Marketing Polished and Stained Decorative Concrete Floors
When it comes to marketing polished or stained decorative concrete floors contractors should focus on promoting the benefits as well as the aesthetics.
A fantastic, well-done polished concrete floor or stained concrete floor speaks for itself, right? Not always. Concrete contractors should not rely only on possible clients seeing their work just by passing by. Marketing your polished and stained concrete floors is an essential component in offering these services.
It should go without saying that quality work is a necessity. But in order to achieve more customer awareness and as a result, more business, contractors need to actively market their service offerings. "The more people know what can be done with concrete the more people will want it," points out Jim Cuviello of Cuviello Concrete.
The plan
Marketing takes time and effort, but it is vital to any contractor who wants to make money, says L.M. Scofield's Director of Marketing Cam Villar. The first step to marketing is creating a marketing plan, he adds. The marketing plan includes what market you want to serve, where you fit into that market and who your target audience is, among other elements. A contractor's marketing plan can be simple or in-depth, but the goal is the same: to help focus your marketing efforts, Villar says.
Determining your market segment and target audience may depend on several factors. If you are a small company, consider if you have the manpower, time and commitment to do large commercial jobs. If your company is large, is it worth while to market to smaller, niche residential clients? And if you're just getting into the polished or stained flooring market, are you prepared to take on large jobs or would you prefer to start small?
Your target audience and market segment will also depend on the type of equipment you own, Cuviello adds. Larger equipment may not fit into residential spaces. Smaller equipment may not get larger jobs done in a timely fashion. If you don't want to purchase more or larger equipment make sure you're marketing to the right jobs for the equipment you own.
What to market
Once your marketing plan is in place it's time to put it to use. It is important to remember that marketing is not the same as advertising. Marketing is a strategic plan formulated through research. It entails planning your message, who the target of that message is and the means for delivering that message, Cuviello says. Advertising is a function of marketing and is a method for delivering the message, he adds.
When it comes to polished concrete floors or stained concrete floors, there are certain aspects contractors should focus on in their marketing. With stained decorative concrete floors, aesthetics are probably the main selling point. Stained floors offer customers an array of options including color, design and even custom logos or images. Stained floors can offer a customer great detail and a unique finished product.
When it comes to polished floors, contractors should market the aesthetics, durability, performance and low maintenance requirements, Cuviello says. Although polished floors have a beautiful aesthetic look, Villar encourages contractors to market the sustainable benefits of these floors before marketing the beauty.
Polished concrete floors offer durability and longevity that other flooring solutions cannot. They also offer abrasion resistance. Maintenance of polished concrete floors can be a big selling factor. "Although not maintenance free, polished concrete is lower maintenance than any other flooring I know of," Cuviello says. Market the low maintenance requirements, but don't oversell or market a maintenance-free floor.
"Polished concrete is also extremely LEED friendly," Cuviello says. A polished concrete floor uses the existing concrete. A highly polished concrete floor has the ability to reflect overhead lighting and allows the concrete to hold indoor temperature longer, both of which can reduce energy demands. Polished concrete reduces the use of cleaning chemicals and the need for replacement like carpet and sometimes VCT where the worn out materials end up in a landfill, Cuviello adds.
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