The start-up marketing challenge (4) -- Uniqueness

Soda pop doesn't have much to do with construction, but when it comes to marketing, this video says more than most gurus can suggest. Note the passion which correlates with John Nese's business. Can you bottle this in your own enterprise?

I can't overstate the importance of "Uniqueness" when you are starting up. This is the differentiating, special quality that will cause people to take a risk on an untried business, and where price be secondary.

To explain the concept, I will tell a very (old) story but it may give clues to you about how you can survive the odds against in your start-up.

When I entered the publishing business 21 years ago, in 1988, several people told me: "You are nuts. Nine out of 10 publisher fail." But I also knew I carried some special qualities; a love for journalism, a background growing up in a home where my father had been self-employed, and a critical decision I made two years before launching the business.

This decision: I quite a secure, relatively high paying government job, to sell real estate. Most people I knew thought I was somewhat nuts (including the woman who later became my wife).

"You are not a salesperson," they told me. They were right. But if you want to start your own business, you are going to need to know how to sell.

In any case, I proved to be a modestly competent Realtor -- I could sell perhaps better than two-thirds of the people in the industry, enough to earn a reasonable living. But I knew I would not be happy continuing at this work; I realized this when I put together a deal for a commercial office building with some significance, and discovered I was bored.

Back to journalism: Why not start a publication for local real estate agents? I read the books on starting a business, and drew up a business plan. Trouble is, the numbers didn't add up. The market would be too limited and it would be hard to earn a living doing this work.

Nevertheless, I sensed I could make it work, and with a little creative interpretation of the rules for the Canadian Unemployment Insurance program (I had previously worked in the public relations department for the Employment ministry), set out in business with my first issue.

I decided I would only publish if I could sell enough advertising up front to put the publication out without any cash outlay.

I did -- much to the surprise of everyone around me. My first issue proved to be something of a barn-burner. Chaos ensued in the local real estate industry because no one had ever seen an independent journal covering their community. Indeed, I had passed the critical first tests for a new business. I had found something unique.

Now, in fact, the market really was too small for the idea, but one night at the Rogers Motel in Smiths Falls, Ontario, the next year, I realized that the construction industry might also be able to use a local publication. Uniqueness again, no one had ever published local construction journals -- at least in Ottawa!

I had my business. (Later, I discovered that no one had published a local construction industry independent publication in Washington DC, resulting in a rather dramatic internationalization of my business!)

In sharing these observations, I don't want to mislead you about my business success. I've made many mistakes over the years, and can claim to be one of the smallest multi-national entrepreneurs in the world.

On the other hand, I've remained in business for a little more than two decades, and my wife, I, our 12-year-old son and our dog enjoy a comfortable upper-middle-class lifestyle.

Your success in business relates to your uniqueness. Remember that, and you will do well.

The difference

The thought behind this modest thread on contractortalk.com is intriguing and important.

"How do you market your business as being different from the rest? What makes your business different from your competitors?, Booga writes in his introductory post. "When a client asks you, 'What makes you different?' or 'Why should I choose you?', how do you answer for yourself?"

Aha, this poster, who doesn't identify where he is from but provides this image on his profile page, is touching on one of the most important questions in marketing: Differentiation.

The basic principal is that if you are one of the crowd, if you are a 'me too' provider, you won't get much business. The idea is to create a unique and strongly influential identity, and then clients will be more predisposed to doing business with you.

But the responses Booga has received so far suggest that high-powered differentiation finds second place to, for want of a better word, validating your reputation.

GeneCarp (concretecentral.net) says his differentiation is:

1/going the extra mile regarding cleanup and job site condition
2/daily calls with progress reports
3/frequent appearances on the job site
4/normal, clean cut, personable employees
5/a genuine and sincere concern for the comfort and satisfaction of you and your family

DavidC writes:

The condensed version is, you should expect a biased answer from me. If you really want to know you should call a few of our references. (the list is provided on the first visit) They'll tell you what it was like for them to work with us.

Dave Mac responds:

I would rather show you then tell you!! Here are four pages of references ask them, here is my bid package lets go over the project.

So what do we see here? It may be obvious, but it is one of the mantras of this blog: Do a great job, treat your clients well, and help your former clients share the good news through word-of-mouth recommendations, and you'll achieve the basics for marketing success.

But, realistically, you need to add something extra to the mix unless you are content to remain small, local, and somewhat vulnerable. Effective marketing is largely about magnifying things so that your pool of potential clients is large enough that you never lack for profitable work (and if you have effective business systems you can scale your marketing methods and best practices depending on the economic environment.

What is your difference?

More on isomorphism

Marketing Guru Seth Godin in But you're not saying anything observes how many corporate logos are bland and virtually indistinguishable. He also notes how his books are generally sold in the standard size at the standard price. The reason: You don't want to stand out from the crowd on elements of your message that are not essential to your differentiation. He writes:

If you're not telling a story with some aspect of your marketing choices, then make sure that aspect is exactly what people expect. To do otherwise is to create random noise, not to further your marketing.

Exactly! Brochures and company literature for AEC firms look alike (generally) for a reason: They, in general, aren't the defining difference or uniquely special quality of your business/practice. You need to pick where to focus your marketing risk/expense -- and your differentiation.

See this post on Isomorphism for a recent perspective here on this topic.

Isomorphous

Craig Galati in his Heart of Business Blog describes a problem he noticed when judging the Society for Marketing Professional Services’ (SMPS) 2008 Marketing Communication Awards."I was one of four people who judged the Firm Brochure category," Galati writes. "There were more than 40 submittals from firms of all sizes and locations."

While the quality of the submittals was high, one of the things that stood out was how similar the brochures were. Some of the submittals had better graphics and copy than others, but the essential messages were identical. The construction firms’ submittals looked similar, the engineering firms’ submittals looked similar and the architectural firms’ submittals looked alike. I imagined that all the firms’ owners dressed the same, talked the same and led in the same manner.

Galati has some fun using a big word -- isomorphous -- to describe this phenomena. It is the opposite of differentiation -- the key element of successful marketing practice: In other words, defining your business in a unique manner to stand out from the crowd.

So why is this happening -- and is it necessarily wrong?

Probably not, if you consider that most AEC professional firms derive 80 per cent or more of their business from existing clients or direct relationships and referrals. In other words, people who are really happy doing business with the company the way it is, and return for more or recommend others to do the same.

But there are always outsiders nipping at the bud, and occasionally, someone scores a home run. For example, a general contractor, active in the environmental movement, sees the trend before everyone else, obtains LEED certification (the first in the area) and committee leadership within the relevant environmental organizations. He achieves truly great recognition as an environmentally sensitive contractor -- and suddenly the universe unfolds and everyone is interested in environmental issues.

He has an undoubted advantage -- but what about everyone else? They can choose to ignore the trend, or adapt/copy it to avoid losing ground. The issue is less finding new clients (or differentiating) than to lose their existing clients because they fail to respond to the trend; the crowd; the new norm.

So, not surprisingly, much of what passes for marketing is actually safe and sound, riskless, and standard -- reflecting the external environment, camouflaging, you might say, the differences.
The challenge is to strategically find and define your differentiation -- and that, of course, is easier said than done.

Istockphoto.com suggested this image of a Berlin building when asked to provide images related to "marketing differentiation". While obviously far geographically from the question below, the building symbolizes the distinctions and globalization -- and is a reminder, as well, that geographical focus remains a valid and vital differentiating quality.

Here is a challenging and thought-provoking question sent by a long-established and successful North Carolina contractor:

I think your newspaper's best service will be to identify the next trend we will need to survive - my opinion is that LEED is already becoming commonplace and BIM will sweep the scene right behind it. What's coming after that - what will we have to embrace next to stay in business?

Also, I would love to know what other general contractors are doing to educate their existing and prospective clients about the services that differentiate them from other GCs in the marketplace...what tactics/actions get through to our customers? And which services really ARE differentiators in this day and age?

For the contractor's first question, the answer of what's next on the horizon, indeed, is a combination of Building Information Management (BIM)technology, and new trends to P3 or Public-Private-Partnership business models. Both are, for want of a better word, disruptive. The are strong enough to test the bounds of existing, long-standing business relationships AND create new bonds that can tie and set long-term sticky connections and relationships.

Since BIM involves the integration of the building concept drawings into a multi-dimensional and organic, interlinked perception, whoever has access or ownership of the BIM database for the project will be well placed to build the project, handle renovations and updates, and additions -- and of course, if the template is strong, then the model can be replicated in more than one location, again providing market power and control to the player(s) who are well connected to the technology and its rights.

P3 projects, meanwhile, change the scope of relationships between owners, designers, and contractors -- in some cases, the designer/contractor can become the owner by arranging the financing and pulling together the consortium to build the project. Here, rules vary by state and region; and the ground is still murky -- both creating opportunities and risks for everyone involved.

The contractor's second question is more challenging, yet in some ways, simpler to answer. To differentiate effectively you must play on one or more of your core strengths -- related to our passions and values (and of course these must match the interests of your marketplace!) Your differentiation may be your years in business (long standing tradition and reputation), your geography (we are the number one contractor in our rural area), or specialty (we are the leading builder of mini-storage facilities. These elements, combined, give you your strength.

So if you are the number one builder of Mini-Storage Facilities and have been doing this from the beginning, say 50 years ago, you'll have a compelling story to tell. Generally, the more specialized your area of expertise and differentiation, the wider your geographical coverage is -- but you can reverse the specialization by focusing on smaller geographical areas. "We only build within a 50 mile radius of (town)" is a valid distinction, and allows you to do all kinds of work within your region, either directly or through joint ventures with specialist contractors who have achieved their own niche reputation.

One important word of warning here: If you don't think your current differentiation is working, be very careful before throwing away your brand and focus, with some grand vision to change. You may be giving up your soul for an uncertain and unnecessarily risky future. Your solution may simply be to keep pace with the must-haves in business which will allow you to retain your differentiating advantage. (So, yes, make sure your staff is LEED certified if you wish to do any commercial or institutional work.)

From Left: Labourcorp Temporary Labour Services administrative assistant Tammi Laidiaw, general manager Paul Desousa and owner operators Nick and Sarina Caravatta.

Smart, simple marketing

Nick and Sarina Caravatta operate a temporary labor service from an almost invisible location on one of Ottawa's poorest streets. Their business, providing temporary workers largely for the local construction industry, certainly lacks glamour or ostentatious wealth -- don't expect to see the likes of Conrad Black in their establishment -- but they understand the basics of sales and marketing; know your business, differentiate, and don't waste money.

They first came into the picture back in the spring, when a former employee sold them on a modest advertising feature in the internal newsletter of the Ottawa-Carleton Home Builders' Association, which we publish under contract. Their Labourcorp Temporary Labour Services business is an OCHBA member -- and I could see from their dispatch board that several prominent member firms use their services.

Our proposition: If you purchase a modest ad in this feature, we would write a modest story about your business in the theme issue. They accepted.

Well, we ran the ad, but didn't write or publish the story. I realized the error shortly afterwards, and offered a make-up ad and story. My bad -- we screwed up again; in fact I completely forgot my commitment. Nick didn't. He called to check in and remind me.

It is one thing to screw up twice; it is another to take responsibility. Since the original mistake occurred several months ago and it is not practical now to write the story in the Impact! I told him we would simply treat this as a regular news feature in Ottawa Construction News; forget the advertising element. (When you own the publishing business, you can occasionally bend the rules, though I am generally extremely careful about meddling with editorial integrity.)

Well, regardless of the source of the story, there is something really genuine here because the Caravatas' business operates at the extremes of the economy, and therefore is of real interest to anyone in journalism.

How do you create a viable business at the bottom end of the labour market -- the environment where drugs, poverty, and downright destitution are the norm rather than the exception? I wondered about these things as I got out of my car on the seedy street where their business is housed, carefully checking to ensure I had locked my car doors and nothing valuable could be seen through the windows.

Walking into the less-than-elegant (but clean) waiting area, where day labourers are reminded not to wear muscle shirts or torn clothes, I met the Caravatas. They explained how they make things work.

• Their workers are paid weekly not daily as is common in the sector. This means the employees have some degree of reliability and stability -- it also means that they aren't rushing to get off work right on deadline each day to get their pay (the office stays open late on Friday, payday, to ensure the money flows when it is due, and if you work on Thursday, your pay will be ready on Friday, however.)
  
• Workers are treated with respect. There is a counter, but no glass wall; no peepholes, no "us or them" attitude -- Labourcorp realizes its employees may be among the working poor, but they are working, and that is what matters. (There are incentives and recognition for reliability and stability, as well.)
  
• Employers are also treated with respect. They get the workers they need -- who are shuttled by Labourcorp to the job sites, often at difficult-to-reach locations.

As for marketing, the Caravatas don't spend money on fancy digs; or a highbrow image. They have a simple website (I would can the music, but otherwise it does what it should do), and they don't waste money on careless or indiscriminate advertising -- but know the value of advertorials, especially when the marketing is geared to their intended audience.

Most importantly, they appreciate the importance of differentiation and distinctiveness; in this case, by rethinking some of the conventions and stereotypes of their sector, they attract better and more reliable workers -- and thus can charge slightly higher fees (and pay their employees slightly more than the norm). These principals, I believe, are valid for any type of marketing, even if your business doesn't operate at the edge of poverty.