Wednesday, April 21, 2010

"We don't need to do sales, we do bid work only!"

I am currently working a major association profile and I have been taken back by a few comments from some of the members who say they do not need to do sales or marketing because they only do bid jobs.


One of the contacts said we get all of our work from winning with the lowest bid. If I had known the person better I would of said that logic is like trying to row a boat with only one oar. You will only end up spinning in circles and what happens if you lose your one oar?


What if tomorrow bid jobs disappeared and getting work relied completely on having relationships and connections, what would happen to these one trick ponies?


Survival in business means being able to adapt, test, fail and adapt again. You must be able to have a few different sources for work/revenue no matter what you do. Funny thing is some of the contacts fail to realize they are doing sales and marketing as part of being a member of an association like they are. Now the question remains are they passive members who pay their dues each year or are they active? Do they volunteer or attend events? Do they us the instant connection and common ground they have with all the other members? I hope so.


Ideally these contacts should divert 5% of the revenue generated from their bid jobs to being active members of an association, sponsorship of events and yes evening putting together a targeted marketing plan for web, print and direct mail.


Did you used to do only bid jobs in the past? If so did adapt and what caused you to change?


Friday, April 16, 2010

And the winner is.....

It is almost time to announce the winners of the 2009-2010 Ontario Construction Report Readers Choice Awards and all the finalists are calling trying to get the results early!

In the June issue of the Ontario Construction Report we will have a special section recognizing all the winners and finalists from across the province in our most popular and most voted on Readers Choice Awards yet.

Their is no cost to entire your company into the awards and we will work with you to provide lots of great editorial coverage to celebrate the recognition you deserve. The nominations for the 2010-2011 Awards should be up and running in August so get ready to nominate the great companies you work with or even your own. If you want to get a leg up on the nominations you can send them to me now at chase@cnrgp.com






Monday, April 12, 2010

Ontario Construction Report Hotels and Lodging Directory

Next Month the Ontario Construction Report will be launching a new Hotels and Lodging Directory to serve the many hotels that target the construction industry for long term stays will projects are being completed in their service areas.





One of the most consistent type of advertisers have been hotels in the 20 year history of the publications and now a special section in the Ontario Construction Report will run monthly in the printed edition of the paper, in the online version which allows for direct links to the hotels websites and in a special section of our web site at http://www.cnrgp.com/ where the newest members of the directory will appear each month and special banner ads will also showcase special promotions.





In the GTA and Ottawa paper you can target local clients with our long running Service Providers Directory as well with services ranging from tele-com providers, building materials and contractors.



With the added benefits of our online publications and special sections coming to our websites the directories are truly becoming an effective and low cost marketing solution for many companies.



Do you want to join our Hotel and Lodging Directory in the Ontario Construction Report or target regional areas such as the GTA or Ottawa email me for more details: chase@cnrgp.com