Businesses miss opportunities all the time. Often, this occurs due to a lack of alignment between two departments: marketing and sales. You should strive to align lead generation and sales so your company performs smoothly and seamlessly. Start with your website. People use Google to look for contractors, using keywords like “top general contractors” to find them. With some work, you can position your website to appear in these results, helping prospective buyers to find you and sign up for your services. Bridge the gap between marketing and sales by starting with your website. From here, buyers begin the journey that hopefully ends in a sale.
1. Understand your audience and what they want.
Start by thinking about general demographics—age, gender, location, income, and so on. You should also research neighborhoods on the rise and what the people moving into them might want when it comes to buildings. Once you figure this out, you can find small things people like—colors, styles, and so on—to use in your marketing. These building blocks serve as the foundation of your marketing and sales efforts.
2. Create goals for your construction marketing and sales.
You should have a clear plan for your marketing and sales. What is it that you want to achieve? More sales? Wider reach? Create a website aligned with your goals.
3. Create an amazing website.
Your website should look polished and professional—not like something your cousin did for free. Take all of the design elements seriously and consider the process like you would a new construction project. Create a good layout that will not confuse your customers. Choose aesthetics properly and add some professional photos.
4. Take your blog seriously.
Blogging serves as an excellent tool to help you rank higher in search results and lead potential buyers to your website. You can create blog content yourself or hire a content writer to do it for you. Whatever you do, make your content relevant to your audience and include the right keywords.
5. Give prospects the tools to contact you.
“Your contact information should be prominent and available. The visitor shouldn’t struggle to find it—mostly because they won’t, they will give up. Provide a live chat feature where your customers could directly reach you. Add social media accounts where your audience can find you as well,” says Katie Wilson, a digital marketer at 1Day2write and Australia2write.
6. Ask good questions.
After creating a website that reliably generates leads, it’s time for your sales team to shine. Once a customer contacts you, ask qualifying questions to make sure their goals fit the services you provide. This will support the project and help you figure out what your customer really wants when it comes to design, build, functionality, and so on.
7. Find out who makes decisions.
Find out who the key decision makers are and establish an authority map so that you always know precisely who to talk to. You should ensure that all of the potential players remain in contact with you and that you have taken their individual needs into account.
8. Don't forget the details.
At all stages of the process, you should track and notate all of the important details for your sale. Note all of the changes in time frames, design, etc. This will help you look professional and dedicated and it will also protect the project by making sure that you remain fully informed on everything going on.
9. Simplify sales by offering explanations.
“The design process can be quite lengthy and this leaves room for changes. Simplify the sales process by offering explanations and demos from the start,” says Joe Branson, a sales manager at Writemyx and Brit student.
10. Ask for details on the budget.
Your budget for construction is critical. With various changes that workers might make in the design, you need to know how much they can spare on specific elements.
Conclusion
Aligning marketing and sales has historically posed a challenge for businesses. But a perfect and seamless alignment can help you get more leads, customers, and clients. Katrina Hatchett works as a business blogger at Academic Brits. She has been involved in various business projects, where she aims to define project problems and propose solutions, as well as improve overall communication effectiveness. Also, she writes for Origin Writings, an academic service.
