If you are looking to grow your Concrete business, it is imperative you learn what it takes to win more jobs. In my experience, there are three simple approaches to adapt in order to grow your sales and ultimately your profit.
My most effective method to winning more concrete jobs may not be so obvious to some but is easily the most important change you will make in your business.
Time is money so I’ll give it to you short, but I highly recommend you dive into these in detail to learn how to integrate them into your day.
These are the Top 3 Methods to Winning More Concrete Jobs
Effective: Bid More Jobs
More Effective: Ask for Referrals
Most Effective: Build Genuine Relationships
Winning Methods in Detail
Effective: Bid More Jobs
Statistically the more jobs you bid out, the more jobs you should win. If you throw one dart you might hit the bullseye but if you throw 100 darts, your chances go way up of nailing that red beauty.
There are plenty of free resources out there that bring general contractors and sub contractors together to bid on jobs.
Here is a list of construction bidding softwares that are constantly listing jobs for bid:
PlanHub
BuildingConnected
iSqFt
CoConstruct
SmartBid
There are many more tools similar to these you can easily find.
With this approach, you will need to invest a lot of time to put out as many bids as possible. There is a ton of work out there that needs to be done, so get out there and give some prices!
The more shots you take the more goals you score.
However, it is not as simple as “bid more, win more”.
Take inventory of where your prices line up to your competition. Are you on the expensive end or the cheaper end?
If you are more expensive, make sure you are well versed on justifying your price and communicate what you bring to the table that makes you worth the extra dough.
If you are the cheapest option, make sure you are not undercutting yourself and also make sure you are not missing anything on the bid. We’re not in the business of losing money here.
The more self aware you are, the higher your conversion rate will be. Always take inventory of yourself and your business, and be willing to adapt!
Bid Board = Lower Conversion
More Effective: Ask for Referrals
You are in the construction industry so you should have created at least a couple of pretty solid contacts who you trust and they trust you.
Use these contacts! What are friends for if you can’t ask for help?
My biggest account is one that was referred to us by my Uncle.
This method is simple: People trust people; who people they know, trust.
That may or may not make sense the first time you read it but let’s put it this way. You get to know someone and learn who they are and what kind of values they have and you grow to trust them.
This person then comes to you and says they know a concrete guy who does great work at a great value.
Since you trust this friend, you are more willing to use their concrete guy than some random concrete guy from a bid board. Right?
These are the conversations we want to ask our friends to have.
Start with people you are closest to. Reach out to family and friends about referring potential customers to your concrete business.
Make it as easy as possible for your friends to share your business.
- Be crystal clear what your capabilities are.
- Give a direct phone number or email for these people to contact you.
- Be precise on WHO you are looking to be in contact with.
When these people ask you to bid out one of their jobs, your estimate will be considered in more detail than most other contractors bidding on that same job.
Referrals = Higher Conversion
Most Effective: Build Genuine Relationships
Yes “business is business” and I’m sure you hear “It’s not personal, it’s just business” or “It’s a dog eat dog world out there”. All of these sayings may be true in some cases but in my experience, they are complete BS.
I’m sure I have left money on the table because I refuse to play the game of cutting myself down for the sake of winning a job, however, I have made much more money in a way more pleasant way by building genuine relationships.
Owning a business is stressful to begin with, so why make it more stressful working with people you don’t trust and constantly trying to compete for every job you bid on.
By building genuine relationships, you can position yourself to never have to compete for work again!
This is a long haul method that pays HUGE DIVIDENDS.
Our biggest contact started as a referral (listed above) who would let us bid on small odds and ends jobs. We were competitive with pricing and always OVER DELIVERED.
We are clean, prompt, and provide high quality product. So after 5 years of doing whatever this contact needed, we built enough trust-equity that he now gives us huge jobs with nice profits and we are his only concrete source.
When you build enough trust in a relationship, your contacts will WANT YOU TO SUCCEED. They will put you in a position to make money and will push you to grow your business.
Be honest, hardworking, FAIR, and genuine. Be yourself, DO THE RIGHT THING, and make sure your contact will do the same.
Building genuine relationships with fair, honest contractors is the single greatest asset you can ever build for your company.
Share with us how you win more concrete jobs!