Are You a Trusted Expert or ‘Just Another Builder’
How is it that some builders seem to win the best jobs with healthy profits while others fight for table scraps?
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If you feel like you’re always on the back foot with clients, life can be tough. Some examples of when clients don’t seem to value what you’re offering include:
- You’re invited to tender on a job but suspect you’re purely being price checked
- You give clients some really important advice (fundamental to their success) and they basically ignore it, or
- Your constantly being told you’re “too expensive”
Pretty frustrating. You feel like you’re stuck at the back of the queue and the clients have no idea what you can offer.
The problem? They see you as ‘just another builder’.
They don’t understand the experience, expertise, skills and care that you bring to your projects.
Instead, they believe they’ve already found a specialist for their job who focuses in their type of project.
Sadly, if you get involved with these clients, they’ll likely treat you merely as quote fodder – and totally waste your time.
Why ‘Trusted Experts’ Win Jobs
By comparison, a ‘trusted expert’ has the client’s ear.
They have a profile, a platform. They’re regarded by the client as an authority.
The client hangs on their every word and has decided to engage them before the quotes from each builder have even come in.
A trusted expert is in the box seat with most jobs because they’ve been educating the client for months before any other builders got involved.
5 Steps to Become a Trusted Expert
1. Build Social Proof – prospects trust others who have experienced your services. Job photos (before/after), references, video testimonials, social media connections, case studies and more. Make it as real as possible so clients have tangible evidence of how you’ve gone on other projects
2. Map Out Your Process – Have a clearly defined and documented process for how you engage and then deliver your projects. Create an infographic that educates the client about each stage and why you do what you do.
3. Educate with Content Marketing – Creating a series of educational articles helps position you as the expert who shares their knowledge. Clients love this because they have hundreds of questions they need answered. Send them educative articles each fortnight and become the guru.
4. Enable Small Trust Building Steps – Create a trust building process that enables clients to take small risks that then lead to greater commitments. For example, start off by ensuring you’re always on time to meet them. Then, charge a fee for your first meeting. Then, introduce a design professional you trust. Then, tender on the project. Prove to the client, each step of the way, that they can trust you.
5. Be Upfront & Transparent About TOTAL Costs – Educate clients upfront of the total cost, explaining that you don’t want them to have any surprises. That helps them feel comfortable the costing information you provide is all inclusive. Do this with a ProCalc free trial. It also means that should another builder provide a lower quote, the client will query them what’s missing – they focus on quality rather than price.
You might also like:
- Builders, Get Your Pricing Right Every-time – No More Under-Quoting
- Transform Your Building Business in 43 Mins (webinar)
- How (& Why) to Charge for First Client Meetings
- Take a Free Trial of ProCalc
- Stop All Free Client Meetings – Charge Upfront
- Want more tips like these? Watch the Webinar: Work Smarter, Not Harder
Richard Armstrong is a former registered builder who recently interviewed hundreds of experienced Australian builders to identify how they best manage clients, budgets and profitability.
