Marketing For Construction Firms

Buckshon addresses the architectural, engineering, and construction industry's marketing challenges with a positive and practical approach especially for business owners who don't want to be bogged down in clichs and who have been encouraged to try a variety of marketing ideas which simply don't work.

This book appreciates that not all the options it presents are appropriate and/or affordable to everybody, but it focuses the organisation to identify market sectors and provides, in a short and accessible form, the most important concepts of marketing, and offers suggestions as to how they can be used to benefit you and your company

"The Contractor Fight" is what HGTV host and best-selling author Tom Reber calls the battle between your ears. We all have stories and experiences that have formed us into who we are. We are what we think, and the battleground is our mind. The Fight is not with the people you think are "cheap customers." It's not with the unlicensed competitors or the "illegals," as many contractors think. The Fight is with yourself. Sadly, most of the struggles contractors have are self-imposed. It's friendly fire. The negative ways we think about ourselves and our worth... friendly fire. The growing debt, working too much, small bank account... friendly fire. Winning the Fight is a choice. You're noble and full of integrity. You bend over backward to serve your family and clients. You have taken it on the chin more times than you can count. Now, it's time to get yours. Earn what you're worth. Create a business that serves you and energizes you, instead of one that beats you down. Choose to own your crap and get better today.

This breakthrough book is a comprehensive guide that covers all aspects of marketing in the construction industry, from building products and equipment, to A/E/C services, and retail, along with detailed examples of construction marketing implementation.

Construction Business Development is the first book to provide an insight into business development strategies, tools and techniques in construction. This edited text combines academic research with the broad industrial experience of construction business development professionals and marketing consultants. It uses illustrations and case studies in addressing current and future challenges and opportunities in a highly competitive business environment. This practical book will help construction managers learn how to turn clients into loyal customers.

With a jolt you pull your car to the side of the road, and read the job sign that can't be over one day old: New Home of ABC Inc.; General Contractor, XYZ Construction Co. You think out loud, "I knew the property had been sold," and your eyes roam over the real estate sign with the angled "sold" sticker pro claiming to all that the agent has been successful. "Thought the job would have come out on the bid list by now," you mutter as you move back onto the road and head for your office. Later in the day you get the agent on the phone: "Jim, how did XYZ get the ABC job? I saw nothing on the builders' exchange about it." "John, XYZ has been negotiating with ABC for the past six weeks. They did one fine job of selling on old McDuff. Understand they just called on him out of the blue asking for a chance. They put the whole package together, plans and all." "Didn't that tightwad McDuff get another price, Jim?" "Sure did; two, as a matter of fact. He asked me to get two other contractors capable of doing design-build projects. He liked XYZ better. I don't know the prices, but I really feel those boys impressed McDuff by going to him. Were you planning to bid the job?" "Thinking about it," you answer, trying to sound very casual.

This practical book on selling and marketing will help architects,engineers, project managers, facilities managers, surveyors, andcontractors ‘sell’ themselves to prospective clients. As clients become more sophisticated at both local andinternational level, and as competition in the constructionindustry increases, both contractors and consultants have to take amore professional approach to selling themselves. This isespecially true for PFI bids where vast resources are committed towinning multi-million pound contracts. Through a simple-to-follow process, illustrated with plenty ofdiagrams and checklists, Marketing & Selling ProfessionalServices in Architecture & Construction sets out the sevenkey aspects of selling and marketing professional services. It isfull of applicable ideas and examples and is well structured toenable readers to dip into the section relevant to their currentneeds.

With a daunting industry-wide business failure rate, construction professionals need to manage risk and finances as effectively as they manage projects and people. The Secrets to Construction Business Success empowers contractors and other professionals to defy the long odds threatening their stability, growth, and very survival. Drawing on the authors’ more than eight decades of combined experience turning around failing firms, this book provides a masterclass in structuring, managing, and futureproofing a construction business. Chapters on measuring and responding to dips in revenue equip executives to recognize and respond to the warning signs of financial distress while chapters on succession planning ensure that organizations survive their founders’ departures. Sample documents and tools developed for the authors’ consulting practice offer field-tested solutions to organizational structure, forecasting, and accounting challenges. A steady source of guidance in an industry with few constants, The Secrets to Construction Business Success makes an invaluable addition to any industry leader’s library.

A "must read" for anyone working in and about this industry who wants to gain a better understanding of the various processes involved in acquiring and successfully completing a construction project.