What is now almost a traditional flow of bad news continued last week with the CPA claiming that the construction industry is facing the "worst fall on record" and revising their forecast to show a 12% fall in construction output this year. Significant positive growth is not expected until 2012. But there are areas of growth now - in Education and Rail.
 
If you want to add further to your depression have a look at the NHBS's latest figures which show a 72% drop in private housing in the period December 2008 to February 2009 compared with the previous year. But this is an extreme statistic, comparing the last of the best times with a very difficult recent period. If public housing is included then it is "only" 59% lower. It is to be hoped that the steep decline in housing output is coming to an end. To gain a better understanding of prospects in private and public housing, why not pre-order a copy of our April edition of Housebuilder Watch which will be published at the end of this month.
 
Most companies have already made cutbacks in their operations, meaning that the same or more work needs to be undertaken by fewer people. Although budgets are tight don't forget to consider the option of outsourcing some tasks or projects to external organisations like Competitive Advantage. We have an experienced team who can take on tasks large or small providing a most effective means of ensuring key projects are completed promptly.

As with the rest of the construction industry, architects' practices are also shedding staff. If you sell to specifiers then a more focused approach is required. No doubt costs are under pressure so selecting the right communication channels is important, our report Specifier Communications Channels can help you make this choice. If you are a member of CAB I will be presenting a summary of the report at their Marketing Conference - Selling to Specifiers on 22nd April.
 
To ensure sales effort is effectively, why not book a place on our course Effective Specification Selling on 23rd April. This considers the sales process required when promoting to Clients and Contractors as well as Architects and Engineers and is suitable for all level of sales from the new salesman to the experienced manager, and also provides a useful background to those responsible for marketing to specifiers.

Budget pressures and increasing customer sophistication mean that digital marketing will continue to grow in importance as a communications tools. CIMCIG have arranged two events to give an insight into some of these aspects.
 
On 14th May, Margaret Fitzsimons, Managing Director of Voltimum, will explain how she has built up a network of over 100,000 contacts, the communication channels used and how they maintain a regular dialogue. Methods include newsletters, competitions, video clips and Digital Signage - the latest development in advertising technology.
 
Then on 10th September Paul Wilkinson, Head of Communications at BIW Technologies, will explain web 2.0 developments, which are the second generation of the internet and include tools such as Blogs, Social Networks, RSS feeds, Wikipedia, Podcasts, Content Sharing - YouTube and Flickr, Mash-ups and Virtual Environments.
 
Follow the links to book on either event, non-CIMCIG members are welcome.