5 Tips to Grow Your Construction Business

Here are five marketing tips to propel your electrical business to success – helping you grow your market share in an increasing competitive economic climate.

1). Listen to your customers.

It’s easy to get so caught up in selling customers on using your services that you forget to really listen to them. Calling up previous customers and asking them a few simple questions to gain insight frequently results in referrals and more work. There are numerous ways to conduct client surveys, but the most important thing is to make sure: 1. they’re structured; 2. they’re frequent; 3. they provide feedback to the project team, and 4. the customer is made aware of the improvements resulting from his or her feedback.

2). Refine your marketing strategy.

Effective organizations have a clearly defined marketing plan. You should be able to determine: 1. The types of work that have generated your revenue over the past three years; 2. The source of your revenue in the future; 3. The geographical areas you presently serve and any planned for expansion. Virtually everyone in your company should be able to answer these questions. If they can’t, you’re going to have difficulty pulling everyone together on marketing projects, since the successful marketing of your company is a group effort. Everything your team does will either bring you closer to – or pull you further away from – your next successful client.

3). Prepare to embrace emerging trends.

Invest time and money in your future by learning about wind and solar technologies, green building standards, and lean construction methods. Attending lean construction seminars is also an excellent networking opportunity, and going through the LEED certification process will likely introduce you to architects and building owners that you need to know.

4). Keep the lines of communication open.

Everyone should understand the importance of selling the company and its full breadth of capabilities. Foremen and project managers should talk freely with owner’s reps and general contractors throughout a project. Keeping lines of communication open allows you to hear about upcoming opportunities, and leads to introductions to new prospects and decision makers. Frequent communication with your customers regarding problems, progress, and solutions instills confidence in your capabilities, helping to build healthy relationships. Leveraging a cloud-based electrical software designed for electricians will help you streamline communication and processes.

5). Use service offerings to grow your reach.

Chances are, once a job is complete, there will still be an owner or end-user who could benefit from your services in the future. An easy way to build a relationship with that end-user is to introduce him to your “warranty team.” Explain that you want him to have all of your contact information just in case there are any issues with the installed equipment, and you’ll immediately establish yourself and your team as proactive service providers.

Instead of asking for business, you’re offering solutions. Building up your service department is a great way to differentiate your company – and while service revenues might be small relative to contract revenues – profit margins are much higher, and the risk is far lower. Growing your service department will benefit the top line, bottom line, and overall value of your business.

Related: 5 Tips for Ensuring On Time Construction Project Management