Customers, influencers and stakeholders in Construction and Manufacturing

Delivering customer centric digital experiences that convert

Most businesses would aim or claim to be ‘customer centric’.

In the Construction and Manufacturing sectors, very few would be able to prove it.

Defining who ‘the customer’ is can be the first and fundamental challenge. Understanding to a deep, granular level what each ‘customer’ then needs and how to provide those solutions is the next.

The customer value chain in the world of Construction and Manufacturing consists of many players; many of which do not buy, some of which influence far more than others and product/service margins and risk levels can vary wildly across the network.

Traditionally, most projects or transactions in this space have an ultimate ‘end user’. This could be an individual and/or an organisation that resides in the building or space constructed, for example. There is every possibility that this group of ‘customers’ have neither any interest nor any knowledge of the construction process and the difficulties that would have been overcome for it to ever exist.

Regardless, the building project, in this example, would have been designed entirely around this group of end users and their highly complex needs without their input; hence all the other players in the process need to know precisely what they are doing and why.

In addition to the ‘end user’, there is often a ‘client’ who provides the funding, the ‘architect/specifier/designer’ creates the vision and practicalities, the ‘contractor’ manages labour and budget, the ‘sub contractor ‘or ‘installer’ leads on quality and timing, whilst a ‘distributor’ or ‘retailer’ provides the materials and takes the risk of stock.

The value chain is not linear and each element plays an integral role to ensure each other’s success. Each stakeholder is a customer itself and has its own set of customers.

Whilst the customer value chain in Construction and Manufacturing can be complex, when it works as it should everyone wins.

Translating such traditional relationships into digital relationships is an emerging theme and whilst the ‘how’ remains up for debate, the opportunity for competitive advantage in this space is considerable.

Digital customer centricity involves a paradigm shift from a traditional product/service-centric strategy to one that focuses purely on the specific customer in the chain.

Only when the digital customer is understood can the experience then be created to convert.

For example, understanding where the architect typically hangs out online, which devices a sub contractor most often uses to access data on, or how a distributor manages inventory across a network of stores, can we then provide the digital solutions to reach, support and optimise.

User profiling and documented digital customer journey mapping lay the foundations.

If the customer base has been modelled and the digital needs of each segment clearly identified, then relevant and compelling content will drive the experience. Enable the content to find the user; removing every conceivable barrier to eliminate user

content hunting.

Understanding the most effective approaches to digitally reach customer segment to provide the content and experience will take some experimentation. Clearly, different socials will work for some and not for others, email outreach will perform for

some and not for others, progressive SEO and certain content strategies will work for some and not for others.

However, waiting and hoping isn’t a digital strategy. Data will ultimately paint the picture of the differing levels of success each approach delivers. This will be a continuous improvement process; with failures providing valuable insight for subsequent successes.

Setting, tracking and delivering against the right set of KPIs will keep the business honest and teams accountable in the pursuit of digital customer centricity.

For example, monitoring NPS and CSat scores by user type alongside your own lead generation and conversion metrics will offer a balance of input and output metrics; ensuring ‘the customer’ is always getting what they need to fuel both your and their business.

So, to create digital experiences that connect, convert; and enable digital customer centricity;

1. Understand ‘the customer’

2. Personalise the content

3. Personalise the approach (and experiment)

4. Set/track the right KPIs (and act on data)

Brands executing and optimising personalisation in the Construction and Manufacturing industry will rise to the top very quickly.