In 2023, the construction industry faces some major challenges. While demand for new housing is on the rise, increasingly stringent environmental regulations are forcing developers to come up with buildings that consume less energy, but are still sturdy and aesthetically pleasing.
What can a construction company do to stand out from the competition, attract customers and win market share? Here's how.
The construction sector in 2023
As a key sector of the French economy, the building and civil engineering industry accounts for a significant proportion of national activity. Technological developments over the last few years have opened up interesting growth opportunities for building and civil engineering professionals. Added to this, urbanization continues to expand.
Real estate projects now often include green spaces, sometimes leisure facilities and systematically high-performance soundproofing and thermal insulation solutions. Indeed, the energy transition is a major challenge for today's construction and public works companies. They have to adapt to new customer demands in terms of the environment, but also comply with the strict standards imposed by legislation.
The use of innovative, environmentally-friendly materials is becoming increasingly important in both new construction and renovation. Unfortunately, the cost of materials in general has risen sharply since the Covid crisis and the war in Ukraine. Companies in the sector have to be very creative to maintain their margins. Some are turning to new technologies such as drones, artificial intelligence and construction robots tooptimize cost management and productivity.
How do you stand out in the construction industry?
Unless they're a large, well-known group, construction companies have to try and stand out from the competition to win over prospects and secure work. As they are not particularly good at sales, these companies sometimes find it hard to stand out from the crowd.
However, there are a few tips they can follow:
- Provide references: examples of completed work, testimonials from satisfied customers, photos of similar projects... Future customers are more reassured if they see what has been done elsewhere. They get a better idea of what their project will look like.
- Cite your years of experience, skills and diplomas as a natural part of the conversation.
- Show your insurance certificates: it's essential to offer serious guarantees covering all possible damage.
- Address the question of cost early on: there's no point wasting time, or wasting the customer's time, if the proposed rates don't fit into their budget. It's a sign of honesty and transparency to talk about it from the outset.
- To avoid unpleasant surprises later on, it's best to give realistic deadlines, and explain why if they seem too long.
- Draw up as accurate a quote as possible: even if it's sometimes difficult to be precise, try to get as close as possible to the real price. This way, the customer will have less difficulty committing to the project, because he'll know what to expect.
- Explain how the job will be carried out, step by step, so that the customer can plan ahead. You can also explain how the work will be carried out and the materials to be used, without going into too much technical detail. Planning must be precise and clear.
- Finally, throughout the project, keep in touch with the customer to keep them informed of progress, without them needing to know about any difficulties encountered. Regular reports are much appreciated by customers. They can ask any questions they may have.