Our partners The Better Business Group (BBG) speak to customers of building firms every day. They’ve surveyed hundreds of thousands of homeowners to find out why they chose one building firm over another.
Now you can benefit from this valuable information. Download our handy checklist highlighting what you need to do to enjoy the same kind of success – from impressing the customer to getting your strategy right.
The goodies and baddies in construction…
It might be a buoyant market out there currently for the building industry but it’s still dog eat dog! Through their investigations, the team at BBG has profiled at least three types of building firms with many more in between…
- Those who talk the talk, look the part, go in stupidly cheap with minimal information, and make up the shortfall in PC Sums later. In the meantime, they’ll do the job on the cheap, cutting corners as they go, never returning for snagging. Oh yes, and there are quite a few with a County Court Judgment against them. BUT oblivious to this, customers hire them.
- Firms going flat out to make ends meet, trying to do a good job on tight margins because they’re competing with the builders in category 1… They’re taking any and every job to keep everyone busy. They’ve no financial buffer so just one bad debt can wipe out six months’ efforts. Customer-wise, they often lose out to the cheap – and expensive – firms.
- The ones who talk the talk AND deliver on the promise. Their reputation goes before them. They do a good job and enjoy what they do because i) they charge the true cost ii) they cherry pick the most profitable type of work iii) they attract the customers who will pay for a job well done.
We find most of the firms we talk to are stuck in category 2 and are desperate to break out of this group.
And then there are the customers…
- The ones who were never going to pay what they agreed, or avoid making the final stage payment, or worse still, find a reason not to pay at all.
- Those who get up to 10 quotes to find the cheapest, most compliant builder, pay in cash, and then move the goal posts to get more for less.
- Customers who are on a tight budget and want a good job. They scrutinize the price and the work but will always pay up.
- Customers who pay top rates for good work and service, and have budgeted for unforeseen changes too. Living the dream.
What type of customers are you going after? Are you giving a wide berth to the ones who are giving off the wrong signals? Is it time to look at your business, and review whether you’re going about things the right way?
SPECIAL OFFER: FREE over-the-phone 1-hour Business Review and Mentoring Session from our partners, The Better Business Group. Includes detailed surveys of your last six jobs.
For your FREE Review call BBG on 01707 859900 quoting HBXL. For more information on providing an accurate quote with our Estimating Service give us a call on 0117 916 7894. To download a sample pack visit here.
Wanting to be more profitable isn’t enough. It’s time to BE more profitable. Download your checklist to success here.
