Business convention and creativity

Seth Godin sold 800 boxed book sets at $64.00 each in a matter of hours yesterday -- and most of his audience had already read (and paid for) his books. Seth really wouldn't mind it if you used the public library instead, but you can do the math of the revenue here.

Business practices and conventions sometimes make our lives much easier, but often draw us into serious marketing traps. We do things because we think we are following the normal procedures, when alternative approaches are much better and more effective.

I've certainly discovered these principals in years of media publicity and advertising. Most architects, engineers and contractors have little idea about how to relate to the news media, and only a few appreciate the best practices of search engine optimization and Internet marketing.

Conversely, when we seek to learn the best way to do things, we also can find ourselves embedded in the "best practices" conventions of the specialists and end up with results that do not reflect our own business and values, or (worse) are so me-too that they are ineffective.

I've noticed that the great gurus and leaders in business successfully combine proven best practices and techniques with something a little different -- a unique expression of their talent and personality.

For example, when you check their sites or newsletters, you'll discover new ideas and see embedded within them the subtle and not-so-subtle marketing messages which cause you to say "I need this now."

Guru Seth Godin pulled this off yesterday, when he sold 800 boxed set copies of previously published books (most of whom his audience had already read) in a matter of hours, raising $50,000 or so in revenue virtually immediately.

Look at this contractortalk.com posting from CF Construction and Remodeling Inc. in Miami, Florida, and if you can't see something that you can apply to your own business, you must be rather dense!

We've tried this approach, and continue doing so. The people in which we target when we do things like this are mostly architects and doctors. I go online and go to the website of local hospitals. When I'm there, I pull up their doctor directory, and basically that's where my work starts. We do this with doctors because in the past we've discovered that some of them are in the process of leaving the hospital to start their own practice. Obviously, the area that they will use to conduct their business will need some extensive interior remodeling, in which will require the services of a licensed and insured General Contractor to ensure that the process is as smooth and painless as possible. This approach in the past has worked and has helped us get several big projects. We recently completed offices of neurologists, cardiologists, and a doctor who does endoscopy.

In addition to our construction related services, we also offer expediting services (running permits/plans to the corresponding cities). This is how we approach architects when we mail them. We offer our expediting services to them and you'd be surprised how many of them do it themselves and are willing to hire others to do that for them. The thinking behind this, which again has resulted to be true because we've won several projects because of it it's because at times architects are working on plans for a client whom at the moment has just completed the "design phase" of their project and don't have a G.C. to turn too. By offering our expediting services to these architects, we've basically put our "foot in the door" with their firm. We make them aware that we're a licensed and insured General Contracting company and that our service are available to them or their clients at any time, in which that's when the doors open for us. I basically do Google searches to see architectural firms within the South Florida area to target. From time to time I also purchase those Architect Digest magazines because obviously many of them advertise there.

In the past we've targeted interior designers/decorators, but the outcome hasn't been that favorable. We've probably landed a couple of jobs from them which is still good so from time to time we still target them, but not as heavily as the other two.

Another group of people we target are luxury hotels, restaurants, spas, lounges and nightclubs. Again, being that this is Miami, many of these establishments are constantly doing upgrades in their facilities for an updated look and to compete with others. I've also sent out letters to management in luxury condominiums, which in return have referred some of their new buyers to us to help them out with whatever remodeling idea(s) they may have.

This is a very good approach and quite inexpensive compared to other choices out there. The key is knowing how to approach all these prospects. Approach them wrongly and you've just closed an opportunity for you and your company.

I like the website from this company, owned by Claudio Fernandez. See http://www.generalcontractorinmiami.com/

Boring and banal, or stable and secure

Installation art? "Playing the building?" Hmm, maybe this material from http://www.davidbyrne.com/ might be useful if you want to try something different. Then again, maybe experimentation with extreme creativity is not the way to go with your marketing strategies.

Sure, many mission statements (like the ones -- including our own business -- cited in yesterday's posting) are boring. So are 'standard' voice mail greetings, business letters, cards, presentation formats, and marketing brochures. Yawn, we say. But should we really inject humor and change our voice mail greetings every day? Should we, as Jeffery Gitomer does, change our business cards for a "business coin". And should we get fancy with our wording in our mission statements; breaking the bonds of normalcy with something really jazzy. Should we bring plastic puke to our presentations?

I'm sure, if you are like me, you will answer a loud and clear 'no' to many of these possibilities. A business card coin might be a nifty novelty item, but your current and potential clients could either find it awkward to handle, or if they've seen Jeffery Gitomer, say " Oh, you've been to one of Gitomer's presentations."

And on the weekend I looked up on the web for examples of creative and innovative voice mail greeting presentations. Searching high and low, I could find few if any references that gave me assurance that getting creative with voice mail wouldn't land me in the painful place of bad humor -- the joke that just doesn't work.

Banal and boring, of course, in marketing, of course, have a corollary -- stable and secure. When we observe the conventions of business practice, we don't set off any flashbulbs of marketing insight and adventure, but we also don't blow the wad on an embarrassing mistake. In any case, these ideas really only work if they flow naturally with your identity and style -- I'm sure you might shock people with wild and wacky stuff, but if you aren't somewhat wild and wacky by nature yourself, would any of it seem true, or just artificial. (Kind of like watching out-of-age 'hipsters' trying to be someone from a later generation. Its pathetic to watch.)

Within these frameworks, of course, you can observe trends and issues. Gitomer advocates e-letters and effective Internet use -- and I agree 100 per cent. Great marketers overall advocate giving generously of your insights, spirit, and expertise without worrying about the 'get' -- in other words, they don't practice conditional giving; where you read marketing materials and can only gain value by paying something to conclude the story. And everyone agrees that the way you relate to current clients handle your current projects counts far more than any adventure in outbound marketing, no matter how creative.

Does this mean you shouldn't consider some of the more off-the-wall marketing models and resources? Of course, they can have a place in your picture -- but a hearty smile, respectful sharing, and innovative recognition of your employees will probably do you a whole lot more than finding and purchasing a business card coin or creating a funny yet meaningful voice mail greeting.

Four (different) routes

When searching for an image to go with this posting I came across this book, Construction Management Excellence, by Gene Fessenbecker.

When it comes to marketing construction and related professional and trade services, with experience, I can discern three basic business models. Each model has advantages -- in practice, we probably all use some parts of each model, to varying levels of intensity.

Low bid wins the job
We seek out public tender/bidding opportunities, review plans, and put in our bid. This is the pure "low price wins the work" model and until the last few years proved to be the way many businesses won publicly tendered jobs -- supposedly in a fair competitive structure with bid depositories and the like. In this model, you don't waste money on marketing (outside of using perhaps paid lead services), and focus on sharpening your pencil to find a way to come in lower than anyone else. It is a grind.

Selling your services
Old-fashioned selling techniques, including cold calls, canvassing, and telemarketing are sill widely used in certain retail sectors (such as vinyl siding, driveway pavement sealing and the like) but are of course truly uncommon in the professional services area. They 'work' for businesses which can stomach the hard-rock approach; and may prove to be surprisingly effective if you are in the professions and are willing to take the risk.

Value/relationship/informal branding
These are businesses which build and maintain trusted relationships; deliver exemplary service and value, and never need to 'advertise' simply because repeat and referral clients keep them busy. Pricing is competitive but they can beat the commodity pricing trap by having a solid reputation. They deliver the goods, and are known for it.

I generally prefer the third route but wouldn't discard the other two models. If your marketing is 100 per cent 'reactive' -- that is, you are serving your existing clients well and relying on repeat/referral business for everything, you may be pricing yourself lower than you need, and failing to replenish and revitalize your client base and opportunities. If you refuse to engage in "low bid wins the job" competitions, you may fail to see options for reducing costs and improving efficiencies which could truly help your bottom line.

And of course the opportunities within these three frameworks vary depending on your market segment/trade. Some businesses, perhaps because of low entry points or traditional business practices, work in one segment more than the others -- and deviation from the norm is risky.

This leads me to a fourth option, the one that I like the most:

Integrated/planned and creative marketing
We combine the elements of the other three models in a creative -- sometimes unconventional -- approach; drawing out and finding new high-value clients, attracting and retaining loyalty (generating referrals), within a cohesive, low-cost and highly effective business model; one that can both grow and weather the most challenging economic environment. And that, of course, is what this blog is all about.

Vision and Uniqueness

Today, I visited Toronto to interview people at two very different companies, who will be profiled in the next issue of Ontario Construction Report.
Because these interviews were conducted as advertising features -- in which the profiled business an review and approve the interview contents before publication -- I am bound not to report on the interviews, even positively, until I have their permission.
But I can address something important; the fact that both of the businesses I interviewed have successfully developed unique niches, and connected the dots in surprisingly creative ways.
One is a developer -- but its source of funds are largely pension funds of unionized businesses. So it conducts its affairs with an exceptional degree of respect for workers, 'ordinary people' and the labour movement. Yet don't think these guys are push-overs. They still require their projects to meet the highest competitive standards and they must ultimately operate within the open, free market for products, services, and clients.
I walked a few blocks to an entirely different business -- an architect that combines two very distinctive, but unrelated specialties. The result is an intriguingly eclectic international practice -- one that competes on the highest levels, and in fact sets the standards for its industry segment.
Both of these businesses, of course, practice the 'standards' of business discipline -- they get the basics right (something I failed to appreciate as we expanded carelessly a few years ago). But they combine the normal processes with the exceptional creativity of building their businesses within well defined niches, creatively diversified, but always within their core values.
Once I have their permission, I'll disclose more. Of course the stories I was writing are part of our own niche, which allows us to be truly viable as print publishers in the Internet era.