Whether you’re a contractor who’s decided this year, you’re going to try and go it alone, or you’re a small construction business owner looking to take your business to the next level, it can be hard to know how to stand out from the competition.
Construction is quite a competitive business now, with plenty of options for customers to choose from, so how do you stand out from the crowd? We’ve got 7 simple tips to help you make your construction business a success. What are you waiting for?
1. Put Your Customers First
Ultimately, the reason you’re in business at all is thanks to your customers. So it doesn’t hurt to go a little OTT when it comes to customer service. Make sure your customers know you’re willing to go out of your way to put them first. Whether this means taking phone calls or replying to urgent text messages out of hours, or taking steps to make their life easier, such as ensuring you leave their house clean and tidy at the end of each working day.
When you start putting your customers first, they’ll be sure to tell their friends and family about you – and before you know it, you’ll have a few more jobs booked in!
2. Prioritise Good Marketing
To many construction business owners, marketing is an expensive and unnecessary step in promoting their business. They think word of mouth referrals are enough to keep them ticking over. And perhaps they’re right! But if you really want to make your business a success and take it to the next level where you can potentially expand, then you’ll want to invest in good marketing.
We’re talking about a decent logo, a website to drive new potential leads to, a social media presence, a branded van and professional workwear too. Remember that good marketing will deliver a decent return on investment, so whatever you’re putting in should deliver results in the long run.
3. Keep It Professional
If you don’t take yourself and your business seriously, then why should your clients? If you want to grow your business, then making sure you come across as professional is essential. We recommend applying this to every single touch point you have with your customer.
This includes having a professional email address, which is preferably linked to your website. Providing your customers quotes on letter headed paper complete with your logo and contact details. Communicating with them professionally at all times. Dressing appropriately, preferably in quality workwear. And of course acting in a professional manner whilst you’re working in and around their property.
4. Don’t Cut Corners
This can apply to so many aspects of running your business, but the ethos remains the same. Cutting corners in any way usually ends in disaster. If a job needs doing, then do it properly, thoroughly and professionally.
5. Stay Involved
This is an important tip especially if your business has already started to grow and expand. If you want your business to be successful and embody all the values you started out with, then it’s crucial to stay involved.
Make sure you’re involved and driving all the major decisions. But you’ll also want to stay involved in the day-to-day runnings of your business too. In construction quite often you become the ‘face’ of your business, and customers will buy into you – your personality, your values and your work ethic. So you’ll want to make sure this filters down to every single part of your business.
6. Be Flexible
When you’re a business owner, as we discussed earlier, you need to put your customers first. This means being flexible. Maybe you’ll need to do a late night visit to a customers house, or reply to texts at the weekend. Or perhaps they’ll ask for specific materials which aren’t from your usual wholesaler. Whatever you can do to go above and beyond for them – do it! In return they’re likely to pass your details onto friends or family, or even leave a positive review online, which will help convert future potential customers.
7. Stay Organised
If you’re looking to expand your business, then organisation is everything. When you’re a one-man band, it’s a lot easier to keep everything under control. But as soon as you start expanding, you’ll want to get properly organised. From shared calendars for your team members, to an organised database of current and past clients. If this means hiring a part time admin to help you keep things organised, then we’d recommend it!
