In the construction industry, a general contractor is the driving force behind a given project’s success. From the earliest stages onward, their actions and leadership can often dictate whether a job will come together smoothly or face a rocky road to completion.
However, a huge piece of the project puzzle hinges on assembling the most qualified team of subcontractors possible. Finding the right project partners, and then finding the most efficient way to work together, is a constant challenge for most general contractors.
Luckily, construction professionals no longer need to rely on landline phones, rolodexes and the Yellow Pages to communicate with each other. The advent of cloud-based preconstruction platforms has provided general contractors with the tools they need to connect and collaborate with the best people for the job at hand.
Connecting with the Subcontractors You Need
To successfully complete a project of any size, finding the right subcontractors is imperative. Hiring qualified professionals with the expertise you need not only guarantees that your project will be done correctly, but it’ll also increase the chances that the job will be completed on time and – just as importantly – on budget.
So how do you give yourself the best chance of finding the best crew? Your most effective (and efficient) solution is to start using a time-saving preconstruction platform like PlanHub. With powerful search and filtering capabilities, this type of tool allows you to easily discover and identify the most qualified subcontractors for your project based on location, trade specialties, certifications and a whole lot more. Send ITBs to your favorite candidates with just a few clicks and assemble your team faster than ever.
The help you receive from these tools shouldn’t stop there. In fact, a good preconstruction platform should allow subcontractors to automatically match with your projects and receive ITBs without you needing to lift a finger. It should also allow subcontractors to promote their businesses to you by building out robust profiles that can help you learn more about them, including pre-qualification information.
PlanHub offers the ultimate networking and communication tools to help you connect with the best project partners possible and grow your business. Learn more by checking out our recent blog: “Why is Networking Important? Let Us Count the Ways”
Monitor Subcontractors Throughout The Bidding Process
It cannot be overstated how important it is to understand how subcontractors are interacting with your projects. Keeping track of who is and isn’t planning to bid can help you stay ahead of any potential gaps in your bid coverage and avoid any related delays.
To make sure you’re staying on top of this all-important stage in the preconstruction process, follow these tried-and-true tips:
- Be proactive and communicate with subcontractors
- Answer all RFIs promptly
- Adopt a preconstruction platform that will help you track who is downloading files and planning to bid, as well as manage incoming bids. It should also allow you to easily search, sort and filter and export the information you need, and enable you to send notes and messages to subcontractors interacting with your projects.
If you do identify gaps in your bid coverage, that premium preconstruction platform will be a lifesaver. Use those intuitive search features to send ITBs to a new round of qualified subcontractors, connect with the candidates that have already interacted with your project (again, a quality platform will allow you to quickly identify these contacts), and give them a call (or, as your platform should allow, save time by messaging them in bulk!)
With all of these features and many more, PlanHub is your ultimate all-in-one platform for preconstruction collaboration. Request a demo today and see how it works!
Communicating with Subcontractors is Key to Your Project’s Success
Professional and personal relationships have one important thing in common: they don’t work without solid communication.
In a collaborative industry like construction, that element is even more crucial – even if we don’t always have much time to communicate. Subcontractors certainly don’t like to be ghosted (honestly, who does?), so building beneficial relationships with them requires a certain degree of attentiveness to your interactions.
Again, this is where a quality preconstruction platform serves as the ultimate saving grace for any general contractor (see a pattern here?) All-in-one solutions like PlanHub offer a variety of time-saving communication features, allowing you to send bulk messages to reach more contacts in less time, share and store files directly within the platform, and even manage and search through saved conversations that are organized to your liking. With the right tools at your disposal, communication with subcontractors stops being a pain – now, it’s a breeze!
The Bottom Line
If you are a general contractor looking to thrive in today’s marketplace, incorporating a top-notch preconstruction platform like PlanHub is the perfect way to discover, attract and collaborate with more qualified subcontractors that will keep projects moving and your business growing.
With all of the features mentioned above (and a whole lot more), you owe it to yourself to experience the industry’s #1 all-in-one preconstruction platform. Sign up for free and get started today!
