To improve your odds of winning profitable construction contracts, you must be ready to present your company like a pro. A well-prepared and dynamic project interview and presentation can make a big difference and encourage clients to award your desired contracts. Even when you compete on price alone, you will not easily win every job without presenting your company and project plan to the client and decision-makers. Clients want to do business with contractors they like and trust, and who have the expertise, experience, and team they feel confident will build their project on time, on budget, and without any hassles, disputes, or problems.
More and more, construction clients pick the winning team at project interviews based on a rating scale where price is only one of the several factors. They rank project teams based on five to 10 different criteria, including overall value, team members, creativity, quality, construction methods, experience, safety, past performance, total value, and of course, price. In some cases, price might only be weighted at 25 percent while performance and service make up the difference.
Clients care about what you will do for them
As you get ready to present your company, remember clients do not care much about what you have done or what you have built in the past. Your experience likely got you the chance to bid on the project opportunity, but clients now primarily care about what you will do on this specific job. Focus on telling them how you will help solve their problems and meet their project goals.
Use the project team approach
The most important factor for most clients is the actual project team. Every valuable team member must be ready to participate, contribute, and look professional in the interview. Include the project manager, superintendent, and foreman. When the owner does all the talking, the client does not get to know the team.
Use visual examples
Fifty-seven percent of what your clients remember about your presentations is based on what they see. Thirty-five percent is based on the way you say it, and only eight percent is based on what you say. Make sure you show them a lot, and they like what they see. Stand up, walk around, point to charts, hand the client photos, and move again. If you can, set up the interview room in advance and post photos, plans, and charts on the wall.
Here are steps to win at the project interview and presenting a powerful presentation:
- Research the client. Learn everything you can about your client’s contractor selection criteria before the interview. Discover what is important to them, their vision and goals, the history of past projects, and how they award contracts.
- Gather the maximum information you can about this project, including the function, use, and requirements; expansion plans; city approval process and requirements; zoning, architect, engineers, inspectors, and utility companies’ requirements; fire department rules; and security. Visit the project site with the whole team before the interview. Look for creative ideas, value-added opportunities, design enhancements, and the project’s short-term and long-term needs.
- Set up the presentation venue to win by knowing the following: Number of attendees, decision makers, names, and titles; technology, lighting, and power that is available; what presentation method you will use, i.e. projector, screen, easels, or flip charts; how the room set-up will flow, including the number of chairs, whether to use a conference table or head table, if you need a podium, and how much wall space there is for displays. Additionally, post the site and floor plans, proposed project schedule, and presentation bullet points on easels or walls. Lastly, schedule your tech person to attend the presentation to monitor and operate the computer and projection, and rehearse the presentation with your team before every interview or presentation.
- Use a prepared written agenda, as teams that “wing it” look unprepared. Using a printed, prepared agenda for the meeting shows your team is competent, organized, and ready to proceed.
- Be ready to defend your company—assume your competitors are going to share any negative information they have about you. Make sure you have a positive story for questions that come up and never badmouth your competition. When uncomfortable questions come up, you must be prepared to address these, including safety problems, late schedules, payment issues, liens or lawsuits, and unhappy clients—anything that can impact a company’s reputation.
To have the most efficient and successful presentation, follow this schedule:
- Introductions
2. Client presentation: Always ask and let the client first present their project requirements, goals, and challenges. Listen to them 80 percent of the time and then ask questions, including what their contractor selection criteria and the most important aspect of the project is. Find out who have they used in the past and why. What roles do they want their contractor, architect, engineers, and team members to play?
3. Team presentation: Use the “project team approach” to present your company.
4. Introduce your project team: This can include the contractor president, estimator, project manager, field superintendent or foreman, project administrator, etc.
5. Have each team member stand up and present their name, role, and experience.
6. Use visuals including schedules, site and floor plans, photos, a Google map of the site, video drone aerials, flow charts, checklists, PowerPoint slide shows, videos, etc.
7. Project construction presentation: Describe how team members will work individually and together and have each team member present their goals and objectives. Emphasize different points based on what you heard from the client’s presentation. Each team member presents their role, responsibility, and how they will work on this project, from planning, estimating, project management, field supervision and scheduling, safety program management, quality control, job cost management, etc.
8. Budget and cost: Present project budget, pricing, scope, inclusions, exclusions, and value-engineering ideas or alternate suggestions.
9. Present your company: This is the least important part of your interview, so keep it short. Cover your company history, values, vision, similar projects, and clients. Explain why this project and this client are very important to your company. Use a PowerPoint slide show to show why your company is the right choice, how you will build the project, how you will meet and communicate with the client, and what extra value you provide and do, etc.
10. Contract terms: Explain your proposed terms.
11. Offer a guarantee to the client.
12) Summarize your project goals: How important this job is to your company, and why you want to work with this client. Be sure to incorporate your client’s goals and objectives into this summary of what you will do for them and how.
13) Ask for the order: Never leave a presentation without asking for the contract. If you do not ask, the answer is no. Each team member should ask for the order and describe the importance of this project to them. Before finishing, ask the client what it will take to win the contract.
14) Set up a follow-up date: Offer an on-site tour of similar projects that would help sway the clients’ opinions. Focus on how you helped other clients and how you can solve problems and make their project a success.
15) Thank them for the opportunity and leave something behind to help them remember your company.
16) Follow up aggressively like you want the contract.
Throughout the project interview and presentation, show them what you will do for them. Be visual, overcome your client’s challenges, score lots of points, and win big!
George Hedley, CPBC is a certified professional construction business BIZCOACH, consultant, and popular speaker. He helps contractors build better businesses; grow, profit, and develop leaders; improve estimating and field production; and get their companies to work. He is the best-selling author of Get Your Construction Business To Always Make A Profit, available on Amazon.com. To schedule a free introductory coaching session, get his monthly Hardhat Hedlines BIZ-TIPS e-newsletter, download his templates and tools, or watch his webinars or online video courses at Hardhat BIZSCHOOL online university for contractors, visit HardhatBizcoach.com or e-mail GH@HardhatBizcoach.com.
