In construction the commercial cycle looks like nothing else: it starts with a tender or an invitation, runs through a quote that changes several times, and the relationship that matters is often not with whoever pays but with whoever designs.
Many contractors get work because a practice recommends them. That relationship is worth as much as a client list and almost nobody manages it: nobody knows how many projects a practice has brought, or how long since anyone spoke to them. Treating architects and project managers as a referral network, each with their own history, changes how a firm finds work.
You need to know what you bid for, at what margin and with what outcome. Over time the number that matters emerges: which type of project, which size and which client the firm actually wins. Bidding for everything burns estimating hours and lowers the hit rate.
In construction the margin on a project is decided by variations more than by the original bid. A variation carried out and never formalised is work given away, and it happens constantly because decisions on site are made fast. The system has to make recording the request instant, before it turns into an argument at the end.
A construction CRM disconnected from project cost control is close to useless. Whoever negotiates the next job with a client needs to know how the last one went: whether they paid on time, whether it produced disputes, whether it made money. Without that link firms happily sign again with their worst client.
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BUILDER designs and builds the system behind this guide.