Geography, history and construction marketing

When you spend a day in a place like Florence Italy (after some time in Istanbul/Constantinople) you become aware of how big and how small the world is. I'm sure these feelings will magnify tomorrow as I head to Zimbabwe.

Of course it is unlikely you will have reason to provide your services in any of these countries.  While the architectural, engineering and construction community is truly international, most designers and contractors work within rather narrow geographical areas.  Sure, some multinational companies bid on huge jobs and consortiums link international firms with local businesses -- and some services, especially in the design area -- can be outsourced.  However, the costs and complexities of serving diverse international markets scare off most but the well-organized and capitalized businesses.

Yet geography and history certainly play a role in business and construction marketing, even at the local level.  As I crossed through tourist sections of central Florence, I could see how merchants congregated in groups, with the most expensive, high ticket items sold in the most concentrated natural marketing point:  A central, historical bridge.  (The idea of using bridges for retail commerce hasn't caught on much in Canada or the U.S. but it works well in Europe an Turkey where pedestrians funnel through small areas -- and bridges act as perfect funnels.)

History undoubtedly is important as well.  Traditions, values, stories, memories and even the geographical landscape of the communities we serve are often influenced by decisions made long ago.  Knowing something about these decisions can be important, even if it is to be aware of potential archaeological dig issues.  (Under-water ancient artifacts have gummed up a rapid transit tunnel in Istanbul.)

We live in the present, in our actual location, but we live in a world shaped by events in the past, in a diversity of locations.  No marketer should dwell too much on distant things -- but every construction marketer should be aware of the bigger picture of history and geography, and the possible consequences of distant decisions on current realities.

Consumer ratings services, tourism and construction marketing

In Istanbul's spice market:  No Yelp here

We made our way today to Florence, Italy, from Istanbul.  An "old" (actually opened in 1997) hotel in an old neighbourhood, but it doesn't seem quite as old as our place in Istanbul.  Of course, even though Italy has centuries of history, it can't quite beat that of a place formerly known as Constantinople.

Nevertheless, most of our "stay" decisions have been made with Tripadvisor.com, a consumer rating system for tourist destinations around the world.  Tripadvisor's power of course is the ability of real people to describe their experiences and rate them -- the more positive ratings by the more enthusiastic guests, the higher the tourist site ranks.

I'm quite sure some operators try to game the system but the biggest problem could be the concept of consistency -- that is, if many people rate a place highly, even if someone has a less-than-perfect experience, he might be less-than-eager to share it for fear of not belonging to the crowd.  Of course, there are mavericks, and ironically, a perfectly positive ranking by hundreds of people without even a single negative comment would appear to be staged, even if it is true.

I can't say how much really high Tripadvisor ratings affect businesses, but imagine small operators with minuscule marketing budgets who manage to receive really high ratings do quite well from the experience.  Certainly some commercial tour operators use their high rankings in their other marketing materials.

Fair enough.  Contractors aren't in the tourism business but we have Yelp and similar services.  And the issue here is, can contractors encourage clients to give positive rankings and can Yelp, perhaps hoping to sell advertising or (if you wish to see things from a more honorable level), seeking to avoid gaming the system, filter the positive reviews that don't seem to be quite right?  (The problem with Yelp, I'm afraid, is the implicit link between advertising and ratings, which merchants and contractors may perceive, whether it be true or not.)

I don't have a simple answer to the best way to approach and use ratings services in marketing our businesses, but certainly they need to be regarded with respect and care, especially if you serve consumer-focused markets.  You can add your own comments here.

The tourism ecosystem: Fraud and fairness

Tonight is our last night in Istanbul.  With my wife, we did the "tourist" thing today -- taking an organized tour of the key historic sites here for 70 Euros each; that's more than $170 total.  Did we receive value for money?  That is always a question when you are taking the tourist experience.  It is a somewhat artificial place, with systems, rules, trade-offs and side deals between hotels, tour operators and merchants.  After all, the consumers are not generally terribly astute about local prices, values and options and they have money to spend.  Of course, ripping people off generally doesn't help in the long run -- because with the Internet negative word-of-mouth can certainly spread quickly.   These days, there is little reason or excuse for anyone to be caught in the traditional "tourist trap".

Nevertheless, as the morning part of our tour ended, we were escorted into a carpet store.  The merchant apparently gave a good explanation of carpets and traditions, while serving some free tea.  (I missed that part of the action in part because i had more urgent biological needs.)  When I joined the rest of the group about 10 minutes later, the hard selling part had commenced.

I enjoyed the artful tactics of the Turkish carpet merchants, trying to extract some business from a captive, but very temporary, tourist group audience.  Prices magically dropped as the merchants sought to find the key hot spot that would convince the tourist to part with money.  This is the world of "high pressure sales", though of course everyone on the selling side denied they were up to anything that bad.  Nevertheless, our tourist counterparts demurred.  No one was going to spend any money here, no way.  After we left, one of the tour members, who had expressed some interest in the carpets, said she decided that the clerk were "harassing" her and, with that, she made the firm decision not to buy anything.

I suppose in certain conditions and at certain times, high pressure selling works.  It is probably necessary if your market is among transitory tourists.  You really only have one kick at the can, so you had better find some, any, way to extract the cash.  However, I think for most of our businesses in Canada or the U.S., these tactics are almost certain to backfire.  When it comes to construction marketing, I think in general it is far wiser to build your relationships and be patient, rather than push for the quick sale.

What North American construction marketing lessons we can learn from an Istanbul fish restaurant

Consider the business challenge.  You need to attract well-healed clients who would have absolutely no knowledge about your business beforehand for what, in most cases, is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.  They have money to spend, now, but you don't know them and they certainly don't know you.

Hos Seda restaurant in Istanbul, Turkey

Does this sound like a classic construction marketing challenge -- and an impossible one at that? Surely, in a world of word-of-mouth recommendations, you will have trouble discovering the "hungry fish" as Jon Goldman describes in his incredibly effective weekly e-letter.

Well, Hos Seda, a fish restaurant in Istanbul, Turkey pulled it off.  At the end of the meal, we peeled off enough Euros (we didn't have enough Turkish Lira on us) to spend more than $100 for a couple of appetizers, a piece of Black Sea fish, desert, a bottle of Turkish wine and some Turkish coffee and crepes for desert.  Hardly the most inexpensive meal out there -- in fact, the day before I discovered a clean and efficient place in a shopping mall which provide me with a pretty good tasting piece of fish for about the equivalent of $15.00.  (No desert and wine, and of course, I was alone.)

How did we choose this place?  The desk clerk at our hotel, largely selected through Tripadvisor.com ratings, recommended it.  He made clear that he has nothing to gain by pushing something bad on us. Most Tripadvisor.com ratings were effusive in praise.  So, even with little knowledge of the place, we felt safe in considering it.

Then the clincher.  The restaurant would provide at no extra cost a car and driver to bring us there.  I realize most of us have experienced travel gridlock, but driving around downtown Istanbul is not for the faint-of-heart -- and figuring out how to give directions to a taxi driver would test our will.

The restaurant, with the free driving service, indeed, made it easy for us to say "yes".  However, just offering the free ride would not work -- we would see a con in the works -- and so the references on public media and referral from a hotel clerk were absolutely vital in validating our opinions.

Would i give Hos Seda five stars, like many of the others on Tripadvisor.com.  No.  The black sea fish tasted reasonably good but was certainly not a bargain.  When we expressed some shock at the bill, the proprietor reduced the bill by 15 Turkish lira or about $10.00.  A nice gesture, indeed, and one that took the sting out of the experience.  Our conclusion as the driver returned us promptly to our hotel:  Not a rip-off but not the best value around.  I would give it three stars.

Does this experience count?  Well, the Tripadvisor.com reviews are generally extremely positive (and we truly enjoyed the experience) but this blog has reasonably high search engine rankings and so this review might pop up in strange places where the restaraunt would rather not to see it.  On the other hand, a single somewhat critical blog posting is hardly likely to dent the this place's reputation much.

Nevertheless, we can all learn some lessons from this story.

Experience counts.  Each person or organization using our services remembers the details; the overall sensation of how they were treated, the "value for money," the surprises, and the surrounding ambience.  The highest priority of course relates to the core business -- in this case the food's taste.  I just didn't like the fish that much.  Maybe it should have tasted that way; and my tastes don't match -- but I ended up spending $100 for the experience.

The experiences of others count.  How can you know whether to take a risk on a new business of which you have no experience without knowing what other trusted people say.  This can be the human face of the hotel desk clerk. or the observations of strangers on Internet forums. Yes, to some extent, these recommendations can be gamed.  Hotel clerks can be paid referral fees; and positive reviews planted in social media sites.  But these strategies only work to a limited extent if they are not backed by real substance.  If you game things too far, you will be fair game for an outing.

Make it easy to say "yes".  In the fish restaraunt's case, the free driver and ride service certainly helped make the decision.  Of course, in hindsight, I realize I could have paid for a taxi, or even less expensive, taken a local ferry for about the equivalent of $1.50, and had a much tastier fish meal.

Accordingly, this story comes full circle.  Great positive experiences and client reviews steered us to a specific fish restaraunt in a country far from home.  But our experience, while pleasant, wasn't quite as wildly wonderful as the extremely positive reviews we read.  So, now, we add to the story, with this review, and these observations, and we are reminded again that the most important element in marketing is to create the positive experience and then find ways to encourage your clients to share it with others.

Searching for the (construction marketing) truth

Yesterday, I spent several hours in search of the 14th century Istanbul synagogue still in operation today.  I took a local tram, then a city bus, discovering a bit more how the local people travel.  A passenger next to me, looking at my tour map on my lap, suggested I get off the bus.  I had gone too far, he said, in very broken English -- this bus would take me much further into the suburbs.

So I left the bus and started walking, seeking relevant landmarks and (much to my male-centred direction-seeking discomfort) asked a few people for guidelines.  As expected, one guy offered to take me there for a price -- on his boat.  I declined.

Eventually I discovered the correct neighbourhood; then faced the challenge of navigating some strangely-named cobblestone streets.  Ancient history here, clearly.  I crossed paths with a tour group where the leader described the synagogue's history.  But he wasn't speaking from the actual location.

An Australian woman approached me.  Was I looking for the Ahrida Synagogue, she asked.  We started searching together, asking some more locals, then rounded the bend, and discovered this almost invisible modest entry-way.  As we approached, we bumped into a couple from Florida also seeking the same place.

No way could we enter -- you need to request access (available only in the mornings) at least three business days in advance, with a detailed form requiring a copy of your passport.  Security is important here.  While Istanbul is truly a tolerant city, Islamic extremists a few years ago attacked a local synagogue.  My guidebook says the synagogue is actively functioning, with about 100 members attending weekly Sabbath services.

So, after all that searching and research, all I have to show (visibly) for the experience is a single photo of me standing at the door way.

If we conducted our construction marketing with the same direct results for effort, I think we would be bankrupt, quickly.  Pouring energy and research into a fleeting experience that could not be completed properly (we couldn't even get into the building) is hardly wise business planning and marketing.  I don't regret the search, of course.  Along the way I had time to see much unplanned about Istanbul, learn a lot, and soak in the history.  And I met some cool people along the way.

However, in business (and marketing) we need to be much more rational in our searching and emotions.  We should carefully consider our go/no go rules (which can and I think should take into account our passions and interests -- allowing us to "go" for things we might not rationally try because we really care).

Obviously specialized interest and relevance also count for much in this story.  Unless you are Jewish or interested in religious history, you won't find much value in seeking out a 14th century synagogue.  However, specialized interests allow you the opportunity to dig deeper and further into places where relatively few others travel, and along the way you will likely meet fellow voyagers with the same interests.

Finally, we have the choice of traveling on our own, with a guidebook, an organized tour, or a paid coach/guide.  Each type of experience has its advantage and costs.  I would advocate in marketing to mix things up a bit and try different things.  Eventually you will build your knowledge and network to the level where you know who to ask for support, where to obtain the information you need, and when you should pay for the information, and when you can discover it for free.

(So today, now that my wife has arrived, a day late but safe and sound travelling business class for economy fare prices, I'll spend more on a three hour organized tour than I have allocated for virtually any activity on this trip -- and this isn't the most expensive tour available.)

The istanbul experience

Travel brings challenges.  While the world is much more connected now than ever before, we can still run into snags.  Take the Internet connection, for example, from Istanbul.  I can post here -- but can't on the constructionmarketingideas.com blog.  It seems, as part of our efforts to control spam and malware, we put a block on visitors from Turkey.  This means that I can't access my own blog to update things.

Add to the fun the fact that my wife, who should have in our original plans, joined me about two hours ago, is still in Ottawa.  She showed up at the airport last night and Air Canada denied to board her because her name didn't match the reservation.  We had noticed the error before, advised our travel agent, and the agent suggested a work-around that he said should have worked, but obviously didn't.

(In fairness, the travel agent, on discovering the problem in late night panicked calls, agreed to make good -- and contacted the issuing airline at their office opening time, that is 3 a.m. where he lived.  He arranged for new tickets, and she'll arrive late tomorrow night.)

So what does any of this have to do with construction marketing?  Not much, I suppose, though I kept my eyes open for construction activity in Istanbul.  At least in the central historic areas, things are quite quiet, though crews are maintaining the cobblestone streets, there is a bit of new construction and I discovered what appears to be the street that could loosely be described as the tool market.  You could buy all kinds of hardware and tools from an assortment of shops here.

The journey begins -- Ottawa to Istanbul

Istanbul, Turkey (from Wikipedia

At the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge in Ottawa, waiting for the first flight -- a short haul to Toronto.  Then, there is a quick connection to Frankfurt, Germany and on to Istanbul, Turkey.

Travel is both enlightening and challenging; heading half-way around the world, staying briefly in three very different nations in a two-week voyage is the sort of experience that creates and brings back memories.

When the plane lands in Istanbul, I'll look out the window as we drive into town to the hotel where we are staying.  Mixed with the skyline will be the construction cranes; the question is, how will my days in Turkey influence my thinking about construction marketing.

(If you wish to read a more substantive and useful post about construction marketing, you can certainly visit constructionmarketingideas.com.)