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My construction company has grown a lot in 11 years. My partner and husband started our company by handling renovations for some local churches. Eventually, his success led him to begin our renovation and construction business.
Over the years, we have made a few mistakes but like any good entrepreneur, we try to correct them and learn from them. Marketing is not my strong suit but a necessary part of the advertorial culture we live in. Recently, I noticed three marketing mistakes that I'm determined to learn from.
Our estimate matching policy was killing us -- it had to go!
You wouldn't think a competitor would stoop so low as to "lowball" you on a price but it happened to us. After a few frustrating estimate refusals, my husband decided to follow the policy of his favorite department store and "match the price" of any job under $1,000. The customer had to produce a written estimate from the competitor showing the quote. When another owner caught wind of our practice, they sent a few lowball estimates our way. After finishing two jobs at 1/3 less the normal cost, my husband and co-owner cancelled this policy. Surprisingly, we discovered it was just a slight dip in the market, nothing to be concerned about. Our customers came back to us because of the quality we offer, not our Walmart policy.
Creating a social media page was a bad marketing move.
Everyone else was climbing on the Facebook bandwagon, so why not us? My amateur efforts ended up being more work than it was worth. Posting regular news, photos and employee notices were added tasks that didn't benefit us. Since I visited it so irregularly, (between making payroll and managing the office) our Facebook "friends" had their questions left unanswered. It was very unprofessional looking and a big marketing mistake on my part! I pulled the page and hired a local marketing agency to rework it for us.
A skimpy marketing budget was the third marketing mistake I made.
During tough financial times, the marketing budget is usually the first thing to go. This was true for us, granted our marketing efforts boiled down to t-shirts for the crew, a few bumpers stickers and an uninspiring logo. I did not plan for regular marketing expenses and that created some shortfalls in a few monthly budgets last year. When a good deal on banners and signage came our way, we had to miss out on the deal because we didn't have it budgeted.
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