SECRETS OF CONSTRUCTION MARKETING

The following article on Strategy is part of a new book to be published in 2015.

MARKETING CONFIDENTIAL: 101 SECRETS TO INCREASE PROFITS IN THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY

Essential Tactics You Need To Know about Marketing, Business Development, Business Planning and Strategic Planning. for “Contractors, Subcontractors, Design/Builders, Construction Managers, Architects and Engineers” by Ronald A. McKenzie All Rights Reserved. Copyright© 2015

SEVENTY: What Does Strategy Really Mean?

The Difference Between Leading and Following

In my book on business planning titled Successful Business Plans for Architects I wrote that the term “strategy” is closely associated with military terminology, meaning what an adversary might or might not do. In fact, a dictionary defined strategy as follows:

1. The overall planning and conduct of large-scale military operations
2. The art or skill of using stratagems as in politics and business
3. A plan of action

Likewise, stratagem is defined as a maneuver designed to deceive or surprise the enemy. For our purposes it’s best to say that strategy is a plan of action used to achieve an objective with a given resource. In other words, strategy is related to the goals and objectives and, hence to the mission statement.

It’s also important to understand that there are many strategies and many plans of actions within a given company. Strategy is a name given to a process when addressing a plan of action to accomplish and objective or a goal. To complicate matters, the words strategic and strategy are used in different parts of the plan. For example, you might have a brilliant corporate strategic plan, and a plan’s advertising program is labeled “strategic advertising plan.”

If you think of strategy as a process as opposed to a magical answer, it begins to help you understand the planning process.

MCKENZIE'S SECRETS OF CONSTRUCTION MARKETING #70

“Many companies could improve their competitive positioning by developing more of a strategic approach to their business. What can you do different that creates value and a demand for your services.”