A contractor has an opportunity to build a new $50 million office building in a downtown area. The company has performed many similar projects, but nerves set in when it assesses the other shortlisted firms—many of which have as much or more experience with this type of project.
How can a contractor showcase its success stories in a way that separates it from the competition?
The key is context.
Used alone, success stories show a firm’s ability to build the job, but they don’t tell the whole story.
“If you’re on the short list, we know that you can do the work,” says a vice president of construction for a large manufacturer. “In the final interview, we just want to see how well you understand our needs.”
Don’t start a presentation by highlighting the firm’s past projects. Instead, show an understanding of the challenges unique to the client’s project. Is budget the biggest concern? Is the key issue finishing on schedule, or is it the involvement of local subcontractors? Find out before the final interview.
Then, use prior projects as examples of how the firm successfully addressed similar challenges in the past. If a prospect’s hot buttons are finishing on schedule, meeting the budget and achieving LEED certification, then the presentation should detail plans for addressing those issues.
A three-step approach addresses each issue, using the budget as an example.
- Point. Start off by making a main point. “We know that budget is important to you. We will meet your budget.”
- Plan. After making the point, detail the plan for meeting the budget. “To meet your budget, we will use an estimation process that ensures close communication with the architect and the owner.” Then, detail the rest of the budgeting process with a few additional points.
- Story. After explaining the plan, tell a story about how the same budgeting process worked successfully on a comparable project: “We used the same estimation approach on another job that we brought in 3 percent under budget.”
To stand out among the competition, don’t just show pretty pictures of past projects. Use images to illustrate detailed stories that relate to the issues facing the prospective client.