Contractor Marketing Essentials To Turbo Charge Your Construction Service Marketing
Contractor Marketing Essentials To Turbo Charge Your Construction Service Marketing Efforts
One of the most important systems a construction business owner can implement is your Marketing System.
Most contractors incorrectly equate marketing with advertising or sales. Marketing encompasses both sales and advertising…as well as just about anything else you do in your business.
How you present yourself at the sales meeting. How your employees conduct themselves on the job. What systems you have in place efficiently running the show behind the scenes. Everything.
Many “marketing professionals” will argue to the death about the true definition of marketing. For our sake I will define the marketing process as follows:
The “Four R’s” of marketing
Getting the right message…
To the right audience…
At the right time…
In the right way…
…Then keeping the customer satisfied.
A satisfied customer should be the ultimate goal of your marketing plan. A happy customer is arguably the most valuable asset a construction company could have. A close second is the list of potential customers or hot prospects.
Let’s break down the “Four R’s” for a better understanding.
The Right Message
This can be any one of a million messages. You need to come up with something that tells the potential customer why they should choose you instead of the other guy.
It can be a specific service your perform faster than others a special offer of some sort you are planning an alternative contracting method etc.
The good old “We provide great service better quality and have been in business 328 years” just doesn’t cut it!
The Right Audience
You have to know who your potential customer is. A narrow focus on the exact target is golden. If you try to hit everyone you will most likely end up reaching no one.
Finding the right audience may take some time and research on your part. Take a close look at your best existing and past customers.
What do they all have in common? It could be a common geography income level or particular industry. Think about it for a while and your target customer will appear.
The Right Time
The message you get to your market will go completely unnoticed unless they are ready willing and able to buy whatever it is you have to sell.
Patterns will begin to emerge that show you when your audience is typically ready to buy. Also breaking your message into several components allows you to reach your potential customers several different times with the same themed basic message.
This lets you have some flexibility and increases your chance of hitting your prospect at the critical decisionmaking time.
The Right Way
This is what most contractors equate to marketing. This is your advertising campaign. What vehicle should you use to reach your razortargeted prospects?
There is no absolute right or wrong answer. The only answer is to test several delivery methods and use more of what works best.
Keep in mind the adage “Measurement Eliminates Argument”. If it is hard to measure where the prospect came from how many times that prospect was hit by your message and which message reached which customer it will be next to impossible to measure how effective that campaign was in terms of “return on investment”.
You want to choose your advertising vehicles carefully until you discover which methods retain the right quantity and quality of customers you desire.
Some ways construction business owners communicate their messages are radio television newspapers yellow pages coupon decks trade magazines flyers brochures etc.
By far the most efficient narrowtargeted and measurable vehicle is direct response advertising.
Sending a prospect information they need to make an emotional or logical decision and giving them more than one way to respond to your offer is the easiest way to accurately measure your return on investment.
Keeping The Customer Satisfied
If there any problems arise during or after construction bend over backwards to rectify the situation in a timely manner.
Note: you WILL have the occasional P.I.T.A. painintheass customer who really seems to take advantage of your extraordinary kindness. When this happens have an adult conversation with them to explain how you feel you are being used.
If that doesn’t work well there ARE some customers that you just need to FIRE! Get rid of them. End the relationship. They will bring you down faster than anything else.
Check in with past customers on a regularly scheduled program. Ask for referrals.
Ask for testimonials. Use them liberally. Any time someone else says something about you or your company it is infinitely and instantly more believable than anything you could ever possibly say about yourself.
About the writer:nbsp;nbsp;Dave Fadorsen is a top expert in the field of Construction and Renovation. He has managed estimated purchased and built well over a halfbillion dollars worth of construction over the past 19 years.
Referred to by many as “The Construction Guru” Dave has built a reputation within the industry as the construction company owners goto guy.
Whether you are a roofer painter builder carpenter steel erector butcher baker or candlestick maker he is available for dispensing priceless businessbuilding advice on your individual circumstances.
To receive his free “7 Days To Building a Profitable Construction Business” eCourse simply visit his website at http://MyConstructionArticles.com and fill in your name and email address.
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