The Garrison Report #2010-7

Construction 3.0™ Marketing Strategies

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Peter Drucker has written that a company needs to excel in two skills, namely marketing and innovation. However, Drucker isn't referring to a company's brochures, its advertising campaign and certainly not its PowerPoint presentation. He is referring to market research. To offer value-based marketing, you must first understand the prospect. This shouldn't come as a surprise because Stephen R. Covey's fifth habit in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is "seek first to understand, and then be understood." Unfortunately too many contractors charge into a meeting with a prospect and start offering solutions.

Imagine you aren't feeling well, so you go to the doctor. After being ushered into the doctor's office, you are surprised to hear him say, "Here's a prescription. Call me in 30 days if you haven't improved."

You respond, "But I haven't told you what my problem is yet."

The doctor says, "Don't worry. I know what your problem is."

Would this make you feel comfortable? I doubt it. Well, it's no different with construction prospects. They think their problems are unique, and they want to discuss them, not get run over by the contractor.

So the first thing you should do is throw out your PowerPoint presentation. Yes, you read that right. For those who want to argue that we need to explain who we are, I have a surprise for you: You don't. If you can get a face-to-face meeting with the decision maker, he knows who you are. It's really insulting to someone who has done his homework to be treated as though he hasn't. In essence, you are talking down to the prospect. If you feel the urge, you can always leave a brochure with all your past projects, but don't waste valuable face time showing pretty pictures. And even if the prospect has never heard of you before, the approach described below is even more important.

Most of us know more about ourselves than about anyone else, so we are more comfortable talking about ourselves than about the prospect. However, from the prospect's perspective, that is not the way to go because the prospect is interested in himself, not the contractor. It's true the prospect is interested in your qualifications because without sufficient qualifications, you will not make the short list, but once you have made the short list, it is safe to assume you have met the requirements. Now it's time to demonstrate what you can do for the prospect specifically, not talk in generalities about all your technical experience.

A true leader leads by example; he walks the talk. An industry leader is no different. So instead of telling prospects what you could do for them, why not show them what you can do for them?

I have often suggested that when a contractor first sits down with a prospect, the initial question should be, "What are your concerns about this project?" This opens up a dialogue because prospects do understand their fears. Many contractors make the mistake of asking the prospect, "What do you want or need?" This is often ineffective because the prospect frequently doesn't really know what he or she needs, so this discussion is pointless.

In a previous Garrison Report, I wrote about this very thing. One subscriber wrote back that his company made the short list on a project and tried this approach. As soon as he sat down, he asked the question. The prospect then used up their 30 minutes together talking about his concerns. The contractor never had a chance to discuss his approach to the project, his budget or his proposed schedule. Despite this, he was awarded the project and later found out that he was the highest bidder. He differentiated himself and connected with the prospect.

While this is a good start, unfortunately if everyone does it, then there is no differentiation. So we need to take it to the next level. This is achieved by demonstrating what you would do on the project, instead of telling the prospect what you would do. So why not open the meeting the following way?

"We can present the normal dog-and-pony show that most contractors make in this situation, or we can pretend that you have already hired us and we can spend the allocated time brainstorming your project.

"When you hired us, you will have received free consulting that moved the project along. If at the end of our time together today, you don't hire us, you still will have received free consulting that should benefit your project."

Do you think this approach demonstrates the contractor's flexibility and ability to think on his feet?

The advantage of this approach is even if every contractor does it, you are at least competing based on value instead of just low price. This approach allows you to demonstrate your leadership, strategic thinking, innovation, collaboration and risk-management skills. The prospect doesn't care how great you say you are. Demonstrating your skills always produces greater credibility. In the end the contractor that offers the best-value solution should be given the job.

But more important, this approach has a much better chance of ensuring that the prospect receives the best value. My favorite definition of client is "someone under the protection of." This approach is definitely in sync with that philosophy.

Construction 3.0™ Marketing is about putting the client first. When you do this and deliver, you will have plenty of work. Of course, there are prospects who will attempt to exploit your generosity. Just eliminate them from your prospect list. There are plenty of prospects who want a sound value proposition and understand that it must be a win-win situation for it to be sustainable. In truth, Construction 3.0™ results from collaboration among client, designers and contractors to produce the best value. However, for you it starts with you making a commitment to deliver the best value.

 

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