Construction Marketing Ideas

Culture clashes

2009-12-06T06:37:00.001-08:00

As we prepare for the switch to the other (Wordpress) version of this blog, I posted this entry: "Culture Clashes" there.

Your favourite construction industry blog

2009-12-05T14:44:00.000-08:00

Nominations close for this competition within a couple of weeks.

You can link to the nomination form here

Responsibility

2009-12-05T03:01:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, because of my screw up, I created stress and emergency planning responsibilities for others. As manager of my son's minor hockey team, I booked the team into a "contact" tournament, when our league plays by non-contact rules.

Not everyone reading this blog knows much about hockey, but it is the major sport in our region and at professional level can be quite intense and physical. Body contact rules are in place to ensure younger players and those without training in the more forceful aspects of the game are not put at risk.

But, in going ahead with the tournament booking, I failed to check a website which would have confirmed we were heading into the contact space (at age 11-12, many leagues consider the kids old enough to play contact hockey, but our district doesn't, at least for recreational or house league play.)

Parents arriving early saw intense body checking and naturally were fearful for their kids.

On arriving at the scene, our coach convened emergency meetings with parents and the tournament organizers. He took responsibility and leadership to obtain the tournament organizers' co-operation in arranging unofficial rule modifications, gave the players a crash course in some things to watch out for, and (after concurring with the parents), decided to go ahead with the tournament, with the understanding that if conditions appeared unsafe on the ice, we would leave the game immediately.

As it is, all went well, the kids had a great day, and we ended up dead last.

Can lessons be learned from this experience relevant to Construction Marketing?

Details are important, even for non-detail people. A simple check with one website would have avoided the problem.

Mistakes can create opportunities. We all learned from the experience, and I think grew. Our kids saw how hockey can be played differently -- but were reassured after the day that we would properly revert to our own league rules.

Cultural and rules variations can exist within specialized areas. Smiths Falls and St. Isidore are the same distance from Ottawa, but the separate leagues play by entirely different "contact" rules. We should not forget these nuances in our marketing because they can be important.

One person's error can affect many. Here I feel the pain (and relief that all went well).
We must accept responsibility for our decisions and actions. No one else is to blame. Notably, our coach accepted responsibility for MY mistake; he needed to quickly adapt and adjust the program to accommodate the special circumstances here.

The "on behalf of" call -- and other ineffective sales tricks

2009-12-04T02:20:00.000-08:00

As Chase and Daniel Smith continued to work at Construct Canada yesterday, I spent some time in the office putting out fires and catching problems. Screw ups in our invoicing system, a mistakenly placed ad (which I caught with the help of our administrator just in time), and the writing of marketing materials for future projects took up much of my time.

And there was the inbound call I did not return.

"Hi, I'm calling on behalf of the Society for Marketing Professional Services . . .",
I listened a few more seconds, then hit "delete".

But wait. Readers here know that I'm a true believer in SMPS and will do everything I can possible to support the organization. Surely, it would take me only a few minutes to return the call. I'm busy, I know, but not that busy.

But I had good reason to delete the message, and this is my message to my staff and anyone else that sells for a living.

If you can't clearly state why you are calling in a message, and you dare to say you are calling "on behalf of" a respected organization, you are most likely selling some way overpriced marketing or promotional stuff, but don't have the courage to be direct about it in your call. You really don't know me, do you . . . Since the answer is 'no', I might as well save my time and not answer at all.

(If the rep is persistent and calls again, I will return his call, but the answer will still be 'no.')

Frankly, I'm afraid that in the past, our less-than-effective sales reps fell into the same trap when they called from a qualified, relationship-focused list we provide them. It almost is the natural thing to do, to find yourself reading from a mental script, and repeating your 'standard' message.

In some cases, I suppose, the process still works. A few will buy, and a few will say 'Yes"; so you can handle the "Nos", the "no answers" and the banality of rejection.

The same generally ineffective (but far too common) sales process applies in many other situations.

Every year, at Construct Canada, a few people approach our booth -- and every other one in the show -- cheating the rules and trying to sell us something. If they are caught, they can be kicked out of the show. We are usually reasonably courteous to them, however, because they are in our face.

Other reps send scripted, "personalized" emails, which reek of standardization. (The really bad ones don't even bother with purported personalization. They join the ranks of services which tell me I've won a million in the lottery, or can have my sexual powers increased with little blue pills.)

And bad canvassers, knock on my home door, with the clipboard in hand and big name tag on their shirt. (I slam the door on them, though readers here know that I acknowledge canvassing can be cost-effective and in fact a truly valid business survival strategy in certain circumstances.)

If you are a sales representative, you must be getting a little frustrated with this posting. How can you reach the real decision-makers when they give you this sort of rather blunt and unfortunate response.

I will give you one simple, but effective, answer.

Know who you are calling, and why, as an individual, and know why they really should listen to you before you make that call.

Think of this carefully.

If you spend more time carefully considering and relating to the needs of your potential client you will have a much greater chance of achieving a valid connection and results.

You may say this model works for extremely high ticket relationships, and not smaller ones, and I agree, to a point. But some effort to learn about the individuals you are calling can be relatively easily achieved often with simple online resources (linkedin.com is truly effective) and the time you spend on this research will be far better spent than griding through the lists.

Back to my first example.

I'm not exactly invisible on the Web, of course. The caller working the SMPS list could have quickly learned of my relationship with the association and some of the things I've done, and communicated by a personal email before phoning.

(We are currently evaluating a sales candidate who passed this initial screening test brilliantly. Seeing the public advertisement for the salaried opportunity, he checked, discovered much about me, and then sent a highly personalized email. I invited him to continue with our evaluation process, which he is doing, now. He has earned his introduction.)

Simply put: If you are a sales representative and have a "call list" put the phone down and hold off the introductory email until you actually know who you are calling. And when you do, have a valid reason for connecting, hopefully to give value rather than sell stuff. I promise I won't hang up on you or ignore your call if you follow these rules.

Construct Canada 2009 Day 1

2009-12-03T03:07:00.000-08:00

Daniel Smith with one of our special booth guests handing out papers and calendars.

I flew home yesterday evening, leaving Chase, Daniel Smith, and a group of Hooter Girls from the Niagara region to hand out calendars (with highly gender-specific images) and sample publications, as they met other exhibitors, attended seminars and programs, and generally "connected" on the Construct Canada show floor in Toronto.

This show, at least theoretically, represents a Home Run marketing opportunity. Most of our clients, after all, are businesses seeking to market their products and services to the construction industry in Ontario, the demographic profile of the greatest part of our business. As well, because we can help attract visitors to the show, the co-ordinators are happy to accept trade-outs of booth space for advertising, reducing our costs significantly.

But here is a sobering number. Last year, I asked the sales representatives attending the show to keep close tabs on the leads they acquired and the results they attained. We'll start with the really bad news. Two of the three representatives attending didn't bring in one piece of measurable business in the year following the show (they are no longer employed with us).

The third representative, our most successful salesperson, achieved $4,000 in sales.

If you add up the costs of hotels, food, travel, and time, we easily consumed that much in show costs. In other words, we paid 100 cents on the dollar -- hardly a route to profitability.

In planning this year's show presence, I considered these numbers in assessing our plans, and we devised some changes that should reduce our show-related expenses by about 50 per cent.

Of course, events like Construct Canada have other advantages. They allow us to reconnect with existing clients, scope out the competition, and observe larger trends and issues. So it is still worthwhile attending.

Time and place

2009-12-02T03:21:00.000-08:00

We're at Construct Canada, booth 3027.

Today is the first day of Construct Canada, the largest Canadian construction trade show. After a five hour drive to Toronto yesterday, we completed the booth setup and will be ready to go when the show opens at 10 a.m. this morning. Our booth number is 3027.

This is approaching our first decade at the show, and there is some symbolism about the booth location, a spot near where one of our former competitors had a regular space.

In the earlier years of our business, I didn't think of participating in the show, but received a phone call out of the blue from the show organizers asking us if we could generate some positive advance publicity for the event. With no association with the event (and no advertising commitments from the show organizers), my initial thought was "Why should we do this?" but a sixth-sense instinct took hold and I treated the show organizer's request with respect, producing a really positive story for them.

Then I learned that one of our then-new competitors had a booth at the show, and decided that I would see if we could match the competitor's presence.

The show organizers had red faces. They had unwittingly entered into an exclusivity contract with the competitor, barring us from the show. (They thought the restrictions would apply to another publisher, not us -- they didn't know about us until shortly before their request for publicity.)

In other words, we had provided the show a favour without expectation of return, and the show, bound by a conflicting contract, had to favour only our immediate direct competitor.

One rule of business is that any situation which is obviously unfair and unreasonable will "correct" even if legal contracts suggest it shouldn't be possible. This is the art of interpretation and is how judges work around messy situations in the court room, and how honorable business people work around messes in practice.

The show organizers quickly worked with us on some special co-operation, including granting me a special "unofficial" presence on the show floor as an exhibitor without a booth! Next year, they discovered a work-around; the show had another section where we could participate. The location wasn't quite as good as our competitor, but they threw in free carpeting, electrical and other goodies, reducing our costs and making the whole experience worthwhile.

This year, our competitor is not at the show. And we now have the competitor's former space.

Strengths and weaknesses

2009-12-01T03:13:00.001-08:00

We all have strengths and weaknesses. Of course we need to work within our weaknesses, but in business, we should focus on our strengths.

I thought about this yesterday evening, returning home from a board of directors meeting of the Ottawa Construction Specifications Chapter where I committed to a Jan. 12 presentation on social media and online marketing.

Our son, Eric, had just arrived home from a hockey practice that I had directed his entire team (I am the team manager) to attend.

Trouble is, I had sent him -- and the entire team -- to a practice that had been rescheduled, and two other teams were booked for the ice.

The "rationalization" for this scheduling error which disrupted the lives of 15 kids (and their parents), is the league co-ordinators revised the practice schedule several times and I had an earlier version. But this is not a good excuse. My job includes a responsibility to be careful about the details. (The other teams helped out last night by allowing our team to share the ice.)

I'm simply not very good at details.

This means I would not make a very good accountant. Sure, I can grasp the big picture and make sure that the overall business can run properly, but you wouldn't want me to balance the books!

Should we focus on our weaknesses, however, and let them dominate our minds?

No. The challenge is to figure out how to use our strengths to over-ride the weaknesses.

In this case, my wife (who is a detail person) agreed to check the schedule -- then she had to call on me to show her how to read the computerized entries (my strength, her weakness).
You certainly can enlist others to help.

Other weaknesses require your own attention and effort, generally if they impede in your ability to achieve your fullest strengths.

Sometimes you just have to get experience. I don't have experience in public presentations, but know it is important to develop this ability -- so the Jan. 12 presentation is a good start. If I fail, it isn't the end of the world; if I succeed (I will . . . ) it is a stepping stone to larger things.

Finally, sometimes you need to give special effort and hard work to overcome your weaknesses. the best way to do this is to use your strengths as a motivation.

I am a competent writer, and really good at journalism, but lacked any social skills or interpersonal relationship-building talent as a young person. This could of course be a rather serious barrier to a successful life. I solved the problem by fully expressing my strengths with an African adventure -- which then allowed me the opportunity to overcome many, but not all of my weaknesses.

The basic rule is this:

Do what you love, and you do well, and you will find your weaknesses either become insignificant as others compensate, or you have the energy, resources, and ability to work around them.

But my son still gave me a (well-deserved) glare when he returned home from the practice that wasn't supposed to be.

Relationships, marketing and rainmaking

2009-11-30T03:53:00.001-08:00

You will find some simple truths in this blog posting, Rain Making by Deduction, from Ford Harding. His basic premise: Relationships are the key to rainmaking success, and successful relationship development (and maintenance) is found in both the quality and quantity of your relationships. He also asserts you can't build a relationship without personal contact.

For marketing, he writes:

Marketing Properties

The goal of marketing is to help you meet people and develop relationships with them (by giving you reasons to contact them).
Marketing efforts that don’t do one of these two things are probably not worth the investment.

Good advice, indeed.

Niches and expansion

2009-11-29T03:03:00.000-08:00

A Remodelcrazy.com thread, "How do I market my company?" starts off with this simple but relevant posting:

I need some advice. My busy started out as a Landscape design build company. Now we are venturing into basements and hopefully soon kitchens/bathrooms/other remodeling. My company is called Rusk Enterprises. So my name does not hold me back.

Is it going to confuse people if one week they see an advertising for a backyard, and then the next week for remodeling work? Will this hurt me or help me?

I'm a little confused on how I should proceed with this.

The advice from the marketers is: Stick to your niche. But from other remodelers, the advice is, consider adding the additional services and broadening your scope.

I observe in a posting that you need to focus within your niche, but you can, and should listen to your clients when opportunities to expand and grow the business are provided. We for example, after some ill-fated expansions (including one effort to publish a general business newspaper, a real flop), decided to focus exclusively on regional business-to-business construction newspapers.

This is still our primary business and focus, but last year, a good client suggested I publish a local magazine for renovators. I initially declined because this product would be far out of our niche and expertise, but reconsidered when I realized that the client is a centre of influence at the local Home Builders' Association, and essentially was handing me a ready-made market on a silver platter. I pulled together a joint venture team and Ottawa Renovates has become a true success.

Similarly, while our focus had been in the print media primarily, Tim Klabunde in the Washington DC area suggested last year that we could produce a magazine primarily in online format, and (in conjunction with the Design and Construction Network), we developed the Design and Construction Report.

Client-driven expansion can make a lot of sense, but you should still proceed cautiously, and be satisfied the growth is compatible with your existing niches, values, interests, and of course your existing clients. They are most likely to be your first and most valuable clients for the new service.

(Note you may need to sign into Remodelcrazy.com as a member to read the original thread. The forums are an excellent resource if you are in the remodeling or renovation business -- or are a sub contractor or supplier serving this sector.)

Marketing perspectives: Where is your place?

2009-11-28T05:50:00.000-08:00

With several years "active watching" of construction industry marketing, I am starting to notice that industry participants fit into four distinctive categories.

We don't 'market' because we believe in word of mouth and referrals.

Common practice, indeed. Some contractors say they are so busy, even in the recession, that it doesn't make sense to advertise or spend any money on marketing. Existing, repeat clients return for more, and tell their friends and colleagues. No need for a marketing budget, they say.

This could be a recipe for disaster, especially if you are relying on one key client for business or leads. When things go wrong, bam, you are in a deep hole and have no idea what to do.

We bid public work. If we are low, we win.

This is common practice for some well-established contractors, and some start-ups, who don't know any other way to find business. Supposedly fair and open competition, with low prices, seems to be the way to go. Of course, you can't make much if any money this way if the competition is true and open, and if it isn't -- if you are receiving preferential treatment from your public sector clients, you may be behaving more like a member of the first group.

We market, but never (or rarely) advertise.

Common for larger AEC practices, the organizations have marketing department but focus on proposal preparation, media relations, networking, conferences, and the like. Often these approaches are successful and effective.

We budget for full-scale advertising and marketing.

Friends of marketing media, these companies allocate significant resources both for general communications and marketing activities. They are often lead in the residential or speciality markets within their areas.

You are unlikely to jump from one group to another in a quick flash -- if you do, you are likely to be highly disappointed, at least in the short term. But if you are relying on word of mouth and referrals, rather than organizing campaigns to manage them, or if you are relying on repeat business and referrals from just a few key clients, you should take a close, critical look at your business. You may be heading for deep trouble, and not know how bad it is until it hits.

The (publicity) cost of getting it wrong

2009-11-27T04:50:00.000-08:00

The Ottawa Citizen yesterday took a pot-shot at a small local roofing contractor because of an apparent screw-up of the work on an elderly home owner's roof.

The story "Excuses rain down on roofer's work" may disappear from accessible archives in a few days, but reading the story, I cannot help but think, "Why?"

The "Why?" is on two levels. The first is, "Why did the daily newspaper care?" Reading the story, the roofer seems to have done a less-than-perfect job, but he hasn't denied responsibility, absconded, or refused to make good.

The second "Why" is why the roofer didn't get the basics of branding and construction business success right in the first place: That is, doing the job correctly and wasting no time in seriously addressing valid client concerns.

You'll notice I am not naming the roofer in this blog posting. I've made it a general policy not to name negatively individual businesses or organizations unless their wrong-doing is so great that it is worth the risk of libel lawyers and I have factually checked the story with our own resources.

Since I'm writing this blog entry based on observations in another publication -- and since a business owned by the person's father with the same name is not implicated -- publishing an identifiably negative report here would cause unfair harm. (This is especially the case because neither father nor son appear to have grasped how to use the Internet for marketing, and only limited references -- including the negative Citizen article -- are available with a simple Google search.)

This silence unfortunately won't help the roofer (or his father) in the near future, unless they simply don't care about negative publicity. Which is dumb. Because unless you are living in a very deep cave, you know that success in the trades depends on word of mouth and repeat business and negative publicity in a major daily newspaper cannot do you much good in either regard.

Unfortunately, this type of story also hits contractors who get it right. Negative news coverage builds distrust, and distrust is the opposite of effective branding.

Nevertheless, this bad news story creates some good news opportunities.

Could you offer to make good for the other roofer's mistake? (I've practiced this principal a few times in my business history -- when a competitor screws up, I fix the problem, at no charge. Of course it is easier to do this with some advertising than in rebuilding a roof -- especially one owned by a cranky client.)

Can you gather an incredible collection of testimonials (videoed if possible) to post on your website and communicate your quality, and market that message -- especially if you serve the neighbourhood served by the victims?

Can you get a neighbour you've served to send a letter of commendation to friends and neighbours?

Could you write a brief article, "Seven Tips on How to Be Sure to Succeed with Your Roofing Project", and post it on your web site, submit to local community publications, and include it in your marketing materials. The article should not be self-serving; the advice of course should be consistent with your own best practices.

None of these suggestions may apply in your case, but this story shows how publicity is a two-edged sword. Just doing a bad job got a roofer into real trouble; sometimes doing things well can create positive publicity, almost by accident. But if you do your work well AND manage your publicity to encourage and support positive media coverage, you'll achieve the best possible results: Great marketing and branding credibility, without heavy (or even any) advertising expense.

Thanksgiving

2009-11-26T01:03:00.000-08:00

This time last year I had just returned from a quick visit to Columbus, Ohio, to gather insights into canvassing.

I'm glad I went, though today would be hard-pressed to find the budget for this sort of adventure. As the recession caught, then burned into my business, non-essential travel suddenly seemed frivolous as we struggled to keep the books in balance and the debt level from flying way above the red line of economic solvency.

You may have experienced similar challenges and stresses.

Hard times require us to tap into our internal strengths, spiritual values, and relationships.

We focus on the essentials, and discover simpler pleasures. (And, if we are fortunate, we can still enjoy some special treats, just as long as they don't cost too much money.)

We have much reason for Thanksgiving.

Surprises

2009-11-25T00:24:00.000-08:00

We've had our fair share of surprises this week. Many can't be reported in this blog -- they are internal or personnel-related issues, but one thing defines them: Their utter unpredictability.

Certainly, yesterday and today my work schedule turned on its head as we adapted and revised processes on the fly to ensure that our publications would be delivered somewhat on schedule (they will be late, regardless).

Perhaps my business is more volatile than most -- maybe it reflects my personality. But I think there are other issues here. In business, things happen. The best laid plans collide with the reality of the unexpected. Impressively however the business with a plan, and with some collective experience, has the tools to weather the storm.

Collective wisdom helps, but individual ideas usually provide the answer.
By bringing all your employees into the process, useful suggestions emerge. In this case, a key suggestion from a part-time employee provided the best answer: "Why don't you call a former employee and see if she is available," the employee suggested. I did, and she was.

Regular meetings and processes provide some cohesion and structure in unstable environments.
We had our regular weekly meeting, but I had to reassign some tasks within the meeting on the fly. Nevertheless, we kept communications open and in place.

Ideas sometimes emerge in crisis that solve other issues.
Next week is the major annual construction show in Ontario, and I've always attended. But this time around, family obligations make it harder to participate. With the crisis, one of our employees suggested another could fill in for many of my responsibilities. While the crisis has been resolved, the suggestion still makes sense -- so I'll attend part, not all of the conference (and thus have more time for my family).

Overall, it is turning into a surprisingly successful week.

The best construction industry marketing blog: Update

2009-11-24T07:24:00.001-08:00

With a Dec. 20 deadline for nominations for the best construction industry marketing blog competition, I haven't widely publicized the contest -- in fact, the only places this opportunity is referenced is here and at the "other" Construction Marketing Ideas Blog at http://www.constructionmarketingideas.com.

Nevertheless, we've received eight entries so far; and I think there will be many more in the weeks ahead.

Any legitimate blog serving and for the architectural, engineering and construction industry qualifies. "Legitimate" is somewhat subjective, but obviously if the blog is just a Search Engine Optimisation device designed to set up link-backs to your site, it does not qualify. You need to have original content, updated at least monthly, with enough entries to show consistency and continuity.

When nominations close Dec. 20, I will post all the entries with hyperlinks from the new Construction Marketing Ideas blogsite, and we will commence a month-long voting competition.

The more votes your blog wins, the more your chance of winning. You can invite friends and colleagues to vote -- the system will detect if you try to vote more than once from the same computer, so it will be hard for an individual to game the system by submitting many repeat votes.

We'll then elevate the finalists with publicity in the Design and Construction Report, additional hyperlinks and recognition.

To enter the competition, simply complete the form here. There of course is not cost to enter, and no fee for finalists/winners.

Please fill out this form.

Sales: "Be honest, but don't be stupid"

2009-11-23T03:10:00.000-08:00

A regular poster on contractortalk.com (Welterweight, he doesn't post any identifying information) started a thread with the "Don't be stupid" heading, and these observations: (I've fixed some spelling and grammar here).

Here is some sales advice

"Be honest, but don't be stupid"....

That is something that was told to me years ago. I now bring this up because another home improvement contractor mentioned how honest he was and how he always encourages his potential customers to get at least three estimates.

I looked at him and said that was the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. Why in the world would you tell a homeowner to get a few more bids? Because you are such an honest guy? if that's the case, become a priest not a contractor. Of course we need to be honest and have integrity but my G-d,why in the world would someone say something like that!

Bottom line: Offer a high quality product, make sure its installed properly, treat your customer with respect (it's their home you are in), and then charge whatever you think you need to make. if you need to make 5k from a siding job then charge accordingly, 10k, the same thing.

But never say, "Mr. and Mrs. Jones, it was an honor showing you my products and discussing all the solutions that would fit into your home. However,before you decide to go with us, get a few more estimates...

What the hell is that all about!

The responses are worth reviewing.

Tinner666 (Albert's Roofing, Richmond, VA)

I get many that say they're getting more estimates. I say "That's fine. I can assure you I'm going to be the highest" If not, call me and let me know so I can see what I missed and add it in."

And, I've said ' Get more estimates if you care to. I'll still be the highest, and give the best job."

DaVinci Remodel (www.DaVinciRemodeling.net, Denver)

We listen carefully on the initial call. If we here the word "bid", we ask "are there other contractors looking at the project?" We then let them know that we do not "bid" projects and our real competitors - who are at our level of craftsmanship and service - also do not "bid" projects.

We explain that the "bidding process" is designed to identify the best price not the best value. "If you were to use the bidding process for your dinner plans, you would eat fast food all the time!" "You would never enjoy a great steak and bottle of wine."

We further ask them: "If me and my real competition (those that offer our level of craftsmanship and service) do not do bids, who is bidding on your project?"

"We would love to help you with your project, but bidding is not something that we do." "Good luck and please call us if we can be of service."

Pcplumber (Leonard Megliola, Bestline Plumbing, Los Angeles)

It is very annoying when a sales person answers and argues every question. It becomes a 'battle of the words."

When a customer tells you he is getting 1,000 bids, just ignore the statement like you never heard it. It doesn't matter because the majority of contractors I run into give terrible bids. The bids don't make the scope of the work clear and on and on.

Stop worrying about what other contractors are doing and just do your own thing.

I disagree with most of the posts that say they try to pre-qualify a customer. We spent several hours with customers and we knew we were not going to get the job, but because we are so professional many of these customers still recommended us to other customers.

We went to many homes where we knew we were not going to get the job and we sold a job to a relative or neighbor during the same visit.

I started this year off with a post that stated my New Years Resolution. It was to never turn down an estimate and go to every customer's home even if they want a light bulb screwed in.

BamBam5144 (Siding, Milwaukee, WI)

Good Reading. It is always nice to prescreen. I love being the first guy out there to give them my information first. Then right off the bat they have something to go off of. Usually they do say "I am getting other estimates" in which I always reply, "that's good you really should. I can promise you though that you will find cheaper prices but they may not be the same high quality products, have the same warranty we can offer or have an owner who limits his installers to nothing but the highest standards. In order to compare prices, make sure you compare apples to apples."

If someone says I need an estimate and they've already received four or five, I push them off unless I have nothing else to do, or I mention to these people that there is a 130 dollar estimate charge that will come off the price of the job once a contract is signed. That helps get rid of these people right away.

If you read through this thread and wonder: "Is there more than one right answer to this question?" you are getting closer to the truth. I agree with the original poster that you don't need to set up and encourage price-sensitive competition, but if a person makes it clear that there will be competing bids, you need to be in a position where you are both first and last in their mind, and you need to prepare them mentally for low bids.

And if you have someone who is clearly bid-shopping for the absolutely lowest price where you don't have any previous relationship, as a rule, it may make sense to pass. (Though note Leonard Megliola's "never pass" posting; I've found as well that when I apply subjective screening criteria I've lost far more sales than if I take every inquiry within my service area seriously.)

So, you think, scratching your head, which suggestions in this thread should I follow, and which should I reject. Here, I cannot give you a simple answer, but suggest you align your response to the successful contractor whose practices most closely match your personality, values, and client demographics. Then consistently follow your own system.

Automating personalization . . . Can it be done?

2009-11-22T07:11:00.000-08:00

In a blog posting, Matt Handal throws out a trial balloon. Is there a way, he questions, whether he can develop a follow-up program which sends out "personal" emails on a seemingly random but pre-planned schedule.

I won't try to suggest whether his idea can work but it raises a question experienced by most marketers. How can we effectively and practically connect with former clients and previous/current prospects without spending countless hours trying to come up with individualized communications?

Undoubtedly, "follow up" is one of the construction industry marketing and sales mantras.

Initial inquiries, I've been told several times (though I admit never checking deeply the original source of this information), require upwards of nine to 13 "impressions" before they connect. Similarly, the argument is made that if you give up after one, two or three sales calls, you lose because the potential client would probably respond on the fourth.

Perhaps the reason that follow up at this level is successful is that it occurs when there is an exceptional (and rare) reason for such energy and commitment. My sense is that if you persevere and try a fourth or fifth or more time, you have a really good reason for this extra level of effort; or you are a strange person I would rather be nowhere near.

As an example, I certainly kept in touch as a genuine friend with a woman I dated three times who said "Let's be friends", the classic brush-off. But I wanted to be her friend. (We married 13 years after our original meeting and have been together for 16 years now.) Beyond this perseverance being exceptional in the extreme, I hope to only do that sort of thing once in my lifetime.

In other words, exceptional personal connecting and communicating requires exceptional circumstances to justify it -- and if you are an introvert, like me, you aren't going to feel that comfortable going out of your way to push yourself to maintain these links.

However, undoubtedly, follow up and communication is important. But does it need to be personalized and one-on-one? I don't think so.

I would advocate these approaches could make sense:

If you can write (or wish to pay someone who can), newsletters, blogs, and published articles (forwarded to relevant people on your list) make a lot of sense, if the content is not overtly self-promotional and focuses on information of real use and relevance to your readers;

Speeches and presentations help you reconnect with previous clients as well as new ones;

Community involvement and contributions create non-business opportunities for maintaining and developing relationships.

Of course, follow up with personal calls and emails when appropriate and when it is natural.

But I'm not sure I would go to the extent of faking personalization.

Construction marketing and the circle of life

2009-11-21T06:44:00.000-08:00

Vancouver, BC viewed from the south with mountains behind. Blended exposure version. 20 stitched images
Mfield, Matthew Field, http://www.photography.mattfield.com. Reproduced within Creative Commons License

Yesterday, after an intense day of work, my wife drove me to the airport, and seven hours later, (with a connection), I arrived in Vancouver. Today is my mother's 85th birthday party, and her children and several of her grandchildren are joining for a celebration.

This point-of-life event will leave me with mixed emotions. Mom is getting older, of course, but her grandchildren have started raising their own families, so she can see the next generation.

We are all experiencing life transitions and experiences; individually these influence our perceptions and decisions, as a society the demographic shape defines largely what will be built and what must be replaced.

Planners use demographic data to scope out what to expect, but I suspect that decision-makers base their choices more on their emotions. The entrepreneur has an elderly relative needing care, so decides to build a care home; a contractor working in area with many teenagers about to enter college might see his own sons and daughters heading forward, and think about bidding on college projects.

We also make the decisions on quality, price and choice. I hate spending money on travel, so the business class airline seats are with points, and I arrived in a very large chauffeur driven vehicle (also known as a city bus) at my mom's condo late yesterday.

In construction marketing, consider your emotions, your choices, and your demographics. Then think about how these elements relate to your current and potential clients, and how you can make the connection. You will succeed.

The best construction industry marketing blog: Nominations open

2009-11-20T02:56:00.001-08:00

In conjunction with the Design and Construction Report, we're looking for nominations for the best Construction Industry blog. The guidelines are simple: The blog should belong to a business or individual within the architectural, engineering and construction community and relate in some way to the individual or organization's marketing objectives. (The scope is deliberately wide).

The only blog which cannot be nominated is the Construction Marketing Ideas blog (this one) or the one directly associated with the Design and Construction Report at http://www.dcnreport.com.

We'll prepare a list of finalists and open the voting around Dec. 20, about the time this blog begins its migration to the Wordpress site at http://www.constructionmarketingideas.com. You can nominate as many blogs as you wish and do not need to identify yourself to nominate anyone. (Yes, you can nominate your own blog.)

Nominees will receive free hyperlinks on the voting ballot, and the finalists (selected by the number of votes received) will receive free permalinks, and lots of attention.

If you have any questions about this nomination process, please feel free to email me at buckshon@cnrgp.com.

&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="https://constructionnrhroup.wufoo.com/forms/r7p3k5/" title="The best construction industry marketing blog" rel="nofollow"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Fill out my Wufoo form!&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;

Experience, please

2009-11-19T01:12:00.000-08:00

You would think that, at 56, I'm beyond the age where this expression applies: "You need experience to be given a chance, but no one will give me a chance to get experience."

This is the classic refrain of new start-ups, and young people seeking employment.

In fact, in most cases, there is good reason for this "experience required" rule, and in most cases (mine included), there is a way around the "give me a chance to get experience."

It turns out I lost an opportunity to develop and present a White Paper for the SMPS Foundation because I lack sufficient speaking and presentation experience. And the failure to pass on this ground (another key criteria is writing experience/ability, which I obviously succeeded at) is valid -- I simply haven't spoken much in public in my life, even though (at age 17), I was the youngest person ever to graduate from the Dale Carnegie Public Speaking course.

At a meeting today, colleagues on the Ottawa Renovates! project related the importance of experience and references for success. We won the job over another person who made the initial proposal because of our practical and hands-on publishing experience. (I got around my inexperience in selling business-to-consumer magazine by calling on colleagues who truly know this area for assistance.)

"The other person -- who originally bid the job -- clearly didn't know what he was doing," said one of my colleagues. "He bid far too low and promised far too much, so much that anyone could see that he really didn't know what he was doing, and would not be able to complete his commitments."

We of course promised a lot, but delivered on our promises, in financial terms that made sense for everyone. Our clients knew from our references and presentation that we could deliver the goods.

So, what do you do when you lack experience and lose opportunities as a result?

I have two answers.

The first is to team up and joint venture with people with the relevant experience, like I did for Ottawa Renovates!

The second is to volunteer, and get out there and do things that are stepping stones to experience. So next year I'll add to my list of commitments to give at least five speeches/presentations. I'll do these to local groups or as part of webinars/joint venture projects with other experts on relevant topics.

What works?

2009-11-18T05:07:00.000-08:00

If successful marketing is all about obtaining more, higher margin sales, and achieving these sales is all about your brand, and great branding is all about trust, what is your most effective marketing strategy?

The answer is you want to find the lowest cost methods, with the highest leverage, which results in the greatest amount of trust among potential clients.

Here, things get interesting.

Conventional advertising in mass media may reach many people, but can you build a campaign that creates trust (brand) at reasonable cost -- especially if you haven't advertised much before?

Word-of-mouth referrals of course are inexpensive and loaded with trust, but how do you leverage this asset? If you do nothing, often nothing happens.

Great media publicity, in electronic and print media read and viewed by your potential clients -- especially in a community where you have great word-of-mouth reputation, offers truly high leverage opportunities, little cost, and great trust-building advantages. (That is where our publicity and media services come in handy.)

Community service, through active, engaged participation in organizations and groups related to your clients, has less dramatic leverage opportunities, as many of your relationships are one-on-one and in small groups, but the intensity of the relationships and their quality (especially if you are connecting with community referral leaders), can be dramatic.

If you put everything together into an effective package, you can leverage all the resources to maximum effect: Consider the impact of taking the lead on a community activity, relevant to your business, worthy of great positive publicity.

Would your results be greater value for money than conventional advertising?

I think so, by far, but I also acknowledge this type of activity requires work, specialized skills and knowledge you are unlikely to have, and is rarely if ever conveniently packaged for you by friendly and co-operative sales representatives.

That of course brings you back to our own organization's philosophy. We'll do our best to help you with the bigger picture. But we can't do it for you. You need to put these pieces together in your own mind, understand your market, and then take the lead to make things work.

Connecting with Spec Writers

2009-11-17T03:41:00.001-08:00

Last night's CSC Ottawa Chapter meeting. The Subject -- EIFS Quality Assurance Program. Sure, the topic is dry, but what happens when your building leaks?

If you are a general contractor, sub-trade, building product manufacturer/distributor, or technology provider, I can think of few better places to connect than your local Construction Specifications Institute or Construction Specifications Canada chapters.

Why?

Who is most likely to know and have a sense of what is about to be built than the people who create the contract documentation for the project? And who will influence the choices of materials and technologies more than the people who tell everyone else down the chain what they must do to comply with the contract?

Of course, participation in your local specifications writers group is not a short term fix. You won't get far (or achieve meaningful results) by joining and pumping for leads. Rather, the knowledge and relationships you build over time will expand your connections and awareness of the industry and lead to the critical early understanding of what is happening, and where things are heading.

Digital media magic

2009-11-16T03:09:00.000-08:00

Today, Design and Construction Network members will learn that the fall issue of the Design and Construction Report has been published. However, if you received my own newsletter, you would have learned about the publication on Friday.

Over the weekend, we made some improvements. One feature had a new story included, and I built in hyperlinks for several images to make it easier to navigate and use the publication. The work took about an hour to complete. As things progress, we can update and maintain the publication indefinitely.

This advantage also applies for the initial issue of the Design and Construction Report, which you can find by going to the small "archive" button on the bottom of the home page.

If you are an advertiser in the first issue, and your phone number changes, we can update your ad and put it online quickly. The online magazine format combines the readability and ease of use of conventional print media (you can easily print out copies on your office printer), with the flexibility and ease of change only possible in the online world.

Aligning your marketing; Going with the flow

2009-11-16T02:42:00.000-08:00

The greatest marketing opportunities, I think, occur when you are in the enviable position of having something new that overcomes an existing product/service's biggest deficiencies, and can be sold within the framework of that service.

Consider, for example, the marketing environment of services such as Reach Local, which provide Internet marketing alternatives to the Yellow Pages. (They co-ordinate keyword advertising placements with the search engines.)

For these services, the market is easy to find, their representatives simply need to open the Yellow Pages! (Connecting with decision-makers within the companies is a greater challenge, but that is a sales more than marketing problem.)

The problems of the traditional book are apparent: You need to sign up (and pay) for a year's service, hoping things will work, but with no recourse if they don't. If your business circumstances change, you are stuck. (Of course if you have a successful ad, you don't mind at all, because everything is locked in and secure, also.)

As a marketer, however, you also have a good idea of how much the potential clients are paying, and if your research is good, yo can suggest alternatives which will generate better results for less money -- and without the mandatory yearly commitment. You still need to build trust and prove yourself, but you know the market is there, and you can align your product and sales approach to it.

You may not have the same technology-disrupting opportunity, but you can still study your business (and market) to find out where your service has a significant advantage over your competitors, and where you can then sell into it effectively.

For example, you are a new roofing contractor with experience in the business and contacts (and credit access) to key suppliers Here you can enter public bid competitions and undercut the competition for larger jobs because your internal business costs and overhead are lower, but you have access to supplier capital. Once you get these initial clients, you then can broaden your scope (and brand) to serve commercial maintenance accounts. (This is how successful Shorex Roofing got established in Ontario.)

Of course your challenges are different if you are in a defensive market position. If you are the Yellow Pages, you can use your existing clout to push aggressively into search engine marketing (perhaps with limited success, but enough to confuse the mind-set of your existing clients, at least).

In some cases, of course, you have an uphill battle in gaining trust because of the destructive impact of your competitors.

We continue to earn most of our revenue by providing advertising supported editorial features in our print and electronic publications, but this approach to marketing has been abused, severely, by some competitors who combine high pressure techniques with low quality/value. The result: "Once burned, twice shy."

In these circumstances, I think you have a couple of choices. You can work hard to build and maintain the trust to overcome the competition, or you can reframe your service so that the competition doesn't matter.

Bleeding edge or leading edge

2009-11-15T05:31:00.000-08:00

Do you need to bleeding edge to be leading edge in your marketing strategies?

By "bleeding edge", I mean, far at the tip of risk --testing untried and new concepts, soaring to the heights of creativity and accomplishment to get it right?

The answer is, unequivocally, "No".

Most construction industry marketing is in the dark ages compared to other industry sectors. "Relying" on word-of-mouth, or (far worse), conventional public bidding opportunities, most people in this industry have marketing strategies which might have been common in other sectors a few decades ago.

So, to keep ahead of the crowd -- to be leading edge -- in this industry, we only have to emulate tried and proven methods of other industry groups.

To make the point crystal clear, consider that the Society for Marketing Professional Services (SMPS), the association representing marketers in this industry, only started in the mid 1970s.
Surely, marketers representing other industry groups had their own associations long before then.

You don't need to create a new wheel, or even reinvent an old one, to be successful at construction industry marketing. Just learn from, and copy, the best practices of other industries, and you'll be much closer to success.

The Design and Construction Report is not the first online magazine. But it is the first for the industry. Leading, not bleeding, edge.

What do you want to hear?

2009-11-14T03:11:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, an electrical contractor phoned me to receive some advice on how to market his idea. He planned to start a design consulting service where people would obtain his advice on the overall project before getting started.

My initial reaction: "This will be a hard sell" because of the trust problem. Why should anyone go to him for this level of advice?

Where are his credentials, and where is his reputation?

Then I probed some more for the underlying reason.

He had hoped to connect with potential clients earlier in their decision-making stage so he could ultimately obtain their electrical contracting business.

The latter isn't such a bad idea, if you can pull it off, but I told him I didn't think the advisory service would fly, at least at present, because in effect he is asking people do business with him on a supposedly independent advisory level when in fact his real intent is to obtain their business as an electrical contractor.

Where is the trust here?

This led me to the next stage of the conversation, offering him some useful advice he could implement right away, without spending any significant money, and without expecting him to do any business with me.

"Are your former clients really happy with your service," I asked. He said: "Yes". I told him to take his best clients for dinner, or lunch, or coffee, and pick brains about their interests and values, offer them some free service as a Thank You, and then enlist their support to endorse or recommend his business.

I listened to him as I discussed these ideas, and could tell he wasn't really listening.

I had just shot down his great idea, and now was suggesting something "he had considered before" but just didn't want to do.

That's fair enough. My consulting services are free in this context. But I've heard stories from paid consultants who describe the paradox of their work: They deliver useful, honorable advice, but their clients rarely implement the best ideas, often making the same mistakes, and often calling them back with more fee-paid opportunities.

You might see this as a vicious or virtuous circle, depending on your perspective. The consultant doesn't mind the repeat engagements and fees, but surely the client can learn to do things more wisely.

Trouble is, most of the time, we are stuck in our ways, and it is hard to change. Sometimes a good jolt (like a recession) helps, but mostly we want to continue just as we are. This is especially the case if any change would interfere or threaten our underlying beliefs or values.

These principals apply to your potential clients, as well. They may be looking for security, adventure, quality, or price, or an impossible combination of everything, but your marketing message will only click with them when they hear what they want to hear, so you need to speak in their voice.

This can be hard to do because you may have a disconnect between your client's voice (perception) and yours. If you are fortunate to have the ability to modify your way of communicating, you can be successful. Probably easier is to work with and find clients with similar perspectives and values as yours. You'll relate naturally, without stress or angst.

As for the electrical contractor, I don't think he will give up on his idea. He will call others seeking free advice, he will continue to dream that he could be an advisor and guide his clients to the right way for the entire project, and, winning their trust, show them how his electrical contracting service is the best.

I won't change his mind, but if I wanted to run a con, I could offer to give him guidance in implementing his idea, for a price, of course. (Assuming he doesn't also have a perception that paying for any advice is unwise.)