BE GUARANTEED to SUCCEED CAMPAIGN a Research-Based Approach to Reframe Perceptions of Surety

BE GUARANTEED TO SUCCEED CAMPAIGN A research-based approach to reframe perceptions of surety

Producer Communications Toolkit

1 I. CAMPAIGN OVERVIEW

As producers, we’re passionate about surety. We know the value of our products and the benefits of surety in a highly competitive construction marketplace. Yet, we’ve all had encounters with contractors, owners and lenders who have different perceptions of surety’s value. To some, surety is viewed as just one of many insurance products, like SDI. To others, it’s an unnecessary “line-item” cost or a hassle that adds more process to projects. And for many, the strength of existing relationships and proven track records negate the need for surety.

It’s time for a new, more compelling way to talk about surety.

NASBP conducted interviews with stakeholders across the construction industry (owners, contractors, lenders, government officials, surety producers and others) and found a common theme: Framing surety in terms of successful outcomes for projects and personal reputations—and using language that is less technical and more connected to the pride and accomplishment clients feel about their projects—can help shift perceptions of surety from a line-item cost to a business advantage.

To this end, at NASBP’s Annual Meeting (April 29–May 1, 2018), we kicked off the Be Guaranteed to Succeed campaign to position surety as a driver of project and business success. NASBP communication channels—website, social media and print publications—will introduce and promote the campaign. Shifting perceptions of surety will take time and require your voice, too. If we all talk about surety in terms of ensuring project and personal success, perceptions will begin to change.

This Be Guaranteed to Succeed Communications Toolkit has messages you can adapt and use to talk about surety with owners, lenders, contractors and others, including a one-page “sell sheet” and social media content you can promote through your own channels. Each section of the Toolkit includes directions. All of this is intended to be easy for you to use in talking about surety in a new way. Additional materials are available to you through downloads with this Toolkit.

Let’s get started!

2 II. MESSAGING

Introduction: Owners, lenders and contractors are looking to protect their businesses and reputations. What they have in common is a sense of pride and accomplishment in creating something of lasting value that benefits their communities. Equally important is the integrity and the desire to “get things right” that they bring to their work and the emphasis that they place on the strength of their relationships—lender to borrower/owner, owner to contractor and contractor to subcontractor.

Our message to them is simple: Surety ensures project—and personal—success.

To communicate this message and reinforce the value of surety with these important audiences, consider incorporating the following into your future conversations about surety:

Elevator speech: You need a compelling, succinct way to talk about/pitch the value of surety. The goal is to capture the interest of an owner, lender or contractor and get each to consider surety by appealing to what’s important to them—their business and their professional success. You can adapt the language below to fit your speaking style.

There’s an amazing sense of accomplishment to build something of lasting value for the community. And in addition to the project that’s on public display, so is your reputation. Strong relationships, past experiences and the ability to count on others are part of your success and provide opportunities to grow your business.

But the unexpected can happen to anyone, from illness to missed deadlines to defaults.

That’s where surety comes in. It’s the only risk mitigation product that’s focused on success instead of failure. A surety bond guarantees performance, signaling the surety’s confidence in and commitment to the bonded contractor.

Surety gives you control over the most important feature of your project: your reputation for success.

3 Talking points: As you talk with different audiences, it’s useful to think about their motivations and their perceptions of surety. The following audience descriptions of mindsets and talking points are designed to complement the elevator speech above by providing different ways to connect the value of surety with each audience. You can adapt the language to fit your speaking style.

Owner Mindset: Research shows that owners are fundamentally optimistic and outcome-oriented; they like the lasting nature of their work and its impact on people’s lives. But they’re also pragmatic, always looking at cost and value. And while most are aware of surety, their knowledge of how bonds work varies. Surety is often viewed as a “line-item cost in a budget” and one of many risk mitigation options available. There is a perception among some owners that surety could hold up a project if something goes wrong while things get resolved, keeping a project from moving forward. Owners who don’t regularly undertake construction projects are more likely to seek guidance from their lender or insurance company on assessing and managing risk, including whether to require surety.

I like to use surety bonds because, if there’s a failure of a sub or general contractor, [the surety] will come in and put the pieces of my project back together.

Owner Interview

Suggested Talking Points with Owners

• Surety gives you peace of mind by ensuring a project’s success and protecting your investment.

• Surety prequalifies contractors through a thorough vetting process. This level of financial scrutiny can reflect favorably on you with lenders. By requiring surety, you’re letting lenders know the performance of the contract is guaranteed.

4 Lender Mindset: Research shows that lenders view their ability to provide loans and finance projects as facilitating the success and vibrancy of their communities. They want to win/make money. The trust and relationships they develop with borrowers grows out of the meticulous vetting they do. Most view surety bonds as the responsibility of the borrower/owner and assume they are doing similar vetting of contractors and will make the right decision as to whether or not surety is needed. Lenders are also sensitive to the marketplace and how other lenders handle surety requirements.

Bonds speak to the financial strength of the contractor with whom the borrower or developer is working.

Lender Interview

Suggested Talking Points with Lenders

• Trust and strong relationships to borrowers are essential elements to your success. The same time and attention you spend getting to know and assess a borrower are mirrored by the work of a surety—vetting and prequalifying the contractor your borrower uses. Surety guarantees performance, so both the contractor and, ultimately, the project will be successful.

• Surety protects your financial investments. It ensures projects get completed, allowing borrowers to meet their financial obligations to you.

Contractor Mindset: Research shows that successfully completing a project is a core driver of professional satisfaction. Contractors recognize the critical role each member of their team plays on a project and the ripple effect that can happen if someone doesn’t perform. Contractors want to control the decisions that get made on their projects—from selecting subcontractors to troubleshooting problems when they arise—so they can ensure that any work performed meets their standards. Surety is viewed as one of many risk mitigation options available. The third-party structure of surety is sometimes viewed as less flexible and more cumbersome than other insurance products like SDI. Some contractors also feel surety gives them less control over outcomes.

We’re results-driven. Our reputation is built on delivering for folks.

Contractor Interview

5 Suggested Talking Points with Contractors

• In a competitive, relationship-driven industry like construction, it’s important to have the right team in place to be successful, grow your business and keep your reputation intact. Surety guarantees success by vetting your team and ensuring your projects get done according to the contract terms.

• Hiring qualified subcontractors/teams is one of the most important and efficient ways to ensure a project is completed successfully. One of the many benefits of surety bonds is thorough prequalification of subcontractors.

• Anything can happen on construction projects, including inadvertent subcontractor failure. Make sure your downstream risks are covered with surety bonds to ensure your success.

6 Surety Sell Sheet: As part of the Be Guaranteed to Succeed campaign we’ve created a surety “sell” sheet to help reinforce the value of surety with potential clients. It can be customized with your company logo and contact information and printed for use as needed. We’ve included instructions for how to add your contact information. You can also use the language in other surety bond materials you produce.

IT’S MORE THAN A MAJOR CONSTRUCTION PROJECT. IT’S YOUR REPUTATION ON DISPLAY.

Anything can happen on a construction project. And everything reflects back on you. Your reputation is built on what you build, regardless of the issues or obstacles you face along the way.

When it comes to assuring project outcomes, you need a reliable, qualified team that delivers results. But how can you determine who’s best qualified to do the job or how can you account for the unexpected–missed deadlines, defaults or illness?

That’s where a surety bond comes in. It’s the one risk mitigation product focused on making sure the contract is completed and the project succeeds.

Surety guarantees performance and protects your reputation for success.

The stakes are too high to skip surety bonds: DOWNLOAD SELL SHEET HERE • Non-residential construction spending in the U.S. is projected to reach $567 billion by 2021. (Statista) • The business failure rates among construction companies is 1 in 4. (Based on 2011-

2013 BizMiner study of more than 950,000 general contractors, operative builders, and heavy construction and special trade contractors) • The surety industry protected more than $600 billion in contract and commercial surety exposure in 2017 alone. (The Surety & Fidelity Association of America)

Surety. Be Guaranteed to Succeed.

[Company Logo]

[Contact Info]

Instructions:

1 Click the link to go to a file where you will be able to access the design template. The document is created in Word, so you will need to have Word on your computer.

2 To add your company logo, use an PNG version of your logo. Go in the document, and insert the PNG logo and size it.

3 For your company information, you will need to create a text box and add your contact information into the text box. We recommend using Arial 11pt as your font so it will look consistent with the rest of the document.

4 Once you have added the new information, you will want to save the new version on your desktop. Print a copy and do a final review. You can print copies from your computer or from a printing place, such as Kinkos.

7 Detail picture of sell sheet (not interactive).

8 III. SOCIAL MEDIA

Social media is an effective way to amplify Be Guaranteed to Succeed campaign messages among contractors and owners/lenders. We have created content (static images as well as animated GIFs) that you can post on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn over the coming months.

Instructions: Use the links to download the social media content. Included are suggested posts that you can use for different audiences. You are free to adjust the language or write your own post. In this section, you will also find tips for using Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. If you have any questions, please contact Kathy Hoffman at [email protected].

Organic Social – Static DOWNLOAD ASSETS HERE

Copy for Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter:

• Contractors Post copy: Your reputation is built on what you build. Subcontract bonds ensure your ability to deliver project results. #BeGuaranteedToSucceed

• Owners/Lenders Post copy: Anything can happen in construction. Success comes when you plan for the unexpected. Safeguard your investment with a surety guarantee. #BeGuaranteedToSucceed

9 Copy for Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter:

• Contractors Post copy: Surety protects you against the unexpected so that you can focus on what matters— growing your business and keeping your reputation strong. #BeGuaranteedToSucceed

• Owners/Lenders Post copy: Complex construction projects carry complex risks. Surety bonds guarantee performance and protect your reputation for success. #BeGuaranteedToSucceed

Copy for Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter:

• Post copy for both images: With surety bonds, you can make sure your reputation is as solid as your buildings. #BeGuaranteedToSucceed

10 Organic Social Posts – Animated DOWNLOAD ASSETS HERE

Contractors

Copy for Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter:

• Post copy: Surety protects your reputation for success, so your company can last as long as the things you build. #BeGuaranteedToSucceed

Owners

Copy for Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter:

• Post copy: Every time you create something, you’re building your reputation. With surety, you can make sure it’s protected. #BeGuaranteedToSucceed

Social Media Best Practices

• See Appendix for best practice examples for Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.

11 IV. APPENDIX

Whether you are a social media maven or just getting started, the following tips for Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter will be a useful reference and for you and your staff. These guides incorporate the latest updates and trends to the social media platforms, to provide you with up-to-date best practices and recommended image specifications that will enhance your social media content. Additional resources are provided as links at the end of each platform guide.

Social Media Best Practices: Facebook

Facebook 2B+ 1.66B 83% 66% by the daily active monthly of daily active of monthly users Numbers users mobile users users outside return each day U.S.

About Facebook has established itself as the world’s largest social network, with one seventh of the world’s population on the service, with over 79% of US internet users logging on the site. Active users of the platform use the tool to connect with friends and family members across the globe to share updates, photos and videos. As the channel has grown in size, it has also expanded its capabilities. Facebook introduced Facebook Live and Facebook Stories, two live-streaming video features for users. Live is particularly useful for on-location streaming at events or conferences. After the user has finished streaming, the post is marked as “was live” and functions like a regular video. Facebook stories are short, user-generated multimedia collections that can be viewed up to two times and disappear after 24 hours.

Best Practices • Use visuals: Posts with photos receive higher engagement. Always make sure the images you share are high quality and compelling. • Keep it short: Posts with 80 characters or fewer receive 23% higher interaction. Generally, the best performing posts have 111 characters. • Stay on message: Keep your content simple, yet informative and compelling – add value to your audience’s feed so they will continue to follow you. • Use link previews: When sharing a link, delete the text URL after the link preview populates to extend the reach of your post. • Boost important posts: Even low-dollar boosts can heighten the reach of your organic content exponentially. But keep in mind that boosted posts are subject to much of the same specifications as advertising posts (for example: text cannot take up more than 20% of an image). • Encourage conversations: Listen to the sentiments of followers. Respond to comments, ask questions and thank them for any feedback. • Encourage partners to spread the word: When applicable, ask partners to mention your initiative and link to your website. Provide template language partners can use. • Talk to people: Mention press and partners in posts to grab their attention and potentially broadcast your message to their network. For example, @mention media outlets that reported a story or @mention a partner organization and link to a positive story about recent success. • Use hashtags, but not too often: Use 0-1 hashtags in each post to connect with larger trends and conversations; however, Facebook’s privacy settings may limit effectiveness. It’s worth considering even adding an emoji.

• Evaluate what works: Be sure to look at the Insights tab to learn what works best.

New Updates • Stories: Similar to stories on Instagram, Facebook Stories are a place for you to post content for 24 hours and then have it vanish. Only able to be posted and viewed from Facebook mobile. o How to: open Facebook app, take a photo with your usual camera or with stories, add a fun filter and text, post to story. This also works if you are trying to post a status and only want it to post for 24 hours on the story. • Cross Posting: You can now cross-post images you post on Facebook directly to Instagram. • Augmented Reality Ads: Facebook is currently testing advertising campaigns that utilize users’ front facing camera to place products on the user’s face. This includes new lipstick shades and accessories such as sunglasses. • Workplace for Good: Facebook is bringing their paid platform (workplace) to nonprofits across the world. Learn more here.

New/Updated Facebook Specs Note: The image specs change often. Be sure to use Sprout Social’s tool to make sure you are using Facebook’s latest dimensions. You can also use Sprout Social’s Landscape tool, which will resize your image for you.

• Photo (optional) o File Size: 5MB o 1200 x 630 pixels, centered and aligned vertically, 2:1 aspect ratio o File Type: jpeg, png • Profile pictures o 800 x 800 px (minimum 180 x 180). FB now crops photos into a circle in the news feed. Original square on profile page. Facebook recommends 180x180px, but 800x800 seems to be sharper. o 180 x 180px displays at 170 x 170 on desktop • Cover Photo o 820 x 312 px desktop o 640x 360 px mobile § Profile picture will not overlay for business profiles, will overlay for personal accounts. § FB recommendations load fastest at JPG 851 x 315 px less than 100 KB. But when using logo or text may be better with PNG. • Image Guidelines o Recommended upload size of 1200 x 628 px. o Square Photo: Minimum 154 x 154 px in feed. o Square Photo: Minimum 116 x 116 px on page. o Rectangular Photo: Minimum 470 x 246 px in feed. o Rectangular Photo: Minimum 484 x 252 px on page. o Facebook will scale photos under the minimum dimensions. For better results, increase image resolution at the same scale as the minimum size.

o FB will auto resize photos, but recommends using photos with one of the following sizes: 720 px, 960 px, 2048 px wide. If using a 1:1 ratio photo, the 960 x 960 px displays great on mobile and desktop. • Promoted post w/ link o FB recommends ads with links to use a 1.91:1 ratio, and on their Creative HUB mock up creator, it recommends 1200 x 628 px • Promoted Post – Pages Likes o FB recommends ads for Page Likes to use an 8:3 image ratio • 360/panoramic photos o https://facebook360.fb.com/editing-360-photos-injecting- metadata/?ref=fbb_ads_guide_image • Carousel Posts o FB Creative HUB recommends 1:1 ratio and 1080 x 1080 px with images that contain little to no overlaid text. Will allow 2-10 cards of image and video files. Max video file 4GB. See link for more details. • Ad Collection o FB collections include a cover image/video and several product/service images. When someone clicks on a collection ad, they'll land on Canvas — a full screen experience that drives engagement. o https://www.facebook.com/business/learn/facebook-create-ad- collection?ref=ads_guide# • Canvas Ads o FB canvas ads create a full screen experience that can be customized with photos, videos, swipe through carousels, and tilt to pan images. o https://www.facebook.com/business/learn/facebook-create-ad-canvas-ads • Video o 9:16, 4GB max, 1 sec–240 mins, vertical videos 2:3 • Frame Studio (profile and stories) o FB Frame Studio allows you to create custom frames for people to add to their profile photo for a temporary amount of time, OR to create a frame that appears in FB stories to add to a new photo (similar to a snapchat filter). For more information check out the link and see the "FacebookFrames" PDF. • AR Studio o FB AR Studio lets you create custom 3D for more advanced AR effects to be available in FB camera or Live broadcasts. o https://www.facebook.com/fbcameraeffects/home/

Quick Links • The Do’s and Don’ts Of Facebooking • How to Use Facebook Live: A Complete Guide • Facebook Help Center for Marketers

Social Media Best Practices: LinkedIn

LinkedIn 18% 41% by the users log-in are mobile 450M + users Numbers daily visitors

About LinkedIn has established itself as the world’s largest professional social network. The platform enables users to showcase their professional identities, assert thought leadership and advance their careers by applying for jobs, connecting with industry professionals and consuming content from other industry thought leaders. Employers or brands can post job openings, publish thought leadership content, engage with prospective employees and connect with other LinkedIn groups.

Getting Started with LinkedIn 1. Go to the LinkedIn sign up page. Type your first name, last name, email address and a password you'll use. 2. Click Join LinkedIn. 3. Complete any additional steps as prompted. 4. You’re all set!

Brands + LinkedIn What makes LinkedIn particularly useful to brands is its ability to promote thought leadership. A growing number of professionals use LinkedIn to stay up to date on relevant content and to connect with others in their network. With this in mind, brands are producing informative and insightful content that positions them at the forefront of key conversations and innovation. LinkedIn offers brands the ability to seamlessly network with each other in a personal way, rather than complicated, faceless advertising. Not only does LinkedIn provide a platform for professional relationships to develop, but also it gives prospective new-hires and customers a reliable community to engage with businesses, companies and brands.

Best Practices • Complete your profile. Add a cover image to make your page stand out and optimize your page for search. Ensure your page description leads with powerful keywords. • Share your insights. Share relevant articles and add company insights. • Include Images. When sharing your insights through LinkedIn posts, don’t forget to include images. LinkedIn posts that include images receive more engagement from users. • Be consistent. Share engaging content at least 3-4 times a week. • Grow your brand. Enable your page’s recruitment portal through LinkedIn’s Career Pages. Ensure you highlight imagery and content that is reflective of your company’s culture and values.

LinkedIn Specs • Organic + Sponsored Photo (optional) o File Size: 2MB o 1200 x 627 px o File Type: jpeg, png, gif • Profile Image o 800 x 800px o LI recommends using size between 400 x 400 px and 7680 x 4320 px, but we have recently tested 800 x 800 px and it looks great on mobile and desktop. Desktop now places a circular profile picture over the left side of your cover image, and mobile places your circle over center of cover image. • Cover Image o 1584 x 396 px o FOR BUSINESS PAGE: 1584 x 220 px o LI recommends 1584 x 396 px when you go to update this on your profile page. Keep in mind where the circle profile image overlays the cover image as it is different on desktop vs mobile. Best practice is to create a mock up of both desktop and mobile for clients. Make sure to note that phone screen size will impact slight cropping. Desktop remains consistent regardless of browser size.

Note: The image specs change often. Be sure to use Sprout Social’s tool to make sure you are using LinkedIn’s latest dimensions. You can also use Sprout Social’s Landscape tool, which will resize your image for you.

Quick Links • The Beginner’s Guide to LinkedIn • LinkedIn Etiquette: 20 Do’s & Don’ts • 7 Tips for New (& Inactive) LinkedIn Users

Social Media Best Practices: Twitter

Twitter 1B+ 500M Twitter by the 1B+ 330M 80% by the registered monthly active tweets sent per Numbers registered users on mobile Numbers usuesrse rs users day

About Twitter, originally launched as a desktop application in 2006, is considered one of the most popular social networks. It is the most in-the-moment platform, often breaking news well before any outlet and boasts close to 330 million monthly active users and is a prolific channel amongst news and media professionals. Twitter users can publish tweets, up to 280-character messages, about anything that they choose to their personal feeds. Their followers can favorite, retweet, or quote these tweets. With the additional functionality to get creative, users can upload photos, videos, polls, tweet at friends, tag location and link to outside websites. They also have the ability to search and discover relevant content by hashtags, lists and other users.

Getting Started with Twitter 1. Go to the Twitter sign up page. Enter your full name, phone number, and a password. 2. Click Sign up for Twitter. 3. In order to verify your phone number, you will be sent a SMS text message with a code. Enter the verification code in the box provided. 4. Once you've clicked Sign up for Twitter, you can select a username (usernames are unique identifiers on Twitter) — type your own or choose one that Twitter has suggested. 5. Click Create my account. 6. You’re all set!

Best Practices • Know your audience: This will help you tailor posts to your follower’s interests. • Be Consistent: Post often, but be conscious of the number of times you post. Always consider using #hashtags in each tweet (up to two – anyone who searches for a certain hashtag may find your post and engage by favoriting the photo or following your Twitter account). • Engage: You are more likely to gain new followers when engaging with your audience by favoriting or retweeting their tweets and tagging others in your messages. • Tag relevant accounts: To tweet at a user, tag them with @username. This tweet will only appear on their timeline. If you want your Tweet mentioning someone to appear on the feeds of all your followers, put a period before their username (.@username). • Stay on message: Keep your content simple, yet informative and compelling – add value to your audience’s feed so they will continue to follow you. • Provide 3rd party content: Tweeting out links is becoming the social standard alongside posting with visual content. • Add images: Including visually appealing, relevant images with tweets can help boost the number of retweets a post might get. • Listen to how people talk: Pay attention to what people are saying about your issue. Note the words they use, any hashtags, etc., and adapt messages appropriately.

• Retweet positive mentions: Retweet positive quotes or mentions about your initiative and thank reporters and bloggers who write about you or your work. (For quality control, always click through to view a link before retweeting). • Evaluate what works: Set up Twitter analytics to see what tweets are most effective in reaching your goals. Visit https://analytics.twitter.com/to set it up.

New Updates/Features • You are now able to use your account as customer support. You will be able to receive direct messages from anyone and Twitter will show a tag over your account that you provide customer support. o You can also show followers your support hours and when you are most active.

Tweet Specs Note: The image specs change often. Be sure to use Sprout Social’s tool to make sure you are using Twitter’s latest dimensions. You can also use Sprout Social’s Landscape tool, which will resize your image for Twitter’s latest specs.

• Profile Images o Twitter will crop image into a circle on desktop and mobile. • Header Photo o Keep text placement more centrally located if using in image because of where profile photo in circle will lay over image on desktop and mobile differently (reminder: desktop will vary responsively). Best practice is to create a mock up of both desktop and mobile for clients, and note browser size will impact slight cropping on edges of design. o 1500 x 1500 px • Organic Tweet o 280 Character o Note from TW: each link used reduces the character count by 24 characters, leaving 256 characters for tweet copy. • Organic Tweet w/ Image o "Single image tweets & GIFs" o 1200 x 675 px 2:1 aspect ratio • Promoted Tweet o "Image Website Card." TW lists 800 x 418 pixels for 1.91:1 aspect ratio, 800 x 800 pixels for 1:1 aspect ratio (max 3mb), but notes that 1:1 ratio is not available to self-serve advertisers at this time. o 800 x 418 px • Promoted Video o "Promoted Video." TW recommends H264, Baseline, Main, or High profile with a 4:2:0 color space. TW also notes that select advertisers are eligible to request an increase up to 10 minutes for max time, so be aware this may expand in the future. o 16:9, 1GB max, 2:20 minute max length

Quick Links • Moz: Beginner’s Guide to Twitter • The 10 most important Twitter Dos and Don’ts • The Twitter Best Practices Handbook

We hope you find the messages and tools provided useful for existing and new clients and for stakeholders. Visit the Be Guaranteed to Succeed Campaign at www.nasbp.org/guaranteed.

National Association of Surety Bond Producers 7735 Old Georgetown Road, Suite 900 Bethesda, MD 20814 www.nasbp.org 240.200.1270

“Surety is a relationship business. People become friends. You go to the retirement party of a surety executive and there are clients they’ve had for 30 or 40 years.” – Contractor Interview