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The Changing Dynamics of Product Specification |
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Specification in the construction industry is a complex and dynamic process. To sell successfully, a building products supplier needs to understand: the type of contract, special sector requirements, who the architect is briefed by, any design specialists, if the contractor employs in-house specifiers, the stage in the construction programme when the product will be installed and how to demonstrate that it provides value for money.
In the past the architect, engineer or interior designer were seen as the key decision-maker responsible for the selection of building products. This was against a backdrop of contractor pressure to change to cheaper products to reduce cost. In the last 15 years the increased use of new forms of contractual relationships such as Design & Build, Management Contracting and PFI have both legitimised the contractor's involvement in product selection and changed the selection criteria. Today, the contractor running a PFI scheme is more likely to be interested in best value than lowest cost. Other influences will include Health & Safety, Environmental Protection and Sustainability.
New influencers, previously not involved in product selection are appearing. For example, the facilities management contractor (often a division of, or sister company to, the main contractor) will have an influence on product selection and design for PFI projects.
In many instances the main contractor does not have the in-house skills to design and make decisions concerning product selection and will appoint an external architect or engineer, or pass design responsibility to a specialist sub-contractor. Thus design professionals are continuing to have responsibility for specification, but working to the contractor's brief with an emphasis on value for money.
To further complicate the situation, some architects are starting to specialise in specific aspects of design in response to the increasing complexity of the legislation which influences the design process.
Finally, as a building progresses from concept through to completion the influence of those involved in product selection changes. For example, at the start of the programme an architect may have specified high performance fittings. But if the project starts to run over budget there will be a need to cut costs which could lead to the contractor or client insisting on a product compromise to save money.
Many suppliers have failed to recognise these changes, continuing to sell using methods developed decades ago, or abandoning specification selling. Inevitably this leads to a fall in margin as price becomes the only differentiator. This process is too complex to trust to luck and effective sales force training is important. Competitive Advantage run a programme "Effective Specification Selling" which helps salesmen to understand these issues and develop an effective strategy to win sales.
Chris Ashworth 2005©
Competitive Advantage Consultancy Limited
For more information see:
Selling to Specifiers
Building Products Marketing
Building relationships with specifiers
Developing a Specification Sales Approach
Effective specification selling white paper
Effective specification selling training programme
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