Last year, over 58,000 construction related companies registered with the UAE’s Ministry of Labour. Employment was up by 10%, with the largest employer being the construction industry, representing 34% of the local workforce. Foreign companies from around the globe are also vying for attention from local clients.
As competition intensifies, consultants and clients will need better ways to find and engage the right contractors and suppliers. Trying to cold call or arrange meetings, or constant printing of company profiles which end up filed away in the client’s office will become less and less effective. Firms are becoming more proactive in finding the right construction partner, and are spending more time online searching for what they need, rather than being reactive to incoming queries. Less than 5% of local construction companies have a professional web presence that can capture these queries and convert them to leads. When margins get thin, the first thing to get squeezed is the marketing budgets which means stripping down multiple marketing channels and reverting to executing one or two print campaigns a year along or attending trade shows.
How can local firms ensure a cost effective “always on” presence which ensures that they appear in front of construction clients?
Clients value consistent clear information. For a marketplace to be successful, the right information needs to be presented in a visually appealing manner across both the supply and the demand side. This enables quicker and better decision making.
Dedicated construction directories such as ProTenders.com allow you to create a company profile that works across all browsers and devices, that can be updated in real time with the latest projects, and include the ability to list Certifications, Team Members and Qualifications.
Companies are tagged by the sectors they are active in and their business activities.
This means a client can easily find an MEP subcontractor in Qatar that has experience working with healthcare projects simply by selecting a few filters.
ProTenders is unique in that it is the only platform that focuses on helping the bidding company grow their business, rather than simply providing static information and leaving the company to follow up with trying to make the sale through other channels. ProTenders complementary product, the e-tendering solution, works in tandem with the Company Profile database. Once the right company is found, it can then be invited to bid directly on the platform; executing all the documentation online, communicating directly with the company and reducing cost and risk from the process. Typically bidding time can be reduced to under 4 weeks, with no paperwork or printing costs involved ProTenders is a cloud based solution which means you have access to your data anywhere, anytime and on any device. No heavy system integration is required and there is minimal impact on your IT budgets.
View the results of our 2015 Global Construction Survey here and visit our home page to learn how ProTenders can help you grow whilst reducing your marketing budgets
