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Do you want to boost your turnover? Expand your business? Find new projects? If you're not sure what to do, don't panic, you're in the right place.
Sometimes it is not a good time for your business and it becomes important to expand and find new opportunities, new projects to do. You can be a very good professional and not necessarily know how to expand your client base.
To do this, there are several paths to explore, and we will study them together to give you the keys to finding new work for your companies. Whether your company is in plumbing, electricity, carpentry, public works or specialised in insulation, whatever the branch of activity, thanks to our recommendations, you will land new contracts.
All the methods of business development we will describe here. Don't try just one, you need to try all of them to be more effective.
The best publicity always comes from satisfied customers. If your work is qualitative, your customers will praise your services to their relatives and acquaintances. You will thus obtain a reliable customer file, likely to place an order with you at job site when they have a project. If you respect your deadlines, your estimates, if you leave your job site clean, free of rubble, and that you adopt a professional attitude in the relationship with your customers you will leave a very good impression to your interlocutors. In the medium term, you will be able to find new work sites without having to do any canvassing.
The main thing is to make yourself known to the widest possible audience. So think about registering on professional building and civil engineering directory sites. There are several of these because consumers are increasingly turning to the Internet to obtain estimates for work. As a result, websites have been created to put individuals in contact with building professionals. Free for individuals, it costs about a hundred euros a year for professionals to be part of this database. The best known and most widely used in France for example is travaux.com, but there are also others, such as habitatpresto.com, 123devis.com and mestravaux.com. After filling in the request for an estimate, noting the nature of the work, the surface area concerned and the location, the request is sent to the professionals in the network who will meet the criteria according to the geographical area and the type of activity of the companies. In the event of registration and receipt of a request for a quote, responsiveness is essential. So don't wait and respond quickly, you will increase your chances of being selected.
Do not hesitate to contact business partners who can recommend you. For example, real estate agencies are in contact with buyers whose flat or house needs renovation. Similarly, architects and builders are among the professionals to approach. A good relationship with these local partners will be a considerable asset in developing your customer base. In the same vein, you should also make the rounds of the insurance companies, as a claim to be repaired may earn you an order. Each time, remember to leave your business card for better efficiency.
Calls for tenders are an inexhaustible opportunity for orders. In order to be able to respond to them, it is best to be familiar with public procurement in the first place. Tenders are quite easy to find in a minimum of time and at no cost. The best source is boamp.fr, the online site of the official bulletin of public procurement announcements, which is the governmental site for this purpose. In the case of public contracts, price is certainly important, but not only. The seriousness and the solidity of the company are also important. Stand out from the competition by highlighting your references of completed projects and also offer a very effective follow-up tool at job site . For this, rely on the frequency of site meetings. In addition, show your use of the latest tools by integrating a specialized software for the follow-up of building sites. This will show your commitment to a rigorous follow-up of the progress of the job site, while providing you with a real assistance in this field.
Wrongly considered as an outdated form of communication, the good old advertising by flyers or distribution of leaflets is nonetheless effective. The only condition is that you target places that are likely to fill your work order book. Also, focus on new areas. If an eco-neighbourhood is set up, if a district is redesigned, if an urban area is redeveloped, these are all opportunities to sign new contracts. A sports centre that is going to be built, a new secondary school or high school and so many new sites that generate housing estates, buildings and therefore potential customers. Whether it is pure construction, structural work or finishing work, connection to the networks, land development or public lighting, there is always a reason to call on qualified craftsmen.
All building permits must be filed at the town hall. Everyone has the right to consult them and this free of charge. It would be a pity not to do so because a building permit is always an opportunity to start a job site. Even if the permit holder already has craftsmen planned, he may consider another phase of work or encounter problems with one of his suppliers. In addition, at the town hall, you can learn more about current projects, the development of the agglomeration, and changes to the PLU or Plan Locald Urbanisme. This way, you will know if new building zones will be created and what facilities are planned. Moreover, when there is a change of municipal team following elections, we advise you to contact us to make yourself known. This will be particularly important in small communities.
As you can see, there are many ways to do effective business development. To increase your chances, don't just try one. Multiply actions, even if some of them will not have immediate repercussions, in the medium term they will have a positive impact. Depending on the type of activity of your company, some will be more effective than others. It is up to you to test them, to see what works and to make them your own in order to find more and more new contracts.
