Despite the recent volatile market conditions, the construction industry remains competitive, and firms are consistently looking for that “it” factor to win more work. One of the most common analogies used in business development (BD) and the project pursuit process is the “three-legged stool”, denoting cost, time and quality. The analogy is intended to demonstrate that all three factors are weighted equally, but in this post-pandemic era when budgets and schedules fluctuate due to external factors such as a looming recession or continued supply chain issues, quality becomes the only factor that construction firms can actually control. Although quality can be a nebulous term, difficult to quantify, and certainly takes more time to establish, in the long-run, delivering quality service to clients stands to be the greatest contributor to a construction firm’s profitability.
Quality in Construction
The question remains, then, “What is quality in the construction industry?” In commercial construction, as a business-to-business (B2B) industry, delivering quality means so much more than zero change orders or high-end finishes. When your client is also responsible for running a profitable business or managing public funding, cost and time are certainly important, but being able to anticipate your clients’ needs before they contact you, offering tangible solutions to problems that arise and even finding a way to be support your clients through a difficult time carry much more weight.
According to Dodge Data & Analytics SmartMarket Report entitled Improving Performance with Project Data, 78% of owners report that “the ability to work with other team members to solve issues and not escalate to the owner” ranks as the top metric for measuring the performance of a construction team. Not surprisingly, hard metrics like the percentage of construction costs related to construction errors and the number of change orders on a project were ranked second and third most important, but teamwork and collaboration still outweigh these cost related issues from the owner’s perspective. Instead of relying on the preconstruction team to configure these intricate, Gantt-style budgets and schedules, challenge your team to refocus their efforts on quality as the main differentiator.
How to Demonstrate Quality
How do you implement and then demonstrate high quality at your construction firm? Although there is no set formula for every single client, below are some best practices to highlight quality as your construction firm’s greatest differentiator.
- Research market trends – Although basic construction methodologies have not changed significantly over the past few decades, construction is still susceptible to current market trends. Investing in comprehensive construction industry data is certainly beneficial, but most often, the best answers come straight from the owner’s mouth. Encourage your BD team and job-site team members to continually check-in and talk to your clients. Even asking simple questions like the ones below will help inform you about what is actually taking place in market right now.
“What are some common pain points you are experiencing right now in your business?”
“What factors are keeping you from moving forward on the next project?
“What can we do better on the next job?”
Use the answers to these questions to focus on the solutions your firm can offer to your clients and what you can do to improve your client’s situation.
- Focus on your people – As seen in the SmartMarket Report referenced earlier, the ability of your team members to work together to problem-solve is the number one contributor to construction quality for owners. Although construction firms are still struggling with a tight labor market, building the right team that can mitigate issues in the field without consulting the owner every single time will allow your company to build a quality reputation that will, in turn, allow your company to gain more resources to hire more quality people.
- Mutually beneficial relationships – The main focus for your BD team should be to build mutually beneficial relationships with your clients. Again, this may seem obvious, but most BD teams only focus on landing the next project instead of finding ways to help your clients and potential clients outside of contractual work. When you help others solve a particular problem or support them through a difficult time, you form a bond with that particular person and hopefully have made them feel positive about your relationship. These actions set the foundation for trust, which is the highest caliber of quality.
Cost and budget still play important roles in construction’s three-legged stool, but if your construction firm is able to focus on problem-solving, building a collaborative team and setting the foundation for trust, quality will become your firm’s greatest differentiator.
About the Author: JULIE WANZER, LEED AP is the Owner and Principal of Business Rewritten, a marketing communication firm. She has over 19 years of experience in marketing communications with a focus on professional writing and digital marketing content for the A/E/C industry. Ms. Wanzer developed this passion for the built environment and an in-depth knowledge of the A/E/C industry by working, over the last 14 years, with engineers, architects, project managers, superintendents, principals, and project executives from various firms in Colorado and across the nation. After working in-house at two A/E/C firms, she launched Business Rewritten in 2015, and has since provided strategic business development and marketing strategies, insightful professional writing, and targeted digital content to over 25 A/E/C firms. Business Rewritten also supports the Colorado Contractors Association and the American Council of Engineering Companies of Colorado, as a marketing communications consultant, for their marketing and business development strategies and professional writing needs. In addition, Ms. Wanzer’s professional writing has been published by numerous entities, including ENR Mountain States, Water World Magazine, Denver Business Journal, Colorado Biz Magazine, and the Colorado Real Estate Journal.