A metal building company developed an edge on competitors by emphasizing client relationships as a primary driver of growth. Bel-Con, Belleville, Ontario, Canada, a design-build firm that self-performs construction of Butler Manufacturing pre-engineered buildings, celebrated its 40th anniversary in November 2013.
Bel-Con co-owners Tom Gunsinger, president, and Michelle Stephens, secretary and treasurer, attribute the company’s longevity to long-term client relationships, diversified marketing strategies and a well-established company culture. Gunsinger says much of Bel-Con’s outreach depends on its reputation and word of mouth.
“When you’ve been in the community for 40 years, a lot of people know you,” Gunsinger says.
Bel-Con is located in southeastern Ontario, east of the greater Toronto area, in a region without major urban centers. Gunsinger says more than 90 percent of Bel-Con’s new clients become repeat clients and two-thirds of projects the firm completes are for repeat clients.
Bel-Con employees often get to know clients outside of projects, Gunsinger says. “We might very well stop just to see how they’re doing, or how their families are doing,” he says. “It’s not necessarily that we’re going to talk about a project; it’s a lot more human than that.”
Stephens says Bel-Con’s high incidence of repeat clients is attributable to employees’ will and ability to complete large and small projects. When a new building is constructed, and six months later, when the client needs a hole cut in a wall for a door, Bel-Con completes the work. “No matter how busy we are, we tend to accommodate them and make it,” she says. Bel-Con employees become clients’ go-to people to solve problems, Stephens says. “I honestly don’t think we have ever in our 40-year history said to any existing client, ‘We’re too busy.'”
Bel-Con completes about 50 projects per year, Gunsinger says, and averaged $8 million to $10 million in 2012 and 2013, when revenues climbed back to levels from before 2009. Gunsinger says Bel-Con is working on projects for two companies that have been repeat clients for more than 30 years. “And now we’re doing project number 12 for the one, and project number five or six for the other; it’s that repeat business over long-standing time,” Gunsinger says. “We’re actually working for the next generation in some of these companies.”
Bel-Con’s long-term client relationships were built by taking a genuine interest in their progress, Gunsinger says. “It feels good to be part of their success as well.”
Gunsinger says Bel-Con’s motto, “Buildings that work, relationships that last,” is as much a reminder for his employees as it is to clients about what they can expect. “That’s what we want all of our people that are in contact with our clients to be of that mind so that they are always looking to make sure that the client is happy with the end product,” he says.
Marketing a difference
Gunsinger says it promotes the Bel-Con brand with a diversified marketing plan that includes radio commercials, trade magazines, direct mail, Google Adwords and brand continuity for vehicle signage, job-site signage and other identity materials. “I’d say we’re ahead of the curve because I don’t see our competition in the same media as we are,” Gunsinger says.
Stephens says about three years ago one of their sales representatives, Alan Langabeer, began a new marketing effort in which he developed relationships with manufacturing associations, invited members to either a breakfast seminar or lunch-and-learn event, and spoke with them about various construction topics including the benefits of pre-engineered steel, why they should use standing seam roof panels and the design-build construction process.
“It’s a relatively low investment to do that,” Stephens says. “You have the cost of breakfast, and the rental of a facility for a few hours in the morning, and we end up with a room full of ideal clients, who may or may not be an existing client.”
“Contrary to regular marketing and branding, where you’re just kind of throwing a net out there and hoping a certain percentage of your ideal client is reached, we actually have a room full of them and we have their ear,” she adds.
For his upcoming seminar in April, Langabeer enlisted the help of an existing Bel-Con client to give the keynote presentation. “Who better to sell your services than a happy client?” Stephens says. “It’s easy for yourself to get up there and say, ‘Hey, we do great work.’ When somebody else does it, it does have more credibility.”
Stephens notes they have found the informational seminars to be a successful marketing strategy. “I thought it was ingenious.”
Constructing company culture
Bel-Con marked other milestones at its 40th anniversary party. Four employees were recognized for 20 years of service, and three were recognized for 10 years of service. Stephens says among the 12 to 15 full-time employees, they have about 300 total years working for the company.
Stephens, whose responsibilities include human resources, says when your staff is with you that long, they understand and buy into the company’s culture more. They understand where the owners stand on integrity, quality, teamwork and safety standards, she says. “They understand all that really well, and they are the ones who ultimately deliver it on the frontline. Having a low turnover in your staff just means that you don’t always have to sort of reinvent the wheel on those things, and you can count on your frontline staff to deliver your core values, and the things that are important to us that do set us apart.”
Clients get to know project managers and other field personnel over the years, Gunsinger says. “It just makes a good ongoing connection so that they’re not having to deal with a new face every time they need something done, or an issue comes up.”
The large portion of long-term employees makes Bel-Con a little different than other companies, Gunsinger says. “There’s a lot of loyalty to the company, and construction can be transient by nature,” he says. “Guys move on, they get laid off, they move somewhere else. We have a good core of people that are there year after year after year. So we try to look after them and they appreciate it, and they’re loyal to us.”
Year founded: 1973
Location: Belleville, Ontario, Canada
Geographic areas of service: Southeastern Ontario
Services offered: Design-Build for industrial, commercial and institutional markets, Butler Pre-Engineered Buildings, Butler MR-24 Roof and Re-Roof Systems, Construction Management, Project Management.
Number of employees: 25
Metal building square footage installed in 2012, 2013: 60,000 square feet in 2012; 80,000 square feet in 2013.
Tonnage of steel installed in 2012, 2013: 55 tons in 2012; 80 tons in 2013.
Total revenue in 2012, 2013: Averaged $8 million to $10 million per year in 2012, 2013.
Management team: Michelle Stephens, secretary-treasurer, Tom Gunsinger, president, Todd Foster, construction manager.
Industry awards: Butler Career Builder, Butler Regional Volume Builder 2011, Butler Canadian Roof Builder 2011, Butler Canadian Roof Builder 2012, Butler Regional Volume Builder 2013.
