Marketing - Building Your Reputation

Making sure your business projects the right image can be the difference between make or break. Never has this been more true than at present, with builders contending against cowboy counterparts, customers who invariably want something for almost nothing and talk of an impending recession. Therefore portraying a professional image can pay dividends, even for smaller construction firms who don't think PR and marketing applies to them.

TV campaigns might not be a realistic option, but fostering relations with the local media is, and it and can cost nothing. And then there's customer care and the public face of your firm turning out clean vehicles with neatly-dressed employees has a positive impact on potential customers - a simple and cost-effective way of raising your profile.

In this article, Alan Fielder, National Sales Manager at Swish Building Products, Window Division, looks at the power of marketing, the various methods and how builders can use the tool to build their reputation.

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Marketing To Survive

Few businesses can survive in the '90s without marketing themselves effectively. The bigger companies advertise on television to capture our imagination. Smaller companies might place an advert in the local newspaper. No matter at what level it is carried out, marketing is an essential tool of a successful business. For the building industry, there is an even higher need to invest in marketing, as competition is rife and consumer understanding often poor. The recent coverage of the Rowntree Report has seen a backlash against the British builder.

So how can a small to medium sized building business market itself effectively to the consumer in order to generate new leads and create consumer pull-through for its products? Having a strong consumer brand name behind you facilitates your marketing proposition as it automatically conveys credibility and reassurance business, marketing provides a fundamental tool which not only helps build reputation but also, either directly or indirectly, generates sales.

Passive And Pro-Active Marketing

Marketing activity can be divided into two areas: passive and pro-active. Passive methods rely on the prospect responding to a given stimulus, such as advertising, PR, sponsorship and leaflet drops, whereas pro-active methods take the initiative and go to the prospect rather than waiting for a reaction. Examples of pro-active activity include tele-marketing, direct mail, drop and collect packs and networking.

Passive Marketing

Advertising is the most simple and straightforward way of getting your company in front of your target audience. On the most fundamental level, installation disposal, including sweatshirts and pens. boards on site and clean liveried vans are a proven and cost effective method. In terms of placing specific advertisements, the main benefits are that, because the space is paid for by your company and the copy for the chosen media is written by you, it will be reproduced exactly as you provide it.

Depending on advertising budget available, a wide range of media options are available: newspapers, Yellow Pages or specialist magazines; radio campaigns; bus panels, posters and billboards are all relatively cost-effective ways of targeting prospects in the immediate area. In addition, although TV advertising is currently out of reach for most small to medium companies, with the advent of digital television this may become an option. The downside of this is the cost and the fact that you are relying on the prospect being 'on the look out' end contacting you.

Public relations was a phenomenon which had an amazing growth in the 80s. Today PR is all about delivering effective messages to a desired audience. The type of things that good PR can do is get your name in the local paper or relevant trade press, based around a good news story, a specific event or a company photograph. The resulting coverage will both raise your profile and have more credibility with the consumer than an advert, simply because PR is perceived to have editorial endorsement and is, therefore, non-biased.

Pro-Active Marketing

One of the increasingly popular pro-active methods of generating leads is tele-marketing, now considered to be one of the most effective marketing tools. Again, cost implications vary dependent on whether this activity is performed in- house or commissioned to another company to carry it out on your behalf If carried out in-house on a limited budget, the first place to start is your own files.

Every company should have a database of existing and past leads, whether this is in the filing system, the invoice book or on computer. Completion of the installation should not be the end of the relationship, as regular telephone contact afterwards will ensure that, should the customer require further work,  you are front of mind and will save them the time and trouble of research.

If tele-marketing is out-sourced, the chosen company should be trained in current legislation and ways to approach the prospect, as well as hold a database of all the people in the relevant area which they will call to offer your services. The result should be a number of hot leads.

Direct mail to past, potential and existing customers is also an effective way of generating leads. It differs from random leaflet drops because the mailing list is compiled to an agreed specification and issued at an appropriate time. Spring, for example, is the time of year most people start to think about work to the house. By mailing potential customers in this way, you can hope to convert a number of mail shots to enquiries which, when you follow them up, should hopefully lead to a sale.

There are a great number of other proactive methods which can help to generate leads, including drop and collect packs, which are used to great effect in the windows industry, networking, establishing recommendation schemes, foot canvassing, maintenance visits and even Christmas cards! On their own, or in combination, these activities will help raise your profile and ensure your company is front of mind, resulting in the generation of leads and, ultimately, sales.

First posted: 17 December 1998. Last modified: 13 April 1999.