The last few years have been tough on the construction and real estate industries as construction projects have been abandoned all over the world, with a high preponderance in the United States. The economy continues to post high job losses, and though the employment outlook has improved marginally, the wait-and-see attitude that has permeated the industry is likely to continue, with recovery continuing at a slow pace.2 Developing Business But just because “business is slow” doesn’t mean you can’t do something to improve the health of your business. Innovation and motivation pay off. Construction firms can develop steady flows of revenue by simultaneously addressing customer service and driving home fast, quality outcomes at a competitive price. In addition to actively managing your employees, assets, and ongoing projects, construction executives need to be able to look to the future—gathering contacts, networking, nurturing potential business relationships, and seeking additional clients is an important step in building that future.3 One Phoenix-based construction company, Andale Construction, was able to go from a modest firm to an organization managing two government projects with an $80 million budget because of the owner’s determination, desire to learn, and ability to network and find out about opportunities such as those offered to small businesses certified as “disadvantaged” by the U.S. Small Business Administration.

1. Business Development

2. Introduction
The last few years have been tough on the construction and real estate industries as construction Products to assist you:
projects have been abandoned all over the world, with a high preponderance in the United States.
The economy continues to post high job losses, and though the employment outlook has improved Sage ACT!
marginally, the wait-and-see attitude that has permeated the industry is likely to continue, with Sage CRM
recovery continuing at a slow pace.2
Sage SalesLogix
Developing Business
But just because “business is slow” doesn’t mean you can’t do something to improve the health of
your business. Innovation and motivation pay off. Construction firms can develop steady flows of
revenue by simultaneously addressing customer service and driving home fast, quality outcomes at
a competitive price.
In addition to actively managing your employees, assets, and ongoing projects, construction
executives need to be able to look to the future—gathering contacts, networking, nurturing potential
business relationships, and seeking additional clients is an important step in building that future.3 One
Phoenix-based construction company, Andale Construction, was able to go from a modest firm to an
organization managing two government projects with an $80 million budget because of the owner’s
determination, desire to learn, and ability to network and find out about opportunities such as those
offered to small businesses certified as “disadvantaged” by the U.S. Small Business Administration.3
Luis De La Crus, Andale’s owner, was also able to network and find a mentor in a larger construction
firm. “I call them the big sharks,” De La Cruz says of mentoring company Sundt Construction. “I’m the
little guppy.” 3
Another key to success is having a steady flow of upcoming work, which means it’s important to
maintain a healthy backlog of projects. You need to always be working on acquiring future clients
by using existing projects as an example of the kind of quality you can deliver.4
Marketing and Sales Campaigns In
Construction and Real Estate
Building customer leads is another way to expand your revenue-making capabilities.1 Whether
through word-of-mouth or advertising, you need to build your leads and work them through your
sales process.6 Part of this means keeping detailed records of contacts and being persistent in
your pursuit of their business—don’t get discouraged by customer apathy, and consistently and
efficiently follow up with everyone.
2
Business Development

3. Rather than having a name that could potentially lead to thousands or millions of dollars in revenue
saved on a fragile and easy-to-misplace scrap of paper or on a small business card, input the
information into a database that will enable your sales team to keep track of the contact. Managing
people’s contact information will let you follow a lead from when you enter it into a system through
the estimating and bidding process until they’re a client or customer.
Contact data quality and careful management of it on an ongoing basis is key to success in sales
and in business. It’s a good idea to make every employee an advocate for the company. However,
having multiple promoters each talking to clients and generating leads can result in a number of
mistakes and lack of uniformity in the contact database. Inserting the wrong phone number at the
point of entry of a potential lead will stop the sale dead in its tracks.
Poor data quality costs businesses in the United States up to $600 billion every year, according to
researchers at the Data Warehousing Institute.8
Internal data informs many of the decisions organizations make, from developing expansion
strategies to assessing how to pursue or manage a certain customer.8
Data quality encompasses all the information a company stores—on its clients, projects, vendors,
everything. Managing names, numbers, facts, and figures means a company will be able to keep
track of all its clients and contact them when it’s time to pitch a sale or follow up on an invoice, in
addition to recalling the data used for estimates, projects, and other operational matters.
“Deploying a disciplined approach to managing data as an important corporate asset will better
position your company to improve the productivity of its information workers and to better serve its
customers,” Jonathan Geiger of Intelligent Solutions writes in his data quality management report.
“This is no longer an option, particularly in today’s competitive and regulatory climate.”8
Active Client Relationship Management
Good Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software helps you keep track of what leads you
have and notes where they are in the sales process or whether a contact is still in the development
phase.5 It lets various departments across your company access the information and improves
communication, and can also serve as a marketing tool. A CRM solution allows everyone to share
data about clients, vendors, and subcontractors, making any marketing strategies your company
launches more tailored and thus likelier to succeed.5
Great CRM or contact management solutions, such as those offered by Sage (Sage ACT!, Sage
CRM, Sage SalesLogix), offer marketing tools such as e-marketing services. The software enables
you to market more efficiently to your leads, and also enables companies to rise above the details to
get a more comprehensive view of their clients, by providing users with an organized list of customers,
vendors, and subcontractors.9
Additionally, users can call up recent emails, social media profiles, and meeting notes, allowing
company decision makers to quickly access information that drives their development and
marketing efforts.9 Sage ACT! will be integrated with Sage CRE productions in 2012.
3
Business Development

4. Conclusion
Staying afloat in the construction sector has been no easy feat these past few years, and companies
that tread water without trying to develop and move their business forward will eventually tire and sink
to the bottom of the pool.
Continued survival necessitates exploiting every available resource and actively managing projects
and client contacts. Investing in technology that can boost your efforts to expand the business and
its prospects can lead to wider industry recognition, more clients, and ultimately, higher revenues.
Sources
1. edley, George. Construction Business Development: Overcome the “Business is Slow” Excuse. (January 2010). Construction
H
Business Owner. From: http://www.constructionbusinessowner.com/topics/general-management/construction-business-
development-overcome-the-business-is-slow-excuse.html
2. robosilo, Ray. Slow Recovery Ahead for the Steel Sector. (March 2011). Construction Executive. From:
F
http://www.constructionexec.com/Issues/March_2011/Business_Development.aspx
3. nderson, J. Craig. Phoenix construction firm has big payoff for owners. (July 7, 2011). The Arizona Republic. From:
A
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/business/articles/2011/07/07/20110707phoenix-construction-firm-andale.html
4. tone, Michael. Making Every Possession Count. The Construction Marketplace. From: http://www.
S
theconstructionmarketplace.com/marketing.asp
5. exler, Tina. Customer Relationship Management or CRM Programs. (2009). Marketing Tips for Commercial Construction
W
Companies. From: http://www.thedirectorofmarketing.com/Construction.html
6. organ, Dick. 10 Marketing Tips for Business Growth. Construction Busines Owner. From:
M
http://www.constructionbusinessowner.com/topics/sales-/-marketing/10-marketing-tips-for-business-growth.html
7. http://gvoss.cox.smu.edu/RelationalCommunication.pdf
8. eiger, Jonathan. Data Quality Management: The Most Critical Initiative You Can Implement.
G
http://www2.sas.com/proceedings/sugi29/098-29.pdf
9. age ACT! http://www.act.com/Products-and-Services/Sage-ACT-Pro-2011
S
Sage
15195 NW Greenbrier Pkwy
Beaverton, OR 97006-5701
800-628-6583
www.SageCRE.com
4
©2012 Sage Software, Inc. All rights reserved. Sage, the Sage logos, and the Sage product and service
names mentioned herein are registered trademarks or trademarks of Sage Software, Inc., or its affiliated
entities. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. 12-02458 07/12