Build To Suit
By Paul Montelongo
This is the second in a four part series of the program I have developed called “Become the Contractor of Choice”. There are four cornerstones that are the foundation of a successful contracting business. By way of reminder, the first was Set a Standard. The second cornerstone, I call Build to Suit. Many of you build custom projects for your clients. They have asked you to build a project to suit their lifestyle, their desires, and their dreams. You can build your contracting business to suit your desires as well. There are three basic elements of building a business to suit your lifestyle and dreams.
1. Define Your Product: What you sell is much more than just the product you manufacture, design, build or produce. In others words, the home you build or the room addition or the kitchen you remodel is not your product. It is the by-product of what you really do. One way to look at it is to determine what solutions you provide for your client. For example, do you offer peace of mind? Do you offer added comfort? Do you offer a long-term investment? Do you offer some health or environmental solution to bring a sense of security? If so, then the product you have is a sense of certainty about the future. We sell more than just boards and drywall. Most of us can buy these materials at the same price. Most of us pay about the same for labor and insurance and automobiles and gasoline. Yet we all charge different prices for our product because we offer such customization. By defining your product according to its real value to the consumer, you can build your business to suit what you want.
2. Develop Your Target Market: Determine and identify your niche. Your niche is that group of consumers that gets the most value from your service. They are your greatest fans when you have a specific service or product to offer. Your target market appreciates your expertise. In fact they will search for it. They will hunt you down if you have identified a specific target and you market a specific benefit to that target. I think of the example of fire restoration contractors. A fire damaged home is a traumatic event for most people. The reality is that most anyone can replace charred lumber and burned carpet and clean up smoked damage walls and ceilings. From a technical aspect, it is not that difficult. The real service provided is peace of mind. You offer a chance for a family to repair their lives. It is an emotional experience. There is an opportunity to turn a disaster into a positive event. When a narrowly targeted market understands the real value, your business can flourish.
3. Marketing and Promotion: To build a contracting business to suit you, marketing and promotion must be approached strategically. It is an ongoing process. Most of us tend to slack off a little when we have a lot of business and pick up the pace when business slows down. The reality of it is that you must continually promote your enterprise. On average, the promotion and marketing you do today will create a lead approximately 90 days from now. Marketing and promotion must be strategically placed to attract your target market. There are only three things you will accomplish with your marketing. Lead Generation. Lead Conversion. Client Fulfillment. I don’t know of any other reason to spend your hard-earned promotional dollar.
| 
