Word Of Mouth Vs Networking: Which One Is Best For My Construction Marketing?
The million-pound question.
‘Word of Mouth’ or ‘Network Marketing’ – which is best for my construction business?
There are plenty of points both for and against.
And everyone will have differing opinions.
We thought we’d touch on a few of the major points to help you think about where to put your focus as part of your construction marketing.
To do some of the thinking for you.
And help you make the right decision for the kind of Trade and construction business you are looking to build…
1. COST: Word of mouth vs networking for my Construction marketing.
💬 WORD OF MOUTH MARKETING
Word-of-mouth marketing is generally free and relies on satisfied customers to spread the word about your construction business.
This means it can be a very cost-effective way to reach new customers.
Free in fact.
Example.
You run a commercial electrical business.
You’ve recently helped a client who runs a busy restaurant with an electrical problem that could have closed his business for weeks.
But your fast response and turnaround of works meant he only had to close for a few days and was over the moon.
He is delighted with your service and tells his friends – who happen to be business owners - all about you.
One runs a dental surgery, the other a kitchen showroom and the last one an IT company.
They all call you for help over the coming months when they have hit a problem with their electrics.
All because their friend has recommended you from the help you had given them with their restaurant.
And it didn’t cost a penny.
Winning.
🕸 CONSTRUCTION NETWORK MARKETING
The answer to this all depends on the networking group you decide to join for your construction business.
But there is usually going to be some kind of investment (for the good groups at least).
You can attend one off meetings locally, where you may pay a small fee to cover the venue hire and some food (say £20 to visit).
There are other informal networking groups where you actually join as a member that meet once a month (online or in person) and fees could be from £20 per meeting, again to cover membership, venues and food/drinks.
And then there are the more formal networking groups.
Where you join as a member and pay an annual membership fee to lock out competitors.
There is also monthly subs fee to cover breakfast/lunch at these venue.
These kind of groups cost around £1000 a year to be a member of.
The reason the cost to join networking groups like these are because of the value they may bring to your business.
And it’s worth mentioning here too, you may even decide to join a construction specific Networking Group – where all members are in the construction industry in one way shape or form.
Thinking about joining one of formal networking groups?
Check this out for size.
An Honest Review Of BNI For Your Trade And Construction Marketing.
🏆 WINNER: WORD OF MOUTH
2. CREDIBILITY: Word of mouth vs networking for my Construction marketing.
💬 WORD OF MOUTH MARKETING
When someone receives a recommendation for a construction service from a friend or family member, they may be more likely to trust the recommendation.
Though this could depend on the friend or family member!
Word of mouth is definitely more effective than a cold introduction, as the person making the recommendation already has a relationship with the potential customer.
They have also likely used the construction business for their own home or workplace.
So the recommendation usually comes from a first-hand experience and is more personal.
This means your business is more likely to get a call for a survey or to quote as we feel our friends and family are only going to be recommending credible businesses to us.
We hope!
🕸 CONSTRUCTION NETWORK MARKETING
Credibility here all depends on the reputation of your entering group.
If you are part of a group that is known for Trades that disappear into the sunset, or bully-sales tactics, then your credibility is going to go down the pan by association.
Not good.
Which is why we mentioned earlier how important it is to choose the right networking group.
If you are in a FANTASTIC group that is known to be full of professional businesses, who help the local community and have a fantastic reputation, then by way of associating with them, your credibility is going to go up too!
Before you choose any networking group to align your Trades business with, check this out:
5 Non-Negotiables When Choosing A Networking Group For Your Construction Business.
🏆 WINNER: UNDECIDED
3. REACH: Word of mouth vs networking for my Construction marketing
💬 WORD OF MOUTH MARKETING
With the best intentions in the world, one mouth can only reach so many.
What do I mean?
Take Bob.
He's recommended your construction business a lot in the past.
Bob has a job and a family that he prioritises.
Bob goes to bed.
Bob goes on holidays.
Bob meets other Trades who he may well start recommending instead.
Bob’s son has just started the same Trades business as you - so now all the referrals go to him.
There are so many reasons why – even though Bob raves about your Trades business – that he might stop, slow down or recommend someone else altogether.
Relying on individuals alone can be tough (and dangerous) for your construction business.
🕸 CONSTRUCTION NETWORK MARKETING
Networking Groups rely on the group.
Not the individual.
Though efforts will vary group to group.
Here’s a few ways Networking will help you raise awareness of your construction business to perhaps 100x the amount word of mouth alone might…
✅ Members: You are joining a GROUP, which could have 15, 40 or even 100 members that meet regularly. Straight away you have an active audience listening to you.
✅ Visitors: Networking groups need to grow to stay in business and often allow visitors to come along. This means that once a month/week you are being introduced to new people regularly that may very well need your service. Over the course of a year this really adds up to expanding your network.
✅ Referrals: Networking Groups encourage passing referrals. Which means members need to be active in telling OTHERS about your business. So you may very well have 40 people a week trying to find you work or at least talking about you to the people they know.
✅ Social Media: Though the handful of people outside your Networking Groups may try to recommend you, your Networking Groups may have social media campaigns within the group where members are encouraged to comment and share regularly on your posts to help bring you more visibility ONLINE.
🏆 WINNER: NETWORKING.
4. CONVERSION: Word of mouth vs networking for my Construction marketing
💬 WORD OF MOUTH MARKETING
Conversion of the job will come down to you as a business.
✅ How you carried yourself at the meeting/quotation.
✅ How quickly you got your quote over to a customer.
✅ What materials and value you provided both at the meeting as takeaways and as references to help the customers make decisions.
Though some of the weight of the decision to use you or not may also come down to the person that recommended you.
If your WORD OF MOUTH advocate has used you personally and can vouch for your services, teamed with all the above points (quotes over quickly, good first impression etc) then you likely stand a very good chance for go-ahead.
🕸 CONSTRUCTION NETWORK MARKETING
When it comes to recommendations from Networking Groups, a lot rests on this.
Not just because we are recommending people we know, but that the member’s OWN reputation rides on this.
If a member of your Networking Group recommends your building firm to their best client, they are only going to do this if you have proved yourself as a business – even if they have not used you personally.
They will ask their fellow members who have used you, listened to the testimonials you may have received in the meeting, got to know you as an individual (that’s all about personal brand – read more on that here) to see if they are happy to put you in front of their best client.
And, if you are in a GREAT Networking Group with professional people, they are likely to have very good relationships with their clients too.
And if they are well connected and in a Networking Group that holds them accountable for the amount of referrals they bring (which the formal groups do), then the possibility that they will recommend you MORE to a higher quality client type is pretty high.
It’s in their interest to go out of their way to find you referrals in exchange for being a great member of the group and hope to receive great referrals back for their own business.
🏆 WINNER: NETWORKING.
CONCLUSION.
Though both word of mouth and network marketing are so powerful for your construction business – and both SHOULD be part of your business and construction marketing strategy – Networking has the EDGE if you are looking to seriously scale.
50 years ago, we could build a business slowly on word of mouth alone.
Relying on a few key folks that are well connected to recommend us.
Competition was much less.
Today, we are computing not only with other local construction companies but with the introduction of websites and social media, it’s very easy to get left behind if you’re not keeping on top of thing’s.
And though you may be the best at what you do, if nobody knows about you or your competitors are dominating with their brand and marketing, your business can very quickly fall behind.
If anything, networking allows you to lighten the load – when you have active members of a group you join to help your construction business become more prominent and integrate in the kind of circles that you want more clients and work from.
⬇️ Word of Mouth Vs Networking: Which One Is Best For My Construction Marketing Rundown:
1. 🏆 Cost: WORD OF MOUTH
2. 🏆 Credibility: UNDECIDED
3. 🏆 Reach: NETWORKING
4. 🏆 Conversion: NETWORKING
🛠 Need a little more help nailing your Trades and Construction Brand and Marketing?
Course you do.
First. Let’s work out where you are with all things marketing.
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Take our Trades Quiz to discover how you score with all things ‘Off The Tools’.
We have heaps of tips, tricks, and hacks for your Trade and Construction business in our cheat sheets, videos and ideas waiting for you on the other side… i.e., your results page.
So, you can improve your score. And NAIL your Trade and Construction business.
Nice.