Databuild and The Virtual Works: Virtual Success for the Building Industry

Using the latest generation of Web 2.0 networking technology, The Virtual Works (TVW) has established an online business network that "virtually" puts everyone in Southern Africa’s construction industry in one room – BuildMind.

A natural progression to this invaluable service was to collaborate with project information specialist Databuild to enable fast, cost-efficient access to genuine leads; The Virtual Works collaborated with Databuild to develop a service that can offer BuildMind members an exclusive lead generation service that’s fast, convenient and low cost: BuildLeads.

Using the latest generation of Web 2.0 networking technology, The Virtual Works (TVW) has established an online business network that "virtually" puts everyone in Southern Africa’s construction industry in one room. A natural progression to this invaluable service was to collaborate with project information specialist Databuild to enable fast, cost-efficient access to genuine leads.

CEO of The Virtual Works, Jonathan Hall, says that The BuildMind Network delivers value to its growing online community of building industry stakeholders – but needed an additional offering. "Contractors and sub-contractors value project opportunities highly, but want to be able to pick out those that suit them best and can’t always afford the monthly cost of a lead service," he explains

The Virtual Works collaborated with Databuild to develop a service that can offer BuildMind members an exclusive lead generation service that’s fast, convenient and low cost. According to Databuild Managing Director Morag Evans, BuildLeads complements the quality project information her company has been offering on a subscription basis for many years.

"With BuildLeads, we're providing the same valuable project information on a lead-by-lead basis," she says. "BuildLeads is targeted at a specific market, which Databuild’s existing product range had little to offer. However, the BuildLeads product complements our existing range extremely well."

Hall says The Virtual Works regards Databuild as the market leader in project intelligence and hold Databuild's management in high regard. "Our company has had an excellent relationship with Databuild that spans 13 years. BuildLeads is a unique addition to BuildMind and an extension of our relationship.

"While visitors to BuildMind could post requests for quotes and match them to contractors' profiles, Databuild offers a more effective way to distribute leads," adds Evans.

Evans says the system makes sense strategically. "Start-ups and very small businesses have often struggled to get the quality project information necessary to kick-start their sales processes. This has been even more evident over the past year, given the economic conditions we have experienced. BuildLeads was developed to assist businesses who cannot afford an ongoing subscription service and require only a small amount of information."

How it works
Users get a self-managed web presence and tags, which is properly indexed by Google and other search engines because of the concentration of building industry profiles and content. "It's easily found by the site's powerful search engine, which uses Google-like tags in profiles," says Hall. "It pushes relevant information, products, services and opportunities to members using these profile tags. A product and services catalogue is kept current by suppliers, giving members the ability to drag favourite products into their own library."

The system offers industry insight, news and events; as well as a range of tools that enable users to network within the industry and communicate with each other.

"In practical terms," Evans says, "there was a significant demand from BuildMind members for quality project information to assist them in generating sales. This system provides them with the opportunity to get information about new projects, establish relationships and build their business." Evans says BuildMind members are able to browse the list of projects and then purchase information only on those that they are interested in.

BuildLeads represents the first "pay as you go" offering from Databuild. "Not only does this have unique technology to support it, but it's the first time that we are marketing a product in collaboration with a partner," says Evans. With some 35 years in the business of bringing vital information to contractors, the Databuild platform is a trusted one in South Africa's construction and building industries.

"Modern Internet technology offers industry a smarter way to aggregate information and resources into one place," says Hall. "The impact of this is really about fast access to information for everyone - low cost access to stakeholders, more efficient ways to sell, source and communicate. We expect to increase the competitiveness of South Africa's construction industry, given that there will be less money spent on trying to distribute information, find information, keep up-to-date and communicate. It's a one-stop effort now."

Databuild is "very excited" about the project: "Offering a product to a segment of the market that has not been able to obtain the quality project information necessary for building a business is exciting for us and valuable for clients," Evans says. "Databuild hopes to contribute to good growth among smaller companies in the industry and to have long lasting relationships with these companies," she concludes.

About Databuild
For over thirty years Databuild has supplied vital information to the construction and related industries. Databuild offers the most thorough, comprehensive, precise and up-to-date database of projects available in South Africa, attracting clients looking to maximize their sales opportunities in construction and its associated fields.

With three dedicated research teams tracking projects from the early planning stage, through tender, award and tenant installation phases, Databuild is superbly placed to source new business for its clients.


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