In today’s competitive marketplace, it’s crucial to build a winning strategy to get ahead. As business ramps up, post-coronavirus, there are some key strategies and processes that builders and contractors can implement to fast-track their business. We’ve noted the Top 6 Tips to win more work based on a webinar from industry partner, Kurt Hegetschweiler, Specialist Building Industry Business Coach.
Takeaway 1: Goal Setting
If your business is not progressing the way you want it to, it’s a good time to re-assess your goals and develop an action plan to position you for success.
As the leader of your business, you set the standards for yourself and your team. Spend a portion of your profits on developing your leadership skills to understand better what is required to take your business to the next level. Likewise, you need to invest in your staff and empower them to become high performers. Building industry coaches can help with that development, but ultimately, you must have the right mindset to succeed.
Takeaway 2: Communication is key
The key factors to winning more work are to differentiate yourself from your competition, demonstrate your value to qualified potential clients, and educate them to look beyond ‘the lowest price.’ Communication is the key to this, with you firmly steering the conversation.
Proactive communication demonstrates you are on top of the job, the process, and instills confidence that you can fulfill their construction requirements. You will build trust and credibility, and you will see an increase in the percentage of jobs you win.
One of the ways to stay proactive is investing in construction software that includes a client portal. A client portal or ‘mini-site’ is a designated area for each of your clients. It contains all details of their projects — uploaded images and relevant documents for viewing — and can communicate and keep them updated. Buildxact software enables you to set up individual and secure portals for clients using your company branding. Clients can access the portal at any time to see how their project is progressing.
The right construction software from the get-go is a powerful way to show the value of your business. It sends a strong message to your potential clients that you are in control of the builds you work on, and that it will be an easy and smooth working relationship. Software is an essential point of differentiation from other builders.
Takeaway 3: Invest in marketing
Word of mouth is excellent, and some builders are happy with referral-based business. But if you want to grow your business, invest in marketing. It doesn’t have to cost a lot. Here are some easy must-do’s:
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- Create a website that showcases your work and clearly outlines your business value. Several templated website options are easy to set up with necessary business information.
- Set up social media profiles (e.g., Facebook and Instagram) to showcase your work and ensure that you are regularly posting and responding to inquiries as quickly as possible.
- Proactively network with others in the industry, including architects and engineers, to increase referrals.
- Invest in direct response marketing such as emails, digital banners, etc.
If marketing is not something that you’re comfortable doing on your own, invest in an experienced professional to help you set everything up, and maintain the marketing momentum.
Takeaway 4: Accurate quotes
An all-encompassing and accurate quote will reduce the number of surprises (e.g., costly variations) for you and your clients later. Accuracy contributes to building a good reputation, which helps confirm your business value and instill trust and increase referrals.
It’s worth investing time with your potential client to extract as much information as possible to submit an accurate quote.
– Schedule an initial call
– Book a site visit
– Offer information and FAQs
– Explain what’s involved in the process and what they will receive
– Send a portfolio of your work and make them fall in love with what you do
Use estimating software, such as Buildxact, that enables you to up the ante on the accuracy, presentation, and timeliness of your quotes. A professional appearance will ensure that your business comes across as competent, and this will give you a leg-up when pitching for new work against your competition. Moreover, it will also allow you to analyze previous quotes, fine-tune them, and use them as templates. It also means more accurate revenue, profit, cost and cash flow projections, and a better bottom line.
Takeaway 5: Charge for quotes
Most builders don’t charge for quotes, believing that they will lose opportunities to win work if they do. In an industry where time is money, spending hours and even days putting a quote together and not charging for it is ludicrous, and bad for your business. It encourages tire kickers who you may never end up working with and who gather quotes in order to ensure that their preferred builder has quoted them fairly.
There is no evidence suggesting that builders who charge for quotes lose out on business, quite the opposite. Charging for quotes places a value on them and enables you to ‘go deeper’ than most builders by producing quality quotes to people who are genuinely interested in working with you. Once you do this, you’ll find that you will win a higher percentage of the work you quote.
Takeaway 6: Let business go
One of the biggest mistakes that builders make is not qualifying their potential clients and their respective ‘builds.’ Don’t waste your time working on jobs, or with people who are not a good fit for your business. Politely and confidently refer them on to someone else. Your red flags should go up when, for example, when presented with incomplete plans to quote on, and the expectation is to ‘fill in the gaps’; or when a potential client requests continual budget cuts to your quote while insisting on maintaining the same specifications. It’s ok to let potential business walk away if it’s going to compromise your work quality or bottom line.
Do you provide niche skills? If the client doesn’t fit your niche, pass them on to someone else, focus on the jobs that you specialize in, and the type of clients that value what you do. Clients that don’t see the value in the services you provide are not worth your time or effort, so it’s ok to reduce the number of quotes you produce and concentrate on winning the ‘right’ type of work
Watch Now: How to Win More Work in a Competitive Marketplace
While it is a competitive marketplace, following these six achievable tips and takeaways can set your business apart, start winning more quality jobs, and work with clients that value what you do. Watch the webinar below for more information about how you can fast-track your business and win more work.
Find Out More
To learn more about how you can fast-track your business, please contact:
Kurt Hegetschweiler, Builders Coach
[email protected]
www.builderscoach.com
Get Started with Buildxact
For more information on Buildxact and to see how our software can help you increase your competitiveness and win more work. Start a free trial or a demo and experience Buildxact for yourself here: FREE TRIAL
