As the market gets tougher, it is more important than ever that companies consider new avenues to help guarantee a steady stream of business and architects could be the perfect solution. But, more often than not, many companies shy away from commercial work because the pre-tender stage of a construction project is incredibly competitive.

With thousands of projects approved for planning every month, ranging from small to large-scale multi-million-pound developments, there are lots of potential opportunities for suppliers in the commercial market. It’s a fantastic alternative route to market and here’s how a company can achieve success by targeting architects specifically.

Develop key relationships to find opportunities in the commercial market

Building relationships with architects early in the specification process can give a company, and its products, a major advantage over its competitors. This is because the more familiar and confident the architect is with a specific product, the more likely it will be included in a specification document.

There are a few ways this can be done, whether that’s exhibiting at dedicated architectural events, uploading products to specialist online building products libraries (like RIBA Product Selector), or even contacting individual architects directly.

Ultimately, the method which gets the best results time and time again is the one that allows a company to build relationships with the key architects who are working on projects relevant to their products. Whether that’s organising face-to-face visits, telephone calls, online meetings, sending an email, or posting product materials to their office, repeated contact is a great way for an architect to remember the product and therefore, make the connection when they need to specify it.

Reliable business intelligence enhances commercial market opportunities

One of the biggest challenges many businesses face is finding accurate and reliable key business intelligence. When it comes to prospecting or exploring alternative routes to market, a company with access to the most up-to-date and relevant market research will stay ahead of its competitors. With the right prospecting database in place, a company is guaranteed to get results.

So, as a leading provider of marketing data for the fenestration, glazing, and construction industry, Insight Data has worked tirelessly to create a dedicated architects and specifiers database.

With over 18,000 architects in 9,000 practices active in the UK, companies can pinpoint architects specialising in key sectors such as housing, education, health, retail, leisure, or commercial. They can also drill down further into sub-sectors like social housing or schools.

The architects and specifiers database has been developed and continually refreshed on a regular basis by Insight Data’s in-house research team, giving suppliers unprecedented market intelligence. The Salestracker platform also simplifies the way to track prospects, manage leads and drive sales activity.

Rather than sitting back and waiting for projects to come out of planning, just like other businesses, companies should be proactive to get their products in front of architects at an early stage, so they’re written into design. As the saying goes, the early bird catches the worm so take action now to get ahead of competitors in the commercial market.

Insight expertise to conquer the commercial market

As well as having just under 20,000 unique email addresses and access to over 18,000 named architects, Insight Data also has a host of additional business and marketing data from national house builders, main contractors, and property development firms with a £ 5 million plus turnover.

Insight Data is one of the UK’s leading business-to-business data providers that specialise in the wider construction sector. Its unique market intelligence enables companies to create highly targeted marketing campaigns for prospective customers and helps to build a more successful, profitable, and valuable business.