismissed

Instead of building these tracking workflows in spreadsheets (or simply lacking a good system to capture and track leads), ServiceTitan makes the process of lead management seamless.

Store + Access Customer Data in One Place

Once a customer record has been created for a contact, all of the data associated with that contact can be viewed via their customer page. 

From this page, users can easily track projects, billing, and other key information to manage the contact. They can click into individual invoices and project records to drill down for further details, as well as initiate key actions such as sending an invoice, attaching forms, or creating a new project for that customer.

Sales Pipeline and Bid Management

Build Estimates with Integrated Pricing

Project estimates allow you to build detailed construction estimates by adding all of the specific tasks, equipment, and materials that will be needed to do the work. Users have the option to draw from pre-built job estimate templates or build estimates from scratch.

Tasks, materials, and equipment can all be tagged with color-coded project labels to organize the project details and make everything easy to visualize. In addition, pricing and markups for each line item are automatically calculated based on the most up-to-date prices in your pricebook. 

Once an estimate is complete, it can be printed, emailed, or exported in PDF format and sent to the client. Additional estimates can be created as needed throughout the project.

Track + Follow Up on Open Estimates

A huge challenge and missed opportunity for many contractors is tracking, following up, and closing more unsold estimates. Business owners often leave a lot of money on the table by simply lacking the right systems to manage this crucial aspect of the sales process.

ServiceTitan provides automation tools for sales teams to manage follow-ups, close deals, and ultimately increase profitability.  

For example, when a customer opens an email containing an estimate or proposal, our software sends an automatic notification to the contractor and/or their staff, prompting them to reach out to the prospect at that crucial moment to answer questions and close the sale. 

If an email isn’t opened or bounces back, our follow-up features also offer notifications and reminders to fix these issues and follow up accordingly.

Track + Monitor Bids with Project Statuses

ServiceTitan also enables contractors to define bidding workflows for construction projects, simplifying the ability to track a project in the bidding process.

From an individual project page, users can select project statuses such as proposal created, proposal reviewed, and proposal sent, and update these statuses as bids move forward. 

Then, from the main project dashboard that provides an overview of all current projects, users can filter reports to see just their open bids, where those bids stand, and other basic details about those projects. They also can click to visit individual project pages for further details.

Project Management and Collaboration

In addition to the CRM features we’ve discussed so far, ServiceTitan also offers a robust suite of construction project management tools. 

Here’s a quick look at some key features in our project management workflow:

• Project dashboards: When a new project is created in ServiceTitan, a project overview page is automatically generated. From this dashboard, contractors and project managers can view high-level project information (customer details, project timelines, etc.) and initiate key actions for their projects.

• Requisition and purchase order management: The ability to initiate the requisition of equipment and materials directly from the built estimate, which leads seamlessly to a purchase-order creation workflow.

• Project financial tracking: The ability to view high-level project financials such as expenses, cost to complete, total earned, total retainage, total invoiced, AR balance, and balance to finish.

• Job costing tables: Detailed tables breaking down expenses and budget versus actual data that are automatically updated as you progress through the project.

• Creating payment applications: Continuation sheets can be auto-generated based on the project estimate and what’s been sold, making it easier than ever to create applications for payment and manage AIA® style progress billing.

With equal ease, any number of other actions can be taken from within the same project-tracking workflow, including generating invoices, adding returns, and more.

Analytics and Reporting Dashboards

The construction reporting tools offered in ServiceTitan are specifically designed to meet the needs of contractors and help them make more informed decisions.

Some of our key reporting features include:

• Construction dashboard: When ServiceTitan users navigate to their customizable construction dashboard, they’ll see an overview of their most important business metrics including completed and missed revenue, revenue trends, project job statuses, project labor hours, working hours by project, and more.

• Work-in-progress reports: To help construction businesses maintain an accurate and up-to-date picture of their work in progress, ServiceTitan offers work-in-progress (WIP) reports that calculate the correct amount of recognized revenue for projects based on the percentage-of-completion method. 

• Custom forms and checklists for daily reports: With ServiceTitan custom forms, businesses can facilitate daily logs without the need for separate daily report software. These forms can be filled out on-site via the ServiceTitan mobile app (seamlessly connecting field and office staff). 

Get a Personalized Demo of ServiceTitan Construction Software

What we’ve covered above is just a sampling of the features that ServiceTitan offers for facilitating client relationships and project management. We also offer time tracking and timesheets, integrations with top accounting platforms such as QuickBooks, Viewpoint Vista, Sage Intacct, and more. 

2. Jobber

Jobber's construction management software is designed to streamline estimating, scheduling, invoicing, customer relationship management (CRM), and client communications all within a unified platform. 

It supports construction businesses by enabling the scheduling and dispatching of crew members efficiently, tracking time on the job for precise estimates and payroll management, managing blueprints and materials, and providing before-and-after pictures in a centralized location. 

Their CRM features include enhanced customer communication through automated text or email updates, and keeping clients informed about the progress of their projects. Furthermore, Jobber integrates with QuickBooks Online, ensuring accurate customer, invoice, and payment information to facilitate a smoother financial management process.

3. Buildertrend

Buildertrend is a comprehensive construction project management solution built for home builders, remodelers, and specialty contractors. The platform offers a wide array of features including scheduling software and project planning, financial management, customer management, and sales management. 

With its customer relationship management (CRM) tools, users can track leads and manage customer interactions. In addition, its customer portal helps contractors streamline customer interactions by allowing clients to make selections and approvals, view project progress, and communicate directly with builders. 

4. BuildOps

BuildOps presents its CRM+ as a comprehensive solution tailored for the mechanical service industry, enhancing sales performance through integrated CRM, reporting, mobile surveying, estimating, proposal generation, and more. 

This platform is designed to streamline each phase of the sales cycle, thereby reducing both administrative and sales time frames. It features real-time dashboards and reporting, offering a complete view of the sales process and funnel. These tools can help contractors optimize sales performance, allowing users to anticipate future revenue and manpower needs with greater accuracy. 

CRM+ emphasizes the importance of forecasting, with reports and insights that support informed decision-making and strategic planning, all developed with the insights of experienced sales managers from the service industry.

5. Houzz Pro

Houzz Pro is a specialized business management software tailored for builders, remodelers, architects, designers, and other contractors. This platform offers features such as project management, invoicing, and client communication tools, integrated with powerful marketing features like website building and online visibility tools. 

Houzz Pro is integrated with the broader Houzz platform, providing construction professionals access to a vast community of homeowners and design enthusiasts. This integration enables users to showcase their portfolios, gather reviews, and connect with potential clients. 

6. Buildr

Buildr's construction CRM software is specifically designed to enhance business development for general contractors. It centralizes all client data, allowing for easy access to accurate and up-to-date information about clients while facilitating task and activity logging on the go. 

The platform supports collaboration and maintains alignment across teams by tracking critical milestones and activities, ensuring everyone is informed about the next steps required to secure a project. Furthermore, Buildr aids in forecasting the project pipeline and providing detailed revenue projections to enable proactive decision-making for the future of the business.

7. Leap

Leap (formerly JobProgress) positions itself as a business productivity platform for home improvement contractors, offering a suite of features designed to streamline operations, enhance customer relationship management (CRM), and boost overall business efficiency. The software includes a customized job and workflow manager, a paperless mobile app, online sales and marketing tools, quick estimating, quoting, and scheduling capabilities, alongside secure cloud storage and access.

Focusing on customer relationship management, Leap offers a CRM tool integrated with its mobile app, ensuring that client information is accurate, up-to-date, and accessible on the go. This facilitates collaboration across teams and aids in generating new leads for the sales pipeline.

Ready to Try ServiceTitan’s Construction CRM Solution?

There’s no question that as more and more of the construction industry embraces tech-forward solutions to old obstacles, it will become increasingly difficult for business owners to compete without a CRM in their tool belt. 

In choosing one, though, contractors can benefit significantly from selecting an option that integrates customer relationship management with the other essential elements of their business — project management, inventory management, business reporting, etc.