One of the most common issues brought to us as a construction consultant is construction leads.
Leads are the fuel that keeps your construction business moving, so getting a consistent stream of quality leads is the first step to scaling your construction business.
In this post, we’ll go over five tried and tested strategies to get more job opportunities as a GC or a subcontractor, so that YOU can grow your construction business today.
Strategy #1: Use Lead Generation Platforms
This first strategy is straightforward; the best way to generate tons of construction leads is through paying for lead generation services.
Sites like The Blue Book or iSqFt show you jobs that are happening in your area, allowing you to connect directly with architects, owners, and general contractors. You can expect sites like these to cost in the range of $75-150 per month, but the benefit is that these sites essentially provide you with unlimited leads.
Pro Tip:
If you just want to get the ball rolling, most lead generation sites have free trials. You can sign up for a few and get yourself some quick leads, as well as figure out which platform you like best.
Strategy #2: Make Cold Calls
Cold calls have gotten a bad reputation for being tedious and unrewarding, however, in an industry like construction where making relationships is the most important thing, cold calls can be a great practice.
Sometimes, all you need to do to stand out from the crowd is simply to call your potential clients and introduce yourself, a task the most contractors don’t do nearly enough.
How do you figure out who to call? Well, there are lots of ways to go about this. One easy way is to do a simple Google Maps search of your target client like in the photo below:
No matter how you get a hold of the phone numbers of your potential clients, you should start storing all their information in a CRM (customer relationship manager).
Next, schedule out time to give them a call so that you can
- Introduce yourself
- Ask about upcoming jobs
- Leave a good first impression
Strategy #3: Visit Potential Clients
This strategy is very similar to the cold call method discussed above, but it goes the extra mile and gives even better results. By visiting clients, especially ones who have already invited you to bid, you can get miles ahead of your competitors.
Meeting clients face-to-face dramatically boosts your chances of winning jobs. To understand why, we have to get into a bit of psychology…
In psychology there is a concept known as the Mere-Exposure Effect which essentially states that the more familiar someone is to a person, the more likely they are to prefer interacting with that person in the future.
Pro Tip:
The mere-exposure effect plays out in certain situations known as “touch points”. A touch point is the way you can interact with someone; for example, text, email, phone call, visiting, etc. To make yourself a more familiar candidate in bids, try to hit all these touch points.
Basically, people like working with a familiar face; pretty common sense.
But in an industry like construction that’s notorious for uncaring and selfish contractors, introducing yourself in person to potential clients sets you up to make quality, long-term relationships that’ll benefit you more in the future than just quick wins.
Strategy #4: Make your bids as a GC and a Sub
If you’re a GC, one lead strategy I would use is called the Double-Dipping Method.
The idea with this method is that you can boost your chances of winning by bidding on GC invites as a subcontractor, and then calling up the owner to bid as a GC yourself.
This method gives you higher quality leads because you are getting more work out of one job. You just have to make sure you know of other subs who can help you since it can be easy to load up on too much work with this method.
Strategy #5: Find the Best Construction Clients
When it comes to leads, quality can sometimes be even more important than quantity. There are a few clients that can offer you more consistent work than others, so you have to prioritize certain leads over others.
For general contractors, some top clients are universities, hospitals, and property managers. These clients tend to provide you with lots of work because of how often they require renovation projects, meaning they can benefit you long-term as regular customers.
For subcontractors, the same tip above applies, however subs can also expand their search to smaller clients. For example, interior designers and residential communities are both high quality clients that need subs quite often for smaller jobs.
Pro Tip:
One client that will never run out of work is the government. Although government jobs tend to come with more restrictions, they also tend to pay a whole lot more. Check out the official guide on government contracting to see how you can get started!
The Secret to 10X your Construction Business
If you are interested in growing your construction business, I’ve prepared a short training video for you that you can watch for FREE:
In this training, I will show you how you can put your estimating on autopilot and boost your sales to 10X your business in 90 days; step-by-step with a simple copy and paste formula!
One of the most common issues brought to us as a construction consultant is construction leads.
Leads are the fuel that keeps your construction business moving, so getting a consistent stream of quality leads is the first step to scaling your construction business.
In this post, we’ll go over five tried and tested strategies to get more job opportunities as a GC or a subcontractor, so that YOU can grow your construction business today.
Strategy #1: Use Lead Generation Platforms
This first strategy is straightforward; the best way to generate tons of construction leads is through paying for lead generation services.
Sites like The Blue Book or iSqFt show you jobs that are happening in your area, allowing you to connect directly with architects, owners, and general contractors. You can expect sites like these to cost in the range of $75-150 per month, but the benefit is that these sites essentially provide you with unlimited leads.
Pro Tip:
If you just want to get the ball rolling, most lead generation sites have free trials. You can sign up for a few and get yourself some quick leads, as well as figure out which platform you like best.
Strategy #2: Make Cold Calls
Cold calls have gotten a bad reputation for being tedious and unrewarding, however, in an industry like construction where making relationships is the most important thing, cold calls can be a great practice.
Sometimes, all you need to do to stand out from the crowd is simply to call your potential clients and introduce yourself, a task the most contractors don’t do nearly enough.
How do you figure out who to call? Well, there are lots of ways to go about this. One easy way is to do a simple Google Maps search of your target client like in the photo below:
No matter how you get a hold of the phone numbers of your potential clients, you should start storing all their information in a CRM (customer relationship manager).
Next, schedule out time to give them a call so that you can
- Introduce yourself
- Ask about upcoming jobs
- Leave a good first impression
Strategy #3: Visit Potential Clients
This strategy is very similar to the cold call method discussed above, but it goes the extra mile and gives even better results. By visiting clients, especially ones who have already invited you to bid, you can get miles ahead of your competitors.
Meeting clients face-to-face dramatically boosts your chances of winning jobs. To understand why, we have to get into a bit of psychology…
In psychology there is a concept known as the Mere-Exposure Effect which essentially states that the more familiar someone is to a person, the more likely they are to prefer interacting with that person in the future.
Pro Tip:
The mere-exposure effect plays out in certain situations known as “touch points”. A touch point is the way you can interact with someone; for example, text, email, phone call, visiting, etc. To make yourself a more familiar candidate in bids, try to hit all these touch points.
Basically, people like working with a familiar face; pretty common sense.
But in an industry like construction that’s notorious for uncaring and selfish contractors, introducing yourself in person to potential clients sets you up to make quality, long-term relationships that’ll benefit you more in the future than just quick wins.
Strategy #4: Make your bids as a GC and a Sub
If you’re a GC, one lead strategy I would use is called the Double-Dipping Method.
The idea with this method is that you can boost your chances of winning by bidding on GC invites as a subcontractor, and then calling up the owner to bid as a GC yourself.
This method gives you higher quality leads because you are getting more work out of one job. You just have to make sure you know of other subs who can help you since it can be easy to load up on too much work with this method.
Strategy #5: Find the Best Construction Clients
When it comes to leads, quality can sometimes be even more important than quantity. There are a few clients that can offer you more consistent work than others, so you have to prioritize certain leads over others.
For general contractors, some top clients are universities, hospitals, and property managers. These clients tend to provide you with lots of work because of how often they require renovation projects, meaning they can benefit you long-term as regular customers.
For subcontractors, the same tip above applies, however subs can also expand their search to smaller clients. For example, interior designers and residential communities are both high quality clients that need subs quite often for smaller jobs.
Pro Tip:
One client that will never run out of work is the government. Although government jobs tend to come with more restrictions, they also tend to pay a whole lot more. Check out the official guide on government contracting to see how you can get started!
The Secret to 10X your Construction Business
If you are interested in growing your construction business, I’ve prepared a short training video for you that you can watch for FREE:
In this training, I will show you how you can put your estimating on autopilot and boost your sales to 10X your business in 90 days; step-by-step with a simple copy and paste formula!
