I get phone calls on a regular basis – probably more than 100 a year – seeking information about the paving & pavement maintenance industry. Many of the callers, it’s clear, are working on a business plan and want industry statistics; others want pricing info such as “How do I price my sealcoating?” or “What kind of profit should a successful contractor be making?” (No joke, I got that one last week.)
As I tell all callers, that information and all sorts of other information like it isn’t available because this industry is made up primarily of private companies that don’t have to reveal any of their information.
But Pavement Magazine is working to rectify that so… let’s see if I can get you folks to step up and help!
Last year we resurrected our Top Contractor lists in what we think is an improved format:
- No company rankings
- Companies are listed in alphabetical order within each industry segment (paving, sealcoating etc.)
- We require third-party verification of the sales volume that is used to determine whether a contractor qualifies for the list
Each of those improvements was put in place to rectify problems we (and contractors) faced when we originally did the survey a few years back. In addition we hold back some of the information we collect from the survey and we combine that held-back information with survey details to create an “Insider’s Insight into the Paving & Pavement Maintenance Industry,” which we write and send to all contractors that participate in the survey – whether or not their company makes the final list cut.
So, my question is, what’s keeping you from participating this year? The deadline is April 30 and as of Friday, April 11 we have fewer than 70 completed surveys in house. Yet 947 people were interested enough to view the survey online, 105 people started to complete it online and 41 of them dropped out. (We have received a handful of surveys by mail, too.)
Just think of the impact and accuracy our “Insider’s Insight” would have if the report analyzed information from the 900-plus companies who took the time to view the survey! And the only people that would have that information would be the people who participated… if your competition didn’t, tough luck for them. And, sure, many contractors won’t qualify for the lists because lists are sales-volume based. But the information in the “Industry Insight” might even be more valuable to the contractors that don’t make the lists as it hopefully will provide some insights that will help them grow and qualify for a Tope Contractor list in the future.
So what’s up with you folks? For an industry starved for industry-wide information you’re sure not stepping up to provide your share. What do we need to do to convince you it’s worth your while to take 15 minutes (up from 7 a few weeks ago, not sure why) to complete the 11-question survey online? Let us know so we can fix it for next year… or better yet participate this year! You might just qualify for one of the five lists – but even if you don’t you’ll receive our “Insider’s Insight” report and you can determine then whether it’s worth it to your company to participate. Visit TopContractor2014.questionpro.com to participate.
