Networking For Construction Professionals

Networking remains the best way for construction professionals to grow their business opportunities. Strategic networking helps you make the right contacts, build a strong reputation, and gain access to new projects. Construction networking is also something that’s often overlooked.

In this guide, we’ll cover the importance of networking and how you can do it better.

The Importance of Networking in the Construction Industry

While there are many different ways to market your construction business, the strategies that consistently offer the best ROI are networking, referrals, and word of mouth.

Networking is essential if you’re a subcontractor or materials supplier wanting to become the preferred source for a general contractor. Referrals and word of mouth is also the best way for contractors to attract new clients.

Networking in the construction industry is so important because it’s the human relationships that really differentiate your business. For example, let’s say you’re a concrete supplier. Chances are you’re offering a very similar concrete product at a very similar price point to the competition. The thing that sets you apart is how well you’re able to coordinate the needs of the project, manage time and resources, and provide a reliable service.

If you want to attract new clients, a great reputation and knowing the right people will help you a lot more than what you can offer on paper.

Offering an amazing service is only the first step. The second step to success is having the right contacts. And when you get networking right, you build up long standing connections to help you get more work in the future.

5 Tips for Better Construction Networking

Networking is important for improving the success of your business. However, not many leaders in the construction industry network well or network at all.

Here are a few strategies to help you network more effectively.

1.   Join the Right Events

By far the easiest and most effective way to build up your construction industry network is through events. Events help you meet like-minded professionals in your field.

RIB Software holds different events throughout the year and around the world. This includes user seminars, prospecting events, and global thought leadership conferences. These events are held in person and virtually.

Attending these events is a very successful way to network. We invite our users and prospects from different companies but still keep them within the same sector/industry to ensure attendees are the perfect match to network with each other.

2.   Network at the Job Site

You can also use an active job site for strategic networking. Chances are, there will be various specialty and trade contractors working on the same construction project. Simply taking the time to walk around the site and meet the other people you’re working with can make a big difference in how you grow your network.

3.   Network Online

Plenty of networking happens online. There are a multitude of relevant online groups and forums that you can join to discuss construction topics and connect with the right people.

LinkedIn is the obvious choice for this. It’s an ideal network to reconnect with old contacts and find new strategic connections. While online networking shouldn’t replace in-person networking, it’s a great way to maintain relationships and broaden your circle of meaningful business associates.

4.   Develop Your Relationships

Once you’ve made a connection, you have to develop that relationship further. The best way to do this is to be helpful and assist your new contact, instead of focusing on how they can be beneficial to you.

Help them by putting them in touch with people they might need to work with. They might facilitate new connections for you in return.

5.   Maintain Good Relationships

This may seem obvious but never burn any bridges. You don’t know where your next networking opportunity might come from or just how well-connected your contacts are.

If you leave a bad impression on one person, news within the construction industry can travel very fast. This could make a major impact on future networking and job opportunities.

With that in mind, always try to maintain relationships with everyone you work with. Chances are you’ll end up working with them again in the future.

Conclusion

Strategic networking is a big deal in construction. Get it right, and you’ll have far greater access to new job opportunities. Even if you’re offering the best service, it’s possible you may lose out on jobs to people with better-developed networks than you.

With the right events, networking is easy to do, and it will make a big difference to your overall success.