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Building a Reputation For Excellence in the Construction Industry

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When you’ve dedicated your whole professional life to working in the construction industry, it’s entirely reasonable to want to make your mark in the industry by starting a firm of your very own. That is, after all, the dream isn’t it? To take the skills you’ve spent decades honing and go into business with yourself, taking on the industry on your own terms and shattering the ceiling that your current job places over your pay and prospects?

StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article | Building a Reputation | Entrepreneurship | Building a Reputation For Excellence in the Construction Industry

Yet while there are many who find success in setting up their own construction business, there are many caveats when it comes to starting out on your own. The construction industry is high in costs and low margins by nature. Cash flow equilibrium can be hard to come by and the inevitability of large scale borrowing can mean a great deal of money spent on interest in your early days. In order to find sustainable success, firms need to be securing contract after contract in rapid succession to stay afloat. Which is why reputation is so incredibly important in the construction industry.

Here are some tips to make sure that your nascent firm develops a sterling reputation which carries it to lasting success…

Never over-promise in the hopes of landing a contract

Bidding for contracts can be an extremely nerve-wracking process, especially when you’re throwing your hat into the ring alongside well established and seasoned construction firms with whom high paying business clients will already be familiar.

In such a context, it can be extremely tempting for hungry new firms to over promise in the hopes of beating their competitors to the punch… but such a tactic can often create more problems than it solves. There’s nothing worse than over promising and under delivering. As important as it is to be competitive, it’s also essential that you’re realistic about the capabilities of your team and your equipment.

Invest in the resources for outstanding project management

When you’re working on a construction project, it can seem as though every day is a battle for productivity. Not only do you need to keep close tabs on your plant, knowing where your equipment is and who’s using it at all times, you need to be sure of the whereabouts of every member of your team, know what they’re working on and make sure that they know what to focus their attention on next.

And this can be a real uphill struggle without the right project management solutions. Fortunately, there’s a plethora of software out there to help you to track your team’s progress as well as Internet of Things (IoT) enabled devices that can be attached to virtually any plant and allow for easier tracking. There are even new tools hitting the market that already have IoT technology built in.

Deliver solutions that will withstand the test of time

It goes without saying that compliance in the construction industry is enormously important. But in order to secure a sterling reputation in the industry, you’ll also need to be able to assure your clients that your firm will go the extra mile and deliver solutions that are guaranteed to withstand whatever time, the elements and the caprices of nature can throw at them for decades to come. Invest in great quality materials, having checks and balances in place to ensure consistent quality and outsourcing to other entities like seismic engineering contractors can all help you to go the extra mile and develop a sterling reputation. Even if your company is still in its infancy, clients will have confidence in you if they can see that you take every care to maintain the integrity of your work. That said, it’s also essential to…

Own your mistakes

No matter how many precautionary measures you take, there’s always a chance that things may go wrong either during or after the construction process. As tempting as it may be to bury your head in the sand, failing to own and respond to mistakes can do irreparable damage to your reputation.

Invest in your plant. Invest in your team

Your plant is an important investment. You need to be absolutely sure that the equipment you use will give you the same high standard of performance. And that’s not always easy to do when you’re first starting out, which is why hire purchase is often a favorable solution for nascent construction firms who need equipment of the highest quality but can’t necessarily afford to buy it outright.

But perhaps more important is the need to invest in a skilled and highly motivated team who you can trust to get the job done on time to a consistently high standard. Your work is only ever as good as your team. Fortunately, having spent years as a construction worker you likely already know exactly what to look for in your workforce.

StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article | Building a Reputation | Entrepreneurship | Building a Reputation For Excellence in the Construction Industry

Maintain an outstanding safety record

The last thing any client wants is mishaps taking place on their site. And as a seasoned construction professional, you know how fraught with risk the average site can be. This is why it’s so important to maintain the highest standard of safety. When deadlines loom near, it’s all too tempting to loosen your standards in terms of safety checks in the name of getting the job done quicker.

Manage and meet expectations

It’s always frustrating when your best efforts fall short of clients’ expectations. It’s even more frustrating when this happens because your client’s expectations are inherently unreasonable. This is why expectation management in the early stages is so essential. When the client has clear parameters for what to expect there’s no room for them to perceive failure and all you can do is meet or surpass their expectations of you.

Construction firms rely heavily on word of mouth, but unlike other businesses they can’t use easy strategies like discount codes and referral incentives to facilitate it. That’s why it’s so essential to hold yourself to the highest standards and have an infrastructure in place to assure excellence in every job. When you’re doing this, you can be sure that world will get around.

2 Ways to Take Your Business to the Next Level

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article | Entrepreneurship | Next Level | 2 Ways to Take Your Business to the Next LevelYou didn’t start your business just to see it flounder and struggle at the foot of its market. You took the plunge and brought your organization to life because you wholeheartedly believed that it would one day be capable of reaching the pinnacle of its industry. If your business is to scale these incredibly lofty heights, you need to start taking action today. More to the point, you have to find a way to take your business to the next level.

To find out how this can be achieved, be sure to read on.

Expand Your Workspace

The bigger your workspace is, the more work you will be able to produce on a day-by-day basis. This will result in being able to provide your customers with a greater product range, which will ultimately result in standing a better chance of increasing your revenues. If you want to turn over a far greater profit and subsequently invest this extra money into taking your business to the next level, then you should seriously consider expanding your workspace.

Taking such action can entail you doing a number of different things. It can simply mean finding and moving into a bigger space, it can mean adding more space onto your current operational area, or it can even mean building your own bespoke space. Should you opt to follow the latter route — building your own workspace — you will be able to create an operational area that is tailored to your business’s specific wants and needs. Whatever you do, however, just make sure that you align yourself with a professional that is capable of creating bespoke buildings for businesses, such as BBB accredited Armstrong Steel. With them by your side, you will be able to circumvent the challenges of expanding your workspace and ultimately build an area that is optimized, safe and suited specifically to your needs.

Focus on Customer Service

If you want to attract and retain your target audience, you need to focus on your customer service capabilities. Quite simply, you should treat each individual consumer in a highly optimized and bespoke manner. Anything less, and your most desired client base will start looking for an alternative service provider in your market.

To improve your customer service, you must:

  • Understand your customer needs
  • Seek and analyze customer feedback
  • Go above and beyond to ‘WOW!’ your customers
  • Invest in customer service training for your sales team
  • Set clear standards and expectations with regards to customer service
  • Build your customer service processes around the consumer, not your organization
  • Empathize with your customers
  • Cross-sell as often as you can
  • Use positive language and body language
  • Know your products and services inside out
  • Always seek to establish common ground
  • Communicate with your customers clearly
  • Be an active listener
  • Respond to customer queries quickly

If you want to reach the very top of your industry, you constantly have to find a way to take your business to the next level. Put the above advice into practice, and you’ll be sure to do just that.

SEO vs. PPC: Which Is Most Valuable?

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StrategyDriven Online Marketing and Website Development Article |PPC|SEO vs. PPC: Which Is Most Valuable?You can find countless articles and blogs about SEO and PPC when you browse around the web. A lot of people are writing about these topics, and it can be hard to know what to think when you’ve read so much. Of course, though, one of these marketing tools has to be better than the other, right?

To give you an idea of how they stack up, this post will be exploring search engine optimisation and pay per click advertising. By comparing their benefits, it should be nice and easy to see which of these methods will be best for your business.

What Is SEO?

SEO stands for search engine optimisation, and is the process of preparing a website to make sure that it always has a good position in searches on sites like Google. The speed of your website, the content found on it, and the links between it and other websites all contribute to this area.

Most people don’t understand SEO, though, and this can make it hard to know what needs to be done to get your site into good positions. An SEO company will be able to help you with this, providing you with everything you need to get your website higher in searches. Doing this by yourself will take a lot of time and effort, and will have far from guaranteed results.

What Is PPC?

PPC stands for pay per click, and is a name given to a specific type of online advert. Hosted on loads of different websites, adverts like this cost you money each time they are clicked, but don’t require any special work to get them working properly.

The placement of your adverts will depend on the money you’re willing to spend on them. Using Google Ads, you will have the chance to set up bids and daily caps for your spending, ensuring that you don’t spend too much to get your adverts to the right people. There are a lot of companies out there which can help you with this process.


Benefits Of SEO

SEO comes with a lot of different benefits. To start, giving a professional SEO company work on your site will mean that you only have to pay for this service a few times each year. Their work will last, and will only need to be updated as the market changes.

Alongside this, organic searches have been proven to garner higher quality results than PPC adverts. People who find your link in normal searches will be far more likely to buy things from you than those who discover it in sponsored ad sections.

Benefits of PPC

The results of PPC advertising can often be much faster than working on SEO. While you will have to wait for your adverts to be approved, this will still be quicker than having your site indexed by Google, and this is a benefit which a lot of people can’t ignore.

You will also benefit from being able to choose which demographics see your adverts, using tools like cookies to make sure that no one sees your ad unless they’re likely to be interested. PPC adverts also give you the chance to have your ads in more locations, with services like Google Shopping proving to be incredibly successful in recent years. Of course, though, you have to compete with a lot of other companies with PPC adverts. PPC advertising may seem complicated, but there are many tools that can help you to work professionally and effortlessly. In order to make your PPC advertising more easy and effective at the same time you can use software for PPC management like the one from Adplorer.

Which Is Most Valuable?

Deciding which of these marketing methods is more valuable is a very challenging job. In reality, the answer to this question will usually lie with your company and its needs.

Those which don’t mind waiting for results will almost always value SEO more. While it won’t be as fast, it will draw higher quality clients in, and will cost far less than using PPC ads. This can make it easier to sell expensive items, with those who want goods like this finding it hard to trust sponsored adverts.

Companies which need to make sales very quickly are more likely to find PPC ads more valuable. While it will cost more, this could give you the chance to start selling far faster, and this is a benefit which few businesses can ignore.

It’s crucial that you work on things like SEO as an ongoing process for your business. At the same time, though, it can also make sense to take a more direct approach sometimes, and this is where PPC comes in. Neither are better; they both have their own purpose, and this is well worth recognising.

Purchasing A Server Rack For Your Business

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A lot of businesses nowadays require the use of server racks in order to store their servers and IT equipment. Selecting the right one is obviously of the utmost importance, especially when one considers the highly valuable and expensive equipment which is going to be stored inside.

StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article | Entrepreneurship | Purchasing A Server Rack For Your Business

One of the ways in which an individual or a business can guarantee that they are getting a top quality data rack is by going for a highly credible and reputable company. In large a company is measured by what products they sell and what service they provide, if the general outlook is that a company is a good one then this says an awful lot about the goods and services they offer. Therefore, this blog post will reveal certain points that an individual should contemplate regarding a company selling server racks in order to ensure that they purchase a top quality product.

The sole thing that any individual should do when determining the worth of a company is a little bit of background research. It will take a mere five minutes but it can save a lot of people from buying an unsatisfactory product or a bad customer service experience. If you already use the services of an outside IT provider to assist your business, ask for their recommendations. You can get quality managed IT services from Ethos if you do not have an IT provider at the moment. Companies like this make sure that your business is running as efficiently as possible from a tech point of view. This includes updating your tech infrastructure, as well as establishing standards at your business. You definitely run the risk of getting left behind if not.

So how does one go about this little bit of background research? If the person in question has found a data rack they would like to buy they should then type in the name of the company selling the rack into a search engine, such as Google. They should then proceed to visit the relevant forums in order to see what previous customers have thought about the good they have received and the service they experienced alongside this.

This is a very simple method but it is great because it means the person can learn whether the product was exactly how it was described on the website, they can also determine whether the company provided a good after service, and in addition to this they can learn other things such as whether the company delivered the server racks on time.

This is highly valuable information as it alerts anyone to a company which is not credible, as people will be more than willing to voice their opinion if they have been left dissatisfied. They will want to warn others in order to ensure that they do not waste their money as well.

However, it is vital to remember that it is the general feel of all comments that should be considered, not just one. No company is going to please everyone and if there are twenty nice comments to one person who has gone on a rant, then it is the twenty good comments which are important. As quite often it is easy to be distracted by someone who has said something shocking.

Moreover, an individual buying a server rack should always keep in mind what they are looking for from their shopping experience. For instance, if a company has rave reviews yet the only downfall they have is some customers are unhappy that they don’t sell a certain cable then don’t let this be a negative if that cable is not something required by the individual shopping.

You will, of course, also need to look at the range of server racks that they have available to ensure that they have something suitable for your needs. Cooling is one of the most important factors to think about when it comes to tech storage today, as well as security.

A final point worth considering is that it is important not to merely consider any feedback which has been given on the company’s website itself. It is very unlikely that a business is going to post any negative feedback on their website and thus this can often be rather biased.

Internet Marketing Failing? Let’s Take a Look at What You’re Doing Wrong

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StrategyDriven Online Marketing and Website Development Article, Internet Marketing Failing? Let's Take a Look at What You're Doing Wrong

Even the strongest businesses in the world have had their weak moments. Maybe things aren’t going so well with your business at the moment. Perhaps it’s just one factor of your business that isn’t performing as well as it should be. If we look at the most common elements that come into play when things aren’t going amazingly for any given business, it quite often has to do with poor Internet marketing.

Many business owners are becoming cognizant of just how important Internet marketing is. But a lot of them are making a bunch of mistakes. One of those mistakes was assuming that Internet marketing would bring them immediate success and riches. This sort of attitude betrays a sort of ignorance about how Internet marketing really works and how it should be approached. This can cause a lot of errors when it comes to the marketing campaign as a whole.

So perhaps it’s time that you took a serious look at your Internet marketing campaign! If your marketing hasn’t brought you the return you were hoping for, then it’s crucial that you take a close look at things and perhaps rethink your approach. After all, most digital marketing methods out there aren’t exactly cheap. And that’s fine, as long as it can actually bring results, right?

Internet marketing isn’t the magic wand that a lot of businesses seem to think it is. It needs to be done properly. You can throw all the money you want at your campaign, but if it’s going in the wrong direction then you might as well be throwing your cash into a black hole. We’re going to take a look at some of the most common and severe fundamental problems that many modern businesses have with their digital marketing approach. If you start to get feelings of recognition as you read through this article, then it might be time for you to make some serious changes to your marketing techniques!

Overestimation

I made a brief mention of this above, but it’s worth going into a little more detail. Essentially, a lot of businesses out there massively overestimate the power of Internet marketing. Yes, if done right, it can be very powerful. But the fact of the matter is that Internet marketing is vulnerable to many of the same sort of flaws you see in any other medium.

StrategyDriven Internet Marketing Article
Photo courtesy of Infusionsoft Sales & Marketing via flickr

Internet marketing isn’t going to guarantee you a truckload of new customers. A lot of people understand this when it comes to working with advertising in other media, because they’re more used to have ineffective, say, a television advert or a newspaper advert can be. Most people will probably overlook those sorts of ads, right? Well, the same goes for most kinds of Internet marketing. This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t invest in them! It just means that you have to be careful not to commit one of the most common mistakes in this field: that of overestimating the results you’re going to get.

Temper your expectations! You may even have started reading this article because you thought you would get hundreds of thousands of new customers from your campaign. This sort of thinking may have given you a false impression of the success of your campaign: it might be that it’s working as good as it can – it’s just that your expectations are unrealistic!

The DIY approach

A lot of business owners seem to be working under the assumption that Internet marketing is easy. They’re also looking for any way they can find to save some money. Well, it’s true that it’s possible to do your own Internet marketing. And, with that in mind, you can cut a lot of costs if you do take this approach. But the fact is that Internet marketing is much more complex than many of these business owners realize.

StrategyDriven Internet Marketing Article

If you want to take on this task by yourself, then you should really be an expert at this sort of thing. If you’re not, you could be wasting a lot of time with ineffective marketing techniques. Remember that the right Internet marketing company has a lot of connections in the marketing industry, whereas you’re likely to have none at all. If you do want to take this approach, then you should make sure you really know what you’re doing. Look into taking an online course in digital marketing to boost your skills and knowledge.

The substandard marketing company

Having said all of this, working with a bad marketing company could be even worse than taking the reigns yourself! While there’s a lot to be said about the many problems that overconfidence in your own abilities can bring, there is also much to be said about putting too much confidence in the hands of those who claim to be experts. Just as in any other industry, there are companies in this field that simply don’t know what they’re doing. Not every Internet marketing business is some angel that will be able to save your business.

StrategyDriven Internet Marketing Article

You need to make sure that you’re signing up to work with an incredibly good Internet marketing company. These guys don’t come cheap, after all! You need to keep an eye out when it comes to these companies, because there are a bunch of potential problems that could really put a spanner in the works. What if their customer service is terrible? What if the methods they use to get results work only in the short term? And what if they’re using ‘black’ techniques? (More on that in just a moment!) You should ensure that you’re checking the online reputation of these companies, as well as the feedback they’ve received from previous clients.

Villainous techniques

Perhaps you’ve heard the term “black hat” before when you’ve explored the realm of Internet marketing. You may even know that it’s bad, though you’re not entirely sure why exactly that is. As clichéd as it may be, “black” Internet marketing techniques are bad and “white” Internet marketing techniques are good – or, perhaps, to be more accurate, “black” is illegal and “white” is legal. (And we’re talking in terms of search engine rules, not the actual judiciary reality of the real world!)

StrategyDriven Internet Marketing Article
Photo courtesy of freezelight via flickr

Essentially, “black hat” or “black label” Internet marketing methods (and they’re usually SEO-based) actively use the sort of techniques that spam search engine algorithms with the sort of content that used to provide shortcuts to the very top of search engine rankings. Keyword stuffing, false leads, and unethical link sharing and selling are all parts of this game. Of course, black hat and black label SEO don’t often produce results, because companies like Google are very wise to their games these days. So you need to ensure that you’re looking into white hat and white label SEO if you want your campaign to go anywhere in the long-term.

“SEO” and “social media” are just buzzwords, right?

An alarmingly common problem is that business owners often find themselves trying a little too hard to go against the grain. Yes, you should be unique in your approach. But it’s possible to take that too far. If you’re of the opinion that SEO and social media are mere buzzwords as opposed to things that can actually help your marketing in big ways, then you’ve definitely gone a little too far from the beaten track!

StrategyDriven Internet Marketing Article

Without the use of SEO and social media, you’re throttling the efficacy of your digital marketing campaign. And I mean really throttling. Like, Homer-Simpson-choking-Bart-Simpson level throttling. SEO and social media are what help your digital marketing breathe and expand to new corners of the Internet. Don’t try to be so unconventional that you don’t use these at all.

Problems with your business

And so we come to the least fun possibility of the lot. The one that’s probably the hardest the solve of all of them. Let’s say your marketing isn’t actually flawed. Perhaps you’re working with the best Internet marketing company in the business. You’ve invested in all the correct tools and employees, and at a reasonable price, too. You have all the data you need to make the right decisions. But business still doesn’t seem to be going anywhere. An SEO audit didn’t reveal any problems with your marketing approach, so what could the problem be?

StrategyDriven Internet Marketing Article

Unfortunately, it could very well be the case that the problem is with your business. After all, all the great marketing in the world simply isn’t going to help you out that much if your website, product, or service really isn’t that up to scratch.

But how exactly can you tell if this is the problem? Well, this is why you need powerful analytics for your website and Internet marketing campaign. If people are being directed to your business in droves, then you should be able to tell. If they are, but not enough people are actually clicking through to complete a purchase, then this is a sign that something is wrong with what you’re offering, or how you’re offering it, as opposed to something being wrong with the marketing itself. In this case, you’re going to have to do some market and customer research in order to pinpoint the problems you’re having!