Getting older has its disadvantages, but it also has some comforts and one of them is seeing the “what’s old is new again” cycle repeat itself. That certainly applies to social networking on the Internet.
Whether we’re using LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter, what we’re doing is sharing, and that’s a concept everyone knows by the age 3 (even when they don’t like it). As businesses such as builders and remodelers scamper to make sense of this new tool, they should look first at the underlying reasons why it has become so popular.
Those reasons will give them some “back to basics” lessons about how to improve business, both online and off. Here is my analysis of reasons and what we can learn.
#1 Credibility
The Lesson: Social networks don’t just connect people — they connect you with people you trust.
That works to a business’s advantage in two ways. First, if someone offering a connection is particularly knowledgeable about a topic, that person gains “expert” status. That can be a valuable status for any business.
Second, if a person making a connection is seeking a service provider — such as a builder — she is more likely to believe feedback from a provider she met and has gotten to know through the network rather than hype that comes directly from the builder. Think about it this way: which has more sway — a testimonial by John Doe or the word of a good friend?
Social network connections make it easy for you to share information (shoring up the “expert” status) and to receive endorsements from others (who are trusted by their friends). Both are effective ways to build credibility in an industry full of skeptical clients.
Gaining expert status — which could be in the areas of green building, space efficiency techniques or the latest design concepts — is the most effective long-term way to become the go-to person when a prospect has a need. It also takes the most work, but the advantage is that a new competitor cannot sweep into town and steal your expert standing overnight.
Offline you can garner “expert” status and get other people to recommend you through channels such as seminars at local home shows, quotes in local media, or a monthly newspaper column. Just be sure to share helpful information, and not just toot your own horn.
Online networks, such as LinkedIn, are a great way to build your expert qualifications. Through your profile and the status tool, you can pass along relevant Web links. You can also use Q&A sections to directly make contact with those who need help in areas where you are knowledgeable. Local online discussion groups and Twitter feeds afford the same opportunity.
#2 Frequency
The Lesson: Short, frequent updates to clients beat long, infrequent status meetings.
Social networking is all about constant updates. From the furious pace of Twitter (“I hammered a nail,” then five seconds later: “I hammered another nail.”) to the more measured, weekly status updates on LinkedIn, these updates stand in stark contrast to how most builders update clients offline, such as periodic correspondence, calls and meetings.
More frequent communication not only delights customers, it helps to identify mistakes and problems in the building process earlier — equating to hard dollar savings.
Offline you already do periodic updates with clients, but consider stepping up the frequency. Update every week instead of every month. Try regular days such as Tuesdays and Fridays instead of catch-as-catch-can. Remember, though, to keep these updates short and sweet. Do not attempt long updates more often.
Online social networking seems ideal for this frequency, but remember these are usually not private. Some contractors are fine with showing the warts and all of what is going on. If that works for you, consider using a dedicated Twitter feed for a project.
Alternately, there are Web-based services that can create a type of “private social network” for your clients. If your focus is primarily just on showing photos, try a free service like Google’s Picasa
The Lesson: OK, so pack-ability is not really a word, but Facebook provides the best example of the concept, which is packing as many pieces of information into one place as efficiently as possible.
On this site, you can post a photo of your child. Someone can comment on that photo. Someone else can reply with a link to a video of their kid, and so on. The whole conversation, spanning different types of media, is organized in one spot.
When it comes to building, you need to put as many bits of data into one place as you can: notes, change orders, status updates, photos, files — and keep them all organized by topic. The more you can pack in one place, from sales all the way through warranty, the better.
Interestingly, sites such as Facebook allow you to completely eliminate e-mail among users. The content you would have previously put in that e-mail instead gets attached in those related conversations. You can stop many of the common mistakes on projects simply by bringing those back-and-forth messages into the same place as your selection choices and other project information.
Offline this is admittedly tough without technology. A smaller company usually has a single person at the epicenter of its universe who packs all of this information in her head (and who better never get hit by a bus). Through diligent updating of spreadsheets and printing of e-mails, packing it all in can be done.
As the project volume increases, however, so does the need for more people or more robust processes.
Online we can clearly use the Internet to share information, which makes it easier to pack that data into a single spot. There are shared calendars on the Web, like the Google Calendar, in-office server systems and turnkey construction specific software solutions.
Unfortunately, while today’s mainstream social networks provide the inspiration for pack-ability, their public nature does not make them well suited for managing project data. They may be fine for status updates, but not for posting contracts and change orders.
The good news is that you can take an incremental approach, and even bringing a few pieces of information together in one spot can be a huge help.
#4 Portability
The Lesson: People take their social networks with them on the go — at home, at work and often today everywhere in between. They can get to all of their information from any place.
When a client is naturally obsessed about her building project, 24/7, she wants that level of information portability. And if you’ve done a good job of packing information into one spot, you simply need a mechanism to make the data available wherever.
Also, by providing portability for your clients, you save everyone time. Status updates and design meetings run faster when the latest information is at everyone’s fingertips, rather than trapped in fading memories.
Offline you can use a tool that is not as elegant as an iPhone — such as a three-ring binder — which offers a simple way to give clients portability. It can be preloaded with tabs that help to label the information you will provide throughout the project.
In such a case, whenever you hand off paper copies, you should make sure you’ve pre-punched them and included a sticky note on which tab to use.
Online when you use a tool that helps with pack-ability, your bases are probably covered for portability. If not, production builders can still post pictures and links on Web sites for standard products and upgrades. Custom builders can link to preferred suppliers and manufacturers, even when there are no “standards” for their projects.
#5 Personality
The Lesson: Although it seems obvious, social networking is … social! Even the driest of people will convey their personality (or lack thereof) to their networks
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Still, when it comes to using social networks for professional purposes, many people think that every trace of personality has to be mercilessly scrubbed from what is posted. However, on social networks, especially Twitter where anybody can “follow” you, the networks reward those who have something valuable to say — in an interesting way — so a “personality” is a necessity. Your number of followers is your gauge of that personality.
If your prospects and customers relate to your personality, that’s one more checkmark you have in your column that your competitors don’t have in theirs. Offline and online personality transcends the medium. An important consideration however is the size of your operation and how you run it.
Larger outfits tend to control how their employees represent the company publicly. To foster a personality connection with prospects, however, they have to either ease up on that restriction or use the company’s culture as your personality.
For custom builders and remodelers, where there is much one-on-one client interaction with a smaller number of staffers, you cannot help but show your individuality. Use that to your advantage.
Dig Deeper
As the limelight grows stronger on the rocketing rise of social networking, look past the surface of this valuable tool. Combine your business experience with the underlying, old-fashioned lessons of sharing to put your company on the fast track.
There are some specific first steps you can take for both status-building and referral marketing with social networking. For a free tip-a-day e-mail series on “7+ Ways to Use Social Networking to Grow Your Business,” e-mail BuildingWomen@co-construct.com.
Donny Wyattoversees implementation and training at Co-construct.com, a Web-based selections, scheduling and client communication system for builders of custom projects.
