The first measure of marketing: How good are your products and services?

Concrete Construction, April, 2003 by Jim Peterson

Fancy new trucks are fun to drive and will impress your customers. An impressive Web site with animation is sure to leave your prospects in awe. And those new brochures you just spent a few thousand dollars to print are so appealing that your prospects may pay more attention to them.

But the most important thing affecting the growth and profitability of your business is the quality of your product and your delivery before, during, and after the project. Most concrete contractors know the quality of their product. Whatever their specialty--a tilt-up building, concrete home, basement, pool deck, or decorative driveway--they are continuously working to improve it.

The service part of the equation is where a high percentage of concrete contractors fail. Service happens before the job starts, during the construction of the project, and after the job ends.

Our concrete company in Riverside, Calif., High Grade Form, builds house slabs for residential tract builders in rapidly growing San Bernardino and Riverside Counties. As an example of service before the job starts, estimator Bill Tibbetts tells the purchasing agent who calls for a proposal the day and time we will pick up the plans. When the plans are picked up, he calls and tells the purchasing agent that we received the plans and on what day we will submit our proposal--and then he does it.

According to Tibbetts, "This small gesture becomes one thing the purchasing agents don't have to worry about: when they will receive our proposal. Many purchasing agents have told me they have to call contractors several times just to get plans picked up, let alone get a bid." This has absolutely nothing to do with concrete work, but everything to do with service.

The Ultimate Edge in Forney, Texas (near Dallas), does high-end acid staining projects. The owner, Cindy Hamm, meets with the homeowner

and the builder for a meeting before the slab is poured, even though she won't start her work until weeks later. At this meeting she gives the builder written instructions on how to pour the slab to facilitate staining and how to protect it during construction prior to staining. She also walks the job periodically and notifies the builder of potential problems she sees, for instance, if the painter is making a mess on the slab. Says Hamm, "Customers have told me they can see we care about their project before, during, and after."

Action Steps

I strongly suggest you invest 80% of your marketing time and money on improving the service part of your business and 20% on pure marketing items like brochures, direct mail, and Web sites. Stick with these percentages until you can look at your company (or even better, have someone else look at your company) and honestly be able to say your service is excellent. At that point, move the percentages to 50% on improving the service part and 50% on pure marketing. Companies with a proven record of excellent service should still spend 20% on improving the service and 80% on marketing.

A plan like this has an added benefit: You won't sell ahead of your ability to effectively service the work. A company that only markets--without being able to service the work--is on a direct path to going out of business. Here is a checklist for measuring the service part of your business. Rate yourself on a 1 to 5 scale in each category and then start making plans for improving your service.

Service before the job starts:

* Your proposal is turned in on the date you said it would be.

* Your proposal is clear. Everything the prospect wants that is not on the specifications should be listed as alternates. Don't make the prospect call you repeatedly to find out the cost of various items. This shows prospects that you have anticipated their needs.

* Your proposal also clearly spells out what you are not going to do.

* The product quality and construction schedules are clearly defined.

* All references and insurance certificates are turned in.

* You have anticipated, from your experience, and turned in everything the prospect needs from you. The prospect can only say, "XYZ Concrete has everything in order. They are so easy to work with."

* You return phone calls the same day.

Service during the job:

* You stay in touch with the superintendent as the start date approaches so that minor schedule changes won't create a crisis for you. (Calling only the day before the job starts does not qualify as "staying in touch.")

* You submit mix designs and have them approved far in advance of the concrete pour.

* Your field personnel arrive at the job with complete project information and are ready to work.

* You do the job as defined in the plans, specifications, and contract.

* Unless there are problems beyond your control, you meet the schedule you agreed to. You do this because you said you would, even if it means working late or working on a Saturday.

* Any problems that affect the schedule are communicated immediately so the job superintendent can adjust the schedules of other affected trades.

* Even if there are problems beyond your control, you make every reasonable effort to help the superintendent meet the schedule. Fifty superintendents who love your firm and tell their office are far more helpful than 50,000 four-color brochures.