Is word of mouth your sole strategy for gaining new clients? You might be setting limits for yourself.

Much like other professional service sectors, the AEC industry—including construction firms and specialty trade contractors—thrives on referrals to build a steady stream of opportunities. Securing repeat business from perfect-fit clients often leads to recommendations for your services. This referral-based client pipeline brings several perks—verified credibility and trust, along with an informed grasp of your service offerings being recommended—all provided by the referral source. Often, these clients have already assessed your credentials before making contact. Marketing expenditure? Minimal.

However, challenges are attached to letting others outside your firm serve as your marketing channel. 

You have limited control over what they say about your business. Your reputation rests in their hands. Negative reviews are possible due to circumstances like supply chain issues. These kinds of challenges are out of your control but now part of the story shared about your business.

Your brand messages—what clients, potential clients, your team, future team members, and the industry think and feel about you—are too important to be shaped solely by word of mouth.

Steer your future down your chosen path with a well-defined marketing plan. How to begin? Start with clients in your current pipeline and those you’ve done work for in the past. This attribution study helps you understand what these companies have in common. Who was the source of the referral?

Use this information to decide what kinds of jobs are most likely to be successful for you and your client. Identify more look-alike firms you might like to add to your customer list. Then consider who other people are who can influence your success (for example, current or future employees). These are your target audiences—your marketing plan should be created to shape their opinion of your firm.

Understanding your target audiences’ roles and beliefs and what methods can be used to reach them helps build your marketing plan.

Need help building your plan? We’ve laid the foundation for success using our strategic process, the Marketing Action Plan. This collaborative discovery activity prioritizes your targets and uncovers what they need to believe about you so that your marketing has maximum impact and prescribes what the people who can make you more successful hear. Here are some tools to get you started or you can schedule a call to find out more.