Construction & Real Estate
Construction CRM for every bid, from invitation to award
In Senitix CRM, general contractors and subcontractors track each bid as one deal: the due date, project type and delivery method in fields the team adds, every estimate revision as a quote version, and the owner and architect as contacts. Commercial work is won in relationships long before a bid is due, so the owner's history, the go/no-go decision, each loss reason and the handoff to operations stay on that same record.
Built for general contractors, specialty subcontractors, design-build firms, developers and commercial real estate brokerages in the United States.
One deal per bid, in preconstruction's own terms
A preconstruction team sets the deal up around the bid: project type, scope package, delivery method, bid due date and bonding requirement as fields, the estimated value as the deal amount, and the owner, the architect and every estimate revision beside them. Expected award, permit and notice-to-proceed dates can sit in date fields too, so a report shows which projects are waiting on which milestone. An example pipeline, the sequence of stages a bid moves through, runs from invitation received to awarded, and each stage shows its key fields and what the team agrees must be true before a bid moves on. Takeoff, estimating, project management and job costing stay in the tools built for them.
In Senitix CRM
What Senitix CRM solves for construction business development teams
Decide which bids to chase, then learn your hit rate
Each invitation to bid becomes a deal with the facts a go/no-go depends on, so a named person makes the call on the record before estimating starts on it. A lost bid or a no-go is closed with a reason from the team’s own list, and a won-versus-lost report of the bids that went out groups them by client and by project type.
- Bid due date, project type, delivery method and bonding requirement as custom fields beside the deal's amount and expected close date
- A go/no-go stage whose guidance text lists what the team agreed to check, and a no-go closed with a reason from the team's own list
- One deal per general contractor when a subcontractor bids the same job to several, each on that contractor's account
Keep every estimate revision on the bid
Each revision is a new version of the quote on the same deal, so the number the owner accepted is the version marked Accepted, with its alternates and exclusions beside it. Drawings, specs and addenda attach to the deal, and estimating and business development read the same timeline.
- Quote versions with the base bid, alternates and allowances as line items, exclusions in the terms and a valid-until date
- Bid documents and addenda attached to the deal, with folders and file versions in the Documents module
- Margin and markup visible only to the roles that need them, through field permissions
Know the owner and the architect before the invitation
Owners, developers, architects and construction managers are accounts, and their people are contacts linked to each deal with their role. Calls and meetings are logged against them, email from a connected mailbox lands on the same timeline, and a saved list filtered on each contact’s last activity date shows who has gone a quarter with nothing logged. See our guide to construction business development for building those relationships before an RFP exists.
- A developer's project entities under one parent account, with the owner's representative and the architect linked to each bid by role
- Gmail, Outlook or IMAP threads on the contact's timeline, with Google Calendar or Microsoft Calendar in sync
- Senitix AI summarizes a long thread with the architect and drafts the reply, and nothing is sent until a person confirms it
Hand the awarded scope to operations as it was sold
The accepted quote continues into a contract with its line items carried over, so the project manager starts from the scope the client accepted. An automation opens the handoff when a bid is won, and the forecast grid shows the awards still expected.
- A contract record with start and end dates and the signed agreement attached, whether an AIA document or the owner's own; signatures are collected outside Senitix
- An automation on the won stage creates a dated handoff task and notifies the project manager
- The forecast grid rolls open bids up by forecast category against each rep's quota, with a manager's adjustment kept separate
An example preconstruction pipeline
The stages a construction business development team might set up in Senitix CRM, from “Invitation received” to “Awarded / lost”. Each one carries guidance text the team writes for itself.
Example stages
- Invitation received
- Go/no-go
- Estimating
- Bid submitted
- Post-bid review
- Awarded / lost
Guidance on each stage
- Invitation received Project owner, architect, bid due date and delivery method are on the deal, the bid documents are attached, and one person on the team owns the bid.
- Go/no-go Fit, capacity, bonding and the known competition have been checked, and a named person has recorded the decision. A no-go closes with a reason.
- Estimating Scope, alternates and exclusions are listed, trade or supplier coverage is noted, and the estimate has an internal review date.
- Bid submitted The quote version that went out is marked Sent, the bid-submitted date is filled in, the valid-until date is set, and a dated follow-up activity exists.
- Post-bid review Each clarification or value-engineering round is a new revision, and the owner's latest feedback is written on the deal.
- Awarded / lost An award carries the revision marked Accepted, the award date and a handoff task for the project manager. A loss carries a reason and, where known, the winning number.
An example, not a default: a preconstruction team sets these stages up itself, and nothing arrives configured. Rename, reorder or remove any stage as the process changes; stage guidance is shown, never enforced, and deals keep their history.
FAQ
Construction CRM questions
What is a construction CRM?
A construction CRM is a customer relationship management system set up for how contractors win work: owners, developers and architects as accounts, each invitation to bid as a deal with its due date, project type and delivery method, every estimate revision as a version, and the award handed to operations. In Senitix CRM, a preconstruction team builds that from bid fields on the deal, an example pipeline from invitation to award and a won-versus-lost report.
What is the best CRM for general contractors?
The one whose record matches how your firm decides which work to pursue. Look for a go/no-go that carries a date and a name, estimate revisions kept as versions on the bid, owner and architect relationships on the account, and a won-versus-lost report by client and project type. A preconstruction team can set all four up in Senitix CRM; plan details are on the pricing page.
How do subcontractors track bids with multiple general contractors?
Open one deal for each general contractor you price the job for, on that contractor’s account, and name the project in a field so the bids read together. When the owner awards the prime contract, the deal with the winning contractor moves on toward your own subcontract, and the others close with a reason. A Project custom object can also list every bid linked to it.
How do you calculate bid-hit ratio in a CRM?
Divide the bids you won by the bids you submitted in the same period. A no-go never went out, so leave it out. In Senitix CRM a lost bid and a no-go each close with a reason, and a bid-submitted date field lets a won-versus-lost report count only submitted bids, grouped by client, project type or deal owner. Totaling the deal amounts shows whether the firm wins the large jobs or only the small ones. See our guide to construction bid tracking for the follow-up habit that turns losses into a hit ratio you can trust.
Does a construction CRM replace Procore or estimating software?
No. Senitix CRM covers the work before and around the award: relationships, invitations to bid, the go/no-go, estimate revisions as quote versions and the handoff. Project management, estimating and takeoff, bid-invitation platforms, scheduling, job costing and construction accounting stay in their own tools, with no packaged connector to any of them. Records move in and out as CSV or Excel files, and Senitix CRM runs in a web browser, with no mobile app today.
What is the difference between a real estate CRM and a construction CRM?
A real estate CRM built for agents usually centers on MLS and IDX listing feeds, texting and drip campaigns for buyers and sellers. A construction CRM serves contractors and developers selling projects: invitations to bid, estimate revisions, awards and contracts. Senitix CRM has no MLS or listing feed, sends no texts and runs no drip sequences, so it is not an agent tool. It fits teams that sell through a pipeline of deals: contractors bidding work, developers selling units, and commercial brokerages taking a listing from the first tour to a signed lease or sale.
How do developers manage new-development sales and reservations in a CRM?
Each buyer or tenant prospect is a deal with the project and the unit or suite in fields, a reservation or deposit is a quote version with an amount and a valid-until date, and an automation can open a task before that date. The purchase agreement or lease becomes a contract record with the signed file attached. Unit inventory, availability and escrow stay outside Senitix CRM.
Which reports should a construction business development team track?
Start with bids won versus lost by client and project type, open bids by stage, and bids expected to be awarded this month. Add saved lists of lost bids by reason and of owner and architect contacts with no activity logged this quarter, and a forecast grid of the awards still expected against each rep’s quota. Reports read the team’s own fields and respect each user’s permissions, so nobody sees a bid they could not open.
Start with the bids due this month
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