New look to the GTA Construction Report

Starting with the August issue of the GTA Construction Report you will notice a change to the cover. The GTA logo has been updated to include a new banner that reads:

Serving Barrie ~ Greater Toronto Area ~ Hamilton- Halton ~Niagara

Why such a small change?

The change is actually a large one that has developed over the past two years with the expansion the paper beyond one city (Toronto) to encompass a larger region. Coverage each month touches on the construction industry of each city from news to features.

Why did we not change the name?

Well after more then 10 years of publishing the name is pretty well recognized. The practise of covering news and stories outside the area was gradually accepted by the companies and people we interviewed. It naturally progressed to a regional title based on where our readers were travelling to do jobs and business. The GTA Construction Report has moved with them.

What is the advantage of a more regional focus?

For readers they get a larger view of the industry and great access to new and potential projects. For our featured companies and advertisers they gain a larger audience for people to notice the work they do and generate new business. The past year as we hit the economic down turn our readers in the construction industry also became in part more regionally focused with their businesses by travelling a little further to bid on jobs and expand there market share. We simply were there with them.

When does a house account become a new lead?

Working in the trade publication industry targeted at the construction industry you always come across previous customers who have dealt with your company before. In some cases these companies may have advertised with your group of newspapers 2 years ago or had a previous feature done. What happens with a customer like this is they are usually forgotten and rediscovered by a new sales rep. Should these be classified as new sales? How long do they need to be neglected before they are new again?

How does your business handle these types of situations when commissions are involved and territories may overlap based on where the lead was originally generated? What if someone outside of sales asks for the business and gets it? Do you have the sales reps share the commission? Does the house step in and take 50% as a house account?

We have a great sharing policy in place for these grey areas since all sales reps are compensated with a guaranteed salary. Commission is paid for exceeding monthly targets. This sharing policy helps avoid cut throat techniques and hoarding of information which could have an adverse affect on your "Brand". If people are all working towards the goal of having a thriving business and a portion of the rewards from leads that overlap territories or house accounts is shared then everyone is happy. Giving a small percentage helps to encourage team work and avoid people feeling as if they were cut out.

What challenges has your business faced with sharing commission and tracking who owns a lead?

Design and Construction Report Magazine

July Issue of the GTA Construction Report

July Issue of the Ontario Construction Report

Publishers View Point July 2009

The past few months I have seen an increase in sales from people I have been dealing with for over a year. Usually you see a few repeat customers on a monthly basis from people you have dealt with but I am now noticing more and more repeat customers. Why?

The reason for this is I think is the puzzling question, which came first the chicken or the egg. To generate repeat business you need to have trust. To build trust you must build relationships, to build relationships you need to build trust, which comes first? Trust can sometimes come from your first greeting or it may take several meetings. By meetings I am not referring to sales pitches or presentations, I am referring to opportunities to talk about anything except for the dreaded sales pitch. Where have I found these opportunities? The greatest place has been interaction with the local associations on committees or events.

The reason I started to get involved was to get to know people and build a rolodex of contacts. (Oddly enough in this technology age I still have a real rolodex of business cards as back up to my Outlook contacts and Linked In network.) I began to understand the relationships between the contractors and trades, directors of associations and the membership and found that these associations are where most of the real business takes place away from the offices. With these relationships established when it comes time to talk business, I do not need to do the scripted introduction of who I am and what I do, these is all established well ahead of time by the coverage I do for events and news. The actual dreaded sales pitch take 5% of the time of a conversation when you have a relationship with trust vs. 95% of a cold call sales pitch.

Now not everyone you build a relationship with will buy what you are selling. The good thing is you are able to decipher this long before you ever need to ask. You know who has the budget or the policies. You know when you have a real good reason to ask they will buy because you ask when the time is right. The last key to building trust is giving more then you get back. I remember the movie from a few years back call Pay it Forward. The premise was to do something good for someone else and ask that they do the same. The best part is you never expect it to come back, but when it does you feel great.

Chase is the Director of Marketing and Client Relations for the Construction News and Report Group as well as the Associate Publisher for the GTA Construction Report and Ontario Construction Report. Chase also serves on the Board of Directors for the Barrie Construction Association and on several committees for the Niagara Home Builders and Construction Associations. If you have any recommendations or suggestions on changes you would like to make for the papers please contact him toll free at 1-888-432-3555 ext 211 or email him chase@cnrgp.com or visit us online at www.cnrgp.com