Last week we revealed three Easter-egg keywords you can pinpoint in local meeting discussions that provide some indication of construction happening in the near future.
But finding the golden Easter egg in your city’s planning commission minutes this week doesn’t guarantee your firm will be the one breaking ground on the project with a golden shovel next year.
To prevent that egg from spoiling, you’ll need to start the nurturing process as soon as possible, i.e. anytime keywords like “certified survey map” or “rezoning” are mentioned — doing so will put you way ahead of the game when the project actually goes out for bid at least a year later.
Here’s our top five tips you can take advantage of today to help your firm get in front of the project owner (and stay top of mind!) in the months leading up to the bid:
1. Scope out a mutual connection.
Look up the development team on LinkedIn and see if anyone is a 2nd or 3rd connection with you. Reach out to your mutual connection for an introduction, and aim for an face-to-face meeting.
2. Familiarize yourself with key players already involved in the project.
Reach out to architects and engineers associated with the project for insights — they’re your next best shot just below the project owner. Since project owners commonly work with the same architects and engineers they know and trust, chances are they’ll trust their insights about general contractors as well.
3. Show off what you know to the right people.
Directly connect with the owner or project team through a cold call sometime in the week following their project proposal to the city, and lead with relevant information of how you saw their project and what you know about it. Everybody likes a little recognition, even if it is about something as vague as an approved request to combine a few parcels of land off Highway 51.
4. Set reminders and stay connected.Use a customer-relationship management (CRM) software like HubSpot to set reminders to reconnect with project leadership. While emails are always convenient, mix it up with a LinkedIn message or (if applicable) a Twitter shoutout over several weeks. And if calling is most appropriate, always push for the connection over the voicemail. Be pleasantly persistent in order to stay top-of-mind...and stay on their good side!
5. Ping your allies to help you strategize.
If you need assistance in determining who’s part of the leadership team on a project, work your network to figure out who the decision makers are. Trust the power and genuity of your network — you’d be surprised how far people will go to help you. Plus, you never know who knows who, whether that be on a professional or personal level, until you ask.
Curate sifts minutes and agendas in counties chosen by you to search for upcoming projects that make sense for your firm — click Get Started today.
Want to learn more? Read about our pursuit of a more effective lead service.