What Should Roofers Look for in CRM Platforms?

Katie Badeusz, Marketing Director, AccuLynx

Should you implement a contractor CRM? Wait, what does "CRM" mean?

CRM means customer relationship management and as the name implies, it can help you take better care of your
customers.

That sounds like a great plan. Where do you start though? As roofers and contractors, you rely on your data to drive your business ahead. The right reports can unlock critical insights into your sales and production process, job costs and marketing leads, but understanding this data can be overwhelming, especially when it comes to reporting on the criteria that matter to you. How can you take advantage of what your data already knows about your business?

There are some basic elements you should look for in any CRM platform. You should be able to:
■ Import leads from other software platforms so that they're all in one place.
■ Track sales activities so you're spending more time on the opportunities that you're most likely to win.
■ Turn around estimates to potential customers quickly.

Access Your Data Anywhere, at Any Time.

Now, what about specific needs for the roofing contractor industry? When deciding on what CRM software works best for your roofing business, it's important to look at the areas you want to improve. Whether it's something broad, like organization, or more specific, like being able to order aerial measurement reports from the field, you should decide which features will help you sell more jobs and service your customers better.

One way to get started is to look at areas where your business is stumbling and try to determine where projects seem to hit snags. Is duplicate information being missed? Are estimates inaccurate? These can be deciding factors in your platform decision; will it be a standard CRM for basic needs or software specifically designed for roofing businesses that will make the investment worth the price?

Features You Should Look For

Organization - You should be able to upload documents, assign tasks, track job costs, permits, supplements and payments, add and share photos with your crew, schedule labor and deliveries and share customer information - all in real time, so everything stays on schedule.

A calendar feature that actually works - You have multiple jobs that utilize multiple crews. Your software should let you and your production team see all of your labor assignments and material deliveries in one calendar view. Which crews are working which jobs? Which permits have cleared? Most people are familiar with Google or the Outlook calendar functions - imagine an intuitive calendar designed specifically for a roofing company. At a glance, your production staff should be able to visualize, plan, schedule (and reschedule) all of your company's labor and material deliveries. Weekly, monthly, daily views - you need all of these options as built-in niters for your production staff.

The ability to manage orders easily - Which labor and material orders are outstanding? You need a one-stop shop for all of the relevant details associated with your jobs. From there, you can see which orders need your immediate attention. You'll need to review labor tickets, material orders, crew assignments and subcontractor information, with all accompanying documentation.

The ability to reschedule quickly and easily - When weather inevitably happens, you need to reschedule your crews and material delivery dates, whether in bulk or individually. Affected crews should be notified immediately, so no one is caught out in the storm.

Reporting - Another area that is particular to the roofing industry is reporting. CRM software for roofing contractors offers custom reports specific to the roofing industry that other CRMs do not. Instead of just basic reports surrounding leads and finances, these types of reports allow business owners and their teams to view job milestones, estimates, material orders, permits and other data that is important to their company. Custom reporting features a I low you to create separate reports for specific areas of operation. If your office staff wants a report surrounding the past month's finances, you can set up reports to highlight this information. This also helps keep other team members updated on what is going on in their area of work. For example, if your sales managers want a rundown of sales metrics on the first of every month, you can set up the report, designate who receives the report, when it should be delivered and how often. This way your team leads and staff know how their departments are performing at all times and feel like you are responding to their needs.

The decision to move away from notebooks and spreadsheets to an all-encompassing and mobile solution can be intimidating; which leads to perhaps the most important factor in choosing software. Look for exemplary customer service. If the software is well-designed, the learning curve will be minimal, but you want to know that help is there if you need it.

FRM