On Friday afternoon, I listened to the marketing challenges of one of my Construction Marketing Ideas book‘s readers. (I offered individuals who ordered the book from my website ahead of publication two hours free consulting. The reader asked for one of the hours Friday and I granted it.)
The reader said he had moved to a new city and tried a flier campaign, without success. I explored his background and circumstances (which I won’t report here because the reader certainly has a right to confidentiality.) I then probed into his ideal client. He said the homeowners he had the most luck with were upper-scale. They thought his prices reasonable and weren’t nickel and diming him. He then added an interesting additional remark. “One common denominator among my best (former) clients at the other location is they all drove used Mercedes.”
Time for my creative lightbulb.
“Why don’t you connect with these Mercedes dealers, with letters and testimonials from your clients at the other location if possible, and offer them a co-marketing deal. Every time they provide a service, they would invite their clients to receive two hours free handyman service at their homes or some other simple free service. No obligation. This would add value to their client experience and could get your foot in the doors you really want to enter.”
I’m not sure if the reader will follow this advice because it seems unconventional and is not a magic big solution. You won’t find it in the textbooks and of course I’m not sure if the idea will work. (The Mercedes repair shops may not be interested and/or the clients take the free service and run — meaning you’ve worked for nothing.) But I like this kind of thinking because it responds to my Construction Marketing 401 (advanced marketing) Smell Test.
Qualities for passing the test:
- The idea must be inexpensive, especially in cash (sure some time and effort is required but virtually no cash is needed).
- It must be something your competitors are unlikely to emulate or copy quickly. (Yes, I’ve “announced” it here, but how many contractors in how many cities are likely to even try this?
- It is individualized based on your own proprietary market research and data. The contractor knows he has had success, for some reason, in working with used Mercedes owners. There are plenty of used Mercedes owners in most significant cities, and specialized private repair shops to serve the market. They also, are not constrained by the bureaucracies and brand codes of the formal dealership system, so can be relatively easy to access.
This idea also shows that marketing, to me, does not need to be big or flashy. In fact, stealth approaches where you carve a small space of the universe and do it very well are often far more effective than big and expensive traditional campaigns. Think creatively and you will likely succeed.