Getting clients as contractors is one of the toughest challenges, especially if you are new to construction or looking for new ways to grow your construction business. Unlike traditional employees, construction contractors must actively increase their network, build connections, and improve social interaction to land more clients.
However, with practical strategies, getting clients becomes easier for construction contractors. Here are 15 strategies to get clients as a contractor, which will help you land more clients and stand out among other construction businesses.
Let’s delve deep into these strategies:
15 Ultimate Strategies to Get Clients As A Contractor
These are some effective strategies ranging from marketing to online presence to make you more prominent among your competitors in the construction market.
1. Visit Potential Clients
In the construction industry, success heavily relies on strong relationships. Personal connections are substantial, so knowing the right people and understanding their needs and demands is crucial. A significant way to generate leads is by visiting potential clients directly. Try to meet 5 to 10 potential clients weekly to have purposeful interactions.
During these visits, introduce yourself and give a precise but engaging sales pitch highlighting your services. Having face-to-face interaction with local construction firms can substantially boost your business’s presence and trustworthiness. By constantly putting in this effort, you will grow your clientele and build a solid network of clients, improving your chances of being viewed as a successful contractor.
2. Title Page Method
Check out any plans or the cover sheet; you will see a list of people there. Call the architect or owner of the project and ask who else is bidding for the job. This not only gives you an idea about the scope of the project but also gives you access to multiple general contractors. In this way, you suddenly have more than three general contractors, while initially, you would have only one general contractor to whom you could send your bid.
You can call each general contractor and ask if you can send them your bid and get on their list. This is a straightforward but effective method. All you have to do is call multiple people instead of one or two general contractors. You can do this very prompt task even in the next hour. This increases your chance of getting a project up to 300%.
This is an empowering step, especially if you are new to construction and want to look for more jobs and increase your monthly earnings and annual revenue.
3. Hire an Estimating Firm
It’s no longer a myth that the most crucial and valuable aspect of any construction project is estimating. Many contractors lose a significant amount of their annual revenue because of inaccurate estimates. Huge construction companies have their estimating departments. But what should small construction businesses and construction contractors do?
Here’s the answer to this. Outsource your estimating to a well-known construction company like us and watch your business grow multiplefold. When operating a construction business, you have a busy schedule of meetings, supervision, site visits, etc. You don’t have much time for estimates. Outsourcing the estimate for your construction project. We will cover it for you.
4. Audition Method
Bidding for construction projects is like giving an audition for a movie. It’s an opportunity to show your skills and convince clients that you are the right choice for the job. New contractors often struggle to be taken seriously by clients unaware of their work. To overcome this, improve your bids by entailing detailed information or unique components that seem interesting to the clients.
This may entail presenting creative solutions or showcasing the unusual features of your services to your clients. These strategies prompt potential clients to contact you for more details, allowing you to explain your methods and strengths. These connections help build relationships and create a positive impression, navigating your way to success.
5. Interview Method
After you have a potential client’s attention with your bid, you must prove that you are the right choice for their project. When the client contacts you to discuss the project scope, use this opportunity to highlight your expertise. Tell them about your past experiences and suggest ways to enhance their project. This will help you build credibility and trust.
During the conversation, focus on providing helpful information. If they ask for more details, let them know you will follow up with accurate information from your suppliers. Once you have all the required information, plan a visit to discuss your findings in person. Being well-prepared with documents and a clear sales pitch can strengthen your position as the best candidate for the job and improve your relationship with the client.
6. Exposure Method
The exposure method is based on psychology and building relationships. It’s important to regularly engage with potential clients through phone calls, emails, and friendly visits. This should be done in a way that is not overwhelming. By approaching them often, you help create familiarity, leading to confidence and trust.
As clients get used to your name and face, they are more likely to form a positive view of you and your business. This makes them more open to contracts or partnerships. This method builds a friendly connection and sets a firm setting for future work. Regular and meaningful communication can create new opportunities and keep you in clients’ minds when they need construction services.
7. Always Demonstrate Expertise
Many contractors focus only on providing labor, making it hard to stand out in a competitive market. You must exceed basic expectations and show your expertise to grab clients’ attention. One effective way to do this is by working closely with the general contractor and other trades on the job site.
Instead of just completing your tasks like everyone else, take the lead in solving problems, even if they aren’t part of your job. Doing this will make you a valuable and reliable resource, and clients will see you as an expert. This reputation increases your chances of getting more projects since clients prefer dependable contractors who can solve problems.
8. Recruit a Marketing Company
We have determined that if you are a residential contractor focusing on homeowners, you should invest heavily in online advertising. The alternative to this is using HomeAdvisor, where you can print leads. The only downside is that you will compete with other contractors for the same lead.
If you do your marketing, the leads you get will typically be cheaper than using a service and less competitive because they will be your lead alone. But we’d still urge you to consider using a digital marketing agency that can help you with your website, landing pages, Google ads, and even Facebook ads.
You can use one of the construction lead generation services for commercial construction. They help you connect with the contractors and architects currently bidding on jobs.
9. Commercial Lead Generation Services
I have worked with many construction clients and discussed tips with them to get more clients. By reviewing those conversations, I concluded that construction contractors should sign up for online commercial lead generation services like:
- BlueBook
- iSqft
These sites offer you a massive list of clients to whom you can send your bid and ask them to be added to their bid list. This increases your chances of standing as a competitive contractor, and your annual revenue as these sites are not too costly and merely offer a $75-$90 per month.
As a contractor, you can also land more clients by marketing to other contractors and business owners. If there’s any platform that can give you massive traffic and that is too organic, that is LinkedIn. This platform is widely used by most business owners, who keep posting information about hiring and company requirements.
But if you want to outgrow your business and get more clients, take some content and upload it on the platform, with some content serving as construction ads to target the audience and invite them to see your services. Many small contractors don’t know the value of simply uploading the content on the platform. This gets you more projects as uploading the content makes you more visible to the target audience.
10. Residential Lead Generation Services
If you are looking for unique ways to get clients for residential projects as a contractor, get your marketing team on the phone and ask them to approach clients on Facebook. They’ll learn that you need a sales funnel.
A sales funnel is the sequence of construction ads to achieve a particular outcome. Many construction trades are opting for complex sales funnels, but for residential projects, it is chopped in two simple steps:
- The initial ad offers a lead magnet in exchange for contact information, such as an email subscription to your promotions.
- And then the 2nd ad is a follow-up with a sales pitch to everyone interested in your services.
Other than Facebook, here’s another option for using Home Advisor. This is the same idea as commercial lead generation services, but they only charge you per lead. Once you pay the annual membership fee, you start getting leads. Then, you can build your name and reputation by being in charge of the projects.
These are followed by weekly emails so you keep connected to your potential clients.
11. Build an Authoritative Website
Being a contractor, having a professional and appealing website is one of the pivotal elements to outshine your business. Having an underrated webpage is one of the worst points in the favor of any company. Invest valuable time and money in web developers to give you an appealing website for your contracting business that adds to your legitimacy as a contractor. A professional website and some local SEO will enhance your annual revenue.
12. Recruit Local SEO
Local SEO is what happens when you look for anything on Google location-wise. As you know, you have a long list of potential clients. You wouldn’t rank higher in Search Engines without getting too specific and technical. You should apply practical and specific tactics to improve your website page and rank compared to your competitors.
The way to make this happen is to add links to your content. More links will uplift your Search Engine ranking. Of course, there are many ways to do this, but hiring experts from various platforms like Fiverr or Upwork is the most reliable way to rank higher for local SEO. This will give you a list of people you can land as your potential clients promptly.
13. Add Government as Client
Expand your client base with government contracts and referral strategies. One effective way to grow your client base is to seek agreements with the US government. While some people think this process is complicated, becoming a government contractor is simple. Start by registering on official platforms for bidding and procurement:
- Gov: This site lists federal, state, and local government contracting opportunities.
- BidNet: This site gathers bids from different government agencies all in one place.
- GSA (General Services Administration): This agency offers contracting opportunities and helpful resources for businesses that want to work with the government.
- Fed Biz Opps: This portal allows you to search for federal business opportunities worth over $25,000.
When you bid for government contracts, remember that these contracts are often awarded based on price rather than value. To improve your chances of winning, focus on offering competitive pricing. Although this may seem challenging, there is potential for order adjustments during the project, which can help you increase profits even if your initial bid is low.
14. Ask for Referrals
This is straightforward. If you know you did an excellent job on the assigned project, ask them if they know any general contractors or construction managers with some sort of work to do or need some construction solutions. Sometimes, you realize you would have missed excellent opportunities if you inquired about them.
15. Ask Sub-Contractors Who They Are Working For
Use those connections if you have built relationships with subcontractors from past projects. Reach out to them and ask which general contractors (GCs) they work with. They might know of ongoing or upcoming projects that need extra support.
This method can significantly expand your network and reveal new opportunities. In my experience working with construction companies, this strategy often leads to success. The construction industry relies on connections. Your existing relationships can help you find many potential clients.
Conclusion
Using these strategies as a contractor can help you attract many clients. However, remember that real profit often comes from accurate estimating and managing the projects efficiently. To help your construction business thrive, consider investing in good estimating services and consulting. With the proper support, you can gain the tools you need to succeed in your niche in the construction market.
