Construction marketing and the circle of life

Vancouver, BC viewed from the south with mountains behind. Blended exposure version. 20 stitched images
Mfield, Matthew Field, http://www.photography.mattfield.com. Reproduced within Creative Commons License

Yesterday, after an intense day of work, my wife drove me to the airport, and seven hours later, (with a connection), I arrived in Vancouver. Today is my mother's 85th birthday party, and her children and several of her grandchildren are joining for a celebration.

This point-of-life event will leave me with mixed emotions. Mom is getting older, of course, but her grandchildren have started raising their own families, so she can see the next generation.

We are all experiencing life transitions and experiences; individually these influence our perceptions and decisions, as a society the demographic shape defines largely what will be built and what must be replaced.

Planners use demographic data to scope out what to expect, but I suspect that decision-makers base their choices more on their emotions. The entrepreneur has an elderly relative needing care, so decides to build a care home; a contractor working in area with many teenagers about to enter college might see his own sons and daughters heading forward, and think about bidding on college projects.

We also make the decisions on quality, price and choice. I hate spending money on travel, so the business class airline seats are with points, and I arrived in a very large chauffeur driven vehicle (also known as a city bus) at my mom's condo late yesterday.

In construction marketing, consider your emotions, your choices, and your demographics. Then think about how these elements relate to your current and potential clients, and how you can make the connection. You will succeed.

Experience, please

You would think that, at 56, I'm beyond the age where this expression applies: "You need experience to be given a chance, but no one will give me a chance to get experience."

This is the classic refrain of new start-ups, and young people seeking employment.

In fact, in most cases, there is good reason for this "experience required" rule, and in most cases (mine included), there is a way around the "give me a chance to get experience."

It turns out I lost an opportunity to develop and present a White Paper for the SMPS Foundation because I lack sufficient speaking and presentation experience. And the failure to pass on this ground (another key criteria is writing experience/ability, which I obviously succeeded at) is valid -- I simply haven't spoken much in public in my life, even though (at age 17), I was the youngest person ever to graduate from the Dale Carnegie Public Speaking course.

At a meeting today, colleagues on the Ottawa Renovates! project related the importance of experience and references for success. We won the job over another person who made the initial proposal because of our practical and hands-on publishing experience. (I got around my inexperience in selling business-to-consumer magazine by calling on colleagues who truly know this area for assistance.)

"The other person -- who originally bid the job -- clearly didn't know what he was doing," said one of my colleagues. "He bid far too low and promised far too much, so much that anyone could see that he really didn't know what he was doing, and would not be able to complete his commitments."

We of course promised a lot, but delivered on our promises, in financial terms that made sense for everyone. Our clients knew from our references and presentation that we could deliver the goods.

So, what do you do when you lack experience and lose opportunities as a result?

I have two answers.

The first is to team up and joint venture with people with the relevant experience, like I did for Ottawa Renovates!

The second is to volunteer, and get out there and do things that are stepping stones to experience. So next year I'll add to my list of commitments to give at least five speeches/presentations. I'll do these to local groups or as part of webinars/joint venture projects with other experts on relevant topics.