More leads and conversions in the sustainable construction sector

In an industry increasingly focused on sustainability and innovation, wood construction emerges as a competitive and eco-friendly alternative to traditional solutions.

In this case study, the company sought to optimize its sales processes and strengthen internal knowledge sharing to sustain the growth and efficiency of its operations.

The company and its commitment to sustainable construction

The company specializes in sustainable wood construction, offering modular and customized solutions for residential and commercial projects. Headquartered in Portugal, it has a production and logistics unit equipped with advanced technology, dedicated to producing laminated wood structures and wooden panel systems.

With a strong focus on innovation and sustainability, the company has been working to strengthen its presence in the European market, enhancing the efficiency of its sales processes and its ability to convert opportunities into value-added business.

Driving growth and commercial conversion

In the context of the growing sustainable construction sector, the company faced the challenge of improving its conversion rate and increasing the number of qualified leads, while simultaneously optimizing knowledge sharing between teams.

Among the key challenges identified were:

• How to ensure that only winning proposals are presented?
• How to generate more leads with less investment?
• How to effectively structure and share internal knowledge to boost commercial results?

The identified causes ranged from technical to communication and strategic aspects that limited the competitiveness of proposals and the effectiveness of the commercial teams.

Main obstacles and how they were overcome

To achieve its growth and market consolidation goals, the company initiated an in-depth analysis of its processes, identifying the main challenges that were limiting efficiency and opportunity conversion, namely:

Increase conversion

One of the main challenges identified was the company’s ability to convert opportunities into effective projects. Despite a considerable volume of proposals, the success rate was below expectations, highlighting the need to understand the causes of lost business opportunities and strengthen the competitiveness of the proposals submitted.

The analysis of unfulfilled proposals revealed the following reasons:

• 35% due to uncompetitive pricing.
• 28% due to technical differences in the proposed solutions.
• 18% resulted from the investment being cancelled.
• 11% due to previous relationships with competitors.
• 8% due to execution lead time.

Additionally, in large-scale residential wood projects, the lack of a solid portfolio and proven experience influenced clients’ decisions, who preferred competitors with a similar track record.

Solutions implemented to increase conversion

To address the identified causes and increase the success rate of proposals, several measures were designed and implemented, focusing on prioritizing opportunities and improving communication with clients, such as:

• Creation of a lead scoring system to prioritize opportunities and optimize the allocation of the sales team’s time.

Figure 1 – Example of a lead scoring system

• Design of a sales funnel to track opportunities and provide coaching on next steps.
• Improvement of client needs identification through clear communication standards between the sales teams, internal departments, and clients.

Generate more leads

There was a lack of a standardized process for initiating contact with new prospects, with outdated LinkedIn profiles, no content strategy (such as newsletters, articles, and case studies), and little discipline in recording activities into the CRM (Customer Relationship Management).

Prospecting did not follow a structured cadence, and the sales advertising models were not updated based on the results obtained. The lack of systematic collaboration between the marketing and sales teams made it difficult to fine-tune prospecting tools and align objectives.

Solutions implemented to generate more leads

In order to professionalize and structure the sales approach, actions were implemented to standardize the prospecting process and strengthen collaboration between marketing and sales, among which the following can be highlighted:

• Definition of multi-channel contact routines (calls, emails, social media) tailored to each person.
• Introduction of regular feedback loops between marketing and sales to ensure continuous improvement of the approach and prospecting tools.
• Design and implementation of an active prospecting process, from target identification to scheduling introductory meetings, supported by the Apollo tool.

Figure 2 – Apollo tool

Structuring and sharing knowledge

The lack of a formal knowledge-sharing structure hindered organizational learning. The roles and responsibilities of teams for updating documentation were not clearly defined, new employees had limited access to onboarding materials, and internal communication platforms were not used effectively.

The knowledge repository had flaws with search functionality and information organization (past proposals, use cases, etc.), and there was no culture that encouraged the sharing of best practices.

Solutions implemented for knowledge structuring and sharing

To ensure the effective dissemination of information and the continuous development of teams, solutions geared toward integrated knowledge management and commercial training were introduced. The implemented solutions were as follows:

• Use of CRM for managing opportunities, tasks, and digital communication with clients.
• Development of a Key Account Management (KAM) model to document knowledge about key accounts and define action plans for partnership development;

Figure 3 – Example of a Key Account Management (KAM) model

• Creation of a use case library and FAQs, objection handling training with role-playing, and improvement of the coaching approach for developing commercial skills.

Results that prove the success of the implementation

The implementation of these initiatives resulted in significant gains in both commercial performance and internal alignment:

• 17% increase in sales.
• 26% increase in pipeline value.
• 15% increase in conversion rate.

These results reflect the positive impact of structuring commercial processes, integrating teams, and utilizing tools that enable more informed and effective decision-making.

Figure 4 – Summary of implemented solutions

This case study demonstrates how the combination of strategy, structure, and collaboration can transform commercial performance. By aligning processes, teams, and knowledge, the company strengthened its competitiveness in the sustainable construction sector and laid the foundation for continuous future-oriented growth.

We are committed to respecting our clients’ confidentiality. While we have altered or omitted their names, the results are genuine.