The construction industry may seem to be a general industry that allows a company to cater to a wide variety of clients in the eyes of the majority of the people as well as those of some construction business owners, but it might not be wise to retain such train of thought. Catering to a large number of customers might be tempting to increase transactions with your company, but doing so might cost your business the opportunity to grow.
It is best for a construction company to become specialized in a particular market, especially since a company’s myriad of customers have different goals, preferences, and needs. Marketing your company as something that specializes in building for a particular market would allow more potential clients to come to you for your services.
Being specialized in a particular field allows you and your people to communicate smoothly with your clients, increasing overall productivity as well as ensuring that no miscommunications would occur since you’re both on the same page.
Being specialized also comes with the advantage of gaining more customers faster, being able to hire the right people for your business, streamlining workflows, and improving profits. There are several ways a company can know the specific market they can focus on. Read on below to know about them.
1. Check Your Customer Base
A company must first evaluate its current customer base to have an idea where it should focus on. The construction company owner would have to know which of their projects resulted in higher customer satisfaction, which of their clients were pleasant to work with, which projects the company excelled in, and which resulted in having the highest returns.
By focusing on what your company excels in, you’d be giving your construction business a chance to grow further by removing any unnecessary dealings that could hamper your company’s growth.
2. Recognize Your Area of Specialization
After finding out which customer base gave you higher returns, you must find out your area of specialization. Different construction companies can excel in a wide range of areas, and yours could shine in some of them.
You can consider the following list and see which of these your business excels in the most:
A. Project Type
- Commercial
- Residential
- Repair work
- Service work
- Emergency Services
B.Process
- Pre-construction design and planning
- Quote/Proposal/Fixed Price
- Owner’s Representative/Construction Manager
- Cost Plus
- Hourly/Time and Materials
C. Location
- City
- Regional
- Neighbourhood
- Time of Year/Season
D. Clients
- Wealthy
- Insurance Claims
- Business Owners
- Elderly
- Financing Required
- Government Based Programs
Although the list doesn’t include any specialized types for construction businesses, it would help in narrowing down that your company’s specialization is. Focusing on any one of the areas above would help solidify your company’s niche in your customers and clients’ eyes.
3. Narrow Down Your Specialty
After identifying your specialty, you will have to narrow it down to be able to provide a unique service for your target market. You can advertise your company as a specialist in home remodellings, repairs, interior design services, or others. Stating your company’s specialized services, processes, locale, and target clients would allow potential customers to find your business more quickly than announcing yourself as a general contractor.
4. Communicate Your Services to Your Target Customers
Once you identified your niche and individualize your services, it’s time to let your target customers know what makes your construction business different. Here are some ways to establish yourself as the best business to deal with in your niche:
After identifying your niche and services, it’s time to communicate your expertise to your target market. You can communicate your services via the media, local conventions, and a presence on the internet.
Should an opportunity arise, you can provide free pieces of advice for your target customers regarding your particular service or write a guest blog post on a popular website. Being able to attend local conventions would also allow you to advertise your services to your target market while building up your authority in the field.
Many businesses have resorted to establishing an online presence and doing the same would necessitate high-quality content that is meant not only to advertise your services but also help your customers who might need to understand the construction industry and your particular service. Having a solid presence on the internet means having a website that’s easily seen by your target market. Investing in paid search marketing and search engine optimization can help in getting your site on the first page of search engine results.
Conclusion
In order to ensure your success in your area of specialization, you must be able to control the full facets of your construction business operation: job organization, scheduling, asset management, supplier management, procurement, payroll, and accounting, etc.
It is vital to focus on a particular market to open up more opportunities for your business to grow in the construction field. Being able to specialize in specific services and marketing them would allow your company to be more visible to your target customers and allow them to get your services.
Bizprac allows Australian construction companies to succeed in their specializations by providing them with the software and online solutions they need to grow and better serve their clients.
Contact us today to learn more about Bizprac and our construction management software, or call/email us at 1800 009 970 and sales@bizprac.com.
