Customer empathy, business growth and construction marketing

Edward Hess and Anne Liedtka's The Physics of Business Growth:  Mindsets, systems and processes, has already provided me with a crucial business insight -- and I've just finished the first chapter.

The writers advocate that growth occurs when a business's leaders can truly empathize with customers, to the point of knowing and understanding them far more than from the simple product/service transaction perspective.  They suggest that if you can see into your clients' real interests and needs, you'll capture insights into innovations and product/service ideas that will truly make their lives better -- and of course, help your business to grow.

Simple, eh.  How much time do we spend on our internal processes or in dreaming up new products/services, and how to market them, when we could find what our customers really want and need by truly caring about their interests?  Of course, if we develop products/services that truly appeal to our best current customers, we won't need a huge marketing budget, either.

Have you learned about new ideas, products or services by empathizing with your clients?  Please feel free to share your observations by commenting or emailing buckshon@constructionmarketingideas.com.

Thoughtful gesture saves sales

Daniel Smith represents Strokes of Genius Painting in Ottawa. He set up a last minute display at the Ottawa Home and Design Show in early October and reported that he generated several profitable leads from the experience.

Daniel Smith yesterday shared this insight on how he saved four of eight fall-through sales in the last three months -- and built incredible good will for three of the remaining cancellations.
Having obviously blogged before, I know the challenge of always finding new ideas to share. I thought you might be interested in hearing about a guerrilla marketing tactic that I have been testing in my Strokes of Genius Painting work, with great results.

Basically, the tactic is designed to deal with the inevitability of clients who decline my services after an estimate, or worse, cancel a booked job because of family issues, illness or some other health/personal issue.

What I have started doing is this: When I receive news like this, I go out and buy a 20 dollar pre-wrapped basket of chocolate and coffee or some such, and then leave it on the client's doorstep with a business card that has a sympathy note written on it.

The true beauty of this is that it is a two-pronged tactic. Firstly, if the customer is telling the truth, and I assume they are, it reflects the concern I genuinely feel for them, and you can bet that when the storm passes, they will remember me. Secondly and by contrast, if a customer ever stoops as low as to fabricate such a health or family issue out of thin air (and believe me, it happens more than you would think), these "bad" clients are made to feel every bit as ashamed as they ought. (And the 20 dollar expense is still worth it, to me.)

I've been doing this since August and so far I have saved four sales this way, three of whom I think were telling the truth and one of whom I have a hunch was fibbing . . .

And was guilted into changing their mind!

I asked him to clarify the numbers. He says of the eight people he provided gifts to, four signed up to complete the work and three called to thank him for his generosity. "And the lack of response from the 8th provides a bit of smug satisfaction as I'm quite inclined to think I caught them in a little white lie . . ."

Thoughtful, human gestures are always helpful and there is something to be said for taking things at face value. If someone says there is a death in the family, or a job loss, or a serious illness, there may well be one -- in which case you don't really want the job. In others, as Daniel indicates here, the client is telling you a white lie to get out of the commitment but (if fundamentally honest) will have second thoughts about the lie when you show respect. In part, this is because you are mapping out your personal integrity and showing, by your behaviour, you are not a "hit and run" contractor.

Twenty years of success -- and just discovering marketing

Amsted Design/Build founder and president Steve Barkhouse outside his Stittsville, Ontario, office. The stones recognize employees for five years of service -- at the company's annual breakfast before our interview, several received the recognition.

Yesterday, I met with Amsted Design/Build president Steve Barkhouse as we prepared a 20-year anniversary feature about his renovation business for the GOHBA Impact!, the newsletter of the Greater Ottawa Home Builders' Association. Amsted's business longevity closely matches mine and, as we parted company, Barkhouse observed how few businesses reach the 20-year milestone, let alone as successful as his enterprise.

Notably, Amsted to a large extent followed the conventional pattern of successful renovators and contractors. By doing great work, consistently and effectively, repeat and referral clients provide the basis for success and growth. In fact, Barkhouse said only recently has he started marketing.

(I'm not sure if this is entirely accurately, if you define marketing more broadly than conventional advertising. For example, he served as president of the GOHBA about a decade ago; and connected/worked within the community -- all valid marketing activities.)

Barkhouse offered an important explanation of why marketing has become more important to him recently. With 50 plus employees, without marketing to induce new client interest, he would have one other choice in a downturn in the market -- to lay off employees. Sure, he would do this if absolutely necessary, but he says he has built a competent team of qualified people -- and the company's scale of operation with design build, and in-house trades, would not nearly be as effective if it needed to shrink. So marketing allows him to manage the work flow -- and prepare for growth when conditions improve.

Of course, Amsted observes the core techniques of successful businesses including vision and mission statements and core values, which are discussed with employees at monthly meetings (meeting frequency increases if the business is working through a potential crisis):

Vision Statement

We will be the most sought after company in it's industry. To be highly respected for integrity, excellence and success. To provide a work environment that is enjoyable and achieves a balance between work and personal time.

Mission Statement

In order to realize our Vision, our Mission must be to exceed the expectations of our customers, whom we define as clients, partners and fellow employees. We will accomplish this by committing to our shared values and by achieving the highest level of customer satisfaction. In this way we will ensure that our profit, quality and growth goals are met.

Core Values

INTEGRITY -- Integrity is our trademark. We adhere to moral and ethical principles through soundness of moral character and honesty.

EXCELLENCE -- Excellence is the key to our continued success. We continuously strive for excellence in all we do.

TEAMWORK - Teamwork is our strength. Our chosen team works cooperatively, achieving common goals.

RESPECT -- Respect is the basis of all our relationships. We recognize and value both women and men around the world in all their diversity, whether inside or outside the group.

TRUST -- Trust is the foundation of our team. We build relationships and create a climate of trust among us all.

LOYALTY -- Loyalty is our commitment to the future. Loyalty is rewarded and highly regarded.

FULFILLMENT -- Fulfillment is our obligation. We continuously strive to exceed expectations and fulfill dreams.

PROUD -- being proud is our reward. We set high standards for ourselves every day, both as individuals and in our teams, so that we can give our best maximize our performance.

EMPATHY -- Empathy provides our peace of mind. We know the importance of experiencing the feelings, thoughts or attitudes of another in order to succeed.

PROGRESS -- Progress is our movement toward a higher stage. We know how to look ahead, anticipate and educate, in order to develop new solutions that drive progress.

The three Es of Construction Marketing: Empathy, Energy and Enjoyment

If you wish to succeed at construction energy marketing remember these basics:

Empathy: Do you care, and respect, your clients, potential clients and strangers receiving your marketing message. Since three quarters of contractors, architects and engineers report that most of their business comes from former and referred clients, empathy is especially important to the people you are working with, and whom you have done business with in the past. Do you clean up your job sites, respond promptly to their calls and enquiries, and deliver a positive and rewarding experience?

And, for those of you who think there is nothing wrong in sending untrained canvassers around neighbourhoods in the evening to blindly knock on strangers' doors, you really need to go to school to learn some empathy to strangers and the community at large.

Energy: Forget the half-baked efforts where you try something once and then give up. Occasionally you will hit the home run, but most marketing success occurs after you make some blunders -- and in any case, even the most effective efforts take time to achieve measurable results. You need to put some energy and effort into your marketing. How? Best solution I know is to relate your marketing to activities and relationships you enjoy and where you have real talent: You'll stick it out even when others give up.

Enjoyment: Will your clients enjoy your marketing experience -- will you enjoy the process as well? Go back to things like telemarketing and canvassing, or calling cold leads, or irritating yourself, your employees and your potential clients with hard-rock selling. Maybe you can find people who enjoy these things (good for you, if your representatives aren't sociopaths).

Here is a simple tip: Find ways to spend more time doing things you enjoy with current and former clients doing things they enjoy -- and watch your referral and repeat business skyrocket.

Thoughts before traveling

As I prepare to head to the airport for a couple of days of travel to Washington and Toronto, Las Vegas architect Craig Galati reminds me in his blog posting Stay on the Right Side of some of the defining qualities that allow so-called traditional businesses to survive, even thrive, in the Internet age.

Among his points, Galati notes:

Sell empathy, not just services. Clients get offers for services every day. However, businesses do not often enough take the time to understand what the client needs and if the firm can meet those needs. Developing empathy takes time, but is essential to making the right offer to your clients.

Absolutely. Businesses need systems, technologies, processes, and procedures -- and clients expect value for their money. But you lose something if you fail to understand the underlying human connection and respect for the individual, both within your own business, and in the larger community around you.