The Really Useful Guide to Construction Marketing
Chapter 3: Building Competence
1
The Really Useful Guide
to Construction Marketing
For senior managers of main
and specialist contractors
David Crick mcim
Contractors Marketing Services
The Really Useful Guide to Construction Marketing
Chapter 1: The Foundations
2
Introduction
“Six to nine months
active marketing
can turn a company
around, or see a
step change in
its fortunes
The Really Useful Guide to Construction Marketing
Chapter 1: The Foundations
01
About the author
David Crick is the Managing
Director of Contractors
Marketing Services. A Chartered
Marketer, David has over 40
years’ experience and has
worked on contracts worth up
to £20 million.
His work with UK market
intelligence firms, such as
Barbour ABI, has seen David
advise a diverse range of clients
on strategic development
and training.
Welcome to the Really Useful Guide to
Construction Marketing. In the pages that
follow I will be sharing highly practical lessons
learned in the challenging but rewarding world
of construction marketing.
You can expect down to earth advice on how to improve
your sales, win the work you want and build your business.
If you already consider yourself a seasoned marketer in
the construction industry, I hope you’ll still pick up some
helpful hints and tips to develop your skills.
If you don’t consider yourself a marketer, I hope to change
your mind! As you will see, marketing is not just about
glossy brochures and advertising. It’s about strategic
thinking, highly targeted sales, and building long term
relationships that will bring you a continuing stream of
tenders and profitable contracts.
I’m aiming this guide at small to medium size contractors
and subcontractors, which is the area where I have the
most experience. It’s also where I enjoy working the most,
because you can make a big dierence for a client in a short
amount of time. Six to nine months active marketing can
turn a company around, or see a step change in its fortunes.
Seeing that kind of change is very rewarding as a marketer,
and I enjoy what I do. I’m good at it too, and I wouldn’t presume
to write this guide otherwise. (Modesty isn’t something
you find much in my line of work!) I’ve been in construction
marketing for over 30 years, and much of my working week
is spent in the oces of various clients, helping them build
for the future. I recently calculated that one of my clients was
getting a 1,000% return on what they paid me to do!
If you’d like that kind of support for your business, I’m
always glad to talk to new clients about what my company
can do for you. As we shall soon explore, helping people
succeed is what good marketers do.
David Crick
The Really Useful Guide to Construction Marketing
Chapter 1: The Foundations
02
The Really Useful Guide to Construction Marketing
Chapter 1: The Foundations
03
The foundations
What really matters
Clarifying your business focus
How to stand out from the crowd
Developing your corporate image
04
05
08
12
17
22
23
27
32
36
38
40
41
44
48
54
57
Getting started in sales
Developing a sales strategy
The five types of sales leads
Really eective use of the phone
Following up
A day in the life of a sales hunter
Building competence
Get everyone involved
Personal skills
Delivering great presentations
Developing long term relationships
Troubleshooting
Contents
1
2
3
The Really Useful Guide to Construction Marketing
Chapter 1: The Foundations
04
Chapter 1
The Foundations
The Really Useful Guide to Construction Marketing
Chapter 1: The Foundations
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What really matters
Marketing is a service
Before we go any further, let’s get one thing
clear about marketing. You are there to help
your customers succeed.
It’s one of the most important things to understand about
sales. If you start from the other side and believe that
you’re here to sell your services, you’ve lost before you
started. Successful marketing is all about anticipating the
needs of the client. What’s in it for them?
You’re a problem solver. You’re the one who can help
deliver what your customer needs.
Construction is a complex and competitive industry,
and the best approach to successful marketing is one
of service: ‘how can I help you?’
Of course, some people might think that’s disingenuous,
and it would be if you weren’t serious about helping your
customers! You’d just be there with your own agenda.
But if that’s the case, customers will see through you,
and there will be no repeat custom.
In other words, your whole ethos has to be about service.
Not just words, but from the heart. You’re here to solve
people’s problems, to help them achieve their objectives
successfully and cost eectively.
If you help them do that, then you succeed as well.
You succeed together.
It’s human. It’s honest. It’s collaborative. It works.
The Really Useful Guide to Construction Marketing
Chapter 1: The Foundations
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The consultative side to marketing
If construction marketing is basically a service
to help your client, then it should include an
element of consultation. You are using your
personal skills, and the skills of your company,
to help your customer deliver a profitable
end-product.
As a construction expert, you’d be opening a conversation
with your client. ‘What are your real concerns and constraints?
What really matters to you on this particular project?’
It might seem that, if you’re a marketer rather than a
builder, you might not have much to oer by way of
consultation. That might be the case sometimes, but you
may have more to contribute than you think. Does the
client need advice on procurement and lead times?
On cost reductions, or on budgets and pricing? How can
you help deliver cost eective solutions? These sorts
of questions demonstrate an interest in your client’s
success, and the approach will win you respect.
There are big advantages to a consultative, service-based
approach to marketing — both for you the marketer and
for your client. It creates rapid rapport. It answers the
question, ‘What’s in it for me?’ It makes a space for open
and trusting communication. It takes the pressure o you
to ‘sell’, and lays the foundation for a potentially long-term
relationship.
Sales and
marketing
You’ll notice that I talk
about both sales and
marketing, sometimes
inter-changeably.
What’s the dierence,
you may be wondering.
In simple terms,
marketing is the major
discipline covering all
aspects of product,
pricing, people and
profit maximisation.
Sales is the pro-active
‘get out there and sell’
element of the wider
marketing discipline.
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Long-term commitment
That consultative approach shouldn’t be
seen as a way to get a foot in the door. In the
construction industry, you must see sales
and marketing as a dedicated, permanent
discipline. You never stop marketing.
Some success comes quickly, and relatively easily.
But some of the most productive relationships are slow
to develop. They may take two years, four years even.
Some projects, as we all know, just seem to drag on for
months or years before getting o the ground. You have to
be patient and committed. The best marketers are almost
ruthlessly clear-minded in their persistence. If you know
a potential new project or client is going to lead to long-
term potential, then commit and stick to it.
It’s vital that construction management recognises the
long-term nature of marketing. Instead of wasting time
chasing less eective leads and secondary contacts,
you need to identify key contacts, chosen because of
their strategic potential for new business. Then devote
serious, patient, long-term investment in developing those
relationships. That’s good marketing, and good business.
They say that a large sale requires an average of seven
dierent types of contact. And productive, settled
relationships take at least 12 hours of face-to-face time
before you have a solid working partnership.
Be patient. Be committed. You are in it for the long haul.
“They say that
a large sale
requires an
average of seven
dierent types
of contact.
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Chapter 1: The Foundations
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Clarifying your
business focus
Why strategy matters
In the previous section we looked at laying the
basics of marketing, understanding what it is
and the time it takes. Another vital foundation
to successful marketing is developing a clear
business focus.
Being clear about the kind of business you want
helps you, in turn, to shape an eective marketing and
communications strategy. If you have a distinct idea of the
kind of jobs you want to win, you’ll get a much better idea
of who you need to talk to, and what you want to say.
This clarity and eectiveness will feed into all your
communications: brochures, website, letters and
conversations, magazine articles etc. And this kind
of coherence really helps to get your message across.
Having a clearly focused business model and marketing
strategy gives you confidence as you approach new
prospects. Your colleagues will feel confident and
assertive as they deal with clients, because they all
understand what direction you are going in.
Clarity and confidence in your communications
means you will be heard more clearly and better
understood. With time, you’ll develop an increasingly
obvious track record of success. That, in turn, will set
you apart from your competition. You’ll be taken more
seriously, remembered more readily, and treated with
greater respect.
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Chapter 1: The Foundations
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Know your strengths
With over a quarter of a million firms,
construction is a crowded industry.
So your best route to success is to specialise.
Aim to become a bigger fish in a smaller pond, rather
than a small fish in a large and crowded pond.
Developing a clear business focus means working out
where you’re at your best. A few simple questions will
get you started:
• What are you good at?
• What are your proven strengths?
• What are your ‘perceived’ strengths
(i.e. what do other people think you are good at?)
You’re now refining your business around its biggest
strengths, but don’t forget to look into what you want as
well. Make sure you’re specialising around work you like
doing and that turns a decent profit.
• What kind of work do you like doing?
• What kind of work has the best margins?
A good strategy — and a major part of the dierentiation
that we’ll come to later — is to grow to be recognised as
an expert in a chosen field.
Once you have worked out what and where your best
business is, then work out where that business is going to
come from. This is essential to the work of marketing.
A clear business focus — knowing what kind of business
you really want — will make it easier to develop a cost-
eective marketing strategy. It will point to the right
markets for your skills, and highlight the marketing tools
that you need to break into that market.
The Really Useful Guide to Construction Marketing
Chapter 1: The Foundations
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Focusing your business
Let’s think a little more about refining your
business focus. Look at the work your business
has done over the past few years.
• First, which were the most profitable kinds of
work? Which kinds of jobs went really well, from
your perspective and from the perspective of your
clients? Which returned the best margins?
• Now look at the strengths and experience of your
managers, sta and trades.
Add those two sets of findings together. What kinds of
business are these pointing to?
With this in mind, you can start to research your own local
market. There are two kinds of work you may want to look
out for in your chosen field.
• Lower margin quick wins to generate cash and
business continuity.
• Higher-margin longer-term business, to provide
maximum return — the real prize.
You then have to decide your priorities, based on your
cash-flow needs, your work availability, and the actual
work available in your area.
Developing a clear business focus helps get better value
out of your time and energy. It means you consolidate your
strengths and save time through not competing in areas
of relative weakness. It also saves money in estimating
costs. You may choose to bring in fewer tenders, but
you will have a greater chance of success and higher
conversion rate.
The Really Useful Guide to Construction Marketing
Chapter 1: The Foundations
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“Developing a clear
business focus helps
get better value out of
your time and energy.
The Really Useful Guide to Construction Marketing
Chapter 1: The Foundations
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How to stand out
from the crowd
Competitive dierentiation
So you know what you’re good at and
you’ve focused accordingly. That’s great,
but we’re only halfway to a solid marketing
platform. Imagine you’ve followed up a great
lead and you’ve got a foot in the door with
the prospective client. Then in the course
of discussions they ask an awkward question:
‘I already use six other contractors:
why should I consider you?’
What is your quick, eective answer to make sure they
add you to their list of regular tenderers?
This is a crucial part of the marketing process. We call it
‘competitive dierentiation’. What makes you stand out
from the crowd? How do you make yourself dierent
from your competitors and so become attractive to your
prospective clients?
Every contractor has a role in the construction
marketplace, but you don’t want to be in the ‘me too’ herd.
If all you’ve got going for you is that you’re no worse than
everybody else, then there’s no reason for anyone to
choose you. Clients will always prefer a contractor who
stands out from the others, who has something special
to oer — specific experience, an ability to move fast or a
team that’s located close to their site.
It’s crucial to develop your business to become something
special, with qualities that stand out from everyone else in
the crowd.
Dangerous
questions
Hopefully the feedback
about you will be
positive and arming.
But what if it’s not?
External research can
be painful if people
really speak their minds.
Don’t let it set you back.
It’s far better to get a
bitter dose of reality
than to depend on
fantasies and then go
bust a few months down
the line!
You may uncover
some weaknesses
that you hadn’t spotted.
Use the criticism to
build a stronger, more
attractive business.
The Really Useful Guide to Construction Marketing
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Research your distinctives
The first key to market dierentiation is simply
this: find out what is unique about your business
right now. Why do your past and present clients
use your services? Why do they keep coming
back? What do they see in
you that they like?
You can do this in two ways.
Internal research — Run a brainstorming session with your
sta: what do you do that is noticeably dierent to your
competitors? Remember that it’s often the small points
about a company that make a real dierence. Assemble
the results to develop an initial list of ideas about your
existing competitive dierences.
External research — Ask your past and present clients
what they think of you. Why did they choose you for their
work?
Is there anything special about you apart from the
competitive price element? Add this feedback into your
dierentiation study.
Check yourselves against your competition:
how do you dier? That’s the first step.
The Really Useful Guide to Construction Marketing
Chapter 1: The Foundations
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The Really Useful Guide to Construction Marketing
Chapter 1: The Foundations
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15 ways to stand out
After researching your distinctives, the
second step to market dierentiation is to
make yourself dierent! Be proactive in
creating space between yourselves and the
competition. Here are some ways you can
stand out in the crowded market place:
1. You! What is truly unique about your business is
of course is you. What do your clients like about
you, and how can this be leveraged in your favour?
Your positive attitude and friendliness is going to
be one of the most important factors in a client’s
decision.
2. Your colleagues! Think about the quality of
customer relationships throughout your business.
Are you easy to work with?
3. Your focus and persistence in development of
sales projects.
4. Appreciation and saying ‘thank you’ for business
placed with you. Do clients feel valued?
5. Your corporate attitude to claims, and non-
adversarial relationships on site.
6. Your corporate identity — a sharp logo; literature
that makes an impact.
7. The quality of your website.
8. The added value you bring to a project or
a relationship.
9. Your ability to provide early budget pricing.
10. Your ability to actively add engineering and cost
reduction at the tender stage, oering good advice
on keeping costs down.
The debrief
It's always good to
run a short informal
interview with your
client when a job has
completed on site.
You can do this yourself,
or it's often better to
get a third party to run
the interview for you,
either on the phone or
in person.
It’s really helpful to get
feedback fast. If the
client would hesitate
to work with you again,
you will want to know
why and make it right.
If feedback is good,
pass it on to motivate
your sta.
The debrief
conversation is good
business in itself.
It shows you take
yourself seriously, that
you value your client’s
opinion, and want to do
a good job. It will inspire
confidence in your
company.
The Really Useful Guide to Construction Marketing
Chapter 1: The Foundations
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11. Input into early stage site programme
development.
12. Comment on procurement and lead-in times
for materials.
13. Clear communication. Are you easy to get hold of,
and is everyone on the same page?
14. Listening skills. How can you show your clients
that you understand their needs and concerns?
15. Willingness to learn from client feedback.
What would your clients find helpful? And do you
invite their comments?
In which of these ways can you realistically dierentiate
yourselves from the competition? Make your list,
develop an implementation strategy, and build it into your
marketing plan — starting with your corporate image.
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Chapter 1: The Foundations
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Developing your
corporate image
How are you perceived?
Your corporate image is crucial to your success.
And don’t for a moment think that you don’t
have one! Your business already has an
image. If it’s not one that you’ve crafted and
deliberately communicated, it’s one that you’ve
accidentally communicated. Either way, people
already have an opinion about you.
They may think you are special, or just part of the crowd.
You may be perceived as reliable, or perhaps people think
you’re best avoided. Their view of you may be accurate or
inaccurate. It may be based on experience, or on hearsay
and gossip. It may even be based on mistaken identity!
But they have an opinion. They already have a mental
image of your business.
The important thing for you, in marketing your business,
is to take control of your business image and shape it the
way you want it.
So the first thing may be for you to find out what your
corporate image already is. As we’ve already discussed,
you can do this internally and externally. Ask your sta
what people think about your business. Then ask your
clients what they think: why did they choose you over
the competition? What has their experience of your
firm been?
Now get to work on shaping your corporate image
positively in your favour.
“Ask your sta
what people
think about your
business. Then
ask your clients
what they think.
The Really Useful Guide to Construction Marketing
Chapter 1: The Foundations
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The tangible elements of a
good corporate image
There are two aspects to your corporate image:
the tangible and intangible. Both of them are
important.
The tangible elements of your corporate image
are the things people can touch or see: your logo,
brochures, website, letterheads, vehicle sign-writing
and hoardings on site. You cannot overestimate the
importance of getting these well designed. The subliminal
communication from a good logo, a well written brochure,
a coherent website, and a well set-out letter is immense.
Don’t underestimate the negative impact of an o-the-
shelf logo, a badly written letter or brochure, or a website
that is hard to use. These may lose you the business
before the potential client has read a single word.
Some might dismiss expenditure on design as an
indulgence, something that can be easily cut to improve
the bottom line. But just think about your own role as a
client: how many of your purchases are influenced by
good or bad design and packaging? How often are you
put o by something that is poorly presented? Which
would you trust more, a generic ‘no-name’ product or a
branded one?
Good design does not happen by accident. It is usually the
end of a long process, but it is worth investing in. It doesn’t
have to be flashy, but get it done professionally. Good
design makes you more memorable, and it communicates
reliability and helps to build trust.
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The intangible elements of
your image
Your corporate image is the sum total of how
people think about you. It is partly shaped by
your logo and brochures, website and so on.
It is also shaped by people’s experiences of
dealing with you, and by the gossip of others
who have worked with you.
This is why it’s so vital to get everyone in your firm on
board with your marketing strategy, as we’ll come to later.
Your receptionist is on the front line of marketing.
First impressions are essential and how they answer
the phone and deal with visitors powerfully impacts their
impression of your firm, for good or ill.
It’s not just the receptionist. Every member of your
sta aects your corporate image every day. Do they
answer the phone politely? How promptly do they deal
with queries? Are they true to their word? What kind
of impression do they make on site visits? Do they
manage the contracts well? Do they know what they
are talking about?
A good experience for clients leads to a good corporate
image. A good image will help clients to be willing to
trust you with their business, and that in turn will lead
to repeat business.
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Who would you like to be?
As you work on developing your corporate
image, you need to be looking ahead. Don’t just
focus on developing an image that reflects the
business as it is now. Think ahead to where you
want to be in three or four years’ time. Make that
the target of your image development. Start to
project the image of the firm that you want to
become, and then grow into it.
Of course, the image you project has to be honest!
Don’t pretend to be something that you’re not. You will
be rumbled, and you may never recover the ground. But
equally, don’t stand still. Be ambitious. Develop a clear idea
about your business direction, what kind of business you
are seeking to become — and then use your corporate
image development as a tool to help you become that
kind of firm.
Remember to work for consistency across all your
dierent forms of communication: vehicles and site-
hoardings as well as logo and brochures. Match up your
oce décor and your website, so that visitors know who
they’re dealing with. Make sure any press coverage and
customer events, invoices and letterheads are all working
together to communicate who you are.
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Marketing materials
Speaking of brochures, it’s worth mentioning
marketing materials. It can be tempting to throw
money at glossy brochures and flyers, and
larger companies may want to go down that
route. Smaller companies should focus first
and foremost on a great website.
Get professional help for your website. Make it easy to
navigate and clearly branded. Provide examples of your
work, and longer case studies that can be downloaded
— these can also be emailed after personal telephone
conversations.
When you do produce a brochure, pay for a good
designer and print it on good stock, so it makes an
impression when it arrives. Since people get too many
emails, a well targeted mail shot may get some attention,
especially if it follows an introductory phone call.
One other thing: well-presented tender documentation,
spiral bound and with an acetate front cover, is an easy
way to convey professionalism and build trust.
We’ve covered a lot of
ground already.
We’ve looked at the basics of marketing, and
the need to focus on service and consultation
— you’re there to help your customers succeed.
From that foundation, we’ve looked at how
to clarify your focus, and how to make your
company stand out from the competition.
If you’ve got this far, you’ll have a strong marketing
platform to work from. Now it’s time to get proactive
and start chasing down the work you want to grow
your business.
“Get professional
help for your
website. Make it
easy to navigate
and clearly
branded.
The Really Useful Guide to Construction Marketing
Chapter 2: Getting Started in Sales
22
Chapter 2
Getting Started
in Sales
The Really Useful Guide to Construction Marketing
Chapter 2: Getting Started in Sales
23
Developing a sales
strategy
Everything we’ve looked at so far is foundational.
It’s all been about working out who you are and
communicating it to others. Without these basics, you’re
going to struggle in a crowded marketplace. If you’ve
got those foundations in place, you can really start to
build your business more proactively. That leads us from
broader marketing principles into the more specialist
world of construction industry sales.
If you’re aiming for long term growth and profit, you’ll need
all the basics in place. Then it’s time to start developing
an intelligent, eective strategy that will target the best
tenders.
What a good sales strategy can
do for you
Developing an eective sales strategy for a
small or medium-size building contractor is not
dicult — and implementing it does not have to
be expensive.
To give you an idea of what it involves from a tactical
perspective, one of our CMS sales hunters would be able
to deliver results for your business through one
concentrated sales day per week. From this day of sales
hunting we’d expect to generate one or two appointments
for the directors with targeted potential work providers.
We’d be looking to secure 3 – 5 tenders a month.
Sounds good, doesn’t it? A small company can achieve
serious growth from just two to four dedicated sales days
a month, and by the end of this guide you’ll know how to do
just that.
The Really Useful Guide to Construction Marketing
Chapter 2: Getting Started in Sales
24
To get those kinds of results, you’re going to need the
right tools for the job. Your marketing toolbox will need
to include:
• A serious, long-term commitment from the
directors and managers to the active sales
strategy. Growth doesn’t happen overnight.
• A strong, attractive and eective corporate identity,
as we’ve already discussed.
• Clear thinking about the company’s market focus,
so that your salesperson can prioritise and target
the best and most appropriate business.
• Eective marketing resources for introducing
the company and following up contacts — i.e. a
brochure, website, email material, case studies, etc.
• Great market intelligence — that means among
other things a well selected set of project sales
leads to work from — and we’ll come to these next.
“To get those
kinds of results,
you’re going
to need the
right tools for
the job.
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Chapter 2: Getting Started in Sales
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Using market intelligence
We are amazingly well provided with market
intelligence in the UK construction industry.
The trick is knowing how to use it.
Thanks to the UK planning system, we know in advance
about almost every construction project of any value.
Out of this mass of information, the two leading market
intelligence providers — Barbour ABI and Emap Glenigan
— pick out and detail over 250,000 projects a year.
They focus on the ones over £100k, with smaller projects
listed in summary. Planning Pipe is another similar service.
In addition, over 5,000 major projects each year are
researched through the tendering to planning stages
by ABI and Glenigan again, but also by the Builders’
Conference. The potential value of these sales leads
for your sales strategy is enormous. Properly used,
they allow you to:
• Identify specific projects that are of interest to you
• Get information early enough to chase
opportunities
• Identify key work providers so you can build
long-term relationships
• Easily identify new companies in your area
• Use intelligently targeted direct mail and
email shots
Help!
Construction Marketing
Services are experts
at handling sales leads
and gathering market
intelligence. We could
be doing it for you! Give
us a call if you would like
some advice or support:
01256 475880
The Really Useful Guide to Construction Marketing
Chapter 2: Getting Started in Sales
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Using market intelligence to
target your sales
Using market intelligence is a key to targeted
marketing. It allows you to seize immediate
opportunities to help with cash flow. At the
same time it enables you to work on long-term
relationship building that will lead to repeat
business, stability and growth. Good sales
people deliver immediate work, and keep an
eye on the future too, looking for upcoming
projects and potential work providers.
Barbour ABI, Planning Pipe and Glenigan leads are
excellent ways for you to identify all the possible building
projects that may be of interest to you. That means you
can focus on the kind of work that you like doing and that
you are good at — or the kind of work you would like to
move into.
It also means you can focus on the geographical areas
that are most convenient for you. In addition, it means you
identify the projects that promise the best margins, or
ones that will fit the gaps in your schedule.
Market intelligence will also give you the details of
key people you need to talk to: the main contacts and
decision-makers in the firms. These are the people you’ll
want to invest in and develop a good working relationship,
building trust and giving a great impression of your
company.
The information is there to be used, and if you’re not
using it, your competitors will! So let’s get into the detail
of sales leads.
The Really Useful Guide to Construction Marketing
Chapter 2: Getting Started in Sales
27
The five types
of sales lead
The market intelligence from the planning
system is an exceptionally powerful tool.
At the heart of almost every successful
construction firm is a marketing team that
knows how to use it well.
At first glance though, it can appear that there is actually
too much information! You’re going to need to narrow
it down to find the projects most relevant to you. There
are five dierent stages of lead, and not all of them will
be useful to your company’s skills and specialities. Once
you’ve understood the five types of sales leads and where
your business comes into the process, that mass of
projects will look much less daunting.
1. Pre-Planning Leads
These are very early leads (usually to more
major developments) that come up in the press
— a company relocation, for example.
Pre-planning leads are most useful to property
companies or major contractors with longer-term key
account development interests. A company move would
also be of interest to oce furniture or fit-out companies.
Sometimes architects, surveyors or other professional
firms will want to get in right at the inception of a scheme.
The Really Useful Guide to Construction Marketing
Chapter 2: Getting Started in Sales
28
2. Outline application and approvals
Still early, but now you have a definite project
to lock onto. People don’t submit these
lightly given the increasing cost of planning
applications.
This stage is most interesting to local property firms and
developers with an interest in site acquisitions. Builders
who oer design and build services or other specialties
will want to get in early, but this stage is usually too
early for most building firms. Consulting engineers and
surveyors may not have been appointed yet, so some
professionals may find these leads useful.
3. Detailed planning applications
and approvals
The first two stages are more niche, but once
you get into the detailed planning application
stages, you are now into the key area for almost
every mainstream builder.
This stage is where building contractors will want to
get involved. Builders should get in touch at planning
application stage, as some jobs will proceed fairly quickly
once planning ocers have given an informal nod and a
wink to the scheme. If you haven’t made contact, another
contractor is likely to be already in and talking.
We always suggest that builders select the projects they
chase carefully. It’s better to do a really good sales job on
a few well selected leads than attempt to chase too many.
Develop a simple scoring system on key criteria if you
need to. You need to make a gentle and courteous contact
at an early stage; keep talking at the times they suggest.
It’s imperative to build the beginnings of relationship
quickly and eectively with well-judged personal
contacts. Secure your ‘foothold’ in the project early on
and track it through tenaciously.
Subcontractors
at the planning
stage
Generally speaking
these leads are too early
for subcontractors.
However, if the
application is by a
builder, developer or
housebuilder, it may be
moving forward quickly
after securing planning
permission.
A project that goes
this route won’t have a
tendering stage, so if
you’re interested, you’ll
want to get in touch.
The Really Useful Guide to Construction Marketing
Chapter 2: Getting Started in Sales
29
As a builder, you’ll naturally be tracking the project
through to client instructions, working drawings,
building regulations and then to the tender list assembly.
Don’t lose contact through the process. If you go quiet
for too long, it’s very easy for the architect to get the
impression that you may not be too interested after all —
and for your competition to make the running instead.
Besides builders, the other group who will want to look
out for these planning leads are building material
suppliers. This is where they should make their approach.
The project will soon be moving on to building control and
working drawings, making this the ideal time to get your
products specified by the architect or user.
4. Tender stage
The client will be looking at main contractors now, and those
contractors will be pricing up the work and making their bids.
The tender stage is where the subcontractors can start
to pick up the trail. It’s almost always too late for main
contractors, but a good time for specialists to make sure
they’re in the running for subcontracts — especially those
first on site, such as groundwork or demolition companies.
If you’re a subcontractor who gets their business from
contractors, you need to be in right away. The tender
stage last only three to four weeks in most cases, so don’t
wait around!
Building material suppliers are still in with a shot here
too, whether they’ve secured specification from the
architect or not.
Remember that the main contractor may only have a
one in three or one in four chance of winning the work,
depending on how long the shortlist is. That means there’s
no certainty of getting the job and some subcontractors
prefer to hold o until the contract is awarded. However,
long experience shows that it’s well worth engaging with
builders at the tender stage.
When to make
your move
Since up to 25% of
schemes are refused,
some builders save time
by waiting for planning to
be granted before they
get in touch. There are
big downsides to this.
As sales professionals
we always prefer to
make contact at the
actual application stage.
Most projects do get
through first time, even
if they take ages. If you
waited and the client
was keen to proceed,
you’ve missed your
chance. Better to get
in early — have a quick
chat with the architect
and then hold back for
two or three months if
required.
Secondly, if permission
is refused, it may be
resubmitted. By being
early, we can stay with
the project even if it
goes to appeal, while
competitors will fall
away. The success rate
in getting a tender with
jobs that are delayed
is usually much higher
than with those which
move quickly!
The Really Useful Guide to Construction Marketing
Chapter 2: Getting Started in Sales
30
Builders know that subcontractors would prefer to
discuss actual jobs won, but they still need competitive
subcontract prices at tender stage. They will frequently
want new subcontractors to prove their interest and
stickability by pricing enquiries at tender stage. Don’t see
this as a waste of time, see it as a way to build relationships
and prove your good faith.
That’s actually no inconvenience, if you are a
subcontractor who has access to good tendering
information. It can actually be a very eective way to
generate more new contractor contacts and relationships
very quickly. One tenderer you price for can easily lead
to two or three others within days, and they are always
happy for you to copy your price across.
The real prize is to track it right through to the contract
award and make sure your price is under consideration.
And of course, your courteous and friendly tracking of
the job through numbers of contacts over perhaps six to
seven weeks does you a huge amount of good in terms of
the relationships you’re building all the time.
What if there
isn’t time to
quote?
Even the best
researched leads from
Emap Glenigan or
Barbour ABI can come
in a little late. Quite often
there is not enough
time to quote for your
particular trade.
Don’t be deterred —
these leads are still
good intros and a
lot better than ‘cold-
calling’. Every estimator
you talk to will have
a stream of tenders
coming though.
There is almost always
upcoming interest
for you.
The Really Useful Guide to Construction Marketing
Chapter 2: Getting Started in Sales
31
5. Contract award stage
The final stage of the sales opportunity pipeline: the main
contractor has now been appointed, and they’re getting
into the detail of who’s going to be doing what.
This is the preferred stage for most subcontractors, and
those specialising in the early trades — brickwork, roofing
or plastering should get in touch now. Trades that come
in once the shell of the building is complete, (for example
electricians, joiners, painters and decorators) might want
to hold o for a week or two. You’ll avoid the rush of calls
that inevitably happens once a main contract is awarded.
It’s a little late for site services, as these tend to be booked
in very quickly, but always worth a call. If you don’t get this
job, it’s an opportunity to ask about what’s coming up next.
Material suppliers who sell to subcontractors can also use
these leads.
The Really Useful Guide to Construction Marketing
Chapter 2: Getting Started in Sales
32
The Rule
of Seven
Research shows that
larger sales take an
average of seven
contacts of one kind
or another — from the
initial call through to
the follow-up and then
on over some months
if required — telephone
calls, emails and maybe
a personal meeting.
Yes, you can hit the
jackpot in two or three
calls — but it can
sometimes take ten or
more. The contractor
who stays the course is
the most likely to secure
a tender.
Being really eective
on the phone.
Pick the phone up!
So you know what a sales lead is and which
ones are most relevant to your company.
But what’s actually involved in following it up
and chasing a lead? First, pick up the phone.
The phone is the single most powerful marketing tool at
your disposal, and if you’re going to make the most of your
sales leads, you’ll need to use it. If you’re not comfortable
with cold-calling, hire a marketing professional who is,
even if it’s just for a day a week.
Choose the A* leads to call first, the jobs you want most.
Then make the call and introduce yourself. Say who you
are, and what you’re specifically interested in. Mention
your experience, and make sure the person on the other
end of the phone knows where to find out more about you
and how to get back in touch.
This is important!
Remember that how you sound is as important as what
you say — you want to come across as warm, interested,
and the kind of person people want to do business with.
The way you project yourself on the phone is critically
important, especially in the first four or five seconds of
the call. Think about it: if someone calls you and they
sound interesting, dynamic and warm, you’ll instinctively
respond in a positive way. If they sound dreary, boring
and monotone, you may switch o and find an excuse
to end the call.
The Really Useful Guide to Construction Marketing
Chapter 2: Getting Started in Sales
33
A cheery warm “Good morning” (or afternoon) helps
right away! You may occasionally hit the jackpot, but
generally speaking you shouldn’t expect wonders from
the first phone call. It’s relationships that primarily lead to
appointments and tenders, so you’ll need to call back.
Be persistent, but not pushy.
When to call back?
There’s no need to second-guess when to make a second
call. Confirm that this is a job you can handle by saying
you’re keen to stay in touch, and ask THEM when you
should call back. It’s rare to get a ‘don’t call back’ at this
point. They will suggest the best time for you to call back,
and you’re up and running.
“It’s relationships
that lead to
appointments.
Be persistent,
but not pushy.
The Really Useful Guide to Construction Marketing
Chapter 2: Getting Started in Sales
34
How to use the phone to develop
new business
Great leads will give you the information
about the project and who to call, but there
is considerable skill in using the phone well
and making sales.
First, you need a dedicated and skilful operator. Many
people don’t like making cold calls. Unsurprisingly, they
don’t tend to be very good at them either. A marketing
professional will be well versed in the art. With experience
and confidence, they can use cold-calling to build
relationships that lead to appointments and tenders.
Secondly, you need persistence. Lots of builders will call
up prospective sales leads, but far fewer will make the
next call. The quality and dedication of a true marketing
professional is the second and third call — and more. It’s
that friendly persistence that slowly builds relationships.
At this point you may be aware that your company might
not currently have the skills, leads or persistence in-house
to achieve eective telephone marketing. One solution is
to bring in a CMS sales hunter. We are dedicated, skilful
operators who enjoy cold-calling and are very good at it.
We also help you select the best sales leads to help your
business grow. And we are amazingly persistent and
eective in building long-term relationships with your
work providers.
We can achieve all this for you through just one
concentrated sales day per week. Give us a call now
and see how we can help your business to grow.
The Really Useful Guide to Construction Marketing
Chapter 2: Getting Started in Sales
35
The importance of systems
As you get to work on the phones, you’ll soon
realise that there’s something else you need:
an ecient sales admin system and a good
contact management database. You’re going
to need to record and keep permanent access
to your contacts, conversations and projects
of interest. This helps the marketing
professional to be fully briefed and competent
in developing ongoing leads and relationships.
Both your sales admin system and your sales database
need to be ecient and easy to use. There’s a good
reason why — you may easily end up with hundreds
of contacts and conversations. You want to be able to
access each of them quickly and easily, getting up to
speed for the next call.
Data entry and reporting can take up a lot of time, but
you want your sales professional to spend as much of
their day as possible on the phone! Keep it ecient and
streamlined with a web based system, accessible 24 – 7
and without the restrictions of a local network or a
single-user.
There are several heavyweight construction CRM
databases on the market — though these are built for
larger companies. Or alternatively CMS has a much
simpler but very easy to use relationship CRM system
online. Get in touch if you’d like more information
about that.
To recap, you’ve got your leads. You’ve got your sales
agent who is confident on the phone. They’re going to
make calls and keep making calls, and keep track of all
the progress you’re making in the system.
But what happens after you’ve had your first successful
conversation?
The Really Useful Guide to Construction Marketing
Chapter 2: Getting Started in Sales
36
Following up
Following up by letter
It’s important that you follow up a successful
phone call with a well-crafted email or letter.
You’ve done the hard work of cold-calling, making
a connection with the secretary, getting through
to the decision-maker. Now what?
Hopefully, you’ve remembered at the end of the phone
call to mention that you will follow up the call, and asked
what the best way to do this might be. It’s important to ask
what the client prefers. Some busy architects get so many
emails every day that they’d much prefer a hard-copy
letter. Others go paperless!
The follow up letter or email is not just a way of confirming
what you have said. It also starts to establish that you are
someone who keeps their promises. This is a key part
in establishing trust, which, as we have said in earlier
postings, is fundamental to long-term relationships.
Write in a conversational style, as if continuing the
conversation you were having on the phone. Refer to the
original contact you had, and any promise you made to
write. Then set out what you want to say in clear, easy
words: not more than 20 words in a sentence and not
more than four or five lines to a paragraph. Make sure the
letter is well set out, with plenty of white space.
Writing well is a skill. It is easy to be long-winded and
unclear. You need a letter that is brief and clear, and you
should expect to revise it a few times — or call in someone
with professional writing skills to help you.
The easy way
to a good letter
How to structure a letter
with Aida:
Attention: secure the
reader’s interest in the
first paragraph. What
have you got to say or
to oer that is really
important to the reader?
Interest: the second
paragraph builds
interest. Give reasons
why your contribution
to the client’s project
will be significant.
Desire: the third
paragraph provides
evidence of your
suitability for the work:
references, examples
of similar jobs, etc.
Action: finally, state
the action you will be
taking, and that was
agreed in your phone
call. (And remember
to follow it up!)
The Really Useful Guide to Construction Marketing
Chapter 2: Getting Started in Sales
37
Appointments and presentations
After all the hard work of phoning and writing, you’re
going to be aiming for an appointment in person with
the key decision maker. Whether this is a formal or
informal presentation, it is critical that you get it right.
The first impression is important, and you only get one
chance to make it.
It’s often said you should allow a ratio of 10:1 in the amount
of time you spend preparing for a presentation. Ten hours
of labour to get a one-hour presentation right. That sounds like
a lot, but you need to take preparation very seriously. You are
investing in a potentially valuable long-term relationship. As with
any investment, you need to look at it very carefully before you
commit. Of course, once you’ve got a great presentation, you can
easily re-use or adapt it for the next time.
There are four key components in an eective presentation.
This is equally applicable to a simple one-to-one appointment.
1. Show that you can meet the customer’s key criteria for
delivery of the service. Find out what those criteria are
in advance, so you can communicate clearly that you
understand the client’s concerns, and that you have
appropriate solutions.
2. Provide evidence that you will be of real value
to the client.
3. Demonstrate facts and added value that distinguish you
from the competition.
4. Motivate your client to employ you. For example, identify
some potential benefits and values that you can add that
either they have not thought of, or your competitors may
not have. Leave them in no doubt you’re interested!
Because presentations are so important, we’ll come back
to the topic in more depth in the final section. Before we leave the
subject of sales, let’s bring everything together by looking at a day
in the life of a construction industry sales hunter.
The Really Useful Guide to Construction Marketing
Chapter 2: Getting Started in Sales
38
A typical day in the life
of a Sales Hunter
What would it look like to have an experienced
CMS Sales Hunter for a day a week working in
your oce, helping to grow your business?
The day starts early with a short briefing with the MD or a
Director. They review the last week’s activity and calls, or
any appointments that the director may have followed up.
Together they agree on the new project leads to follow up
that day, and the priority recalls for projects already under
development.
Typically, we find that the ideal and most productive use of
the day is to commit up to one third of the day to new leads
— generally around 6 – 8 brand-new project leads from
Glenigan, Barbour ABI or Planning Pipe.
The larger part of the day — up to five or six hours is given
to the regular and dedicated follow-up of the high-quality
project leads under development. That’s in the region of
14 – 16 projects per day. This one third/two thirds split has
always proved an ideal way to generate the best results
while keeping the sales topped up with good
new projects.
Of all the leads handled, around 10 – 15% will be A* projects
and given highest priority, with another 20 or so A leads
to follow up. The next 50 – 60% will be of genuine
B-level interest, and will be followed up assiduously.
The remainder may be worth mailing, if there is time left
at the end of the day. To stay focused, we run a strict
discipline where we make the call, write it up on the online
CRM database and get the email done before moving on
to the next call.
The Really Useful Guide to Construction Marketing
Chapter 2: Getting Started in Sales
39
Overall, the Sales Hunter will spend 6 hours or more on
the phone, developing upward of 24 projects, either new
leads or recalls. Out of this we would expect one or two
highly targeted sales appointments where there are
specific projects to discuss. This type of activity will also
represent 1 – 1.5 highly targeted tenders brought in over
the course of time. With other calls it will be a matter of
keeping in contact, and building longer-term relationships
for when the next project goes live.
After phone tasks, time may need to be spent preparing
letters to follow up the calls, and carrying out research for
the appointments that have been set. The day ends with a
debrief, and always some genuine cause for satisfaction.
Interested? Give us a call on 01256 475 880.
The Really Useful Guide to Construction Marketing
Chapter 3: Building Competence
40
Chapter 3
Building
Competence
With a great sales professional working
from a solid marketing base, you can
expect to be securing new work. But
there’s more you can do to embed good
practice in your company and really build
towards the future. This final section of the
guide is all about expanding your capacity,
getting everyone involved, and becoming
really good at construction marketing.
The Really Useful Guide to Construction Marketing
Chapter 3: Building Competence
41
Getting everyone in
your business involved
in marketing
Starting with the receptionist
Yes, you have a marketing department, or you
bring in marketing consultants. But they won’t
do you much long-term good until everyone
in the company, from the receptionist to the
managing director understands their own
personal place in marketing the business.
Help your sta to get away from the idea that marketing
is only about brochures and advertising. Marketing —
at its core — is about building successful long-term
relationships with clients and about satisfying their
needs profitably.
That’s why the receptionist is one of your key marketing
specialists. Because, for many of your clients, the
receptionist is the first person an incoming caller will talk
to. They will create the first impression, and we all know
how important that is.
Everyone else in the business needs to get on board with
marketing too. Whether they work on site or in the oce,
whatever they do for a client or say to a client can aect
that relationship for good or bad. Good relationships are
good marketing, and make for good business. If they are
positive and helpful, that goes a long way.
If you want long-term profitable business, change the way
your sta think about marketing. They are all involved.
The Really Useful Guide to Construction Marketing
Chapter 3: Building Competence
42
Care for your corporate image
While we’re on the subject of involving the
whole company in marketing, it’s worth
stressing that everyone is involved in projecting
the corporate image.
You will hopefully have done some of the groundwork
and developed a coherent corporate image that reflects
your values and expertise. Hopefully the mental image
that people have of your company aligns well with what
you are trying to communicate. The biggest factor in that
alignment is the experience of dealing with your sta.
Every member of your sta impacts the image of your
company every time they deal with a client. They could be
damaging the image of your business through being o-
hand on the phone, writing a sloppy letter, or failing to do
what they promised in a timely manner.
Or more positively, they may be helping to improve the
image of your company by their cheerful manner, their
friendly helpfulness, their knowledge and professional
skill, and their reliability in doing what they said they
would do.
Every company has a corporate image. Make sure yours
is a good one by helping your sta to be aware of their
vital role in marketing your business — building good
relationships with your clients.
The Really Useful Guide to Construction Marketing
Chapter 3: Building Competence
43
Everyone is a sales spotter
Every employee needs to remember how
their behaviour can aect, for good or ill, the
image of your company, and your long-term
relationship with clients. But more than that:
every member of your sta is a potential
sales spotter.
Potential sales leads can come from all over. Sales
experts make use of Glenigan, ABI and Builder’s
Conference, but other members of sta may pick up
hints from clients during the course of the day. Chatting
over coee or on the phone, a contact may mention an
upcoming project, or a new company they have come
across. Don’t let these go to waste: these can be high
potential contacts.
First of all your sta need to understand their role as sales
spotters. They need to be able to recognise a potential
sales lead when they see one or hear about one. And they
need to know to pass it on.
Some companies have developed a tiered reward
scheme to encourage sta to feed in sales leads.
These can be very eective — provided you are careful
to follow up the leads, and communicate the results back
to the source.
“Every member
of your sta is
a potential
sales spotter.
The Really Useful Guide to Construction Marketing
Chapter 3: Building Competence
44
The personal skills
you need
The importance of courtesy
People tend to buy from people that they
like. And, as we know, eective long-term
relationships develop with the people we get
on well with.
Having the skills and expertise is not enough for
marketing. You need to be genuinely friendly, outgoing,
and pro-active. Above all, you need to be courteous.
Courtesy and thoughtfulness make a real dierence.
Instead of just launching in with your pitch, how about
being sensitive to someone on the phone? ‘Are you busy?
Is it OK to talk for a moment?’
Courtesy means that you do take ‘no’ for an answer.
Occasionally, it’s worth pushing harder to see if the ‘no’
is based, for example, on a misunderstanding. But take the
longer view: don’t argue the toss. When you call back, you
want them to remember you as someone who is polite
and sensitive to their needs, not someone who showed
themselves to be selfish or even manipulative.
Sales and
personality
You may be reading
about phone skills and
wondering if you’re
not really cut out for
this kind of work. Don’t
worry — even quieter
introverts can succeed
in sales. After all,
listening is a key skill in
understanding a client’s
needs, and introvert-
type people do this well.
Extroverts might even
talk too much and get
less real selling done!
The Really Useful Guide to Construction Marketing
Chapter 3: Building Competence
45
Honesty really is the best policy
An open, honest approach is always
appreciated, and will win you friends. It’s natural
to worry that if you are honest about the things
you can’t do, or own up to a mistake you have
made, people will think badly of you. But that’s
not the case.
We tend to be suspicious of people we don’t know —
are they telling us the truth? The whole truth? Sadly, some
marketing people have been known to be more than a little
flexible with the truth when it suits them.
So when people come across obvious honesty it can be
quite refreshing. Your integrity can dierentiate you from
the competition.
If you are honest about the jobs that are really just a bit too
big for you, or that will stretch you too far, you might lose a
bid in the short term — but in the longer term you will gain
so much more. Honesty communicates confidence, and it
builds trust — something money can’t buy.
If you are honest about what you can’t do, people will
believe you when you express interest in jobs you really
do want. Honesty is a key building block in developing
long-term relationships. And they in turn lead to repeat
custom and a sound income stream.
The Really Useful Guide to Construction Marketing
Chapter 3: Building Competence
46
Develop your ability to listen
Listening is so important, and we are often so
bad at it. We can assume we know what the
other person is going to say, and then we switch
o listening and focus on what we want to say.
We might make the mistake of thinking that
getting our point across is more important than
hearing the other person out.
Good marketing is based on good relationships. Just think
for a moment how you feel when you have had something
important to say but the other person obviously couldn’t
be bothered to pay attention. Depending on your
personality, your thoughts may focus on how the other
person is being rude or foolish. You may focus more on
how hurt you feel. Either way, it doesn’t make for a good
relationship!
If your client (or your potential client) is talking, make sure
you are listening — I mean really listening. Try to follow it
up with a relevant comment or question. Listening shows
respect, and it shows intelligence.
And by listening, it is amazing how much you learn.
I well remember something a former boss of mine used to
say: ‘You have two ears and one mouth. Use them in that
proportion.’
“If your client is
talking, make
sure you are
listening —
I mean really
listening.
The Really Useful Guide to Construction Marketing
Chapter 3: Building Competence
47
Ask incisive questions
Much successful construction marketing has
a journalistic edge to it. A good journalist has a
nose for a story, and asks penetrating questions
to find out the truth. A good marketer has a
nose for good business opportunities, and asks
relevant questions to find out more.
A good marketer always listens carefully to the other
person. It is amazing what you can learn if you pay
attention. You may pick up innocent personal details
about the other person — when their birthday is, what
they like to do on holiday — which you can feed back
into the conversation at another time. This is not just
a ploy: it shows you are taking your client seriously as
a real person, and it sets you apart from much of the
competition.
Listening well and asking intelligent questions also helps
you get under the skin of the other person. You find out
how they think, what they are concerned about, what their
priorities are. This in turn helps you to develop your own
set of solutions to help them.
The Really Useful Guide to Construction Marketing
Chapter 3: Building Competence
48
Delivering great
presentations
Preparing to meet the people
So you’ve worked the phones and built the
relationships, and it’s time to meet the client.
Making a good impression is vital, and we’ll
look at how to do that in more detail. Get this
crucial step wrong, and all those sales calls
will be in vain!
A good presentation is based on thorough research. Start
preparing early, probably a fortnight in advance, because
there’s a lot to find out. Remember: 10 hours of preparation
for one hour presentation is a good rule of thumb — if
you’re going to a more informal sales appointment, you
still ideally need at least an hour of preparation.
First of all, find out about the people. Who are you going
to be meeting? What are their roles and responsibilities?
Use the Web and LinkedIn to find out as much as you can
about them.
What kind of firm is it? What are their values? Get the
company brochure, and see what they say about
themselves. Call up some of their employees and chat
to them about what kind of firm it is. Talk to other
colleagues who may know the firm.
Check what other projects they have done. Use Barbour
ABI and similar data. What is their agenda likely to be for
this project? What do think will be essential? What do you
think they will regard as desirable but not essential.
Prioritise accordingly.
Try to get into their way of thinking. Marketing, as I have
said before, is about understanding the needs of your
client, and meeting them.
Sales
appointments
and sales
presentations
This section deals
with substantial sales
presentations where
you and usually one
or more of your
colleagues will be
meeting a potential
client. That may be one
person or more.
The more informal
sales appointments
we usually set are really
mini versions of a full
sales presentation.
Much of the same
advice applies, so read
the key points and
apply them to your own
upcoming meetings.
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Anticipating and pre-handling
problems
For a successful presentation, you obviously
need to demonstrate that you really understand
the project and your client’s needs.
As you research the project in detail, discuss it together
within your team, so that you can identify the problems
that you will be facing if you are successful in the tender,
and develop solutions. Talk to others who have handled
similar projects. Use the Web to look for solutions.
Your presentation will demonstrate your professionalism,
as you have anticipated the problems and already come
up with sensible, cost-eective solutions.
In your discussions within the team, identify what
additional value you can bring to the project. We’ve talked
about dierentiation, and this is where it really matters.
Remember that the client will be listening to your
presentation just after someone else’s presentation,
and just before a third one. What sets you apart from
the competition? Why should the client choose your
firm in particular? What can you oer the client that
no one else can?
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Preparing your team
A successful presentation is a team eort — and the
success of the team depends on the weakest member.
So make sure the whole team is thoroughly prepared.
You’ve already made a start on this with your discussions
about your project. Now, as you plan out the presentation
in detail, be very clear about who is doing what.
Who is responsible for the opening? You know that awful
moment of doubt when everyone looks at each other, and
no one is sure who’s going first. If that happens, you might
as well leave straight away! Who’s leading the team? Who
is greeting the client? Who is doing the introductions?
A little bit of planning and briefing here will save any
embarrassment.
Then be clear about who speaks to each section, and who
is going to do the summary at the end.
Prepare all the documentation and the PowerPoint
slides. Check if you need any other visual aids, and run
through your technology requirements. Do you need
to take a projector, or does the client provide one?
Then practise!
“The success
of the team
depends on
the weakest
member.
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Rehearsing a presentation
Some people are uncomfortable with role-
playing or making a ‘pretend’ presentation to an
empty chair. But that discomfort is as nothing to
the discomfort you feel when the wheels come
o your presentation in the presence of your
prospective client!
So practise.
Get a couple of people to take the role of the client,
and literally walk and talk your way through the whole
presentation, all the way from handshake and hello to
handshake and goodbye.
The first time through may well be awful, embarrassing,
excruciating. But don’t get angry, or upset. That is
precisely why you practise.
Practice sessions help you to find out where things
are not working, and give you time to fix them. Perhaps
the argument does not flow. Some information may be
missing. The order of the slides could be improved. Maybe
you may feel there is too much information and you need
to use fewer words, or fewer slides.
Maybe you need to swap roles within the presentation.
Perhaps someone needs to firm up their handshake!
All these things come to light while you practise. Through
practising, you can radically improve the quality of your
presentation so that, when you come to do it for real in
front of your client, you are really impressive.
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Making the presentation
A good presentation, like a good story, has a
beginning, a middle and an end. You need to
ensure that all three are really strong.
The opening is short — two minutes at most — but
essential to build personal communication and trust.
Pay attention to eye-contact, direct and clear speech,
and confident delivery. Say thank you for this opportunity
to meet. Introduce your team: their current roles,
experience, and what their roles will be if you win the
job. Confirm that you’re positively interested in the work,
and suitable to take it on. Show that you understand
the project and what the client wants. Move on to a
quick introduction to the areas to be covered in the
presentation.
See why you need to practise? You need to deliver all that,
confidently, clearly and succinctly, in one-to-two minutes.
Then comes the presentation itself, for which your team
have thoroughly prepared and practised.
At the close, reiterate your thanks for the opportunity to
meet. Reinforce your positive interest, and summarise
your key strengths that make you distinctive and
especially suitable for this job. Confirm what the next
action will be after the presentation — on both sides.
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After the presentation
At the end of the presentation, there are still at
least two more things to do. Shaking hands and
saying goodbye is not the end!
Firstly, if appropriate, write or email to say thank-you
again for the opportunity to make your presentation.
State your appreciation of the client’s time and hospitality.
Secondly, get your team together to debrief. Make sure
you learn for the future! Get everyone to contribute: What
went well? What could have been done better?
This may involve some painful moments, if mistakes have
been made. Although it sounds like a cliché, it is really
true: handled properly, mistakes are a great way to learn.
Be honest, let people say and hear the truth, and give
everyone the opportunity to learn and do better.
Debriefing shouldn’t be all negative, of course.
Congratulate people for the things that went well, and if
you used new ideas, make sure you note them down so
that they can be used again and built on.
Encourage your team, and move on!
“Make sure you
learn for the
future! What
went well? What
could have been
done better?
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Developing long term
relationships
Relationship development
Winning a tender is obviously rewarding, but
the real prize is finding a partnership that will
become a regular source of work. A great client
may deliver three, four or five tenders a year,
representing work worth half a million
or much more for a medium sized builder.
Every architect has an inner circle, a handful of builders
that they know well and trust and work with on a regular
basis. However, every time they put a tender out they may
include a builder they haven’t worked with before, just to
give them a try. If you can get that opportunity, you can
prove yourself as a professional builder. Over the next
year or two, you could easily penetrate that inner circle.
That’s the end goal. To get there, you need to choose
carefully who you’re going to pursue. There are hundreds
of companies out there, so be strategic, and narrow it
down to those that specialise in the kind of work you want
to do most.
From there, it’s about chemistry. Two out of three
approaches won’t go anywhere, but when you click, you’ll
know it. It’s that personal connection, when you phone up
about one thing and end up having a longer conversation
than you expected. It’s the clients that feel like personal
friends that are often the most profitable.
Adding
sweeteners
Architects need you as
much as you need them.
If you can make their life
easier, that’ll get their
attention.
When you call, tell them
that you know their
work and that you think
you could work well
together. Then try and
add a service or extra
that others might not
have, but that they’d
find very helpful.
For example, architects
don’t always know the
full cost of what they’re
designing. Oer help
with early budgets.
Invite them to send over
the drawings to run past
your estimators.
Help on lead times is
another useful service,
if you’ve got experience
or connections in,
say, ordering steel
or special bricks.
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Getting to tender
Getting a place on the tender list is a great
first step, and it’s important to keep in touch
throughout the process. For starters, you need
to be talking at the right time as they consider
the list assembly. It’s expensive to price a
tender and they are valuable, so get on the
phone and get as much information as you can
to give your estimators a head start:
• When is the tender coming out?
• Will it be on paper or electronic or both?
• How many others are tendering?
• What is the tender period?
• Are there any CDE’s — Contractor Designed
Elements?
• And so on…
The more you know, the more prepared you can be.
You’ll also spot ways to distinguish yourself from the
competition, perhaps through addenda to the tender
oering a value engineering opportunities for example.
If the tender comes in over budget, that can often open
up new opportunities to help — perhaps your company
can help with cost reductions, for example. Your
assistance at this stage could make you the natural
choice when the time comes.
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After the tender
Even with a great team, competitive oer and
a smart presentation, you can’t win everything.
You should expect to win around one in four
tenders. If you’re winning one in five or fewer,
you need to evaluate what you’re doing.
Yes, you will lose maybe three in four tenders — but that
doesn’t mean the end of the relationship. Get on the
phone, be gracious in defeat and wish them well with the
job. Then ask what they have coming up next. Pick up any
feedback you can about how they came to their decision,
and note any learning points for next time. If you’ve been
professional and friendly throughout, the client will want
you on the shortlist for the next job and your chances will
have improved significantly.
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Troubleshooting
Even with the best advice in the world,
marketing is a learned skill and it will take time
to get really good at it.
This final section looks at a few things that may go wrong
or not work the way they should, and the best approaches
to iron out those problems. Mistakes happen in every
industry, including construction — and architects get
things wrong too. The true test of a company’s character
is how they act to make things right.
Getting past the gatekeepers
One common problem with first calls is not
getting to the right people, and calls getting no
further than the secretaries and receptionists
of the companies you’re trying to approach.
As you well know, secretaries and receptionists are
the gate-keepers. They don’t make the decision about
whether you are awarded a tender, but they may well
influence whether you get past the front door in the first
place. They control access to important people, and can
shape how those people feel about you. How you treat
secretaries and receptionists will influence how they talk
to the decision-makers about you.
So treat them with respect. Don’t try to manipulate
them or bully them. They can smell a salesman a mile
o. Be open and honest about who you are and what
you want. Speak to them politely, as you would to any
potential client. Take no for an answer if necessary, and
then politely call back later. Treat them like the full human
being that they are! It’s polite, and it’s eective. If you are
courteous, well informed and respectful, you’re not likely
to be rebued very often.
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Why am I not hearing back?
Perhaps you’ve made a start on calling around
and then following up a few sales leads, but you
don’t feel like you’re making much progress.
The companies you’re after aren’t getting
in touch, and the work you expected isn’t
forthcoming.
If that’s the case, you may need to focus on your recalls.
We’ve mentioned this already, but it is critical to the
sales process.
Anyone can make a first cold call. But it is the second call,
and the third call which, if handled right, can build
relationships. Good marketing is not about just getting a
single sale: it is about building relationships and trust that
bring repeat business over the long term.
When you call, ask politely if this is a convenient time to
talk. If the answer is no, accept it. But also ask when would
be a good time to call back, and make sure you call back
at that time. That way, you have a reason for calling, which
is that the potential client themselves suggested it. You
have also taken a first step towards showing that you are
someone they can trust: you agreed to phone at a certain
time, and now you are doing so.
It may seem very small, but it matters. It is the beginning of
a dialogue, and of a relationship. You can then build this in
to your follow-up letter or email.
“When you call,
ask politely if this
is a convenient
time to talk. If
the answer is no,
accept it.
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Getting more from your sales leads
If you’re gathering sales leads, making phone
calls and building relationships, work will
follow. Or at least that’s the theory — but what
if you’re a small company, and you’re having
doubts about whether or not those sales leads
providers are really value for money? Let’s look
at how to squeeze a bit more out of sales leads.
• Use your market intelligence to find good future
clients, not just jobs. A client may not have the right
project for you just yet, but you can still use the lead
as an introduction to get in touch and put yourself
on their radar. When a job comes up that’s up your
street, you’ll be in the running from the start.
• Market intelligence providers usually deliver far more
leads than you’ll ever be able to act on, so focus on
the best of them. Make an A* list to follow up in person,
but don’t neglect the B list. If you’re pressed for time,
get someone else to make those calls, or send those
secondary leads an email or mailshot.
• Be generous with your leads. As you build up
detailed knowledge of your area and the current
and upcoming contracts, you’ll find you may be
able to pass on ‘hot tips’ to some of your contacts.
This creates goodwill, which in turn raises your
company up their list of go-to contacts.
• Always look out for new players in the market —
new firms, or companies expanding into your region.
These are valuable leads, because they won’t have
many contacts in the area yet. Get in early, while
there’s a good chance of standing out, and you may
win yourself a long term business partner.
• Look out for architects from out of your area, but
with a project near you. They are unlikely to know
many of your competitors (if any!) and they can be
particularly productive contacts
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Damage limitation
Your company reputation and trust takes time
to build, but can be very quickly damaged.
We call it ‘Doing a Ratner’! But if you handle a
mistake professionally, and put it right honestly,
it can actually help to build your reputation.
When things go wrong, as they inevitably do from time to
time, it is essential for your company’s sake that you deal
with it well.
• Be honest, right from the start.
• Frankly admit the fault, and explain why it
went wrong.
• Explain what you are going to do about it.
• Keep in touch with the client during the process
of making things right.
• At the end, explain ‘This is what we have done.’
Most people will accept an honest response to a problem.
They are well aware that they themselves make mistakes,
and need the same kind of forbearance from others.
Good firms pay a lot of attention to restoring a good
relationship when a diculty has occurred. And they
spend a lot on PR when a job goes wrong.
And there is the upside: if something does go wrong, but
the company handles it well, this can actually serve to
enhance the company’s reputation.
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Need a little more help or advice?
Get in touch with us at Contractors Marketing Services. We know the
industry inside out, and provide dedicated marketing sta committed
to winning you the jobs you want to grow your business.
Call us on
01256 475 880
Or visit
contractorsmarketing.co.uk
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