In our previous two blogs, we talked about relationships with clients, prospects, and co-workers. Those aren’t the only business relationships that are important in growing your firm.
Relationships with strategic and industry partners can also build your business therefore building profits. By finding honest, win-win partnerships, both you and your partner will reap the benefits. Sometimes you accidentally find these partnerships while other times you must seek them out. You should be very strategic and intentional with who you create partnerships, because they can assist you in taking your company to the next level or it can also result in a lost opportunity or relationship.
Strategic or industry partners may include architects, engineering, contractors, subcontractors, bankers, attorneys, accountants, investors, real estate agents or brokers, human resource professionals, information technology consultants, and the list could go on. All of these types of companies and people can help grow your company and connect you with the right partnerships.
As an architect, engineering, or contractor, the end goal should be building strong foundational relationship with one another. You should promote collaboration and teamwork while also looking for what’s best for your mutual client, not just your own company. Creating partnerships during design can make or break a project. Including major subcontractors in the design process also adds value to your client while adding money to the bottom line. For example, bringing in the mechanical and electrical contractors to bring innovative and creative ideas to those systems may help consolidate the schedule or offer money saving ideas on system types. Allow the team to be creative, because that creates a synergy that can’t be matched. Clients see these collaborations among team members as a strong advantage to working with you. It’s okay not to be exclusive but perhaps be selective with who you are partnering with.
Other partnerships outside the design and construction team would be those that are involved in projects but may not be a direct decision maker for the project. Those relationships would include real estate professionals, bankers, attorneys, accountants, investors, and information technology consultants. These people are typically involved in projects when your client or prospect has a dream in their eyes and have a relationship with the client. By forming strategic partnerships with a selective group of these types of professionals, you will have created a network of partnerships. This will also give you the opportunity to bring these people onto your team should you need any of their services.
Creating these partnerships may take years, but make a list of characteristics you want in partnerships. There are some obvious characteristics you want in these types of relationships which would include trust, honesty, collaboration, and innovation. You must also consider company culture, business ethics, operations, systems, and processes. If you don’t have similar features, then you might not have synergetic relationships with these partnerships.
Relationships with outside consultants and industry partners keeps you informed of the market conditions and trends, too. It’s great to get an outside perspective and know what others are doing to be successful in their businesses. Many times something successful being done in the real estate market can be applied to the architecture, engineering, and construction market with some modifications. Learning from one another and sharing knowledge makes a stronger team and better relationships.
By having strong partnerships, there will be less mistakes and miscommunication, therefore delivering a better project to your mutual client. By decreasing errors and enhancing communication among your project teams, you will have more productive employees therefore decreasing time spent on building those relationships.
The challenge for you today is make a list of 4-5 partnerships you’d like to strengthen and/or create. Call one of them and set up a meeting. Each month meet with them for lunch, coffee, cocktails, or a meeting outside the office. You will start to see the fruits of your labor within six to twelve months. You have to be intentional about who you want to build these relationships with.
Nu marketing can help you set up a marketing and business development strategy to build these relationships. Call or email us today to learn more at 316-680-3097 or [email protected].
