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April 1-April 14, 2015 — COLORADO REAL ESTATE JOURNAL — Page 25
Construction, Design & Engineering
T he current commercial
real estate and con-
struction environment
along Colorado’s Front Range
has strained the labor force in
general contracting and sub-
contracting. Due to market
downturns, six or seven years
ago, tradesmen and industry
professionals left in pursuit
of other opportunities. How-
ever, Colorado’s strong market
recovery has created a short-
age of experienced tradesmen
and professionals available for
today’s complex and fast-mov-
ing projects.
In an effort to address the
shortage of qualified, experi-
enced tradesmen, project own-
ers and managers increasingly
are enlisting larger organiza-
tions with seemingly deep
staffing capabilities – a strat-
egy with merit, however, large
and robust organizations at any
level are only as good as the
people they employ.
With experienced tradesmen
and professionals stretched thin
between multiple projects and
corporate requirements, many
firms struggle to find the right
talent for the job. While busi-
ness development and market-
ing efforts contribute to project
management team members’
success in being awarded a
project, delivering a project that
exceeds client expectations is
largely dependent on the peo-
ple performing the day-to-day
tasks. Owners and end users of
real estate would dowell to con-
sider the individuals employed
by an organization, in addition
to the company itself, because
as the saying goes in our proj-
ect management group, “You
are only as good as the vendor
you hire.”
The commercial real estate
and construction industry often
considers the model for resi-
dential real estate counter to
its own. However, there are
aspects of what defines a qual-
ity carpenter or architect hired
to work on homes that trans-
fer to any commercial project.
When it comes to something
as personal as our home, we
tend to look for tradesmen and
professionals who can deliver
high-quality work. But we also
look for qualities that we value
in an individual. Among them
are open and honest commu-
nication and attention to detail;
and who does not appreciate
someone who cleans up after
himself; or an architect who
brings doughnuts in the morn-
ing to review a new design
detail, just
to make sure
you like it
too; or the
general con-
tractor who
calls on Fri-
day evening,
before the
start of the
w e e k e n d ,
just to make
sure you are
happy.
Al t hough
commercial
real estate
often forgoes such personal
touches in favor of heightened
professionalism, fast-moving,
complex projects could benefit
from a more personal touch in
terms of building strong client
relations that help ensure proj-
ect success.
The following are some strat-
egies that support the adage
that it’s not the company you
hire; it’s the people within the
company who actually matter.
n When hiring vendors,
interview the people and the
company. Organizations do not
build buildings, design spaces
or install carpets. Individuals
employed by an organization
do this many times with vary-
ing degrees of success. Find out
exactly who will be doing the
day-to-day activities and take
the time to interview them on
a personal level. Find out what
is important to them, why they
want to work on the project and
what else they are working on
simultaneously. Take the time
to check references and hear
what previous clients have to
say, both good and bad. Make a
selection based on the team or
individual who will be directly
assigned to work on the project.
n Find out how a company
treats its employees. Happy
employees make great work-
ers and disgruntled employees
present a large risk. Many proj-
ects fail because a frustrated
employee leaves a company
midway through an assign-
ment and then a schedule or
budget is compromised. Ask
questions during interviews
like, “Why are you at this com-
pany?” and “What tools and
resources do you have to make
this project successful?”
n Hire a company based on
who is assigned to your proj-
ect. In this busy marketplace,
getting good people within
firms assigned to your project is
at a premium. People who excel
at their job and have a reputa-
tion for great service are hard
to get because everyone else
wants them too. When bidding
out work, make sure to com-
municate your expectation of
a team or individual assigned
to your project; if a vendor can-
not accommodate that request,
look elsewhere. It is not worth
hiring a company without the
right people. Make sure they do
not overcommit their people,
which sets everyone up for fail-
ure.
n Communication is key.
Being open and transparent
with people working on a proj-
ect promotes mutual under-
standing and encourages mul-
tiple perspectives.
Finally, the industries we
work in – commercial real
estate, construction, architec-
ture and engineering – are as
much about people as they are
properties and buildings. And
at the end of the day, we are
only as good as the people we
hire to complete our projects.
Personal connections with cli-
ents and the people project
managers work with every day
matter, and these connections
translate into successful proj-
ect outcomes and meaningful
experiences for our clients and
teammates.s
David Fritzler
Senior project
manager, CBRE |
Project Management,
Greenwood Village
M arketing is impera-
tive for the real
estate industry.
Without marketing, projects do
not get sold, land stays on the
market and people do not visit
the final development. Real
estate sales activity and user
engagement cannot and do not
rely on, “If we build it, they
will come.”
As a marketing professional
in the industry for nearly 10
years, this article shares some
tips on how to market in the
real estate industry to build
brand awareness and ultimate-
ly generate leads, from digital
practices to print collateral to
foot-traffic engagement.
At the conclusion of this arti-
cle you will understand how
good marketing can deliver
real performance results.
n Digital. Google is the mas-
ter of the Internet universe.
Google changes its algorithm
more than500 times ayear.Most
of these changes are minor and
unnoticeable, however, every
now and again Google does a
major upgrade to its algorithm
(Panda and Penguin) and this
major change affects search
results and your search engine
optimization efforts in major
ways. Read about each Google
algorithm update on Moz.com,
rithm-change.
What does this have to do
with your marketing efforts?
SEO is the act of engaging
users through online content.
This includes visible, writ-
ten and multimedia content
on your website, social media
posts, hashtag use and link-
age back to your content from
others. Google takes notice
of the things you update, the
things you don’t update and
every nuance and link back
in between. The master of the
universe sees all and ranks you
on search engines accordingly.
If you want your project to
lead the pack when someone
searches on Google, pay atten-
tion to how you are engaging
online with your brand. Are
you using keyword phrased
content in your social media
posts? Are you linking users
back to your website to engage
them further? Are you posting
multimedia (project pictures
and video tours) online for oth-
ers to share?
n Print. Contrary to what
we hear, print is not dying;
it is simply evolving toward
engagement and marketing
cohesion. Engagement means
the printed
c o l l a t e r a l
should entice
the customer
to do some-
thing such as
visit a web-
site or make
a phone
call. Cohe-
sion means
the printed
c o l l a t e r a l
should con-
nect to the
overall brand
of your project.
Printed collateral should
not be about me, me, me but
should be meaningful for the
customer. Ask yourself, “How
does this demonstrate the ben-
efits of my project to the cus-
tomer?”
This is your one chance in
less than 10 seconds to capture
your new customer, so don’t
miss the opportunity by boast-
ing about yourself. Boast about
how beneficial this project is
and will be to the customer’s
overall life and work so much
that they will not be able to
pass up the opportunity to
experience it further.
n Signage. Less words and
more imagery. Need I say
more? Signage needs to lure
someone in, make them ooooh
and aaaah. Signage isn’t about
your logo but about the project
and what the customer will see
when it is finished. Signage
should capture the user and
catapult him into the experi-
ence of the project once com-
pleted. Signage should make
users excited about what is to
come.
Big is better. The larger your
visual representation of the
product you are delivering,
the better. Small signs do not
represent a project well. Large
signs make a bold and big
statements.
n Social media. Social media
is where your buyer is, but may
not be where the developer is.
Depending on the audience,
social media is where you need
to be. If you’re a general con-
tractor and your audience is a
developer, you may find your
lead through LinkedIn, but you
also might find it more benefi-
cial to attend an Urban Land
Institute networking event or
Colorado Real Estate Journal
conference. If you’re a devel-
oper finishing a project and
you need to sell the units, your
audience will be and you will
want to be on social media
tweeting, Instagramming,
Facebooking, Houzzing and
Pinterest-posting your interior
and exterior imagery to entice
and enthrall your potential
customer.
n How are you different?
Being different will set you
apart from your competition.
Sharing how you’re different
is key. However, differentiators
are not simply meeting basic
level needs, such as provid-
ing good customer service.
Really ask yourself why you
are in this industry, creating
and selling great real estate
products. Once you define
your why, you will stand out
of the pack and truly mark
yourself as different. Watch
Simon Simek’s TED Talk on
Why your “why” is so impor-
tant,
com/watch?v=jmjR8eLYpao.
n Takeaway. Marketing
takes many touch points to
make your brand and project
known to your target audience.
Being cohesive with your brand
is the only way to build aware-
ness and generate sales leads.
Define your why. And, if you
market it, they will come.s
Keo Frazier
Director of
marketing, Shaw
Construction, Denver