Communications is a key aspect of all relationships—this is certainly the case in the surety and construction industries. Maintaining open communications among all project stakeholders and among all parties to a surety bond enhances collaboration and reduces strife.
The NASBP Producer Communications Toolkit 2.0 can help! Below are some resources to help you and your colleagues discuss surety bonds with clients and project stakeholders and even a tool for you to share with your clients to improve communications on the jobsite.
STAKEHOLDER TALKING POINTS
Describing the surety process and the value of surety bonds is paramount in the industry. The talking points section of the Toolkit 2.0 PDF offers a look into the mindset of the project owner, lender, architect, and contractor, giving insight to their needs and goals. It also offers targeted ways to talk about surety for each stakeholder. Pull phrasing and ideas from this section for discussions and presentations with project stakeholders and use these to tailor follow-up emails as well.
EXPLAINING THE VALUE OF SURETY BONDING
It is vital for bond producers to be able to describe the surety process and the value of surety. This article includes two items bond producers can use in their explanations: NASBP Surety Shorts videos and the Ernst & Young (EY) study The Economic Value of Surety Bonds.
Q&A DOCUMENTS FOR CONTRACTORS/ARCHITECTS/OWNERS
These extensive documents are a wealth of knowledge to share with your clients. Whether your clients are new and just learning about surety bonding or are already clients that have multiple bonded construction projects underway, these question-and-answer documents explain all things surety in an easy-to-understand manner. Each document is geared towards a different project stakeholder, including tailored content and specific questions based on those stakeholders’ experiences with surety.
10 TIPS TO IMPROVE CONSTRUCTION SITE PROJECT COMMUNICATIONS
This article includes an easily shared set of practices to ensure effective communication between all construction project stakeholders. It highlights the importance for your client to communicate in writing, in a timely manner, and as clearly as possible. It also reminds all project stakeholders to follow contract requirements regarding communications and to listen to the other stakeholders’ points of view.
These are just some of the valuable free tips and guidance NASBP bond producers will find to help them promote the surety product to construction project stakeholders, including project owners nasbp.org/guaranteed/owner, lenders nasbp.org/guaranteed/lender, architects nasbp.org/guaranteed/architect, and contractors nasbp.org/guaranteed/contractor. Check out NASBP's social media posts every Friday to learn more about the new NASBP Toolkit 2.0 resources. Visit the Toolkit 2.0 to learn more here: nasbp.org/guaranteed. #BeGuaranteedToSucceed #surety.