Group 2 Members:

Tim Klabunde - William H. Gordon Associates - Moderator

Carrie Mandelin, CPSM – Mortenson Construction

Debbie Gilbert, CPSM – McCulloch England Associates Architects

Emily Crandall, CPSM – Horizon Engineering

Kelly Ryan, CPSM – Architects Mosher Drew Watson Ferguson

Lori Slivensky, CPSM – Swinerton Builders

Matt deWit, CPSM – Geosyntec Consultants

Megan Muter, CPSM – HDR Architecture

Michelle Yates, CPSM – Lawrence Group

Paula Harris, CPSM – Barge Waggoner Sumner & Cannon

Robin Tsuchida, AIA, LEED AP, DBIA, CPSM – SUNDT

Sara Paul, LEED AP, CPSM – ARUP

Sheila Gonzales, CPSM – Provost & Pritchard Engineering Group

Stacy Robben, LEED AP, CPSM – HOK

Terry Ann Clifford, CPSM – Dibble Engineering

Tracy Sagehorn, CPSM – ColeJenest & Stone

Session Overview:

Regularly turning leads into work is one of the most important actions that a company takes to solidify its future workloads and establish its growth path. Discussions centered on best practices and lessons learned on managing the lead tracking and relationship process through client relationship management systems. Each of the three groups (Posted separately here) developed a list of the ‘Top 10 Keys to Managing Leads.” That list for this group is provided below:

Group 2: Top 10 Keys to Managing Leads

1. Build an accountability system linked to your CRM
2. Control and limit access to the system to preserve data integrity
3. Establish specific standards on data entry and enforce them
4. Identify ownership of not just the system, but also the fields in the system. What fields are Marketing, Accounting, and HR accountable for?
5. When starting a new client relationship tracking system make marketing department responsible for the initial data entry and then transition the responsibility to the users of that data.
6. Develop an effective “carrot” to motivate employees to use the system such as goals that are linked to the data drawn from the system.
7. Ensure that project closeout forms are completed prior to accounting closing the job so that the database is always up to date.
8. Clean up data before you download it into a new system
9. “Draw a line in the sand” when starting a new lead tracking system. Do not complete old data entry unless it is required. This will significantly lower starting costs and allow for a focus on new information.
10. Bring marketing and accounting together on a regular basis to facilitate communication regarding the shared systems.
11. BONUS: Start with your end goals/objectives in mind