Case Study
How Larsen Building Products Replaced Manual Lead Generation with Barbour ABI
Kirsty Maksymow
Specification & Sales Coordinator
Key Highlights
About
Larsen Building Products supplies cementitious mortars, tiling products, adhesives, and streetscape materials across the UK, including bedding, bonding, and jointing mortars for public realm and hard landscaping schemes. The business has been a Barbour ABI customer for more than 15 years. Kirsty Maksymow, Specification & Sales Coordinator, uses the Construction Project Leads Platform daily for 6–7 hours and describes it as intuitive and easy for the wider team to adopt.
The Challenge
The biggest challenge for Larsen before using Barbour ABI was trying to find the right construction projects and the right decision makers to speak to. There used to be a lot of searching through publications and phoning companies speculatively to see if they were working on any projects Larsen could supply to. Until they became a customer of Barbour ABI, that was the only way of sourcing leads.
Strategically, it was a very laborious, manual way of generating leads by scanning for projects, getting marketing intelligence and generally trying to grow the business. The team had to scour printed directories looking for architects and builders merchants.
The Solution
Using the Barbour ABI platform allows Larsen to access the projects at a much earlier date than previously, as well as find the contacts they need to speak to. Kirsty says:
“We now have a much better chance of getting to the right people more quickly and there are more projects you can find. I can look at a geographical area and find numerous projects in one area – with all different contractors and architects, so it allows me to get in touch with those people at the right time.”
To maximise output from the platform, Larsen starts by searching for specific criteria relevant to their business such as streetscape materials, and filter by public realm schemes to find as many prospects as possible. These project leads are then placed into Larsen’s own CRM system, which allows them to have different projects at different stages they can track from planning, through to tender, then quote and eventually won. With Barbour ABI, Larsen can also go into a project, find the contractor and see what else that contractor is working on, allowing them to connect with more projects and more people.
With the construction industry being so diverse with businesses having their own unique needs, Kirsty says:
“What I like about Barbour ABI is that you can use it in a way that best suits you and adapt it to suit your needs. It’s not one size fits all.”
One element of the Barbour ABI platform that gives Larsen an edge over their competitors is using the notifications function. They are able to stay ahead of the game because when there is an update in a project they are tracking, they get notified via email in real time.
Other Benefits of Barbour ABI
Larsen has won many projects as a result of using the Barbour ABI platform. As the data on projects is received at early stages, the Area Managers receive the right information at the right time. They can effectively maintain control over their region by tracking only relevant projects and finding the right people to build relationships with. Kirsty says:
“The platform allows us to stay ahead of the game with complete knowledge of the projects. We can find and track projects, as well as see who we need to be contacting. This definitely gives us a competitive edge over those who don’t use Barbour ABI.”
Alternative Solutions
Prior to Barbour ABI, Larsen relied on traditional methods such as printed directories, industry publications, and cold outreach to identify opportunities. These alternatives were highly manual, inefficient, and limited access to early-stage project data. Compared to these approaches, Barbour ABI delivers earlier visibility, richer project intelligence, and a far more scalable and effective route to winning construction work.
