Spring Fever is settling in here in New England as the days get longer, the sun shines brighter and the frost has faded away. This is a great time of the year to plan a road trip. Of course when you sit down to do this you start asking yourself some questions, like:
- Why do I even want to do this?
- Where do I want to go?
- How will I get there?
- What’s going to make this trip special?
- Can I even afford to travel??
Oddly enough, these are similar questions construction clients (and consumers in general) ask themselves as they make their way along “the Buyer’s Journey”, a concept integral to modern marketing and client support. On their blog here, Hubspot defines this journey as, “… the process buyers go through to become aware of, evaluate, and purchase a new product or service.”
The concept asks us to consider the questions a buyer asks themselves along each stop in their journey, stops that Hubspot refers to as “stages”. It is awareness of these stops and questions that allow us to better understand the needs and process of our clients. They might be asking themselves:
- What the current pain points affecting my company’s organization and success?
- What are some of the solutions others have explored to solve these challenges?
- What resources are needed to make our selected project successful?
- What will the impact of this project be on our employees and our clientele?
- Do we have the money to make this happen?
Some examples of what we have seen our buyers encounter include the following questions. Has a warehouse owner discovered that they are having trouble maintaining adequate stock for their orders due to a poorly organized space? Or has an auto dealer determined they must renovate in order to meet their brand expectations? Each of these clients are at different spots in their process. One is working to determine what their actual problem is and the other knows what they need done but has to figure out how to make it happen. When we look in detail like this at our client’s journey, we can see the best locations for us to join them and how to tailor our services. Do we need to offer information in regards to space saving solutions to help warehouse owners think about upgrading their existing space? Might we highlight our experience updating auto dealerships according to manufacturer specifications in a timely and costly fashion? Each question has a valid answer for the different individuals in their unique situations. It may seem like a lot of work to map out each client’s experience in order to best prepare your response but realize that in today’s market, your buyers are not as easily swayed by an argument convincing them that you are the right solution to their problem. Instead they want to be able to find that direction for themselves; and by supporting that search you position yourself to present your services as a best fit solution when appropriate.
A new business venture or construction project can be a daunting “trip” for our clients and at New England Construction we do our best to help them rev up their engines with a good understanding of their needs, pack their trunks with the resources they will need to be educated on their path, and even make best use of our 30 years of experience in the industry to suggest routes that will lead to success. We want to partner with a client and make sure they don’t end up feeling like they have wasted their time on a lot of dead ends.
