General Contractor

  • 1.  CRM Systems

    Posted 9 days ago

    I am currently starting a review of alternative CRM Systems.  We have been using Cossential Unanet for the past 5 year.  Unanet software is incredible powerful with a lot of great fields to track every type of lead, customer, vendors combined with the ability to allocate all relationships to a variety of categories and market segments.

    However, their mobile interphase has never work consistently for people to enter contacts or opportunities on the fly.  They have gone all in with an Outlook email capture system for names and phone numbers that seems to work ok.

    I am looking for a CRM system that may be a little more technologically advance for data capture that contains all the data analytics.

    I appreciate anyone sharing various CRM systems they may be using successfully or time wasters to stay away from.



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    Kenneth MacGregor CCIFP, CMA
    Chief Financial Officer
    Gilmore Construction Corporation
    Owasso OK
    (720) 224-2500
    macgregor.ken@outlook.com
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  • 2.  RE: CRM Systems

    Posted 3 days ago
    Ken,
     
    The Cossential pattern you describe is common. Strong data model, weak mobile, and the Outlook capture is a workaround rather than a fix.
     
    Before the CRM shortlist, I would answer a structural question first: what is running your project accounting and billing? If the CRM sits outside that system, you will own an integration permanently and your pipeline numbers will never tie cleanly to revenue.
     
    We implement Acumatica, which carries CRM natively inside the same database as project accounting and construction management. An opportunity converts to a project and then to billing without a handoff or a sync. Mobile is browser based and works the same on a phone as on a desktop, which solves the exact issue you have with Cossential. Acumatica also prices by resource consumption rather than per user, so you can put every estimator and PM in the system without a seat count conversation. If an ERP evaluation is anywhere in your next 2 or 3 years, run these two decisions together instead of sequentially.
     
    If you are keeping your current back office and only replacing CRM, the 2 I would put on your list:
     
    HubSpot. Best mobile capture available. Card scan, call logging, real Outlook integration, and dashboards that work on day one. Roughly 100 dollars per seat per month at the Professional tier plus onboarding.
     
    Zoho CRM. Around 35 to 50 dollars per seat, deeply configurable, and Zoho Analytics is a serious BI layer if analytics is the driver. You will need an admin or a partner to build it properly.
     
    I would be cautious with Salesforce at your size. It is capable of anything, and that is the problem. The admin overhead and integration cost tend to outrun the benefit for a single construction operating company.
     
    Whatever direction you go, pilot with 3 to 5 real users on live deals for 30 days before signing. Mobile adoption failures are usually process, not software.
     
    Glad to share what we have seen across construction clients if helpful.
     
    Armando Huerta
    CEO, i-Tech Support Services
    CFMA Associate Member


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    Armando Huerta
    CEO
    i-Tech Support
    IT Managed Services | Acumatica ERP | AI Advisory
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  • 3.  RE: CRM Systems

    Posted 3 days ago

    Have heard very good things about ProjectMark from our customers: https://www.projectmark.com/

    Happy to provide references if you need em!



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    Alex Klein, Sales
    Kroo
    Boston, MA
    (617) 216-0111 | alex@getkroo.com
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