One of the best aspects of the construction industry is that people will always need you, so it can get really busy, really quickly.
By the same token, having so many contacts can also lend itself to a lot of issues — people falling through the cracks, missed upsell opportunities, and a lot of hassles going back and forth trying to piece things together.
Fortunately, when construction companies use HubSpot, they're able to stay proactive in managing their contacts in a way that helps them achieve their business growth goals.
HubSpot is an all-in-one software as a service (SaaS) solution that offers a wide range of tools for sales, marketing, and customer service. While each of these hubs are designed to work well together, they also integrate with most of the popular applications businesses use in their tech stack (all you have to do is verify whether what you’re currently using is listed on their App Marketplace).
Depending on which hub you’re using, HubSpot gathers user data, deploys marketing campaigns, and tracks service tickets and routes them to the appropriate team member. But this is just the tip of the iceberg. The solution really does offer an entire library of tools to make running your business a lot easier.
While it’s good to know that a software may be beneficial, what’s actually helpful is to know with specificity what HubSpot is and how its tools will help you organize and grow your business.
While HubSpot has enough tools to talk about for months, here are top 10 ones:
A customer relationship management (CRM) platform is crucial for any business, regardless of size or industry. This database enables you to keep track of every single communication (email, live chat, social media, or phone call), so that you can easily access it from one centralized location.
In addition, once you install HubSpot’s tracking code on your website, user behaviors will also be stored in the CRM. This includes page views, content they’ve consumed, calls to action they’ve clicked on, content they’ve downloaded, etc.
You can also start to learn about their interests and preferences based on items they continue to revisit. And best of all, HubSpot’s CRM is free, so you start reaping the platform’s benefits without making a dent on your budget.
Once you gather enough data on your contacts, you can use this information to provide them with more personalized experiences. For example, someone who has done business with you in the past should not be receiving marketing emails for first-time customers.
Segmenting your contacts enables you to organize them into categories. Once you do that, you can send them tailor-made communications that are specific to their circumstances. As a result, the recipients are more likely to continue opening your emails and have a greater likelihood of converting.
Ok. Ok. So having a CRM and a contacts segmentation tool is all kinds of wonderful. But how do you get people to sign up for your email list in the first place?
While you can straight out ask them, you’ll have a better chance of capturing their attention with lead magnets.
These are pieces of content that provide information that solve your prospects’ short-term pain points. Their format will depend on what your target audience would prefer to consume – an ebook, whitepaper, podcast, infographic, research report, etc.
The point is to give them something that they will benefit from in exchange for their email address.
Once you have their emails, it’s time to establish long-term relationships with them — a courtship, if you will. This is because not everyone who makes contact with you is ready to buy.
Maybe they’re doing preliminary research, or comparing what you have to offer with other competitors. Or maybe they simply entered a query into Google and your website came up.
Launching lead nurturing campaigns gives you the opportunity to establish yourself as an industry expert. You continue to provide insights and value through email communications. This is an excellent tool for them to learn more about the issues you solve, and you remain top of mind for when they’re ready to make a purchase.
Now, the buyer’s journey is seldom linear. Some people may act one way, while others are prone to take another course of action. Keeping track of all of it would be tedious, and frankly, a full-time job.
However, HubSpot Workflows enable you to create If/Then scenarios so that your communications are deployed upon certain trigger behaviors. Set it once, and go on about your day.
Another benefit of this tool is that since everything happens automatically, you are reaching prospects right when they need you. And since time is of the essence in business transactions, this provides you with a competitive advantage.
Another way to establish yourself as an industry thought leader is through inbound marketing. This is the kind of campaign that brings people to you by attracting them with content you publish.
This can be videos, blogs, or tools (such as project cost calculators or DIY energy audit checklists). It’s not disruptive like YouTube ads or TV commercials, and it’s always relevant to what they’re already seeking.
HubSpot makes this process as easy as possible with their content management system (CMS). You can write, edit, and schedule content in a user-friendly platform. It also has a template library and simple to use tools like drag-and-drop functionalities and CTA creators — no coding requirement needed.
Once people start visiting your website, opening your marketing emails, and interacting with your content more often, you may be tempted to reach out to them immediately and strike while the iron’s hot. The thing is, however, that it’s not always as hot as you think it is.
Instead of guessing, HubSpot’s lead scoring feature enables you to assign point values to specific actions — based on how likely the person taking them may end up turning into a customer.
For example, you may assign a low point value to someone who regularly reads your blogs but has never reached out to you. Yet, if they’ve requested information, their score goes up. This number increases if they’ve asked for a proposal.
Your sales reps can then focus their immediate efforts on those with the highest lead scores.
HubSpot’s document tracking tool enables you to create an entire library of documents you regularly use — sales enablement, proposals, and any other critical content. You can then easily share them directly from your inbox.
In addition, you’ll be alerted as to all engagement with the document — when the recipient has opened an email, viewed a document, signed it, and sent it back to you.
Also, you’ll get insights as to which documents perform best, and which do not. You can then take this information to either stick with the former and/or modify the latter.
HubSpot also offers quote software. And not just that, you can prepare them instantly, so that you can send them to your prospects as soon as possible. And you can include your business’ logo, colors, and style to reflect your brand.
This feature also allows for leads to sign directly on the document, as well as make credit card or ACH payments. No need to print, scan, or fax anything. And since HubSpot gathers all of the customer’s information straight from their CRM file, you can have the peace of mind that all of the data on the quote is accurate.
Finally, HubSpot offers analytics software. You can create custom dashboards to reflect the metrics that best align with your specific goals, and you can tailor them to look the way you want them to look for easier readability.
For example, you can track certain actions (such as email open rates and CTA clicks) to determine which behavioral triggers to focus on when developing drip campaigns. You can track website traffic to see how your content is performing, or the source of traffic (organic, social media, PPC ads, backlinks, or marketing emails) so that you can focus your efforts there.
No matter what you decide to track, analytics let you track your progress so that you can make data driven decisions – and this is especially crucial in an industry where the sales cycle can be as long as it is in construction.
As you can see, HubSpot has all of the tools you need to keep your business processes streamlined; and everything to set the stage for an extraordinary customer experience.
If you’d like to see all the ways the platform can achieve this for you, we’d be happy to help.