By Jeff Beals
A construction executive was talking to me recently about how the job-bidding process has changed in his industry. It used to be that a company would announce plans to build a building before hiring a general contractor. The construction company would then make contact with the owner and try to win the business. That is no longer the case.
Nowadays, as soon we hear the first wisp of a rumor about a new building project, chances are the entire construction team is already in place. The successful construction company is the one that builds relationships and discusses ideas with real estate developers long before anyone puts pencil to paper. To win contracts, construction companies need to be marketing themselves and aggressively going after business before developers are even imagining their projects.
In business, relationships are more important today than ever. Successful professionals build relationships constantly, but you must be patient, because sometimes it takes a long time before a given relationship puts dollars in your pocket.
Long-standing relationships are particularly hard to break, which is why they are so valuable.
For seven years, I taught a real estate sales-and-leasing course at my local university. I would tell the students to build new relationships deliberately and actively, but that they can’t expect every relationship to bear fruit immediately.
One of my former students, a very talented one, earned her real estate license and affiliated with a local brokerage company. She was from a prominent family, was active in the community and had a large network of friends. She was dismayed on two separate occasions when a relative and a friend chose NOT to use her as their real estate agent.
You see, these people had bought and sold houses before and chose to keep their former real estate agents. Why? Those agents had performed well and had built business relationships that were too strong for the unproven newbie to break. My former student was persistent. She marketed herself to everyone she knew and to thousands of people she had never met. A year later, she had built plenty of relationships and was closing deals.
Sometimes you can become so busy working, pleasing the boss, satisfying your investors and taking care of existing clients, that you forget to build new relationships and foster underdeveloped relationships that could blossom with a little tender loving care.
We are operating in a highly competitive, fast-paced, global economy that doesn’t take time to stop and smell the roses. In such an environment, we must foster relationships constantly in order to avoid being trampled underfoot.
You are welcome to forward this article (with author citation) to friends, colleagues, clients or anyone else who might benefit from it.
Nowadays, as soon we hear the first wisp of a rumor about a new building project, chances are the entire construction team is already in place. The successful construction company is the one that builds relationships and discusses ideas with real estate developers long before anyone puts pencil to paper. To win contracts, construction companies need to be marketing themselves and aggressively going after business before developers are even imagining their projects.
In business, relationships are more important today than ever. Successful professionals build relationships constantly, but you must be patient, because sometimes it takes a long time before a given relationship puts dollars in your pocket.
Long-standing relationships are particularly hard to break, which is why they are so valuable.
For seven years, I taught a real estate sales-and-leasing course at my local university. I would tell the students to build new relationships deliberately and actively, but that they can’t expect every relationship to bear fruit immediately.
One of my former students, a very talented one, earned her real estate license and affiliated with a local brokerage company. She was from a prominent family, was active in the community and had a large network of friends. She was dismayed on two separate occasions when a relative and a friend chose NOT to use her as their real estate agent.
You see, these people had bought and sold houses before and chose to keep their former real estate agents. Why? Those agents had performed well and had built business relationships that were too strong for the unproven newbie to break. My former student was persistent. She marketed herself to everyone she knew and to thousands of people she had never met. A year later, she had built plenty of relationships and was closing deals.
Sometimes you can become so busy working, pleasing the boss, satisfying your investors and taking care of existing clients, that you forget to build new relationships and foster underdeveloped relationships that could blossom with a little tender loving care.
We are operating in a highly competitive, fast-paced, global economy that doesn’t take time to stop and smell the roses. In such an environment, we must foster relationships constantly in order to avoid being trampled underfoot.
You are welcome to forward this article (with author citation) to friends, colleagues, clients or anyone else who might benefit from it.
Jeff Beals delivers presentations to a wide variety of audiences nationwide. Presentations are adapted to fit your organization’s goals and can be keynote speeches (30 to 90 minutes) or workshops (two to four hours) covering the following topics:
- “Self Marketing Power: Branding Yourself as a Business of One”
- “Tons of Room at the Top: the Attitude of Success”
- “National Signing Day: What All Professionals Can Learn from College Football”
These presentations are energetic, humorous and packed full of valuable information. To discuss booking a presentation, go to JeffBeals.com or call (402) 637-9300.
