IMPROVE YOUR MARKET IQ

Pioneer IQ delivers information to the construction industry that is unique, thorough, and advantageous in identifying and developing new markets. Find out how company owner DeWayne Ables will inspire teams at the 2022 Partners in Progress Conference.

By / Jessica Kirby

The sheet metal industry, like other sectors of the design and construction industry, has experienced challenges and disruptions the past couple of years, making it difficult for leaders to keep pace with today’s evolving markets. But according to market forecasting and monitoring firm Pioneer IQ, disruption drives opportunities. Are you positioned to take advantage of them?

Sheet metal industry leaders are experts in building communities—Pioneer IQ is a team of experts in forecasting, monitoring, and qualifying new markets so industry leaders can convert market disruptions and trends into more partnerships and projects. Understanding disruption lays the foundation for stronger labor-management partnerships as contractors and Locals work together to prepare for the future.

Anyone can come up with data and general market information, but Pioneer IQ owner DeWayne Ables says there are three things that make his company’s offering unique when helping industries understand or expand into a new market.

“First, we help industry leaders specifically understand the greater need they serve and not just the type of projects they do or work on,” Ables says. “Second, we help them understand the specific types of partnerships they should be pursuing versus just going after projects and bids. That gets us way into what sectors, geographic areas, cultural fits, funding guiding principles, and belief systems align with theirs and how to leverage those in inspiring productive discussions.

“Finally, we have economists and market analyses specifically related to the design and construction industries, but we also have access to massive international data from which we can pull information on trends that are yet to hit the market.”

Pioneer IQ has access to intelligence coming from China, Korea, Spain, Russia, and the United States, but it goes beyond standard economic forecasting numbers to social trends and influences. For example, 10 years before data centers were huge in the United States, the Pioneer IQ team spent six weeks in the United Kingdom to understand what in society drives the need for this service and how said need would translate in the design and construction industry.

“We started getting into the minds of the owners to understand what they are looking for so we could help contractors and the workforce prepare,” Ables says. “This is also about helping leaders understand that just because a market is emerging or growing, doesn’t mean it is a fit for them. We are here to help people discover who they love to work with—who those people are and what their needs are—and then how to share

with their union partners how to prepare collectively for the needs of new market developments.”

It is essential for industry leaders to have a firm and proven strategy for identifying emerging markets so they can create a formula within a company or organization that everyone understands and can get behind. Once people understand the formula, they will usually agree to it and work toward it collectively. “It is much easier for people to accept a decision that makes it through the formula’s criteria,” Ables says.

A formula also provides objective and clear guidelines and removes emotions from the pursuit of opportunities. And finally, the majority of businesses get into new markets because their clients ask them to go and build something there. That is a big no-no. Having a formula in place helps guide the process in a more concrete and thoughtful way.

“The number one pitfall businesses face in setting up a new or expanded market without a plan in place occurs when a client or existing partner has an opportunity for them in a new market,” Ables says. “If you want the work, go do it, but don’t open a new office there. A client-driven opportunity doesn’t qualify as a new market. What qualifies an investment into a new geographical market has nothing to do with one client.”

Another potential hazard occurs when an industry leader has a general assumption that XYZ market has potential or is growing, and asks around to handful of peers—sometimes over a couple of beers—to find out what others are seeing in that market. Those peers are saying, ʻHell ya, it is blowing up!’ leaving the person asking with a tainted lens through which they see the potential of said market.

In other words, taking anecdotal information at face value doesn’t qualify a new market, nor does filtering market information through overly optimistic lenses.

A final mistake industry leaders make is not understanding the correct investment to properly enter or prepare for a new market. That means sending the right people, spending adequate time, and considering a reasonable investment of resources, training, and equipment to make that new market profitable. It also means a thoughtful and involved investment into learning how to “play the game” in a given area.

“Just because a new geographical region might be the land of milk and honey, that doesn’t mean it is going to fall into your bucket,” Ables says. “A market might qualify and be a great cultural fit, but that doesn’t mean your company and workforce are immediately positioned to play the game, much less win. In Kansas, we play Texas hold’em differently than they do in Texas. You have to know that kind of thing, and you don’t usually get it without adequate investment.”

In Las Vegas, Ables will teach industry leaders how to use the leaders in their organizations to objectively get market intelligence and to develop cultures that are in discovery mode, rather than operating purely in delivery mode.

“We will talk about specific things leaders need to identify to objectively qualify and prepare for new geographical markets and industry sectors, and we will discuss how to develop, deploy, and empower teams to identify and make the best use of market intelligence.”

Want to learn more about how to identify and qualify new markets, how contractors and unions can work together to train and invest in tandem, and how to avoid the pitfalls of poor strategy? Be sure to catch DeWayne Able’s talk at the 2022 Partners in Progress Conference: Building the Future Together. Visit pinp.org/conferences/2022pinp to register for the conference and check out the list of speakers. ▪

“We are here to help people discover who they love to work with and then how to share with their union partners how to prepare collectively for the needs of new market developments.” —DeWayne Ables, owner, Pioneer IQ

Jessica Kirby is a freelance editor and writer covering construction, architecture, mining, travel, and sustainable living for myriad publications across Canada and the United States. She can usually be found among piles of paper in her home office or exploring nature’s bounty in British Columbia’s incredible wilderness.

2021 SAFETY DESIGN CONTEST

Create your own safety message and design for a chance to win safety hats or shirts for your local!

Email your design to Elizabeth Musick at: EMusick@smohit.org to enter.

Designs must be received by December 31, 2021.

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