How to grow your building construction company in a downturn

Then Coronavirus came along and boom...it stopped. But here lies the biggest opportunities for small and mid-tier building and construction companies to build their businesses while the bigger guys put down the trowel.

With free time up your sleeve, it's important to be reaching out to prospects and letting them know why its a good option to choose you over your competitors.

Here's some simple ways to connect with prospective clients:

• Fix your website. Many building and construction companies have blindly thought that their website is not important only to find out that right now, its their only marketing tool that can guarantee they get a contract. Your website should not only be a good indication of who you are and what you do, but it should also have case studies and testimonials on it. More so many other industries, these things count. Everyone has a disaster story with a builder, so show your audience that you are focused on customer service and fulfilling your contracts.
• Search engine optimisation. There is no point in having a website if no-one can find it. Marketing Eye has SEO contracts as low as $700 per month. It is $700 well spent, let me assure you. Do a keyword analysis on your website and monitor its performance on Google Analytics and Alexa.
• Set up social media. You don't need to be everywhere but where you do need to be is Linkedin for business connections and mostly because the people on LinkedIn are likely to have jobs. Pinterest and Instagram is good for showing off the work you do and stages of development, as well as any new techniques that you may be using as part of the building process.
• Content. Blogging and guest blogging will help connect your audience to your brand and company. By constantly connecting with your audience and giving them a reason to feel like they can relate to you, you are indirectly selling 'trust' in your brand.
• Adwords. If your website is at a level that it should be, and you have invested in SEO, the next step is amplifying your website and to do that, you need Adwords. Even if your budget is just $500 per month, that is enough to get your website noticed.
• Email marketing. If you have a database, share interesting information with your target audience.
• Amplifying Linkedin for lead generation. On Linkedin a few months ago, a builder shared a video of a house that they had built. It received over 100k views. The person had less than 500 connections. Use automated platforms to connect to more people and direct message them. Join groups. Comment on other people's posts. 

You have an opportunity to really build your business and deal flow. There are still people who are liquid and have safe jobs, so leverage this and connect with them. It's a great time to build, renovate and work out how to invest in the future. Partner with accounting firms as they know the financial situation of their clients and can assist in connecting you to people who are seeking to build a house or investment property.

There really has never been a better time because so many people have taken their foot off the pedal, and the competition isn't so great.