The simple answer that raises more questions

Yesterday, I received this question from an offshore reader:I will be most grateful if you can assist me with some ideas with regards to business development for an engineering consultancy service.My brief, perhaps curt, answer:I'm not really qualified to suggest ideas in your market although the basic principals outlined in various blog postings may be helpful.You are going to need to build your business from your relationships; and if you don't have them, you will need to connect the dots and find your way to be near the people you want to do business with."Marketing" for consultancies is almost 99 per cent relationship-building and virtually...

Read More

Failure leads to success (really!)

This posting from Ford Harding, "A Fall in a Ditch Makes You Wiser" is worth reading, and the comments to it are even more revealing. Essentially, Harding and his commenters remind us that a failure in winning business opportunities is never that if you learn from your experience. Most importantly, if you communicate with the organization where you lost the business for a debriefing, you may discover important answers. And if you conduct yourself with integrity and without any pushiness, you may well find you recover the busine...

Read More

The Job You Hate (not)

One of this blog's readers tweeted a reference to Teena Rose's blog posting: Six Strategies for Surviving in a job you HATE".Rose's suggestions are quite reasonable, but it saddens me when I find anyone in a job they hate. Those of us with the good fortune to be working within our strengths (where we can combine our passions and competences) experience the truly liberating freedom to look forward to, not dread, our work.Sure, you say, but who is paying the bills?I would argue that the dumbest thing you can do is accept the status quo if you are unhappy at your work, especially if you are doing it for (survival) money alone. This doesn't necessarily...

Read More

Older workers, younger workers

Chase, delegated the challenging task of recruiting and screening potential sales employees for our business, has observed that many older candidates are reluctant to answer our questionnaires or complete the full pre-employment evaluation process.Conversely, younger candidates, in their early to mid-20s, may complete the evaluations, score well, start out great, and then have a tendency to flame out much more rapidly than older employees.Does this mean that either younger or older people should not work for us? No -- in fact they can be ideal employees, with enthusiasm, skill, and talent.But what can we do to minimize hiring stress/waste and...

Read More

About responsibility

Maj. Gen. Lewis MacKenzie at the Ontario General Contractors' Association Annual General Meeting. (Photo courtesy Janis Rees)The Ontario General Contractors' Association invited Major-General Lewis Wharton MacKenzie to speak at their annual general meeting in Ottawa. Maj.-Gen. MacKenzie established and commanded Sector Sarajevo as part of the United Nations Protection Force UNPROFOR in Yugoslavia in 1992.With totally inadequate resources, and a confusing (and irrational) U.N. command structure and mandate, MacKenzie structured the media to bring in humanitarian aid and some semblance of order to this chaotic region. According to Wikipedia,...

Read More

Life is not fair (and therefore, why you should be aware of construction marketing)

Tonight, I spent the day and evening at the Annual General Meeting of the Ontario General Contractors Association (OGCA). Partly an expenses-paid break (for those fortunate to have the money for such indulgences), partly an informative event with insights and observations and lessons, I looked a little beneath the surface and remembered an life lesson: "Life isn't fair, and if things are fair, you will wish they aren't."The issue that brings this concept to life arrived in my email yesterday. A general contractor, interviewed for an unrelated story, told me about his problems with the pubic bidding process at the Ontario Realty Corporation...

Read More

Past, present and future

A video with music which evokes memories of the African adventure three decades ago.Last night, I opened an email from someone I had last seen close to 30 years ago.I still remember that final moment. A few days after Zimbabwe's independence, and a week or so after I had been dismissed from my employment as a sub-editor at the Bulawayo Chronicle, I returned to the newsroom with a parting gift, a bottle of Canadian Club.Ian Watson, who had worked in Canada in the 1960s as a strike-breaker at the Globe and Mail before heading to Zimbabwe where he combined his work at the Chronicle with para-military service with the British South Africa Police,...

Read More

Some thoughts about CRM systems (2)

Several fellow bloggers who I respect greatly participated in a group blogging initiative this week about Client Relationship Management (CRM) systems.I think if you read through these posts you will discover some of the key elements of effective CRM systems -- and what to avoid. Certainly, if you are preparing to spend significant funds/implement these systems, read these blogs first.Ford Harding (http://www.hardingco.com/blog/)Tim Klabunde (http://www.cofebuz.com/)Bernie Siben (http://builtenvironment.blogs.com/)Bobby Darnell (http://buildingnewbusiness.com/)Matt Handal (http://www.helpeverybodyeveryday.com/)Mel Lester (http://www.blog-bizedge.biz)I'm...

Read More

When things aren't working . . .

Our primary business consultant, Bill Caswell, believes that many business people focus on superficial problems. This failure to get to the bottom of the issue results in floundering, frustration and ultimately defeat.His hierarchy, in order of depth, is:Results (Current Mood, Miscommunication, Wastage, Crisis)Operational (Sales, Production, People, Money)Strategic (Mission, Planning, Structural, Strategic Information)Accountability (Responsibility, Authority, Metrics, Information Flow)Mood (Individual - Leadership, Group, Department, CompanyEnvironmental (Company: 1. Can have some effect on it; 2. Can have little effect on it, 3. Can have no...

Read More

Advertising ideas (2)

How can you reduce the trial and error and risk in planning your advertising? This question is important because, if you are like most businesses who have tried advertising, you know that it is not always successful but often can be very expensive.The problem is compounded by the fact that you need to give your advertising time enough time and consistency to succeed.Jumping from one "answer" to another will only lead you down the path of disappointment. Undoubtedly, however, you will be disappointed if, after consistently advertising for a year, you see no improvement in your business.Here are some options to reduce your risk.Study effective...

Read More

Advertising ideas

William Martin started a provocative thread on Michael Stone's linkedin.com Construction Business Owners discussion group asking about where and how to advertise. This is his blog.William Martin, owner of WR Martin Co. in the Boston area, posted this question on the linkedin.com Construction Business Owners discussion group: "What are some of the best advertising venues being used today? What gets you the best results." (If you are a construction business owner, I encourage you to apply to join this group if you are not already a member.)The responses from other contractors are both intriguing and significant.Mike Davis at TMT Home Remodelers...

Read More

Construction Marketing, branding and advertising: How do they relate?

Is having fun at events like the Greater Ottawa Home Builders' Awards Sales and Marketing Awards event part of branding. Sure, but marketers must not forget that their great logos and showpiece sales offices and advertising will ultimately provide less long-term value to their company's brand if the overall client experience is not in alignment with the image conveyed by the marketing initiatives.A fascinating thread on remodelcrazy.com, Branding Your Business, has now reached its seventh page. You need to be registered with remodelcrazy to read this thread, but since registration is free, I urge you to do it.The discussion touches around the...

Read More

Powerful publicity: Your own communications strategy

If you are looking for an affordable, practical approach to generating business, you may wish to consider the new Powerful Publicity Service.Here is what you receive:A comprehensive business profile published in the Design and Construction Report (with colour images and video if you wish);Unlimited email guidance and consulting on media relations, online marketing, and blogging;Up to five hours of free telephone consulting;References, referrals and other ideas.Your investment: $28.84 per week through Paypal (you can use your major credit cards if you wish.)This is $1,500 a year, but the minute you think you aren't receiving enough value, just...

Read More

The Races and Construction Marketing

Members of the Ottawa chapter of Construction Specifications Canada at the Rideau-Carleton Raceway. My only bet, a $2.00 ticket, lost. Of course I didn't actually purchase the ticket.Although the local racetrack and slot machine emporium is close to my home, I've never visited the facility since it opened in its new and "modern" form several years ago. The idea of putting coins into machines in hopes of winning big when you know the odds are stacked against you from the start hardly excites my sense of rational business awareness.More significantly, I know enough risk and chance in day-to-day business ownership. Compare this time last year...

Read More

Why every contractor needs publicity

Adams Hudson, in his Sales & Marketing Insider, posts this note which touches close to this blog's heart (and our business's core service.)Why do you need publicity? Here are real-world reasons that everyone should understand.Publicity makes you an expert. There are a variety of ways to become an expert. One way is just to say, "I'm an expert." But who cares if no one KNOWS that you're an expert. There's a better way that doesn't smack of puffing out your chest. Get the media to quote you in a story about water heaters or appear in a television segment about how to reduce heating costs and suddenly you're an expert. I like the word "anoint"...

Read More

Real (virtual) communities

Within the Internet, I belong to a few real (virtual) communities. The contradiction is ironic. The communities are virtual in that they are online and geographically diverse. They are real in that the relationships and networking effects are as strong if not stronger than conventional communities and association networks.Many of the communities, of course, are related directly to this blog. Some are relevant to outside interests. Their common denominator is specialized focus. Many have a degree of genuine exclusivity -- you can't get in unless you are invited, and in at least one or two cases, their websites are totally secret from the general...

Read More

The Mexican Ambassador, rubber stamps, and money: Creative solutions at work

Javier Barrio Terrazas, Mexico's Ambassador to Canada (sitting in front of the whiteboard) addresses Bill Caswell's Discovery Conference in Ottawa yesterday. In case you are wondering what this presentation has to do with Construction Marketing, you should review Chaos Theory.Yesterday, I attended the first day of Bill Caswell's Discovery 2009 conference. The event, an eclectic gathering of individuals and ideas, has proven to be the perfect environment for creative ideas cross fertilization and generation.Whenever you put a bunch of bright people from different backgrounds in a room with some structure but much opportunity for individual...

Read More

Workshops and marketing

If you have a technical product or service, or something that requires explanation and understanding for potential clients to use it effectively, perhaps your most effective idea to is to co-ordinate workshops or seminars to explain your systems.Schluter Systems, for example, uses workshops to outline its innovations for ceramic and stone tile installations. These are geared to designers and contractors who actually work with ceramic tile. Schluter's Ontario regional manager Tod Valickis says the sessions are highly effective.A Schluter Systems online brochure notes: "Courses consist of both classroom and hands-on instruction. Learn state-of-the-art...

Read More

Remembering the basics

Yesterday evening, after a string of setbacks and key employee resignations (yes, these things happen), I thought of my responses and strategies.For a while, I thought, "Wouldn't it be nice to just put everything on hold for a year." Then I figured how I could finance this appealing diversion, and began imagining how I would live and spend the borrowed money to reset my emotional clock and priorities.My wife (thankfully I am married to someone who is rational and wise, as well as beautiful) quickly put me into my place. She reminded me forcefully and effectively that debt rarely solves problems long-term, and if I want to take the break, I...

Read More

Online sales test -- another review

In January, 2008, I posted this reference to salestestonline.com.This image is from the website of salestestonline.com. Some years ago, I posted a question on the now-defunct Google Answers service, inviting researchers to help me find an inexpensive test to evaluate potential sales candidates. Other services were charging $100 or more per test -- and the tests were cumbersome things. Clearly, if the test is too expensive, we won't be able to afford to administer it widely, and thus would have to screen out candidates who might otherwise qualify.I ended up using salestestonline.com. This Toronto-based service has delivered the goods. The electronic...

Read More