It’s Tuesday morning, and you look at your project board – you see the most lucrative commercial jobs were awarded before they were even public and your residential teams are twiddling their thumbs waiting for their phones to ring.
This is the moment you realize your entire acquisition process is broken. Here is a direct blueprint to rebuild your acquisition pipeline for lead generation for construction companies, from raw conversion math to the specific software platforms that generate signed contracts.
The Hard Data on Booked Jobs
Searching for quality leads should not feel like a gamble, yet countless contractors waste thousands of dollars on marketing that only attracts “tire-kickers” and “price shoppers.”
Currently, the average paid search conversion rate for contractors is a dismal 2.61%. After contacting a homeowner or project manager via phone, however, the conversion rate increases to 46%.
Almost 70% of all legitimate construction contracts begin with a direct phone call. There is nothing misleading about the statistics. If your acquisition process does not compel potential clients to call you, your competitors that do will prevail.
As of now, marketing spend is on average 7.8% of total revenue; if you desire rapid growth, you should plan to allocate approximately 15% of revenue toward marketing.
Therefore, every day you continue to ignore the 15% difference between low and high marketing spend companies, you will incur legitimate revenue loss.
The key differences between companies that possess full work schedules versus those racing to land their next job are effective marketing channel selection and accurate measurement of the cost per booked job (CPBJ).
Residential Remodels vs. Commercial Proposals
Kitchens are very different from commercial proposals in their selling cycles.
Why Residential Jobs Are Urgent
Residential repairs such as roof leaks and broken pipes are not something that anyone can afford to wait for. Homeowners find residential contractors by performing a quick internet search and clicking on the first vetted business they see.
Homeowners are looking for two things: speed and trust. Therefore, when customers conduct an online search for local services, the most dominant business on the search page should be yours, and your response time to posted residential leads should be as short as possible.
If you take longer than an hour to return a phone call to the homeowner, that lead will have hired another contractor.
The Advantage of Commercial Data
Commercial construction requires a great deal of patience, well-established relationships, and access to information early on in the planning process.
The majority of commercial construction projects are planned anywhere from six to eighteen months or even years ahead of time. If you wait for the general public to post their bid requests on online bid boards, you will likely miss the opportunity to bid on those jobs.
To be successful with bidding, it is necessary to have access to tools that allow you to access digital plan rooms and also project databases before bid submittals become available to the public.
If you are able to obtain digital plans and project data before they are available for public viewing, you will be better positioned to build relationships with building owners and architects.
This information allows you to change your commercial construction business from a reactive business model to a proactive business model.
Software Tools and Vendor List
Companies that maintain a consistent project pipeline do not operate under a "hope" approach; they take advantage of multiple sources of information to implement a hybrid marketing strategy using specific software applications and the expertise of professional marketing agencies.
The software and components below should be carefully reviewed by any contractor evaluating the potential return on investment, the speed with which an agency will set up their campaign(s), and the scalability of an agency's potential success.
1. Clicks Geek
The majority of contractors waste an incredible amount of money on Google Ads due to their attempts to compete against large advertising agencies with seemingly unlimited budgets.
Clicks Geek is a Google Premier Partner agency that provides an effective option to level the playing field for smaller local-based contractors pursuing lead generation for construction companies. They’re not just sending you random clicks.
They’re creating a full funnel for you to convert visitors from search traffic into accurate project estimates. The company focuses on improving conversion rates by tracking calls, testing landing pages, and investigating the search intent from high-value keywords.
Instead of just paying for traffic to your website, you will pay for qualified leads.
Most of their construction clients spend between $3,000 and $10,000 monthly on their marketing services which includes both the ad spend and the management. Perfect if you’re looking for a professional marketing manager without the added burden of having to hire a full-time staff member.
2. ServiceTitan
The biggest roadblock to converting leads into sales is the disconnection between your scheduling and sales software. If leads aren’t being followed up on immediately, you risk losing valuable sales.
ServiceTitan provides a complete solution to this problem by linking every interaction made by a potential customer all the way through to the successful completion of a project. Automated follow-up processes allow you to remain at the forefront during a lengthy decision-making process.
ServiceTitan’s tracking system is brutal but very effective.
It captures every incoming call, connects it to the originating marketing channel, and then tracks which campaigns generated profitable jobs. Pricing ranges between $250-$500 per month and is primarily developed for growing companies with multiple service crews.
3. BuilderTrend
BuilderTrend fills in the gap between winning a job and actually executing it.
They have developed a complete system that tracks the prospects through your pipeline and automatically converts all won jobs into managed projects without losing any customer data in the handover process.
With the right software, you can create professional, branded proposals complete with all photos, detailed specs, and signature capabilities.
You can also track the time of day when you first deliver your estimate to a potential customer and can monitor the customer for follow-up.
The Essential plan starts at $199 per month; Advanced plans range from $399-$699 per month. The basic level is the best way to provide professional branding for custom builders or remodelers who undertake extensive residential work and need assistance with transitioning from sales to production.
4. Google Local Services Ads
Local Services Ads differ from Google Ads as they provide a completely different model for billing based on the quality of leads.
Local Services Ads charge you if and only if you get a phone call from a homeowner. You will never pay for a lead that leads to nothing, and you will only pay for leads that you have engaged with on your phone.
The advantage of the Google Guaranteed badge is that it appears above all other search results and gives you the ability to establish trust with homeowners, who know that Google has verified your licensing and background.
Additionally, you can dispute any leads that you believe to be unqualified and request a refund for those unqualified leads.
Lead costs through Google Local Services typically range from $15-$50, depending on your trade and location. Google Local Services is a great way to get immediate access to high-intent, high-volume, and residential leads.
5. Angi
Angi puts you directly in front of customers looking to hire a contractor, meaning they have already developed the intention to hire someone.
While the intensity of intent for a customer is a critical factor, the primary limitation for a contractor is competition. You typically will be one of several contractors who are receiving a single shared lead; however, the review system has a cumulative impact over time.
Positive reviews increase your rank, thus increasing the volume of leads you will receive from Google Local Services, which leads to more positive reviews.
When contractors actively manage their Angi accounts, Angi can be a significant source of leads for the contractor. It usually takes between 12-18 months to become a top lead source for a contractor.
There is no charge for a company to have a basic Angi listing; however, to receive monthly paid lead access from Angi, companies typically pay between $300-$500 per month.
To appropriately convert leads from a shared lead program with Angi, contractors should ensure they are providing superior customer service and fast response times.
6. Jobber
At times, field crews need a simple solution that will be easy to use without them having to complain about it. Simple is Jobber's biggest asset.
Jobber provides the opportunity for contractors to get operational in a matter of days rather than weeks. Automated follow-up is an additional way that Jobber provides great returns on investment (ROI) for contractors.
A contractor sets up a complete quote sequence one time, and Jobber automatically reminds contractors to follow up on the quotes. By having the consistency of quoting and following up with clients, contractors are able to convert the fence-sitters who generally require multiple follow-ups before returning to the contractor.
Jobber's Core plan starts at $49 a month; the Grow plan begins at $349 for larger teams. Jobber handles everything from online booking and two-way text messaging to QuickBooks directly integrating with Jobber's software.
Jobber's software is designed for the solo contractor or the small company who is moving away from the paper method of operating.
7. BrightLocal
Local SEO requires a long-term commitment, but BrightLocal allows companies to measure the complete process of local SEO.
The citation builder within BrightLocal allows companies to identify where their company information is missing or inaccurate across hundreds of online directories, and then assists companies in correcting those citation errors.
Fixing the errors as identified by the citation builder will directly impact a company's ranking for local SEO. Additionally, through BrightLocal, companies can track how they rank in terms of local SEO for the search terms used by their local competitors.
You can uncover problems that will affect your number of leads before they disrupt your cash flow. Monthly rates for plans are priced between $39 and $79.
If developing superior, long-term visibility within your community (organic search) and also strengthening your organization's presence in additional geographic areas are important aspects of your business, be sure to monitor your online search presence systematically.
8. Houzz Pro
Houzz is recognised as the market leader in terms of providing inspiration for homeowners who are renovating their homes. Homeowners will look at millions of pictures while preparing to remodel their homes.
Having a superior brand presence allows your organisation to be at the forefront during the most crucial part of the homeowner's decision-making process. The most important feature of Houzz is its ability to create a 3D plan view of all finished products.
By showing your customers exactly how their home will look when completed, you are significantly decreasing the duration of the homeowner's decision-making process and significantly decreasing the buyer's hesitation to purchase.
Essential plans are priced at $65. The price for Ultimate plans is $165/month. Kitchen and bath remodellers, as well as design-build firms who rely on visually appealing presentations to make their sales, must invest in this service.
9. ConstructConnect
Unlike residential construction, commercial construction exists within an alternate universe.
ConstructConnect is a database that allows you access to all commercial construction project information. This includes project deadlines and specifications, pre-bid information, and the ability to download plan documents for all upcoming projects in your geographic area.
This feature allows you to avoid travelling to other areas to view hard copies of all required plan documents; accordingly, it saves you time when preparing to submit multiple bids.
Pricing is unique to each customer based on the specific geographic coverage required to conduct business with ConstructConnect.
General contractors and specialised sub-contractors have to find out what's happening (with bidding) in the public sector and private sector before their competitors have any idea they exist!
How to Execute and Build Your Pipeline
There's no such thing as a ‘one size fits all’ solution.
However, the best companies have a better pipeline than other types of contractors because they use a combination of many channels. For example, they may use PPC to get immediate leads as soon as possible (by using PPC strategy) and they also use organic search engine optimisation to grow their businesses over time (by using SEO strategies).
They will also implement a customer relationship management (CRM) system to ensure they are effectively converting to sales all of their inquiries. In the end, even if you have a good technology stack, but your team refuses to execute the basics, then it will look like your technology stack isn’t working for you.
You Must Respond Quickly
The market doesn't care about your schedule. You need to be responding to new inquiries in less than 5 minutes.
For example, put an automated text message in Jobber or ServiceTitan to send to the prospect as soon as they fill out the inquiry form. Use a multi-touch follow-up sequence that lasts 10-14 days.
Most contractors only follow up 2 times and stop. The money is made on the 7th or 8th call (or follow-up).
Fix What Is Costing You Money
The biggest mistake is not having a professional framework for lead generation for construction companies to begin with because every month without one, you are losing out on real projects.
Focus on your biggest pain point first. If you aren’t getting enough leads, using professional PPC management through a lead agency can provide you with the fastest results possible.
If you aren’t converting leads, you might want to implement a CRM with automated follow-up. Therefore, fix the specific revenue bottleneck that is currently costing you today.
Final Thoughts About Your Growth Systems
The construction industry is punishing lazy marketing every time. In today’s world, it’s not possible for contractors to rely solely on referral sources and/or yard signs.
Whether you want to develop your own internal lead generation team, purchase shared leads or hire specialised marketing companies, it’s essential to incorporate the proper software to support your marketing efforts.
Combining professional advertising with good local SEO and utilising a complete customer relationship management (CRM) system to track every dollar and automate follow-ups is critical. Instead of waiting for the phone to ring, go out and force the market to see you!