The past year has been a tumultuous one for the construction industry. Many residential and commercial projects have slowed down considerably or stopped all together and, while these numbers are starting to rebound, contractors should not sit idly by and wait for the economy to right itself. They need to take action to keep their businesses on past clients’ radars and to win new clients for when they’re ready to move forward on projects they’ve tabled until funds became available.
Networking is the art of being connected. You know the old saying, “It’s not what you know but who you know.” Or, we have best-selling author and all around sales guru Jeffrey Gitomer’s twist on it, “It’s not who you know but who knows you.” From personal experience, both of those mottos certainly hold true.
These haven’t been the best of times for the construction industry. No news flash there. However, it’s fair to say that more weathered contractors- those construction companies with a few more years under their belts-are probably doing better than newer companies.
First the good news-the economy’s rate of decline in the first quarter of 2009 slowed a bit from the fourth quarter of 2008 (6.1 percent vs. 6.3 percent) and dramatic reductions in price points for big-ticket items such as cars, appliances and furniture bolstered consumer confidence by around 9 percent.