Sounds simple, but many of us do not do it, at least not to our potential, or to the potentially profitable impact it can have on our business.
On Time Estimating’s owner started out in the Electrical Industry as an Apprentice, and after 5 years of schooling and on the job training, he graduated to a Journeyman Electrician. Throughout the course of the next several years he worked his way up through the ranks as a Foreman, Supervisor, PM, Estimator and ultimately starting his own Electrical Contracting and Estimating companies. He ran the EC company for 8 years until he had an offer to sell at a very opportune time and took it, and continued until today to still run the estimating company.
The reason for the above story is to instill the importance of networking, for without it, he may never have had the opportunity for so much success. You see, his first year he did $170,000 of business by himself. He realized that was not what he was in this for, so he started out with local networking groups and attending functions and by year 2 he had 8 employees and did $2,000,000 of business. The networking did not stop there, and by year 3 he had 40 employees and was doing $8,000,000 a year in business. He then realized that this is where he wanted to be, large enough to do the big jobs, but still controllable enough to roll with the ups and downs of the industry, and he did this for several more years until the sale.
We share this story with you so you can see the importance of networking, such as on social sites just like this one, as we are doing right now while you read this.
It doesn’t always have to be about getting the next job/estimate, there is more to this then just that. When we talk, e-mail or communicate through social media platforms, we are networking and building a repour with each other, as people do business with people they know, hence they trust.
Next time you get that phone call from someone that is not necessarily going to bring a job to you, especially when you are so busy that it seems like a bother, remember, it’s no different than going to an after-hours meeting, shaking hands and building a future relationship.
We invite you to contact us at any time to discuss any aspects of the Electrical Industry, and if we have the answer, we’ll give it to you, if we don’t, we will find it. It doesn’t have to be a project you want us to do, it can even be a project that you are looking for a second opinion on, so go ahead, send us a set of plans, ask us questions and see if we can be of assistance.
Remember…. We never charge to look at a project, to take a phone call, or to give advice.
We always look at it as an opportunity to connect with another industry professional and build a relationship!