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Customer Journey Research for Construction
Construction buying decisions pass through architects, specifiers, contractors, and wholesalers before a product reaches the job site. Each audience enters at a different stage, uses different information sources, and holds different veto power. We map the full decision chain through phone interviews with the people who specify, procure, and install, from facade and insulation to roofing and doors.
4
journey research phases
30+
years of exclusive sector focus
8+
professional audiences recruited by phone
20+
countries of CATI and IDI fieldwork
Our clients
What We Measure
Examples
Specification Journey
How architects discover, evaluate, and specify, and which sources matter at each stage. Where contractors confirm or override the choice, and how certifications and regulation shape the shortlist.
Procurement Journey
How contractors turn a specification into a purchase order, and the weight of wholesaler advice, price, and availability. Whether and why they substitute, and how procurement varies by project type.
Channel and Touchpoint Mapping
Which physical and digital touchpoints professionals use at each stage, where they create friction (slow quotes, poor documentation, inconsistent pricing), and how digital adoption differs by audience.
Friction Points and Moments of Truth
Where the journey stalls and why, and which friction points carry the greatest commercial impact: lost specifications, failed wholesaler conversions, complaints. How this differs by country.
Subsectors Covered
Subsector
Adhesives and Sealants
Architect specification (structural or decorative) to contractor brand selection at the wholesaler. Substitution is high, so procurement matters most.
Subsector
Facade
Technically complex and architect-driven, starting in a BIM environment and involving facade contractors, project managers, and building physics consultants. Certification (EPD, Cradle to Cradle) increasingly shapes the shortlist.
Subsector
Roofing
Strong regional variation: in some markets the contractor controls brand selection, in others the architect or owner does.
Subsector
Insulation
Regulation-driven, so the journey often starts with compliance rather than brand. The question is where brand choice happens and who controls it.
Subsector
Doors and Windows
High-involvement, long timelines. Renovation often starts with the homeowner or facility manager, new build with the architect.
Subsector
Building Materials (general)
Structural products (concrete, steel, timber), centred on structural-engineer specification and contractor procurement.
Subsector
Civil and Infrastructure
Public-sector procurement adds tendering, framework agreements, and the role of consulting engineers.
Subsector
Paint and Coatings
Specifiers (protective) and contractors (decorative), with the wholesaler in a strong advisory role.
Subsector
Walls and Ceilings
Dry construction, where the installer's brand preference often overrides the original spec.
Subsector
Tools
Short, repeating journeys. Brand loyalty, wholesaler stock, and on-site trial are the key touchpoints.
Note: this is a portion of the subsectors we cover.
How Customer Journey Research Works in Construction: Example Project
Example project
Scenario: an adhesive and sealant manufacturer wants to know why architects specify its products but contractors substitute them at procurement in Germany and France.
Phase 1 (Explore): 15 IDIs per country with architects, contractors, and wholesalers, 45 to 60 minutes by phone, mapping the AS-IS journey from specification to installation and where substitution happens.
Phase 2 (Validate): a CATI survey with 100 contractors and 75 architects per country quantifies substitution frequency, ranks the reasons (price, availability, habit, wholesaler advice), and sizes each friction point by commercial impact.
Phase 3 (Shape Future): a co-creation workshop with 8 participants per country produces a TO-BE journey map with prioritised interventions: touchpoints to improve, create, and de-friction first.
Output: a validated AS-IS map per country, a quantified friction-point matrix, a co-created TO-BE journey with action plan, and a board-ready deck.
Note: this is a typical project design, not a fixed process. Every study is tailored to your category, audience mix, and geographic scope.
Target Audiences
Note: audience mix is tailored to each project.
Architects [CATI / IDI]
the start of the specification journey for most mid to high-value products. Digitally engaged, responsive to structured phone interviews, and able to recount recent specification decisions in detail.
Main Contractors [CATI]
control procurement, translating specifications into orders, negotiating with wholesalers, and making substitution decisions. Reached by phone.
Specialist Subcontractors [CATI / IDI]
roofers, facade installers, tilers, flooring installers, plasterers, with strong brand preferences shaped on site. Not reachable via online panels; phone recruitment with trade-specific screeners is the only reliable method.
Specifiers and Technical Buyers [CATI]
increasingly important in commercial and public-sector work, evaluating on technical criteria and influencing both specification and procurement.
Wholesalers and Distributors [CATI / IDI]
the critical link between manufacturer and contractor, shaping brand selection through stock, counter advice, and promotions. IDIs with purchasing managers reveal how listing decisions are made.
Building Owners and Facilities Managers [CATI]
relevant for renovation and maintenance. They initiate the journey and hold strong preferences on durability, warranty, and maintenance cost.
Project Managers [CATI]
on larger commercial projects they coordinate specification and procurement, a distinct audience with different criteria from architects or contractors.
Our Advantage
Why Customer Journey Research for Construction?
Construction journeys are not linear. A product can be specified by an architect, approved by a project manager, procured by a contractor, modified by a wholesaler, and installed by a specialist. Each handoff is a potential point of failure, and we know where they happen from mapping them across hundreds of studies over three decades.
We do not use construction panels. Every professional is recruited by phone, verified on project involvement and category experience, and interviewed by a specialist. Wrong respondents produce structurally wrong maps. A generalist will tell you the journey has five stages; we tell you which stage loses you the most revenue and why.
Our European Architectural Barometer and Contractor Monitor give us standing data on how architects specify and contractors procure, so we can set your findings against broader sector patterns. That context is not available from a generalist provider.
Project Examples
a flooring manufacturer needed to understand how architects and interior designers specify commercial flooring across three markets. IDIs mapped the process; a CATI survey quantified the influence of sustainability, brand familiarity, and distributor support at each stage.
FR, DE, UK
a safety equipment manufacturer needed to understand how large contractors buy customised protective equipment, including hard hats. IDIs with procurement and site managers mapped the decision chain from need through supplier evaluation to repeat order.
DK, DE, NL, UK
a construction products manufacturer ran satisfaction and NPS benchmarking among installers, wholesalers, and architects, mapping the post-purchase journey, locating service failures, and quantifying their impact on loyalty and repurchase.
IT, PL, FR, DE, BE
a building materials company with declining retention ran a journey-focused satisfaction study that pinpointed friction in ordering and delivery driving customers away, with a priority matrix linking journey-stage improvements to retention.
IT, CZ, MY
Deliverables
What You Receive
Actionable Insights, Not Just Data
Deliverables are always tailored to the needs of our customer. Together we choose the form in which the insights can make the most impact. This can be:
- Validated AS-IS journey map per audience and country, need recognition to post-purchase
- Friction-point matrix with quantified commercial impact scores, ranked by priority
- Touchpoint inventory: which are used at each stage, how they perform, where gaps exist
- TO-BE journey map (with co-creation) and prioritised interventions with ownership
- Country comparison of where journey dynamics converge and diverge
- Verbatim quote bank by audience, journey stage, and country
- Raw data file (SPSS or Excel cross-tabs)
- Executive summary deck (5 to 8 slides) for board or management
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How do you map the full specification-to-installation journey when multiple audiences are involved?
We interview each audience separately, then overlay the findings into one integrated map. Each sees the process from its own perspective, and the combined map shows where influence concentrates, where handoffs occur, and where decisions get overridden.
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What sample sizes do you need for a construction journey study?
Qualitative: 8 to 15 IDIs per country per audience. Quantitative: 75 to 150 CATI per audience per country. The exact number depends on how many subsegments you need (new build versus renovation, commercial versus residential).
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Can you run construction journey studies across multiple European countries simultaneously?
Yes. We routinely run harmonised studies across 3 to 10 or more markets in one project, with questionnaires adapted for local structure and centralised data and analysis.
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How long does a construction customer journey study take?
A three-phase study (IDIs, CATI, co-creation) takes 10 to 14 weeks from briefing to delivery. A single-phase qualitative study takes 6 to 8 weeks. Timelines depend on countries and audiences.
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How do you reach specialist subcontractors like roofers or facade installers for journey research?
We recruit by phone with trade-specific screeners, verifying active project involvement, category usage, and decision role. Online panels are not viable here; phone is the only method that consistently delivers verified respondents.
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Can journey research be combined with satisfaction or brand studies?
Yes. Many studies combine journey mapping with NPS, satisfaction, or brand funnel analysis. The journey provides the structure and the metrics layer onto specific stages, giving you both what happens and how well it works in one study.
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At what stage should we commission customer journey research?
When you are losing specifications, seeing high substitution, or declining loyalty and do not know where the problem sits. Also before a launch or market entry, to understand the decision process before designing go-to-market. It often precedes or runs alongside brand and satisfaction studies.
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