The Halo Effect: 4 Strategies for Building Trust as a Contractor
Today's Highlights:
The Goal: Have you running into work on Monday with a plan for building trust with your potential clients (without doing a ton of work)
Trust is the prerequisite to any great relationship. Meanwhile NO ONE trusts Contractors. You can change that and stand out from your competition.
In every challenge there is great opportunity. Give 2-4 of these strategies a try, and you are going to CREATE opportunities for your Contracting business.
No one trusts Contractors.
Just think about it. Ask any homeowner and they’ll tell you:
“We want to get work done, but we don’t know who to trust.”
“We hired this roofer and had a HORRIBLE experience.”
“We’re never hiring them again.”
But this goes way beyond residential construction. There are commercial owners who feel the same way:
“Is this change order legit?”
“Why didn’t you point this out sooner?”
“Are you trying to get something past us?”
The distrust in Contracting runs deeeeep.
But — believe it or not — in all this distrust lies a HUGE opportunity.
“But Matt, how could Owners not trusting Contractors be an opportunity?”
Because if you learn how to build trust as a Contractor?
Then you automatically separate yourself from 90% of your competition.
It may sound crazy, but I know it’s true because when I started posting on LinkedIn 18+ months ago, I didn’t have much reputation outside of my immediate circle. As I spoke about my beliefs of being fair and transparent as a Subcontractor, I started having General Contractors reach out to me and say, “Hey, I believe those things too and I don’t know many Subcontractors who are the same way. Hope we can cross paths on a project sometime soon.” I can actually think of a multi-million dollar Contract I won because of trust I developed with the GC through LinkedIn.
How nice would it be if you could do the same for your business?
It’s possible, and to get started, all you need to do is 4 things:
Build A Professional Website
Get A Few Really Good Testimonials
Develop A Social Media Presence
Support A Local Charity
Imagine a world where Client’s trust you, want to work with you, and want to be respectful about how they do it.
This is all possible when you build trust.
Here are the 4 things you need to do to get started:
Build A Professional Website
Why do it? Your website is your first impression. Anyone that hears your company’s name is going to look at your website to find out more about you.
How to do it? You have 2 options here. 1) Hire an outside company 2) Make the website a project for an up-and-coming employee. Either way, you can do it for less than $10k. It doesn’t have to be complicated. It just needs to prove credibility and make a great first impression.
Examples:
Could you imagine? Imagine a world where you get a call from a potential client and they say, “We found your company when we searched for Electrical Contractors in Dallas. We saw your completed projects and think you could be a perfect fit for a job we have coming up. Do you want to bid it?”
Get A Few Really Good Testimonials
Why do it? In a world of increasing access to information, no one knows what to believe. Companies can say whatever they want about themselves, and as a consumer, you’re left figuring out what is true. This totally changes with a good testimonial. Now, instead of your company saying, “we’re great!” you have an innocent 3rd party say, “no..seriously… they’re great. We trusted them and you can too.” Pretty easy to see how that builds trust!
How to do it? Most people like giving compliments if asked. After you finish a particularly successful project, shoot an email to the Project Team asking them if they’d be willing to give you feedback! Make sure to be specific — the more specific the question, the better the answer. Once you do, put the testimonials on your website on the front page! Display them loud and proud.
Examples:
How would you rate the overall quality of our work compared to other subcontractors you have worked with?
Can you provide specific examples of instances where our team demonstrated exceptional teamwork and collaboration on the project?
In terms of pricing, how would you describe our services? Did we offer competitive rates without compromising on quality?
Were there any challenges or unexpected issues that arose during the project, and how did our team handle them?
How would you describe our commitment to meeting project deadlines and milestones? Did we consistently deliver our work on time?
Can you highlight any unique values or qualities that our team brought to the project, which set us apart from other subcontractors you have worked with?
Were there any particular aspects of our work that exceeded your expectations? If so, please provide details.
Could you imagine? Imagine a world where you don’t have to “sell” your product because other people are doing it for you. You’re never starting a project at 0 trust. You gain trust with every project and that trust builds greater and greater with each testimonial.
Develop A Social Media Presence
Why do it? Social media is the best FREE way to build trust. When you have a social media presence, your company is always top of mind. It also allows you to control the narrative about your company — what you believe in and how you do it — at all times.
How to do it? One thing I’ve learned from posting on LinkedIn for the last 18+ months is that people trust PEOPLE way more than they trust COMPANIES. So my advice here is to get YOUR PEOPLE active on social media. You can have a company account too, but focus on getting your people out there. I’d specifically recommend training 1 to 3 Managers and Senior Level employees on how to post on LinkedIn. Encourage them — and potentially incentivize them — to post three to five times per week about your company, your beliefs, and what it’s like to work with you. You’ll build trust in no time.
Examples:
H&O Structural Engineering CEO, Rens Hayes- https://www.linkedin.com/in/renshayes/
The Procopio Companies CEO, Michael Procopio- https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikeprocopio781/
Wheaton & Sprague Engineering CEO, John Wheaton- https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-wheaton-pe-leed-ap-0694886/
Could you imagine? Imagine that instead of your competition saying “Yeah.. they’re okay but we’re better”, you are out there constantly saying, “Hey we’re great because we want to help you. We care a lot. Here’s examples of how we care.” If you have a social media presence, YOU control the narrative. You communicate the type of company you are. You make clients want to work with you.
Support A Local Charity
Why do it? So much of building trust is about establishing your company values and finding Client’s who believe in the same thing. If you can show potential clients that you value helping the community, then you can build trust much quicker. Supporting charity and showing that you want to HELP people instead of just MAKE MONEY is a great way to demonstrate your values. You’d be surprised how much it means to certain Clients.
How to do it? Talk to a local trade group like Associated Builder’s and Contractors, American Subcontractor Association, or Association of General Contractors. Ask them what causes they are supporting to help advance the construction industry in your area. Contact the charity and find out how you can help — whether through volunteering or donating.
Examples:
Habitat for Humanity: https://www.habitat.org/
SkillsUSA: https://www.skillsusa.org/
Construction for Change: https://www.constructionforchange.org/
Could you imagine? Imagine working for more than profit. Imagine really helping your community or people all over the world. Think of how good it would feel to know that you are doing real good for the world. Then imagine how much easier it would be to trust someone who lives life (or does business) that way. It’s easy to see.
🧠 Matt's Mental Health Corner
Last week, I went to one of my best friend's weddings and had a great time.
I did my best to forget about work, but admittedly it still was on my mind many times.
Here's the thing though:
When it happened, and I felt that pang of anxiety, I didn't fight it. I stopped, took a deep breath through my nose, and let the emotion run through me. In 2-10 minutes the anxiety was gone and I re-centered myself to focus on the present moment.
I tell you this because I used to think you should suppress that fear or anxiety. Push it way down deep inside. Ignore it. I'm learning that's unhealthy.
Instead, the best thing you can do is acknowledge the emotion and take a deep breath. It's okay to be anxious or scared. We all go through it every day. So don't fight it! You're human just like the rest of us.
I hope this helps someone out there next time you feel those anxious emotions cropping up.
Spark Notes:
Establishing trust can happen long before you start working on site. The sooner you start building out your trust strategies, the faster you’ll win work with companies who trust you.
Build trust proactively with 4 simple strategies:
Build A Professional Website
Get A Few Really Good Testimonials
Develop A Social Media Presence
Support A Local Charity
Which one are you going to try on Monday? Reply to this email and let me know!
Good luck, and I hope this helps you build trust as a Contractor.
