Five Stages of Business Development for Builders

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It used to be that your reputation and word-of-mouth referrals were enough to keep a steady stream of work coming in. And back then, it worked. A solid reputation and word-of-mouth were enough to keep your crew busy. And a lot of you are still depending on that as your main form of inbound. If you price the job fairly, show up, do great work, and the next job will find you.

But now the industry has gotten way more complicated. Your competition has increased both in numbers and in aggressiveness, AI and the evolving digital landscape has upended the way your prospects seek you out.

Without a strategic business development process, we all know that the one differentiating factor is the lowest price. And I have talked with countless builders who are stuck bouncing along the bottom sacrificing margin for complacency. Hey, it's keeping the team busy, right?

You don't want to be chosen by the clients who will respect you and allow you to do your best work because you're the cheapest option. You want to be chosen because you're the best fit. 

The purpose behind marketing is to get your ideal future audiences to seek you out to help them execute a project they are planning or design it or purchase material for said project. They have to confidently choose you among a sea of your competitors, trust that what you're charging them is fair value and be so satisfied with the results that they sing your praises to other prospective customers. But for all that to happen they have to first discover you exist. 

Promote

Branding is not only the foundation to promote your capabilities, it also drives how you and your team conduct business every day. It takes all the best parts from your company’s DNA like your strengths, values, motivations and promotes them so they align with the values and motivations of those who you want to buy from you.

Your brand is the culmination of all the things that make your company just a little better than everyone else. Why do you do what you do? What’s the purpose behind your process? How do you take care of your clients and team members?

Most builders promote your brand with generic messaging in everything from your websites, social media or proposals, without respecting how powerful it can be if you crafted it to truly reflect your story and align with what matters to your prospects.

Attract

The Attract stage is where you start pulling people in. They may know you exist now, but why should they care? Why should they take the next step?

Your website is always your most valuable sales tool.There are 2 things going on right now that you must evolve your site to accommodate. The first is AI agents, or software platforms like ChatGPT, Gemini or Jasper that are being adopted by your future clients at a blistering pace.

This means they aren’t defaulting to the Google (or Bing or Yahoo) search bar anymore. They aren’t typing in key words like “deck builder near me” as much as they used to. Instead, they are asking full questions like “I want to rebuild my deck but it's on a steep slope which may erode over time. What materials should I use?”

The second thing to be aware of is that Google has recently started penalizing websites with junk content or redundant keywords for the sake of rigging the SEO game. 

These two factors mean that websites with helpful, valuable, genuine content, written by an expert in the field are going to have the competitive advantage. Your prospects aren’t going to be coming in through your homepage as much anymore. Instead, search engines will provide long-form answers to their inquiries based hopefully upon the articles, case studies and other resources you have created throughout your site.

Write articles, or create short videos based on the questions you hear during your biz dev process. And please, don’t lean too hard on AI-generated copy unless you're putting your own voice into it.

Also, don’t overlook your Google Business Profile. Keep it regularly updated with project photos, articles and insights that show you’re active and engaged. Work with your team to set up a system to solicit positive reviews because social proof is a powerful attractor. Google pays attention to that stuff and rewards you with higher search rankings.

Nurture

The Nurture stage is the critical phase where your prospects have identified you as one of many options, but still haven’t been convinced you are the obvious choice. And sadly without a strategy, I see time and time again it's where the ball usually gets dropped.

Say you sent the proposal. The estimate is in their inbox. 

Now what? For too many builders, the answer is "wait and hope." Or even worse, bombard them with a flood of desperate, passive-aggressive calls like a used car salesman.

Instead, put yourself into their shoes. This is a big investment they are going to make and they are wrestling with the idea as a whole. Is this the best use of their money? Is the economy going to tank? Am I picking the right partner, or material, or location?

Provide information and insights based on your niche subject matter expertise to help ease their anxiety and build their trust and confidence in their decision. Relevant information. Industry trends. A recent success story. A quick note with a tip. Remind them that you’re here, and you understand what they’re weighing.

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Win

You have been narrowed to the short list, invited to the final interview to give your closing pitch before your prospects make their critical decision. 

During this phase you don’t want to bombard them with self-adulation or superfluous details. Your proposals, project examples, estimates and interview session should focus on your prospect and the proposed successful outcome rather than how great you are to work with. 

Again, put yourself in the client’s shoes and craft messaging that answers their questions and satisfies their anxieties about the project. Then follow up with facts about your company, team, process and history to galvanize your credibility to take on the work.

Leverage

You landed the project. You secured the order. You edged out the competition. Well done.

In my opinion, this is the most overlooked phase of business development. And yes, it still is business development, because this is the part where you either build a loyal fan who tells others about you or you just become another contractor who showed up, did the job, and disappeared.

Handled the right way, this stage gives you the chance to reinforce your brand, earn referrals, and make your new client part of your marketing engine.

One easy way to retain your clients confidence throughout the process is to create a simple process guide or brochure that outlines key steps and what to expect along the way. Even better: record short, down-to-earth videos explaining each milestone and what’s coming next. Then plug those into your project software and send them out as part of a weekly update.

Finding tactics to keep them in the loop goes a long way toward turning a satisfied client into a repeat customer, and ideally a loyal advocate.

Set aside 20 minutes to learn how to access your Google Business Profile and copy the direct link to your review page. Your clients expect this kind of follow-up. When you catch them while the experience is still fresh, they’re much more likely to leave a genuine, enthusiastic review that helps build trust with future customers.

And don’t forget to acknowledge the architects, engineers, contractors or others who influenced the decision to go with you. Taking the extra effort to recognize and thank them as well amplifies the good will that leads to new opportunities.

If you understand the value of and embrace each stage of the business development journey: promote, attract, nurture, win, and leverage, you won’t be just another interchangeable option. You’ll be the company people talk about. The one they trust. The one they want to work with again. This is how you win more work, make better margins, and grow your company without working yourself into an early grave.

Listen to podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Soundcloud.

Written by Rusty George, with no help from Artificial Intelligence. Well, maybe he used one little app to check his grammar from time to time, but hey - he's only human.

Rusty George leads a branding, website design and marketing agency serving Seattle and Tacoma area construction companies, subcontractors, manufacturers, material fabricators and suppliers. His goal is to help the building industry become more attractive to the skilled workforce of the future. Reach out to us at any time to discuss how understanding and utilizing the 5 stages of busienss development will give you the edge in the building industry.