The construction industry is fiercely competitive. If a company is bland, boring or blends in with their competitors, they’ll simply be overlooked and dismissed.

Having great services, the best suppliers and unrivaled customer service sounds great, but it’s what clients expect. Going beyond these table-stakes is required; otherwise, it is easy to be overshadowed by newcomers in the market that are packaged better.

Why? Because bland, boring, and blending in are not going to make a potential client say, “Yes, this is what I’ve been looking for!”

How can a great company stand out? Branding is the key—or more to the point: a clear, differentiated brand.

In the absence of any real differences, prospects are going to measure a company’s value based on one thing: price. And nobody wants to get stuck in that pricing race to the bottom.

Strong branding sets a company apart from its competitors

Everybody wants to stand out, be remembered and be picked first—but a company can’t do that without solid branding in place.

But what makes a brand strong? They all have a solid brand foundation consisting of:

• differentiation;
• clarity;
• visibility; and
• trust.

Industry leaders have all four. Here’s why each element is so important in building a strong brand—and making sales easier as a result.

Differentiation

True differentiation is more than just saying “we care.” It's more than “our services are the best”—those aren't unique values, and they aren’t meaningful to a potential customer.

Differentiation is identifying a combination of competitive advantages that a company has at their disposal. Products and services are often not unique, but if the company has a lot of repeat and referral business, there is something worth uncovering. Finding a way to wrap words around what is uncovered is the key to setting a firm apart from the competition.

The goal is not to be different for difference’s sake. It is to be meaningfully different in a way that is relevant to the market. By differentiating from competitors, a carefully crafted brand can build a position of strength in the market and be known as a go-to authority in the industry.

Clarity

Getting clear on how to simply convey what the company does for whom and why prospects should care is vital to being easy to buy from, remember and refer.

This clarity around the who, what, why, and how of it all makes it easier to write marketing messages that will resonate with potential clients and get them to pay attention.

In most cases, only seconds are provided by a prospect to get the message across. Don’t waste time with jargon or extraneous words that often get in the way. Remember: clarity attracts, confusion repels.

Visibility

Being clear is useless if the right people don’t see, feel or read the clear messaging.

Visibility is the next important step to getting (and staying) top of prospects’ minds, which is a direct result of intentionally building a differentiated and clear brand.

Having visibility means multiple things: being easily found by the right audience, easily seen as a top contender and easily remembered as a company that does exactly what a customer needs.

It usually takes multiple interactions to be truly seen. Brands become recognizable through repetition, having a strong visual identity, consistent message and by including their personality in everything the customers see.

Trust

Building up trust is one of the most important aspects of branding. More than 80% of consumers say they need to trust a brand to work with them.

Construction companies can build up trust by showcasing proof of their talent, reputation, and professionalism online. Showcasing is done by featuring project case studies, portfolio images, customer reviews, and providing valuable resources and information to highlight the company’s expertise.

Prospects are looking for reasons to exclude companies from their RFP list, as well as reasons to include them.

Consistency in visual identity, personality and core message is crucial—online and offline. A consistent brand presentation across all mediums can increase revenue by 33%.

Branding makes sales easier and can shorten the sales cycle

With a distinct, established brand foundation based on meaningful differentiation and clarity, companies can significantly reduce the barriers to making the sale and shorten the time it takes to close the sale.

Having a well packaged, positioned and differentiated brand helps prospects be more confident in their decision to work with the contractors they’ve chosen. In their minds, there simply isn't another company that understands their concerns or addresses their problems.

With a reinforced brand foundation supporting them, construction business owners can cement their place in their market, make sales easier and marketing more effective.