Growth Marketing: How to Attract, Engage and Retain Clients

Charles Robins | Growth Marketing Director

Vihara’s Growth Marketing approach combines a range of strategies to help increase sales. Most construction firms rely on repeat business, referrals or word of mouth to secure new work. But what happens when those approaches become less reliable and the construction market starts to slow down? Or conversely, what happens when the market rebounds and you want to jumpstart your business but referrals and repeat business fall short? At this point, it may be time to explore new business development opportunities.

One alternative is Vihara Communications’ Growth Marketing approach. Our effective methods bring in consistent results. Qualified leads come from smart sourcing. At Vihara Communications lead sourcing is done in a unique way:

  • We use hundreds of signals to find qualified prospects: email addresses, phone numbers, job titles, social profile links, detailed company profiles, and more.
  • We employ real-time email verification to ensure success; all lead-source information is authenticated to find relevant information – the right opportunities for your business
  • All leads are curated. Before you even see a lead, each one is contacted, screened and evaluated for being a good fit for your business.

With Vihara’s Growth Marketing, it’s not about hoping or waiting for the building industry to “get back to normal” before your business can growth. Rather, the focus is on leveraging proven techniques to secure new lead opportunities right away. New building projects are out there whether you specialize in one building classification type or more; but first, the key is finding them.Then, it takes a methodical sales and marketing approach to secure them.

How to Successfully Grow Your Contracting Business in 2021

Charles Robins | Growth Marketing Director

I hope 2021 is a great year for your general contracting company or construction-related business! But for many general contracting companies the new year has gotten off to a slower start than expected. The COVID hangover is still here even though people can now move about more freely.

Indeed, it may take some new practices to help get many companies back on solid ground financially with the way the construction market is right now. Therefore, to sustain and grow in the commercial or residential sectors, you need to look to alternative ways to bring in new business. But how do you do this?

I have worked as a sales and marketing consultant for commercial and residential construction firms for the past 15 years–finding qualified leads, following up on potential jobs and helping to close sales for my clients. When technology has offered sales tools to reach more qualified leads, I have adopted them. When COVID hit in March of 2020, making it more difficult to secure new jobs, I found smart work arounds so qualified leads kept coming for my clients.

What I know to be true about how to successfully grow a construction company remains clear: stay with what works, throw out what doesn’t, and add new ideas with a proven track record to boost sales. There is no magic bullet. You need to invest the time and energy into what works to close sales. Sounds simple, I know, but it requires the proper mindset and the right mix of sales and marketing strategies.

When you add in a global pandemic to the mix of an already competitive construction market, it creates a situation where there is less opportunity to go around. One could argue that for contractors to grow their business now, it is harder than ever. I don’t believe this. If your company is willing to adopt some new approaches qualified leads will come and sales will follow.

Lead Generation for General Contractors: How to Sustain Work During the COVID-19 Outbreak

Charles Robins | Growth Marketing Director

Effective marketing works all the time, even in uncertain times like now, where behind the scenes you can still position a design-build construction company effectively. Digital marketing will reach your customers even when direct contact is not always possible. We’ve gotten multi-million-dollar projects for both commercial and residential general contractors.

So what’s the secret?There is no secret. It simply takes dedication, hard work and the unique application of our knowledge and experience. We call this the Vihara Factor. We apply the latest and most effective internet marketing techniques to get design-build contractors jobs. The smart application of experience is knowing what works for getting construction firms new business.

With twenty-plus years of marketing construction companies, we know what your clients want and know how to engage them. We will help you secure new jobs during these challenging times by applying, among others, these techniques:

  • The Vihara Factor
  • Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
  • Video Marketing
  • Social Media Marketing
  • Press Releases
  • Blog Posts
  • Benefit-Driven Emails
  • Follow-up Tactics
  • Informational Content

The COVID-19 outbreak is a global phenomenon. Every person on the planet–and every business–has been severely impacted. The key if you own a construction company, I believe, is being consistent with your marketing, trusting in your expertise and realizing that when things turn around new jobs will be there if you have positioned your business effectively.

Until then, it helps to remember that your future customers are probably still reflecting on their building projects and, when the timing is right, will be ready to take action. So be prepared and stay in front of your customers with Vihara Communications’ proven marketing techniques.Learn More.

How to Increase Sales When You Own a Local Construction Business

Charles Robins | Growth Marketing Director

For local businesses that offer high-cost products or services, such as new home additions, outdoor patios, or electrical service upgrades, making a sale can be a gradual, lengthy and challenging process. It can take weeks, months or often longer; sometimes that “sure thing” just doesn’t come through.

During the sales process, a potential customer is certainly going to want to meet with the service provider at least once, if not several times. When you count all the calls, texts and emails that come later, it may feel as though there have been a zillion follow-ups.Typically, high-end services are not bought and sold like most consumer goods.

This sales process is far different than the one used for buying a product online with the simple click of a mouse. For the customer, choosing a company has got to feel right on many levels. The implicit trust that is required between the buyer and the seller can take time to develop. It can be complicated and nuanced. Making sales offline often requires a more traditional sales and marketing process wedded to new technologies. It takes a smart plan and a clear path for executing it.

For service businesses, internet marketing is never as simple as paying for leads and waiting for new jobs to roll in. You won’t get much business from blank stares at a computer screen. Skilled marketing practices for service providers involve creating a healthy balance of unique yet complementary strategies. It’s a coordinated effort, which, if done well, can bring about lasting success.So what’s the process?

Broccoli Stalks When Marketing!

Charles Robins |Growth Marketing Director

Yes, it may sound ludicrious, but using broccoli stalks when marketing your business can be important.

You are probably thinking, “That makes absolutely no sense. What on earth does broccoli–the useless stalk–have to do with marketing a business successfully?”

Hang in there. Let’s nibble on this metaphor a bit.

The beleaguered broccoli stalk gets little respect. In fact, the closer the stem is cut to the head, the higher the price of the vegetable. Even if consumers buy the longer-stalk option, they tend to cut off the two- four-inch stalks in preparation and toss them into the trash or compost pile. But the stalk, surprisingly, is sweet and offers a nice crunch; and it has enough stand-alone flavor to rival any salad fixing, even the preferred floret.

But what does a culinary tip have to do with marketing?

Simply, when new-fangled marketing ideas come around, unrecognized gems can easily get overlooked. For example, when initiating a Facebook campaign, running a PPC campaign or doing website SEO, adding a “stalk,” a more traditional approach, can sometimes add tremendous value. Still, these well-tested approaches are frequently overlooked as viable marketing options. But when used in the right way, they can bring a taste of sweet satisfaction:

  • Industry-wide Networking Events. Wonder why there are so many industry-related events or conferences? Because it gives people a chance to get to know each other and develop relationships. Events are a way to leverage a product or service, but more importantly, a chance to get to know your customers; people do business with people not algorithms.
  • Referral Marketing. Becoming a member of a referral-based marketing organization can get you in front of your customer base as well as generate a steady source of hot leads.
  • Benefit-Driven Marketing. This is a way to think, write and act. Got a big-ticket item that someone has contacted you about through the internet? That’s just the beginning. Now you’ve got to sell it. But how? A benefit-driven approach, quite simply, works the best.
  • Your Past Clients. Too many businesses owners fail to maintain relationships with past clients, when in fact, former clients can be one of the best sources of new business. The revenue that’s generated from a past client can account for 10x the value of their original purchase.

Oh, one more thing. The next time you buy broccoli, I suggest peeling off the bumpy outer layer of the stock and saving the inner core. Then use it as you would the floret: as a healthy chip for party dips, steamed or broiled for a side dish, or simmered in a tasty primavera sauce!

Curious how we do it? Learn More.

Almost Everyone Shops Online

Charles Robins | Growth Marketing Director

Even when shoppers buy in person, a remarkable 80% of them will search the Internet first to learn about a product or service before making a purchase.

But what percentage of those searchers are ready to buy today?

Not so many if it involves a significant monetary investment.

Typically, before a big project can start, a homeowner needs time to secure an equity line of credit, get funds through a cash-out refi or tap money from an inheritance.Therefore, if your website has solid information that can increase the understanding of a particular product or service, but not neccessarily sell it outright, strike that up as a win.This is exactly what you want: An individual to be well informed before they reach out to you directly.

Why? There is rarely a way to shorten a sales process if someone is going to spend tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of dollars for a service on a once-in-a-lifetime investment they know very little about in advance. But a person who is information-rich about your service has done their homework, and they are more likely to buy.By contrast, the “information-poor” homeowner may be lost in uncertainty, positing this fundamental question aloud: “Is now the right time for this?” For many people who have not done their homework, it may very well not be.

No one is a mind reader, so be prepared for most people to hit the pause button rather than buy straight away. And because your bottom line matters, understanding and implementing a smart online strategy is essential for promoting your business. It just makes sense: Service-related businesses should be using the same tools their customers are using to find them. Digital (or online) marketing is also quick to implement. And flexible. And trackable. And very much affordable. And you’ll get more leads at a lower cost. But it must be integrated with other strategies.

Curious how we do it? Learn More.