Marketing To Contractors

Are you not asking to jump from the frying pan into the fire? If you think that homeowners are bidding things down to rediculous levels, wait until you meet the GCs who would "give you a chance". I'm perhaps being overly cynical here, but you have two risks: One, your margins are going to be dirt low, and second, you risk real cash flow problems -- either slow payment or not getting your money at all. It happens, too often.

But since you asked, I'll share some best practices here for the b to b side of the market.

1. Joining and participating in the relevant HBA in your area may be your wisest investment. You have the best chance of connecting with the reputable contractors who pay their bills through this channel. It won't necessarily be a quick hit -- but you will find some progress here.

2. Join the relevant American Subcontractors Association Chapter. You need the "dirt" on the GCs BEFORE you contract with them.

Frankly, I think you'll be much better off improving your retail marketing practices -- you have a much greater chance of getting your price and creating a higher perceived value with homeowners than GCs.

Could we please stay tuned to the core question. You are getting way off topic. I understand all the things you are saying. If I wanted to talk about, should we go after homeowers or contractors I would have asked that. Is what I was curious about was new ways to market your services to contractors. And trust me, I am working the homeowner market like a bat out of hell, but can we ever have enough work????


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Thanks.

Ok, I've already suggested the association route is the beswt approach to winning contractor business. Your challenge is to develop visiility and credibility with the people you wish to connect with. So look to the associations where your clients hang out. Then get involved in activities, committees, and meetings, contribute to the newsletter, make yourself visible. You'll determine the centres of influence and these will become your key contacts for marketing and relationship development. Once you have some affinity, of course, you can phone, email or otherwise promote yourself directly.

For your business, which is a late stage service, you may wish to develop some marketing materials and educational resources which builders can include in their kits and add value to the process.

Perhaps get up early, go to job sites, bring coffee, see the supers, and learn from them who actually knows who re the decision-making for things like gutters.

Your best chance, however, is to show you care and connect and that is why I like the HBA association approach -- there is a real bias within these groups to do business with fellow members. You won't get the business just by joining, however.