Looking to expand your construction business? That’s a worthwhile goal. But trying to figure out where to start can be confusing.
Don’t worry, here at Cedreo we’ve got your back.
We work with a lot of home-building and remodeling companies so we know what works. Here we’ve put together 5 actionable tips you can implement to start improving your construction business.
- Generate more leads
- Shorten the sales cycle
- Know your costs
- Project management
- Analyze the results
Let’s get started with one that’ll get you some of the fastest results — generating more leads.
Generate More Leads
Learning how to consistently generate leads is one of the best things you can do to improve your construction business. Here are a few of the best ways to do that.
Optimize Google My Business (Maps) Profile
Once you’ve claimed your Google My Business profile, you need to optimize it to make sure you can get the right type of construction leads for your business. Here are a few things you should do:
- Double-check your business info (name, website, email, phone) to make sure it’s correct.
- Add the right categories for your listing
- Set your service area
- Choose the services you offer
- Add photos (before and after photos work great!)
- Set it up to receive messages so it’s easy for people to contact you
Use Google Ads to Rank for Service-Based Keywords
It can take a lot of time and effort until you show up high in the local search results. The faster way is to purchase Google Ads.
You can bid on specific keywords like “remodeling contractor” or even something more specific like “kitchen remodeling business”. Then when someone searches for that in your area, you will automatically show up towards the top of the results.
Collect and Publish Reviews Online
Online reviews are modern-day word-of-mouth advertising. They help build trust in your business even with someone who’s never heard of you before.
So be sure to ask for reviews from your customers. You can even make it part of your project punch list. When you’re finishing up and your clients are excited about their project, kindly ask them to leave a review on your Google profile (or other review sites like Yelp).
Promote Your Business on Industry Sites
Promoting yourself on construction industry sites is another solid way to improve your business. Most are even designed to match contractors with homeowners planning projects. Here are a few you should consider:
- Angi
- Houzz
- HomeAdvisor
- ConstructConnect
Generating leads is the first step to growing your business. But it’s also important to shorten the sales cycle. See more about that in the next section.
Shorten the Sales Cycle
Your sales cycle is the time it takes you to go from generating a lead to closing a sale. If you can shorten that cycle, you’ll have more time for managing projects, generating leads, and increasing revenue. Here are some ways to achieve that.
Help Prospects Before They Reach Out
During the initial stages of a sales cycle, a lot of contractors end up just answering general questions. So why not help prospects get answers to their questions before they even contact you?
You can do that by adding a FAQs section to your website. And since a lot of people might be finding your Google My Business profile, be sure to respond to customer questions there. You can also add photos and written updates where you can address common questions and concerns.
Set a Goal for Each Contact
Of course, your main objective is closing the sale. But it’s also important to set smaller goals that help you reach the big one. These could be goals like scheduling a phone call and a time to give them an estimate or addressing specific concerns they might have.
When you have these micro-goals in mind, it’s easier to keep the sales process moving forward and improve your construction business.
Show Off Your Skills
One of the best ways to shorten a sales cycle is to impress potential clients with images that showcase your skills. A great way to do that is to add 3D renderings and floor plans to your sales presentations.
When you add a 3D image to your project presentation (instead of just hand-drawn sketches or 2D plans) you show prospects that you’re a professional in your field. 3D visuals also create a greater emotional impact that gets prospects excited about a project.
It’s also a good idea to show comparisons of renderings made for previous projects compared with the photos of the finished project. That builds trust with prospects since they know what they see is what they’ll get.
PRO TIP! – To get the greatest benefit from 3D images, you need a program that can create high-quality visuals. If you don’t have a lot of 3D design experience, use Cedreo. Create professional 3D home designs with just a few clicks.
Know Your Costs
It’s important to understand how profitable your business is so you know where it can improve. And a big step in understanding profitability is knowing your costs — job costs and overhead costs.
Overhead costs include general expenses to keep your business running. These could be salaries for support staff, office expenses, insurance, utilities, legal fees, etc.
Job costs, on the other hand, include everything related to a particular project — labor, supplies, equipment rental, permits, etc. When you create project proposals, be sure to take all of this into account.
An easy way to not overspend on job costs is to use home design software like Cedreo. It helps you in two different ways:
- Accurately calculate materials — like flooring. As you design a space, Cedreo gives you up-to-date measurements and surface area calculations that make it easy for you to determine total material costs.
- Don’t waste money on materials the clients don’t like. Show your client a 3D rendering of your ideas. By doing that you can test out materials and finishes so when it comes time to purchase them, you won’t be wasting money on something the client doesn’t like.
Project Management
Managing projects can be a huge headache. And if that’s the case for your construction business, it can put a damper on your business growth.
So what are the best ways to improve your construction business through streamlined project management?
Two words… organization and communication.
Every construction project has a lot of moving pieces. You’ve got employees, clients, schedules, materials to order, work to do, and questions to answer. So you need to find a way to stay organized.
Then we have communication. Effective communication is the keystone of project management. You need clear, open, and efficient communication between employees and management, as well as with your clients.
More and more construction businesses are turning to software like Cedreo to help them streamline project management. Here’s how it can help.
Cedreo helps you stay organized. With the enterprise plan, your entire team can share and collaborate on project plans.
And since Cedreo streamlines the entire design process, you and your team can dedicate less time to working with drawings and more time to other essential project management tasks.
Cedreo streamlines communication with clients. You know how difficult it can be to get your clients to understand your vision for their project. That’s where 3D renderings and floor plans come in.
They remove the guesswork and make it easy for clients to understand what you’re proposing. They also give you the ability to present different design options to your clients. All of this helps you avoid miscommunications down the line.
And let’s say that a certain material is out of stock or on backorder. With Cedreo, you can show your clients alternatives they might like so the project can keep moving forward.
Analyze the Results
Once you finish the actual construction stage of a project, don’t just move on to the next one. Instead, take some time to analyze with your team how the project went. Doing that will help open your eyes to areas that need improvement.
Here are some things you can analyze at the end of each project.
- How close was your actual profit to your estimated profit? Were you pretty close or was it way off?
- Did the estimated material costs match up with what you spent?
- Did anything happen during the project that caused you to lose productivity or go over budget?
- Did you remember to add overhead costs to the project budget? Were they accurate?
Only once you fully understand how a project went can you make necessary changes to improve.
Conclusion
Ready to take your construction business to the next level? There are tons of ways you can improve your construction business, but the 5 we just discussed can make the biggest impact.
So don’t wait! Start implementing them today.
An easy way to do that is to sign up for a FREE trial with Cedreo. Its all-in-one home design and 3D rendering software gives you what you need to improve productivity and land more clients.
No other home design software lets you do so much, so fast.
So why not join the thousands of other contractors who’ve already made the switch to Cedreo and are starting to improve their construction businesses?
