I own a small landscaping design start-up, and I've been able to successfully leverage online advertising to build a fairly steady flow of residential clients, given the short time I've been in business. However, I would like to expand into the commercial sector in my local area (Cleveland). How do I find, contact, and finally sell to local businesses and property owners?
1. Build a great team.
In construction, your people are your business. Hire dependable, knowledgeable and skilled employees. Retain your best employees by promoting and rewarding them for their hard work and reliability.
2. Manage your business, but lead your people.
Your employees want to be led, not managed. Be a great leader and your employees will follow you anywhere. If you try and manage every aspect of your employees work they will think you have no confidence in their ability to make good decisions and properly do their jobs.
3. Invest in your business.
If you want to earn more business you have to invest time and money into your company. This means buying new equipment and technology when needed, training your employees and actively marketing your business.
4. Be selective to be profitable.
It’s not enough to just earn more business. When you take on more work it has to profitable. There’s no sense in doubling the number of jobs you work if you aren’t increasing your profits.
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5. Get the word out.
Word of mouth remains the number one method most construction companies use to market their business and earn more work. Encourage your best customers to tell others about the great work your company does.
6. Play to your strengths.
Would you rather have your company be known as a decent all-around general contracting firm or the best general contractor doing LEED-certified hotel renovations? Finding a niche market or specializing in a specific industry can set you apart from your competitors.
7. Network to earn more work.
One of the best ways to network is to join and be active in the local chapter of a trade association. Networking can be a useful tool to build brand awareness for your company, generate leads and find vendors. Being active and giving back to your community is also a great networking opportunity for your business.
8. Quality is king.
Tread carefully when considering any measure that could sacrifice the quality of your work. Cutting corners to reduce costs speed up completion of a project can be detrimental. Your company’s reputation for doing quality work is only as good as your last project so never compromise your high standards of performing quality work.
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9. Change is good.
Adaptability is one of the keys to success in the construction industry. As we’ve seen with the recent recession, construction can be quite a volatile industry. If you are unwilling to make adjustments in your business to keep up with the changing trends you are setting yourself up for failure.
10. Give great customer service.
Pleasing your clients should be a top priority. This doesn’t mean you have to cave to their every demand. You should be actively communicating with your client on all aspects of a project so you can be equal partners in the decision-making process. Satisfied customers will lead to repeat business and great referrals.
11. Be proactive, not reactive.
You can’t just sit back and expect more work to just fall in your lap. You have to proactively seek out new opportunities to retain and grow your business. Constantly reach out to the owners, architects and general contractors you find out what projects they have on the horizon.
12. Make smart decisions.
We make thousands of decisions every day, many of which are inconsequential. When it comes to earning more business, this often means making hard decisions that will impact your success for years to come. Take the time to consider all angles and options and perform your due diligence for future success. Never get pressured into making rash or impulsive decisions.
for more tips and tricks i am always here to help you.
Akshay Mistry
Answered 5 years ago
1. Create an excel database that contains the following cells: Client name / Telephone / Address / Contact.
2. Start building your potential customer base first with those you know about the market and then expand your base by looking for more customers on the internet. As your database is more robust, the more chance you will have of having more clients.
2. When you get to the contact cell, define who are those key contacts that you should connect for your business, that is, what departments should those contacts be.
3. Check with your friends or persons you know in your environment if they know people working on those customers you have listed and so you can start by identifying the contacts.
4. Review your business information well, prepare to start contacting. Is your value proposition according to the new segment you want to see?
5. Call customers both, those who have the contacts and those who do not to find out. Define the day and time that you are going to dedicate for this task.
6. Start with the calls, request information about the person in charge of the department you have defined, ask for their name, ask if they can communicate with you at once, you must be prepared to introduce yourself and present your services.
7. Begin to follow up on what you are achieving with this task until you reach the goal of having an appointment with the person.
Hope these poitns help you to connect with that customers you want.
Regards,
Carolina
Answered 5 years ago
To connect with commercial business owners try to find the list of contacts. Then search for the best and experienced business owners in this field. To connect with them initially, always call first and try to set an appointment before going there. It will save you a lot of time, especially if you are saying that the business owner is not there.
2. Depending on your company profile, you could associate yourself with a larger company. For example, if you are an IT consulting company and specialize in Telephony, you might want to present yourself as Cisco partners. They tend to be more receptive to such names as they have already engaged with these brands rather than accepting a call from another unknown company trying to sell them something.
3. Calling after working hours will help.
4. Be extremely confident when dealing with the receptionist. Act as if the business owner is expecting your call. Try to suggest that during your conversation with the gatekeeper.
5. If e-mail is available, sending an e-mail 1-2 days before making the call will help.
6. Ensure that you never sound sales. Have a more helping approach and try to establish a report first rather than start with your sales pitch.
7. Never disclose the reason of your call to the receptionist or someone else.
8. Always try to find out their name before calling them or visiting them. You will give the impression that you know them and it will facilitate your access to them.
Answered 5 years ago
Use LinkedIn Sales Navigator, where in you can use filters to granulize the search by sector, industry in your local area& then get connected with them
Answered 4 years ago
Hi, I can surely help you out in that by designing a proper website for you and maintaining it, doing social media marketing, content marketing, brochures, PPTs etc. So that you can reach out to maximum number of your clients. Please reach me out on pooja.s@xeo.marketing. Thanks!
Regards
Pooja
Answered 4 years ago
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