Competing with your peers is probably one of the biggest things that make the construction industry go ‘round. Although competition is not unique to construction, it is in many ways a lot more intense. In most other industries, it’s common to see companies develop partnerships, even with their “rivals.” But in construction, collaboration might as well have been a four-letter word up until a few years ago.
These deep-seated silos are largely a result of the way construction was structured prior to the emergence and increased adoption of technology. Before the digital age, not only was it difficult for companies to communicate with each other, it was often a miracle to be able to establish standards and develop innovative solutions in your own team, much less somebody else’s. Additionally, hard bids were originally much more common throughout all sectors, which made it easier for contractors to feel like they needed to keep their tips and tricks close to the vest.
Competition makes the world go 'round.
Nowadays, technology has made it possible to move from an individualized industry to a more collective one with established industry standards that every contractor, no matter where they’re located, can immediately recognize. On top of that, many sectors have moved to negotiated bid models, significantly reducing the intensity of competition.
Of course, competition is never going to completely go away—and believe it or not, that’s a good thing. Without it, there would be few reasons to keep pushing to be better than before. That’s one reason why you can’t expect to improve your company’s efforts if you don’t get to know your competitors.
The other reason? Establishing friendly competition (as opposed to fierce) can help you land better opportunities, learn new skills, and possibly even create more cutting-edge solutions to common preconstruction challenges. And it doesn’t stop there, which is why we’ve compiled the three impactful answers to the question, “why SHOULD you get to know your competitors?”
- You’ll stay relevant
- You can target your approach and get matched with better-suited opportunities
- You’ll have a hand in establishing industry standards and finding peer mentors
You’ll Stay Relevant
One of the biggest issues with keeping to yourself? You can start stagnating fast, and even worse, you might even lose sight of what makes you stand out from everyone else on the playing field. It’s exciting and cool to offer in-depth estimate data analysis and visual dashboards … until everyone else is doing it and has now moved on to the next thing.
Getting to know what your competitors are doing helps keep you on your toes as well as test-drive different ideas. You don’t want to be known purely for what you aren’t, but at the same time, understanding what your competition does well and figuring out what you like or dislike about it can help strengthen your own identity as a company. You can’t fully flesh out your mission and values without first knowing the gaps that you’re trying to fill within the industry.
You can Target Your Approach and Get Matched With Better-Suited Opportunities
In a similar vein, having a relationship with your competitors that goes beyond surface-level is an excellent way to refine your strategies when it comes to wooing potential clients. The key to success isn’t trying to be all things to all people, but rather understanding what your company excels at and really honing in on that.
Networking is key to landing opportunities that are actually suited to your skill set.
This also means that you can pass along opportunities better suited for your competition, and vice versa. You might not be the best team for a heavy civil job, but your peers across the street are—they might not have a lot of experience in extremely technical healthcare projects, but they know that you do. But putting a good word in, mentioning each other’s names when you know you wouldn’t be the best fit for a proposed project—none of this happens without getting to know each other and realizing that just because your competitors doesn’t mean you can’t help each other out, too.
You’ll Have a Hand in Establishing Industry Standards and Finding Peer Mentors
Last but certainly not least: perhaps the biggest benefit to treating your competition as partners and not just enemies is you’ll open yourself up to a world of collaboration, advice, and improved workflows. As our president, Stewart Carroll, puts it: “When we remove the barriers from people working together and can share information, it reduces the cost of projects, it reduces risk, and increases time that preconstruction teams have to perform high value activities.” Building industry relationships brings wide-reaching benefits.
As the industry becomes more and more connected, it becomes difficult to ask for help when everyone is doing everything differently. It’s difficult to participate in the conversation around setting industry-wide standards around estimating if you don’t even know what the people around you are doing. Even better, though, is that by taking the time to talk with your competitors, you can develop a peer network that you can turn to for solutions when you hit especially tough roadblocks and feedback when you have awesome ideas that you want an outside set of eyes on.
We’re not saying to give away ALL of your best-kept secrets. But innovation doesn’t happen inside of a bubble, and our industry is too full of insane talent and constant new developments that you’re doing yourself a disservice if you remain cut off from everyone else.
