Move The Needle For Your Business
As busy contractors it is all too easy to let time pass without making measurable improvements.
We say we want our business to grow but how often do we take the time to address what is needed to make it happen?
Since the new year has conveniently wiped the slate clean it’s the perfect time to put an end to procrastination and start taking real action to move the needle. This is the year for you to reach new levels of success.
Consider the follow ways you can move the needle for your business in 2016.
1. Decide on the type of projects you want to land
Strangely enough many contractors and service providers don’t make this a conscious decision.
It is all too easy to have a passive approach and take the work that comes your way without ever deciding if this is the type of work you should be doing, or even want to be doing. The fact is, randomness in your project pipeline rarely equals high profits, at least not consistently. Long term success comes from decisions and planning.
Decide on the type of work that is most profitable, fits your skill set, is enjoyable, and is consistently attainable. When you do this, you empower yourself and can take focused action to find the type of clients that can give you these types of projects.
Begin by reviewing your past projects to see how you can shape your future. What were your most profitable projects? Which ones were most enjoyable? What sources did they come from? What clients gave you these projects? What cities or towns were they in? What would you have to do to land more of these types of projects? What would your coming year be like financially if your schedule was full of this type of project?
2. Build a better sales process
Improving your ability to sell projects means improving your process to sell projects. Every potential client travels through a process before becoming a customer.
The first question to ask is if your website is communicating in generalities, trying to be all things to all people, or does it have a specific message that differentiates you in your market? If you take the steps to define the type of work you want to land, and the clients that can give you that work, you are in position to custom tailor the content of your website. The words and images you use should resonate with those clients to attract more of your ideal projects.
Next, be sure all of your documents or handouts (including estimates or proposals,) represent your brand quality, inspire trust, and continue to tell the story of why your prospect should hire you. Every document is a marketing document. Each has the potential to build trust or erode it.
Lastly, look to perform your best in face to face meetings. No one wants to be sold anything, but we all want to have our needs met. If you take the time to understand your prospective client’s needs, you can have a conversation around meeting those needs. This allows you to relax and let a sale unfold more naturally. If the earlier stages of the sales process performs well, the face to face meeting becomes that much easier.
Sales happen when a prospect knows you, trusts you, understands the value of what they are buying. A well crafted process, one that is aligned with the needs of the buyer, will help you consistently improve your numbers across the board.
3. Get clear on your revenue goals
If you don’t get crystal clear on how much money you want to make, chances are, you will not even make the money you need. Only you can determine what that goal should be. Once you pick the target, you can set in motion consistent actions to achieve it.
Here is a formula to begin to define the actions you need to take to reach your revenue goal.
- Take your goal and divide it by the amount of projects you need to land this year. Base it on an average project price.
- Once you know the amount of projects you need to land, identify the amount of new leads you need to attract to land that many projects. To determine this, you need to understand how many projects you land for every project lead.
- Now that you know how many new work opportunities you need to attract, you can work on the weekly business development steps you’ll need to succeed on your mission.
Here is a quick example:
If you need to land 20 of your average priced projects to reach your revenue goal this year, and you generally land one project out of every three leads that come your way, then the math says you need to attract 60 new prospects to reach your revenue goals.
(60 project leads + 1 project landed per lead= 20 projects landed. Voila, goal reached!)
If you break down the amount of project leads you need to land each week in this neat little scenario, it works out to a bit over 1 per week. Your task each week would be to seek one new project opportunity. That is your new weekly goal.
It’s true things don’t always work out with this type of mathematical precision, but you have a much better chance of it actually happening if you have a plan and break down that plan into weekly actions.
Moving the needle in your business is a mindset.
It starts with being determined to do so. The contractors that are succeeding put fear aside and make decisions about what they want.
What will you do this year to move the needle and build the level of success that is waiting for you?
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About the Author: Wayne Lamarre is a construction marketing expert, speaker, and business development consultant, who specializes in helping contractors go from good to great. Contact Wayne to add fuel to your construction business.