A Contractor had reorganised and re-branded following a number of senior management retirements. Recognising the importance of personal relationships, they wanted to understand how clients, professionals and suppliers had reacted to the changes and the impact it might have on their business.

Solution

Competitive Advantage was appointed to conduct a study amongst some of the Contractor’s stakeholder - clients, professionals and suppliers. The purpose was to measure perceptions and compare them with those of the principal competitors.

An initial consultation was held with the management team when the key issues were identified, the nature of the questionnaire and the mix of respondents agreed.

The questionnaire format was then developed and tested with a series of face-to-face interviews. The personal approach of a face-to-face interview had the benefit of identifying important nuances and allowing in-depth investigation of specific issues which can be important to a survey.

The questionnaire was then finalised, using a combination of closed and open-ended questions. For the main study telephone interviews were used, Although not as personal as face-to-face interviews these provide a cost effective means of gathering information. Those interviewed represented all stakeholders – clients, architects, quantity surveyors and suppliers. Because Competitive Advantage specialise in the construction sector the researcher was familiar with the issues facing the different respondents and could “talk their language” leading to a meaningful discussion.

Benefits

As a marketing consultancy Competitive Advantage is regularly involved with many construction related issues and it can go beyond simply reporting research findings, making recommendations based on extensive industry experience.

With a set of positive and negative findings backed up by recommendations the Contractor was able to introduce a programme of initiatives to build on its strengths and reduce weaknesses which mainly involved reassuring those customers with concerns.

Recommended actions included a briefing letter sent to participants of the survey telling them about some of the positive findings and where negative issues had been identified it set out the corrective actions the Contractor intended to take.

Competitive Advantage’s method of reporting also identified specific opportunities and issues which the Contractor could address with individual respondents.