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A Message From Dame Judith Hackitt: How To Get Your Products Specified

A Message From Dame Judith Hackitt: How To Get Your Products Specified

Last week, I attended the Construction Product Leader’s Summit: an event hosted by the NBS, which set out to highlight the importance of adopting a digital approach to construction.

We were lucky enough to listen to the words of Dame Judith Hackitt. Dame Judith has been instrumental in the much-needed improvement of current building regulations, through her recent implementation of the new Building Safety Regulator.

This post aims to highlight the key takeaways from Hackitt’s talk, and how Insynth applies these principles within our digital marketing approach.

Who Is Dame Judith Hackitt?

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past three years, you’d know that Hackitt was responsible for the Independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety, a report written in response to the tragedy at Grenfell Tower, which claimed the lives of seventy-two innocent victims.

The report highlighted a shocking number of inefficiencies in our current system; Dame Judith herself described the regulations as:

  • Too prescriptive
  • Unclear
  • Weak
  • Ineffective

Hackitt is quite clear not to lay blame on the cladding (which caused the fire to spread at such a rapid rate), insisting that a holistic approach is the necessary and crucial step to improving our regulatory system.

So, with introductions over, I’ll highlight some of my key takeaways, and how these can be applied to your digital marketing strategy.

 

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Your Building Products Company Requires A Digital Approach

In order for architects to specify your products, it’s crucial that they have easy access to your technical data, whether it’s BIM objects, data sheets or DWG files in an online format.

This will enable architects to design and mark up their drawings with absolute accuracy and transparency. The ultimate aim? To deliver projects on time, to cost and to a high-quality finish.

It’s important to note, however, that ‘being specified’ is the outcome of a research process, as highlighted by Darren Lester in his article, 5 Common Building Product Marketing Mistakes to Avoid in 2020.

So, whilst technical data is highly important once you’re specified, building product manufactures need to invest in content to help aid specifiers in their research process.

What Does This Look Like?

An SEO-driven content strategy will ensure that when an architect carries out their product research, your solutions will arrive at the top of the SERPs (search engine results pages).

And this doesn’t necessarily mean a shiny new website with all the bells and whistles.

Instead, your website should easily guide the specifier through the sales process, from awareness to specification, and then onto repeat business (hopefully).

 

Proof Of Quality

Dame Judith Hackitt also highlighted the importance of delivering proof of quality.

Of course, recent tragedies have made us all too aware of the consequences that a poor-quality, sub-standard material can have.

To address this, Dame Judith emphasises the importance of gaining certification, whether it’s a fire-rating certificate or any other proof that ensures your product is fit for purpose.

If you’ve got that compliance, don’t be afraid to embed it into your company’s value proposition.

Make it part of your story.

Highlight it in your content strategy.

Demonstrate it in your case studies.

 

Value Engineering, Not Value Cost-Cutting

My final takeway is Dame Judith’s message regarding product performance. In today’s climate, it’s not necessarily seen as a benefit to have the cheapest product on the market.

If anything, it suggests that your product is of a poorer quality and not able to manage the rigours that it’s likely to encounter.

Instead, building product manufacturers should focus on value engineering, delivering the best quality solution possible for performance, not price.

But I won’t get specified if my prices aren’t competitive.

Incorrect. If you spend time promoting the value of your solution; how it offers the best solution out there, you won’t have trouble gaining specification (and respect) from your architects.

 

Conclusion

Dame Judith was clear in her message: the people who provide the products used to build our buildings should address the many shortcomings in the way that products are traced, tested and recorded.

And on a slightly more optimistic note: this is a once in a generation opportunity. Now is our chance to leave that race to the bottom behind. And now is our chance to change the way the industry operates for good, setting a new standard for the rest of the world.

Insynth helps businesses achieve transparency and specification through a clear and strategic digital marketing approach.

To learn how Insynth can help you grow, get in touch with one of our experts today.

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About Insynth

Insynth Marketing is a leading UK construction marketing agency based in Shifnal in the West Midlands. 

They use the latest inbound marketing techniques such as construction inbound marketing, to support building product companies to grow their business by proactively driving sales lead generation activity. 

As the only HubSpot certified agency to major on construction marketing, we bring together construction marketing strategy, digital strategy, website design, SEO, content marketing, email marketing, sales automation, marketing automation and HubSpot CRM implementation to produce successful campaigns and great results for our clients.

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