30. Sick of Chasing Leads? Build Relationships Before You Need the Work

So yesterday reminded me how powerful relationships are in business.

2

It's not just about networking, but building true relationships.

3

And today I want to talk about why those relationships matter, especially before you need

anything from them.

4

Hey, I'm Shay Toya.

5

I've spent more than 10 years in construction.

6

Working behind the scenes in marketing, hiring, and I've seen how overwhelming it can be

to grow a business.

7

That's how we've learned to build a sustainable business using clear systems, strong

communication, and intentional recruiting.

8

If you're ready for better hiring, smarter remarketing, and a business that doesn't fall

apart when you step away, welcome to building better contractor businesses.

9

This episode really came from what happened yesterday.

10

My energy felt so good and it probably felt the best that it's felt in a very long time.

11

I think it's because I'm back to doing the things that I actually enjoy.

12

And that is talking to people, really truly building relationships and reconnecting with

people.

13

And so within our organization, recently I've had to take back on the role of business

development.

14

within our organization.

15

And for a while I had someone else doing that, but our business needs have changed.

16

Our team has changed.

17

And right now I've realized business development is my role again, but I've also realized

it's where I need to be, especially in the season of business that we are currently in.

18

And so yesterday

19

It reminded me why I actually enjoy this part of the business so much.

20

Because business development doesn't always have to feel like you're selling something.

21

Sometimes it's just about building relationships.

22

So here's one of the things that I really want to share with you.

23

Make sure you are focused on building relationships before you need it.

24

Because as a business, it's very easy to stop reaching out.

25

The truth is we're working, we're busy.

26

I've heard it all.

27

You know, I've heard Kevin say, if he's out on the job site, how is he estimating?

28

How is he building relationships?

29

The truth is he's not.

30

If you're handling projects and you're dealing with customers, and then all of a sudden

the business slows down, you're now thinking, Who have I talked to?

31

And I've talked about this before.

32

I actually talked about this last week on our episodes.

33

That the importance of ongoing

34

The things you do to get business, you got to continue doing it on a a consistent weekly

basis, even daily.

35

So the thing is that we don't stop marketing when we get busy.

36

We continue.

37

Those relationships are important.

38

And relationships are the same way.

39

You can't think you can disappear for months and the team call can call people only when

they need work.

40

That isn't true relationship building.

41

That's calling people when you need something.

42

And people don't like that at all.

43

Those two things are very different.

44

The thing that changed yesterday was about yesterday on Thursdays, I do the Dream 100.

45

I go out every Thursday and I go out and I do the Dream 100 or go talk to our current

customers.

46

And so yesterday I bought cookies.

47

The Dream 100, if you don't know what the Dream 100 is.

48

It's about creating a list of intentionally creating a list of companies or people you

want to connect with.

49

I went out there and spoke to general contractors and these are companies that I've had uh

added to the bit list.

50

I have certain people I'm aware of.

51

Yesterday I went out and spoke to three, I would say three quality GCs.

52

Three quality GCs that we've been building relationships with.

53

And I would say that each of 'em, each stop that I made is quality.

54

The GCs, the people that I have connected with know who I am.

55

I would also went in there and told them, like, hey, the person who was dealing with your

that you were connecting with is no longer doing that anymore.

56

And if you need anything, please reach out.

57

And I gave them some cookies, some Quabbles cookies.

58

And so it wasn't it wasn't that I was out here like, Hey, like you got any work?

59

Yes, of course.

60

They know I want work.

61

But I just went in there, gave them some cookies, gave them some material of who we are,

and just let know, like, hey, my name's Chatoya.

62

The person who was doing development is no longer doing that.

63

If you need anything, let me know I'm here.

64

And nobody had said anything negative.

65

Nobody everyone let us in.

66

They were like, Oh yeah, can you be communications or whatever?

67

Like, it was great.

68

One one contractor that I spoke to

69

The the the connection that I had, they actually worked remotely.

70

So the person that I had connected with wasn't there, but I just told them and I was able

to meet the two guys at the front desk.

71

And they were like, You brought crumble cookies.

72

We love you already.

73

And even if the work doesn't happen today or tomorrow, they now know who we are.

74

And so one of the things that I've learned is that not every conversation has to turn into

business.

75

Yesterday reminded me this.

76

The thing is is I wasn't just dropping off cookies thinking, okay, how do I turn this into

a job?

77

I was just going out to talk to people.

78

You know, we laughed, we smiled.

79

I it was great.

80

And I think sometimes we put too much pressure pressure on business development because we

think that every interaction has to have a immediate lead somewhere.

81

And the truth is sometimes it doesn't.

82

But the most important thing is that you stay connected.

83

You learn what's going on with them.

84

You remember who they are.

85

That way they remember who you are.

86

And that is how their relationship gets stronger.

87

And that matters too, because when the work does come up, what were they thinking about?

88

They're thinking about you.

89

And honestly, I think that's probably when the relationship feels the most genuine.

90

So after yesterday, I realized there are some few things that really stood out to me.

91

There are things I realized about myself.

92

One of the things that I realize about myself is that I truly enjoy being the connector.

93

If someone tells me, Shitoya, I am looking for a realtor or if they post on social media

that they're looking for a realtor, I'm gonna be like, hey, reach out to my friend Sylvia.

94

If someone says, Hey, I'm looking for lashes or facials, I'm gonna say, Hey, reach out to

my friend Stephanie.

95

If someone says, Hey, I'm looking for HR, I'm gonna be like, Hey, no doubt.

96

Reach out to my friend Leah.

97

A personal trainer, I'm gonna be like, hey, reach out to B.

98

I've been involved in business for a very, very long time.

99

I've been involved in the community for a very, very long time.

100

So I've met a lot of great professionals.

101

And I hear that when someone says that they need something, I know I think of one of my

friends that can provide their service.

102

I want to be that connector.

103

So yeah.

104

So I really do just enjoy helping people.

105

But there is also another side to this.

106

I am very particular who I recommend.

107

Because just because we are friends doesn't automatically mean I'm sending business to

you.

108

Just because we're part of the same community doesn't mean I'm going to send business to

you.

109

And I don't mean that in a bad way at all.

110

But when I recommend someone to somebody, call this person, they'll take care of you.

111

I'm putting my name behind it.

112

I'm saying this person is trustworthy.

113

I'm saying this person is wanting to take good care of you.

114

So the truth is, is I need to know you're going to provide a quality service.

115

And I need to know you're going to take care of them.

116

They're probably going to remember that I sent them there.

117

So to me, knowing somebody is trustworthy enough to recommend them are two different,

completely different things.

118

And that's where I think.

119

There's a lesson for contractors.

120

Their reputation matters a lot.

121

And so this goes back to why I'm so careful about referrals.

122

You know, I think about all the time how businesses find us.

123

You know, somebody might say, I need an electrician.

124

Who do you know?

125

I need an IT company, who do you know?

126

I need somebody for low voltage, who do you know?

127

And so most of us we ask for people, you know, somebody we c we trust.

128

And somebody who recommends you, they've already given you something incredible valuable.

129

Their trust.

130

That's what I want for K and V.

131

I want people to feel like, oh, call K and V, they're gonna take good care of you.

132

That's completely different than having a co-lead.

133

You know, that person may never have met me or Kevin, but somebody has already put their

trust behind our name.

134

And now it's our responsibility to take care of that referral.

135

Think about who you can help.

136

This is something I have naturally enjoyed.

137

If I know someone who needs something and I know someone who's good with what they

provide, I'm connecting them.

138

And you know, I have a friend who's actually really, really good at this.

139

And I've met her through networking.

140

I've met her through the networking world.

141

And this is a friend who I was there at yesterday at the event who was able to connect me

with other people as well.

142

And this is all part of the building of genuine relationships.

143

Now this is where I have to start putting my system hat back on.

144

At this time of business I have currently many roles.

145

But because I have so many amazing conversations with so many people and life happens, we

have to have systems in place to make sure we are documenting things.

146

Because if we're if you're not documenting and having some type of reminder, you're going

to forget, you're like, shoot, I forgot to reach out to so and so.

147

But you want to make sure that it's happening on a consistent basis.

148

You know, the relationships that you have should feel like they're natural.

149

You know, I recently deleg delegated business development.

150

Now I'm taking parts of it back.

151

And I don't look at at it going backwards.

152

I just think that's where we are currently in business.

153

And the truth is your role is going to change depending on what the business needs.

154

And the interesting the interesting part is right now I'm going through a project

management course.

155

And one of the biggest things that they've talked about is the importance of flexibility

and ambiguity ambiggy.

156

And so basically, what I am saying is that you can have a plan.

157

And the truth is.

158

Things are still going to change.

159

You can have the best plan.

160

And what you think's going to happen isn't going to work out.

161

Welcome to business and welcome to life.

162

So yesterday was very simple.

163

I dropped off some cookies.

164

I had great conversations.

165

I went to an event.

166

I came home feeling energized.

167

And the truth is, I really truly enjoy helping people.

168

So take care of people, protect your name.

169

Stay connected and let's continue building a better contractor business.

170

If you believe that this episode brought you real clarity, be sure to share it with

another contractor who also needs it.

171

And if you want to keep this conversation going, be sure to join our community of

contractors inside Building Better Contractor Businesses.

172

Facebook group.

173

This is a community where we talk through the real problems.

174

That you are having in your business.

175

The link will be found in our show notes.

176

And remember, we are not just completing projects, we are building better contractor

businesses.

177

I will see you next time.