Track every tender and estimate, and keep the relationships that bring the next one.
Early accessCubeCRM for construction & contractors
CRM for contractors, sub-contractors and specialist trades - tender enquiries, estimates, main contractor relationships and repeat clients.
- Construction
- UK hosted, set up in person
- 01234 672 617
Construction businesses win work through a steady flow of tender invitations, estimates and relationships with main contractors, developers and clients who come back.
The tender register is usually a spreadsheet, estimates sit on a shared drive, and follow-up depends on the estimator having time. CubeCRM keeps a register of every enquiry and tender with its deadline, value and status, holds estimates and quotes against the client, and records the contacts at each main contractor and client by role - so the business can see its hit rate, chase what is outstanding, and build relationships beyond the single quantity surveyor it happens to know.
- Every
Tender with its deadline and outcome
- Measured
Hit rate by client and sector
- By role
Contacts at each main contractor
What goes wrong
The problems that keep coming up
Not every business has all five. Almost every business we speak to has three.
A tender register in a spreadsheet
Invitations to tender, deadlines and outcomes are tracked in a spreadsheet that one person maintains. Deadlines are missed and outcomes rarely recorded.
Estimates never chased
Estimates go out and are followed up only when an estimator has a spare moment. Many are never heard of again.
Relationships with one QS
Work from a main contractor depends on one quantity surveyor. When they move, the relationship moves with them.
No idea of the hit rate
Nobody can say what proportion of tenders are won, by client, sector or value, so the business keeps pricing work it rarely wins.
Framework and repeat work unmanaged
Framework agreements and repeat clients are not tracked against renewal dates or activity.
What we do about it
How CubeCRM is set up for construction
Configuration, not a separate edition. Everything here is in the same product - it is switched on and shaped during setup.
A proper tender register
Every invitation to tender with its deadline, value, client, estimator and status, with reminders before each deadline.
Estimates on the record
Estimates and quotes attached to the enquiry and the client, with revisions kept and follow-ups scheduled.
Contacts by role
Buyers, quantity surveyors, project managers and directors at each main contractor and client, with gaps in coverage visible.
Hit rate by anything
Win rate by client, sector, value band and estimator, so you can decide which tenders are worth pricing.
Frameworks and repeat clients
Framework agreements recorded with their dates and terms, and repeat clients reminded before their next phase is likely.
Site visits from a phone
Log a site visit, attach photographs and create follow-up tasks from site.
In practice
Two situations from this sector
Typical situations, anonymised. These are the kinds of problem businesses describe before they change anything.
- Case 1
Pricing work that was never won
Before
A specialist sub-contractor priced around thirty tenders a month and assumed a reasonable hit rate. Nobody had ever measured it.
With CubeCRM
With outcomes recorded in the tender register, it became clear that two main contractors almost never awarded work to them. Estimating time was redirected to clients with a far better hit rate.
- Case 2
The QS who moved on
Before
A groundworks contractor lost a steady flow of work from a regional main contractor when its main contact left. Nobody else there knew the business.
With CubeCRM
Key clients now show contacts by role with the date of last contact. Relationships are deliberately built across the buying team rather than resting on one person.
How it happens
What getting started involves
The same five stages whatever your sector. Discovery and training can be done at your office, because sitting with the team tells us more than any questionnaire.
- 1
Discovery
A short, structured session on how enquiries arrive, how you quote, and where customer information lives now - the inboxes, the spreadsheet, the old CRM and the notebook in the car. We come back with what works as standard and what needs configuring.
- 2
Setup
Pipeline stages, fields, quote templates, email connection, teams and permissions set up to match how you sell - not a demo account with your logo dropped on it.
- 3
Data import
Contacts, companies, open opportunities and quote history brought across from spreadsheets, inboxes or your previous CRM, with duplicates merged. You check it against what you had before anybody switches over.
- 4
Training & rollout
Short, role-based training so the sales team learns the pipeline and the office learns enquiries and cases - in person where it helps. Guides and screen recordings left behind for new starters.
- 5
Ongoing support
UK support from the people who built the platform, with a named contact, agreed response times, and a product roadmap you can influence.
Questions
What this sector asks first
CubeCRM holds estimates and quotes, and builds quotes from a price list. Detailed take-offs and rate build-ups usually stay in your estimating software, with the resulting estimate attached to the tender record.
Yes. Each tender has its return date, with reminders to the estimator and a register view of everything due in the coming weeks.
Yes. Outcomes, reasons and winning prices where known are recorded against the tender, which is what makes the hit-rate reporting useful.
CubeCRM covers winning the work and the client relationship. Job management and costing are part of CubeERP, which shares CubeCRM’s data model if you need them later.
Where to start
The parts that usually matter most here
Enquiry Management Software
Every enquiry from the website, email and phone in one queue - assigned, answered and tracked through to a quote, so none of them go cold in a shared mailbox.
Quoting & Proposal Software
Branded quotes and proposals built from your own price list, with every revision kept, automatic chasing and online acceptance that closes the deal.
B2B CRM Software
A CRM built around companies, sites and buying groups rather than individual consumers - for long sales cycles, repeat business and accounts with many people in them.
Sales Pipeline Software
Every opportunity on one board, by stage, with value, likelihood and next step - so the whole team can see what is live and what is stuck.
Related
Sectors with similar problems
- Installers & Home ImprovementCRM for window, door, kitchen, solar, heating and other installers - lead handling, survey bookings, quotes and follow-ups for high-volume enquiries.
- Facilities & Property ServicesCRM for cleaning, maintenance, security, grounds and facilities management companies - tenders, contracts, renewals and multi-site clients.
- Manufacturing & EngineeringCRM for manufacturers and engineering firms - technical enquiries, long sales cycles, samples and trials, distributors and key accounts.
If your process really is unusual
Some requirements are specific to one business rather than one sector. Those get built against the same documented API everybody else uses - not bolted on to the side of a database nobody is allowed to look at.
Construction
Show us how you win work today
Bring one enquiry that went well, one that went nowhere, and whatever you use to track them now. That tells us more about whether this fits than any list of features.
