3 Hacks to Acquire Customers in the Construction Industry

Expert advice from our session at this year’s Marketplace Conference

Construction is one of the least digitized industries. Many stakeholders are still offline, which makes it especially challenging for digital marketplaces to acquire and onboard new customers. In search of advice and answers, we brought together an expert panel at this year’s Marketplace Conference to discuss distribution channels and strategies that can help you to acquire new customers.

Moderated by Andreas Schwarzenbrunner, Associate Partner on the Speedinvest Industrial Tech investment team, the panel discussion included:

• Christian Hülsewig (Founder & CEO, Schüttflix)
• Jordan Shapiro (Associate, NEA)

You can listen to the full discussion below. But if you’re short on time, here are the top 3 hacks you need to know!

3 Hacks for Acquiring Customers in the Construction Industry

Hack #1: Build trust.

“We pay everybody immediately,” emphasizes Christian Hülsewig. “And by immediately, we mean the same day,” he continues. Most of the customers in the construction industry are not used to receiving timely payments. However, “paying fast can help you to build trust for your brand” and additionally increases the chances you’ll benefit from word-of-mouth recommendations. Of course, this is the case for Schüttflix. But whatever business model or product it is, you should execute it in a way that your customers have never experienced before. Customers might not only re-enter your platform, but also tell others to join as well.

More to that below at 4:30 min.

Hack #2: Offer ancillary services.

By leveraging the collected data, tech companies can offer ancillary services to potential customers. “All these small services offer a lot of value,” says Jordan Shapiro from NEA, and “can entice companies to come to your platform.” When thinking about the degree of digitization of construction, one could agree that there are probably many low-hanging fruits ready to be picked by a digital company. So identifying the “little extras” and translating them into small services for your customers might be a great incentive for them to enter your platform.

Listen below at 10:00 min.

Hack #3: Get into the customer’s head with instant gratification.

Many supplier and business relations in the construction industry have been established for decades. To slide in as a digital marketplace might become a real challenge. According to Christian, two things are helpful to get into the customer’s head: Firstly, you can launch online & offline campaigns to really push your brand and achieve recognition. And secondly, you can build trust by providing instant gratification. Schüttflix is trying to achieve this instant gratification by enabling fast payment and reliable delivery. So try to identify the instant gratification that your platform could offer to your customers and build a reliable network that helps you to achieve this. It is worth mentioning that “in construction, you have to hit it on the first try,” says Christian.

More below at 13:00 min.

Listen to the full discussion

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Authored by Niklas Fip, a member of the Speedinvest Industrial Tech team. The future of industry is digital and green. Europe is entering a new industrial era driven by transformative technologies, new business models and the common goal of decarbonization. They invest in startups pushing Europe into the future. So whether it’s re-imagining Manufacturing, Construction, Energy, Logistics or Mobility, our strong connections to the industrial world and firm understanding of these sectors supports our founders in building a more sustainable and innovative Europe.

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