Every month the Business Development Committee reaches out to small business owners, marketing directors, and public relations specialists to gather valuable insight into the rapidly growing construction industry.
If you're looking to create marketing proposals, build relationships with customers, and increase sales, our Best Practices article series can help.
To say the last two years has been challenging for everyone in both our professional and personal lives, is quite possibly the understatement of the past 20 months. The construction industry has certainly faced a myriad of challenges, economic fallouts and other setbacks over the years, but none as far-reaching as COVID and its continued impact on all of our lives. As we reassess and begin 2022 with at least some sense of hope, the “challenge” now posed to the construction industry is to redefine our notion of success – more specifically, how we measure and celebrate successes both externally with our clients and partners, as well as internally with our employees.
As we trudge through the pandemic and its economic uncertainty, one thing is clear: we must continue to win work. While there seems to be no shortage of RFPs, our ability to build relationships with the clients behind the RFPs and to truly do the early work of discovery is heavily weighted towards the established relationships we built pre-pandemic. The old rule that 80-percent of our work comes from existing clients and 20-percent is from new is in question. In a recent, very informal poll, 50-percent of respondents said the 80/20 rule was still relatively valid, while the other half erred on the side that its more likely 90/10 at best. With traditional methods of meeting new clients (conferences, networking events, meals, and happy hours) almost non-existent in some places, I wondered how business developers are making connections and succeeding at winning new work. I found two fascinating examples that tell us a lot about what’s working.
During a recent meeting of the AGC Business Development Forum, members discussed the various hurdles from this past year. As the conversation shifted from the obstacles to important lessons, it became apparent that the topic my fellow BD Forum members were sharing would be beneficial to the entire AGC community.
The ability to establish and then nurture connections is a valuable skill that makes for a happy and well-rounded life — and a happy and secure company! And all the market research in the world – while quite valuable — can’t match the power of genuine human chemistry. As a managing director of business development at Columbia, I focus every day on our relationships with prospective and existing clients. But helping to identify and develop new ones and strengthening those that already exist isn’t something a successful business development manager does alone: in fact, business development and retainment is much more successful when your entire team is empowered to contribute.
My grandfather was a brick mason. If he met you on a jobsite, you would be greeted with a handshake from deeply calloused hands and a smile that would not betray the amount of work he was about to put in. He was a “Good Old Boy” and ran his own company while working in the field. He knew how to do things right, and he lived off a reputation that would earn him credibility with complete strangers. People learned his name, his quality of work, saw his logo on his truck, and eventually called him up to quote work or even gave him a no competition award as a subcontractor. The trust he earned with owners and GCs and the friends he made, spread the word to second degree connections who trusted these contacts.
Since the pandemic struck in March, construction teams have had to pivot from in-person project interviews for new work to the virtual environment. As this is new to everyone, I developed the cheat sheet for my Texas teams at Rosendin to help in our preparation to get in the correct head space for the new virtual environment. It is intended to provide comic relief but serve as reminders to everyone involved what what to do and what not to do. Hope these tricks help your teams succeed in the new normal for project interviewing.
Theodore Roosevelt is famously quoted as saying: "Do what you can, with what you have, where you are." This could possibly be more applicable today than when he originally said it. I love the quote because it removes any excuses or hurdles from the conversation and forces you into action.
It’s time we turned your whisper into a roar or whatever form of making yourself known feels authentic to you. Ruth Bader Ginsberg had the softest, gentlest of voices. She was parsimonious with her speech, but boy when she parted her lips to express a belief, she made a point, and her points had points. The sharp barb of truth, the insightful pinning down of the injustice, the prick of wisdom that leaves an incessant reminder of the conversation, returning to you in throbbing pulses throughout the day, that was Ruth’s way.
The reality is that many A/E/C professionals, especially engineers and environmental scientists, are introverts by nature. Firm leaders can be just as reluctant to put introverts into this role, focusing their efforts on more extroverted staff. Introverts (and those who manage them), take heart. You really can learn to be more comfortable with—and even enjoy—BD activities. And you can become proficient without the pressure to be someone you’re not.
Everyone wants and values their business relationships, but how do you establish effective business relationships? Is it just about meeting people? You meet someone, talk, and you have a relationship. Seems easy, yet effective business relationships take dedication and commitment. The following are key to building effective business relationships.
