Never Bid to Strangers
If I told you never to bid to a stranger, you might be perplexed. After all, isn’t Well Built always talking about the importance of growing your business? How will you do that if you don’t go after work with people you’ve never worked with before? Let’s talk about that.
When someone you don’t know invites you to bid a project today, chances are, like most contractors I’ve known, you’d look at the bid invite briefly and either junk it or pursue it based on the project details alone. Too small? Junk. Too far away? Junk. In our wheelhouse? Bid it. And so on…
Now think about how you treat bid invites from people you know and like. I’ll bet you give extra consideration to the small ones, the ones out of your ideal geography, and you jump all over the ones in your wheelhouse, right? The difference between these scenarios is only the relationship.
The best thing to do when you get invited to bid a project by someone you don’t know is simple. Get to know them. Suggest a meeting, in person or virtual, to discuss their company’s experience, values, procurement norms, and more. Invest the 30-60 minutes in getting to know the person before investing hours and hours pursuing work with them.
If you make a habit of building relationships as a first step, you’ll waste much less time on bad bids that are going nowhere, and you can find more projects in your sweet spot to pursue. Then we’ll have to tackle the hard job of declining to pursue projects outside of our sweet spot with people we really like. But that’s a subject for another day.
The Spark Notes:
When you receive a bid invite from a stranger, resist the urge to immediately junk it or dive in based solely on project details.
Instead, invest time in building a relationship with the requester to understand their company’s values and procurement process.
This approach will help you avoid wasting time on unsuitable bids and focus on projects that align with your business goals.
By prioritizing relationships over immediate bidding, you can better identify and pursue opportunities that truly fit your wheelhouse.
