CDBI National Design-Build Conference

Le Méridien King Edward 37 King Street East. Toronto, Ontario M5C 1E9, Canada Phone: (416) 863-9700

I am just about done packing for the Canadian Design Build Institutes National Design-Build Conference being held October 1-3 at the Le Meridien King Edward Hotel in Toronto. This is our first year as a sponsor of the event which allows us an opportunity to contact with the people we work with closely throughout the year in our project profiles; general contractors.

My goal for the conference is to meet up with several Generals I have worked with this year putting together feature articles on several projects while building relationships and connecting with existing clients. One of the most effective initiatives I have taken on there year has been working to expand our marketing/branding strategy and participating in an event like this helps establish us as an industry leader for news and information related to the construction industry.

The move towards sponsorship is also part of ensuring that every person in the company gets out and meets people in person in social settings such as this event and not only rely on phone calls and emails on developing relationships. Email and phone calls help to establih early communication but face to face meetings for me over a meal or drink I find are 10 times more effective in the long run.

Check out the Conference Package

Design-Build’s team approach is unique in how it engages all team members in the process. This collaborative environment is essential in finding creative ways to produce great results.

The goal of everyone in the industry should be better, faster, and more resourceful ways to deliver the best projects you can whether they are large or small.

Join us for two days of information packed sessions exploring innovative solutions that are vital in addressing today’s construction issues.

Learn all this and more at one comprehensive conference with an invaluable innovative focus. Come hear from some of Canada’s leading Design-Build practitioners!

If you are hosting a conference or event and are looking for sponsorship please drop me an email chasemarketing@sympatico.ca or call 905-228-1151 so we can meet.

Thank you for the feedback!

I got this message this morning in my Facebook mail. I regularly post my blog address in my status update section when I update my blog.


While sitting here at 5AM on the wet and wild fringe of hurricane Kyle I decided to look in on your blog. I found the piece on container conversions extremely interesting. What a fine idea. Also I found the blog exceptionally well articulated. Being an aged English teacher I always cringe at the grammatical errors so prevalent on the net but absent in your work.

Neatness counts. :-)

Vance Rockwell

Shipping containers could be 'dream' homes for thousands

I came across an interesting article about a a group of men who are turning shipping containers into homes for communities in Mexico that are seeing rapid business development but slum like conditions for the people working there.

As I read the article I immediately thought of the implications of this homes to be used as temporary housing in disaster areas, an economical solution to the homeless here in Canada.

Imagine if major corporations began to donate their used containers as part of a new green iniative. The opportunity for locale companies to get together and trasnform the containers as part of giving back to your community is limitless.

Check out the article below:


It was a side trip through a destitute, ramshackle neighborhood in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, that detoured Brian McCarthy from building houses in Albuquerque to an idea to offer the very poor a chance to own a home.

Sharing the Power

Check out this post from Construction Marketing Ideas that discussess an email I shared with Mark Buckshon.

Contrast this note from Chase, attending an evening Barrie Construction Association meeting. (Sure, the meeting is in the evening but everyone attending is there voluntarily!) After the meeting, he emailed our editor:

Customer Care

This morning at the Ontario Home Builders Conference in Colingwood I enjoyed listening to Paul Cardis of Avid Ratings Co present "Ten Top Secrets to Create Avid Customers vs. Satisfied Ones" and two things stood out for me the most.

First was showing your customers you care. He said that your customers would be more satisfied if they thought you cared and made mistakes then being perfect and them feeling you did not care.

Second was instead of telling people there may be a mistake you inoculate them against what may have gone wrong. The example he used was to protect you from getting sick they inoculate you so your body can build up a defence. When you inoculate your customers against what could have gone wrong you build their trust.

My take away from this is to ensure that I am upfront and straightforward with my customers. Ensure they understand the process involved with our relationship and highlight any potential issues. If I do find their could have been a mistake, I make sure I respond to the issue raised write away and escalate it for resolution to make sure the seriousness my client feels is also demonstrated by me.

How do you ensure you are building a model of customer care and trust?

Not much of a salesman?

Here is an interesting post from Contractor Talk that touches on the need to develop a solid sales/marketing approach to expand your business.

From the author of the original post he seems to have the most important aspect working for him which is strong referrals. If his customers are coming back and referring others he must be doing something right as someone who is not satisfied with a job is 10 times more likely to spread the word then someone who is happy.

He actually highlights the next areas he needs to cover which are developing a strong web presence, updating his fleet of vehicles and looking at some targeted advertising. The key to his desire to expand will also hinge on him recognizing if he is the right person to do the sales or look at either promoting an existing employee or hiring externally.

Check out the rest of the thread here:

Not much of a salesman?

Ok, so it's getting clearer to me. I'm not much of a salesman. I've been busy and slowly expanding for the last 10 years, without much in the way of actually "selling" jobs. All referral work and clients who wanted to hire me. Not sure if it's the current economy, or if I've tapped out the pool I had, or if I'm screwing something up or what, but I'm getting calls, just not really selling (maybe 1/4 close ratio). What next?1) Try some advertising? I'm in the yellow pages, and have a half azzed page-holder website that's not done yet- HELLO, GET IT DONE DUMMY!2) Learn how to sell? This almost offends me, as I haven't had to even think about that 'til now. I used to get 90%. Without trying.3) Spruce up the image? I drive older trucks and wear logo'ed t-shirts (usually clean), could use a haircut.4) Gotta run- I'll check back later...

Welcome to the Niagara Construction Association PR Committee

Starting tomorrow at 4:30 pm I will start serving on the PR Committee for the Niagara Construction Association (NCA).

As a lifelong resident of Niagara I have taken a great interest in what is happening in Niagara with the construction industry which lead to the launch of Structures for the Niagara Home Builders Association Newspaper in February this year.

This year we joined the NCA and have provided coverage on an association feature, profiles of members were a media sponsor of the Golf Tournament in August. My goal for joining the PR Comittee is to offer the association more space in the GTA Construction Report and to help shape the association for the future.

I look forward to an interesting list of agenda items and providing updates on what we will be doing.

Stay tuned.

Thank you for the feedback....

In our September issue I did a feature article on Charter Building which is based here in my home town of St.Catharines. The feature looked at the new construction and renovation at Table Rock in Niagara Falls. You can read the article here: http://www.constructionnrgroup.com/documents/Charter%20Building_OCR.pdf

Don Ward who I coordinated the feature with called me today to mention he had already received some feedback from some colleagues and during a golf tournament yesterday. Don said the article turned out great and the feedback has been great.

i sppreciate when someone calls to say "Thank you" and provide feedback. Don I say a big "Thanks" to you and the team at Charter, it was great working with you on the feature and I look forward to next time we can work together.

Caught up...

Friday morning and I just finished sending out my last media guide request from the Green Building Festival Conference at the Toronto Congress Centre. The trade show portion of the conference saw a steady stream of visitors during the morning hours and I got to meet up with some existing clients, potential clients and possible strategic relationships. A perfect networking event and a great opportunity to develop your brand.

The key when you get back from a conference and trade show such as this is making sure you follow up with each contact in timely fashion and provide the information they requested. Speaking with one exhibitor he told me his biggest complaint is someone who says they will follow up and they don't. He shared with me an experience of a marketing person for another organization who was there who took all his contact information back in June and he never heard from him again. The part which annoyed him even more is the marketing rep saying I did send you the information and claimed he never heard back form the client.

The key with following up for me with a new contact is a three part process:

1) Send an email after I get settled thanking the person for speaking with me and sending any additional information they requested.

2) I send out a copy of one of our regional papers to them within two weeks.

3) Allowing enough time for the paper to arrive I do a final call to the person to touch base to ensure I provided them everything they needed.

If I ever miss a step or happen to run into a potential client I make sure that I take the responsibility if there was a broken link in the communication process.

The other thing I mentioned at the very beginning this was a great networking event, I did not call it a sales event. In the past I had made the mistake of trying to close the deal on the spot with a potential client when in reality they are just looking for information. Nine times out of 10 a potential client will buy something from you based on the relationship with you then the power of your product.

The reason I look for sponsorship and strategic alliances is to allow me more opportunities to meet with people, ensure they get to review the papers and build relationships.

Next up for me this month are a couple events in Barrie, first on the 18th is a dinner with the Greater Barrie Home Builders Association and Barrie Construction Association celebrating the Build for Gilda's.

At the Green Building Festival

I just finished setting up our booth at the Green Building Festival in the Toronto Congress Centre.

As a media sponsor of the festival my goal is to help position our paper as a leading source for news and articles reflecting the change in the construction industry in Canada. I also served as a media sponsor of the Canada Green Building Council Shifting into the Mainstream Summit.

In the past media sponsorship and marketing initatives such as this event where not full explored. The benefit of course is increasing our coverage in the Ontario Construction Industry and also raising awareness of our products. Other media sponsorships or initiatives I have set up this year include:



OGCA Partner

CaGBC Media Sponsor

Green Building Festival Media Sponsor

Niagara Construction Association Golf Tournament Media Sponsor

Canadian Design Build Institue Sponsor

Wood WORKS! Media Sponsor

Skills Ontario Silver Sponsor

IAPA Health and Safety Conference Toronto Media Sponsor



The biggest advantage I have discovered this year with these initatives is the ability to create more opportunities for face to face meetings with our advertisers, industry leaders and new clients.



About the Green Building Festival 2008: It is a two day conference and expo highlighting Innovation in green building. Take an in-depth look at the real world impacts of green building, with comprehensive case studies, product analysis, visionary keynotes, and 100 exhibitors with ready-to-market green building solutions.

September Issue of the Ontario Costruction Report

Check out the September issue of the Ontario Construction Report.

You can also check out these companies and there features:

Now House Project by Work Worth Doing

Charter Building, Table Rock Renovation

September issue of the GTA Construction Report

Check out this months issue of the GTA Construction Report.

September issue of Impact! for the GOHBA

Checkout the September Issue of Impact! for the GOHBA.

September Issue of Structures

Check out the September issue of Structures for theNiagara Home Builders Association: Structures

Barter: To trade (goods or services) without the exchange of money.

I came across an intersting site when doing an online search for the definition of 'Barter' in response to a recent request I had. You can check it out here: http://www.barterco.com/v4/aboutbarter.cfm

Sometimes the easiest way to pay for something is to offer your services in exchange. In the world of construction this could apply to a one supplier who does concrete work exchanging the service with a drywaller for new drywall for a project they are doing at home.

The real question though is how to determine the face value of something. Do you balloon the value in a quote or offer it as you would in a normal quote? My preference is to offer it at face value as you would with a normal quote, the worst thing that could happen is your partner in the exchange finds out you set your prices higher and they do not finish the work you each agreed upon.

In today's economic environment bartering may be a great way for you to tape into advertising and the marketing of your business. A client we have dealt with for several years for a service we use at the head office recently asked me if he could offer us a credit on our account in exchange for some ads to run for a new product. After speaking with the team we agreed to do it, we have a long standing relationship and the service does offer a return on something we us on a regular basis.

Now does bartering work for everyone and is everything open to a trade like this?

Answer is as long as both parties see value then yes, however as soon as one party feels they are not getting something they need the prospect of the deal falling through become a reality.

Personally when dealing with long standing relationships for a barter proposition I tend to offer more advertising or marketing value in return for the products or services. This ensures both parties see the value and continue the relationship.

Have you dealt recently with a situation where a client or customer offered to barter their construction services or office products with you? Share your experiences with me at chasemarketing@sympatico.ca

GTA Construction Report Publishers View Point September

It is funny as the year starts to wind down things are picking up at a rapid pace. I do not know where to begin or where to end for what is happening in September.

First up is the Green Building Festival at the Toronto Congress Centre September 9-10 hosted by Sustainable Building Canada. This year besides just attending the conference we are proud media sponsors and will be exhibiting at the industry trade show. This year's conference and trade show is expected to be the biggest yet. Last year over 1000 people came through the show and this year promises to be even better. The festival allows you to build you business, and reinforce your reputation as a green building leader.

Next stop for me is the Barrie Construction Association (BCA) Members Day and BBQ on September 19th. We re-launched our coverage of the area back in April this year and will be doing our first extensive feature coverage with Gregor Homes in October. As part of getting back into the community I have extended an offer of free advertising to Gilda’s Club Barrie which provides a free, non-residential, not-for-profit support for anyone touched by cancer. Gilda’s has a strong relationship with the community and works very closely with the Greater Barrie Home Builders Association and the BCA who volunteered to build a home from the ground up over a weekend, sell it, and donate the proceeds.

Last but not lest is the Ontario Home Builders Conference in Collingwood September 21-23. This is the first year we are sending someone to the conference and it made lost of sense now with our now two association publication for the Greater Ottawa Home Builders (GOHBA) and Niagara Home Builders Associations (NHBA). We are looking at expanding our coverage to include Northern Ontario as a possibility for early 2009. What I am looking forward to the most with the conference is checking out the Builder’s Choice Exhibition and Trade Show as well as the OHBA 2008 Awards of Distinction Dinner and Ceremony. I am hoping to gain some new relationships, meet potential associations to partner with as well as advertisers. Even though I will not be an official exhibitor at the show I was lucky enough to have one of the advertisers from Niagara offer to display our Structures NHBA paper which will allow me a base of operations during the show.

Chase is the Director of Client Services for the Construction News and Report Group as well as the Associate Publisher for the GTA Construction Report and Structures, the Niagara Home Builders Association Newspaper. If you have any recommendations or suggestions on changes you would like to suggest for the papers please contact him toll free at 1-888-432-3555 ext 211 or email him chasemarketing@sympatico.ca