Attracting ‘perfect’ clients

Four strategies to help you successfully market your business to customers you really want to work with.

While the forecast of increased building activity across the country is positive, it doesn’t necessarily make life better for all small building companies. An abundance of building in a city doesn’t necessarily mean that every building company is doing well – it’s important to remember that potential new clients still need to be identified and attracted.

Often in building booms, it’s the larger building companies that gain most new business; smaller companies don’t always have the capital to gear up as quickly. Those larger companies are in a position to pick and choose clients, while turning away the more ‘difficult’ ones they don’t want to work with. This can leave smaller builders picking among ‘the dregs’.

But it needn’t be like that. There is no reason why, particularly in buoyant times, the smaller builder can’t also attract fantastic new clients. While they may not attract as many, it’s worthwhile putting in the effort. It can make a huge difference to the joy of doing business.

In this article, I identify four important strategies that will increase your chances of picking up great new clients.

1. Think about and describe what your perfect client looks like

You might think this is an obvious step, but in reality very few builders do it. When I ask builders to tell me who they really want to sell their services to, they look at me as though I‘m from another planet. It’s usually not something they’ve thought about in the past and it’s not something that’s taught to apprentices.

The thing is, your potential clients – people who want to buy a new home or renovate their existing one – come in all shapes and sizes. There are young couples on one income stretching to accommodate their young family, double-income professionals building an executive home or retiring couples about to build their dream home; all at different stages of life with varying aspirations.

So what does your perfect client look like? To help you visualise, think about your best clients – the ones you enjoyed dealing with and who liked having you as their builder. Note down three to four things about them. Wouldn’t business be much more enjoyable if all your clients were like these people?

2. Find the three main things your perfect clients dislike in a builder

Sales training tells us that potential clients are much more likely to choose suppliers who alleviate their frustrations, over and above those who simply deliver the service or product. So, provided other factors are more or less the same, the builder who removes a potential client’s frustration is far more likely to get the job.

If you really want to connect with your perfect clients, find out what it is that they find frustrating about building and builders in general. Ask them to be as specific as you can and remember that different client groups will have different views.

For example, the young family couple may be frustrated with builders who tell them they can’t give a fixed price quotation for their addition. For them, a price overrun is scary!

” To stand out in your marketing and advertising, limit information about yourself and instead focus on your perfect client

On the other hand, the retiring couple may be frustrated with the builder who doesn’t have the ability or willingness to vary from the plan and accommodate opportunities they discover as the build proceeds. For them, rigidity could be very disappointing.

Take every opportunity to find out what it is (about building and builders) that really annoys your perfect clients. This is probably the most powerful sales and marketing information you can have.

3. Shape your marketing messages to address these dislikes

Many builders believe that good marketing is about telling their clients they are the best. They spend money on creating websites that are all about their company and how good they are. While this is not a bad strategy, sometimes it might give potential customers the perception that you are ‘just another salesperson’ – and everyone knows salespeople exaggerate the truth!

To stand out in your marketing and advertising, limit information about yourself and instead focus on your perfect client. Tell them about their frustrations, let them know that you understand their concerns and outline how you overcome these.

Don’t simply have a gallery on your website of work you’ve completed, because by itself it is all about you. Instead, include short client testimonials such as:

“With the last of their children moved out, Sarah and Geoff were keen to downsize slightly and design the eco-friendly home of their dreams. While price wasn’t a massive issue, being open to trying new green options was of paramount importance and they didn’t want a builder who wasn’t willing to adapt to their changing needs throughout the project.

They were very happy that Smith Builders was accommodating and understanding about their requirements and always took the time to understand their end goal.”

By so doing, you will be connecting with customers personally – and not be seen as just another salesperson.

4. Make it easy for your perfect client to find you

Again, this sounds so obvious but it can be easily overlooked. Just last week, I spoke to a builder wanting to build homes in a new subdivision. However, there was not one single piece of advertising for his company anywhere in that subdivision! “So how will potential buyers find you?” I asked him.

It’s a similar situation for maintenance and renovation builders, many of whom don’t bother erecting signs outside the properties they are working on. How do they hope to attract others in the immediate area?

It’s also surprising how many builders don’t have a website. These days, there aren’t many clients who won’t go looking for your business on the internet before contacting you and, if you’re nowhere to be found, it’s unlikely you’ll get a call – even if it’s a referral.

Which of these four strategies are you using? If you’re looking for new clients, try the above – you may be impressed at the results!

About the Successful Builder

Graeme Owen, based in Auckland, is a builders’ business coach. Since 2006, he has helped builders get off the tools, make decent money and free up time for family, fishing and sports. Get his free ebook: 3 Reasons Builders Lose Money and How to Fix Them for High Profits at www.TheSuccessfulBuilder.com