Every Marketing and Sales Tip I’ve Learned from Working with Hundreds of Contractors, Equipment Manufacturers, and Material Suppliers

I’ve been doing marketing for construction companies—primarily equipment manufacturers and material suppliers—for fifteen years now. Does this make me an expert? Maybe, maybe not. But I currently have 100+ clients and have worked with hundreds more over the years, and I can tell you that there are absolutely patterns that differentiate the successful construction business from the business that fails. In this article, I’m going to explain why as quickly and as bluntly as possible.

For anyone who doesn’t know me, I own and operate two marketing & media companies, E&C and Pile Buck—both of which offer magazines, weekly email newsletters, blogs, social media, and other forms of content and marketing. I’ve also got a YouTube channel, Sweat Venture, which showcases in-person interviews with successful trade and construction businesses.

Enough of that—let’s get right to it…

1. Your Marketing Agency Has Failed You

It’s not my intention to discourage any business owner from working with a marketing agency. In fact, I encourage it and have several to recommend—some of which I’ve become good friends with over the years.

That being said, the #1 issue I see with construction businesses is that the marketing agency they’ve hired simply isn’t serving them. I’ve seen dozens, maybe even hundreds, come-and-go over the years. Most of these agencies promise the moon, and they simply don’t deliver. If you’re reading this article, you probably already know what I’m talking about.

In fact, most don’t deliver at all—and I can usually spot them immediately. They rarely respond to emails, it takes three months to send a photo of the client’s product, they refuse to adapt to new trends/ideas—I can go on and on (don’t worry, I won’t).

This is unacceptable. They’ve failed their/my client. It’s difficult for me to watch as a bystander, and—yes—it’s tempting to reach out to my client to express my concern. But I never have once—I don’t believe it’s my place to do so. Besides, eventually, the client figures it out on their own—the agency is fired—and the cycle continues.

2. The Easiest Thing You’re Not Doing

Whether I’m on a call with a potential new client or an annual meeting with a current client, my favorite question is: “What’s the one thing we could be doing better next year?” I love this question. I wish every client asked me this. It’s exactly what you should be asking whoever is handling your marketing (or sales). My answer is almost always…

You can be taking more photos and videos. Yup—it’s that simple. I only have a small handful of clients who take regular photos and videos, and—believe me—they are significantly benefitting from this simple action, gaining solid momentum over their competition.

Whether you’re renting cranes, selling excavators, flipping used steel, offering pile driving services—no matter the case—I can assure you that snapping a few photos with your phone or taking a short video will eventually pay off—literally. Consider how many times you can post a single photo to social media, or print it on a flyer, or email it to your audience. The ROI is worth that quick, effortless action.

Going back to the scenario with my client, I can also tell you their response almost every single time: “I know, I know—gosh—we’ve been discussing this internally for a long time, now, and we really should be doing it.”

Make it a discipline—aim for one video per week—incentivize your sales guys to get the shots—do whatever you have to do—no excuses.

3. The 2^nd Easiest Thing You’re Not Doing

You don’t need a large marketing budget to outperform your competition—even the whales, the companies with massive marketing budgets. Yes, a substantial marketing budget helps, but—regardless—you must be a content creating machine!

Why not publish a monthly project case study—showing off your recent dock construction project? Or a how-to guide for planning a backyard landscaping design? Or maintenance tips for that excavator you just sold? Or how about customer success stories—boasting about the success contractors have had with your product?

Like the photos and videos, there’s no excuse on this one. The cost for a freelance writer is affordable for any business, and you can even get AI to write the article for you. Although, in the latter case, I would still recommend a human—preferably an expert at your business—collaborate on the article to ensure its accurate and personable.

4. Your Sales Process Is Broken (or Doesn’t Exist)

Marketing is essential, but it’s meaningless without sales—how many deals are you closing? As Mark Cuban so brilliantly put it: “Sales cures all!”

Let’s look at some of my old-school marine construction businesses I’ve worked with—some of which are operating their sales like it’s 1996:

1. A lead comes in—maybe from a sign the potential customer saw on a construction site from last year.
2. The sales guy “builds a relationship”—calling back the potential customer in a few days, maybe even a follow-up call after that if the call goes unanswered.
3. The deal dies—no CRM, no automated follow-ups, no tracking who’s hot or cold.

I know a lot of you guys like to rely on relationships. Relationships are great, but they’re not the sales process. If you’re looking to make serious money with your construction business and scale like the big boys, consider how the top performers handle leads:

• Every inquiry gets logged into a CRM
• Each lead gets 5-7 follow-ups over 2-4 weeks (email, call, and text)
• Proposals go out fast (follow-ups are scheduled automatically)
• Lost deals get analyzed so the next one doesn’t slip away

Stop approaching sales casually—this is killing your business. You must approach the sales process with a proven, repeatable system—not a random collection of calls and hopes.

5. What Separates the Men from the Boys

There are two types of businesses I come across: the one that scales and the one that doesn’t. And I can assure you that the one that can’t (or chooses not to) is not bringing in enough profits to live comfortably as a business owner in this modern time we live in of increasing material and labor costs—not to mention taxes and inflation. (If you want to learn more about this, check out this recent Sweat Venture video we produced about the failing middle class.)

I’ve met plenty of junk removal businesses with a truck (or two if they’re lucky) who struggle to keep up with jobs, are frustrated with employees, constantly complain about taxes, and rarely have time to spend time with their kids. I’ve also met junk removal businesses who have a fleet of trucks, dumpsters available for rental, a crew of loyal workers, and—most importantly—peace of mind.

So what’s the difference between the two? The answer is systems.

The struggling business owner tries to do everything themselves—quoting jobs, scheduling, chasing payments, and putting out fires daily. The smart business owner has built repeatable systems: quoting templates, automated scheduling software, clear employee onboarding processes, consistent marketing funnels, and financial tracking.

The right systems save time, reduce stress, and multiply profits.

6. Reintroduce Your Brand Relentlessly

Getting back to marketing…

You must assume that potential customers already forgot about you. We all like to think that the clever, eye-catching magazine ad we put together last year is still on the mind of a potential customer. But the fact is contractors are swamped with deadlines, difficult clients, unreliable employees—just about everything else other than spending their hard-earned money on your new skid steer model.

And let’s not forget that there are plenty of other businesses out there offering the exact same thing you are. The material markets, in particular—steel, concrete, timber, etc.—are super competitive. I see this with my steel clients so let’s use them as an example…

With all their company names, “So-and-So Steel,” there isn’t much that differentiate them from each other—other than their current inventory. The steel businesses that I see perform the best are constantly reintroducing themselves to potential clients. This usually includes an in-depth, eye-catching update of their inventory that is promoted in email newsletters, social media posts, and—in some cases—printed flyers to be mailed and/or distributed at trade shows.

Consistent reintroduction is not redundant—it’s the only way for a customer to think of you and your brand when they need what you sell.

7. Are We There Yet?

Marketing takes time—especially in the construction industry where decisions involve budgets, bids, and long project timelines. Most potential buyers need to see your product twelve times before making a decision.

This is the main reason why I offer packages that promote my clients for the entire year. This gives my team and I twelve months to properly promote our clients and deliver the ROI they expect. Why are the packages so affordable you might be asking? Because this provides me with stable, reoccurring business—while giving your equipment or services as much exposure as possible.

I know this will be hard for some business owners to hear, but the “we’re going to try your marketing for a month to see if we like the results” is a total waste of time and money. Find an agency (or hire someone in-house), do your due-diligence, and trust the process!

Need help with marketing and increasing your profits? Call or text me (Alex) anytime: 772-208-8116