Passing the CSLB Licensing Exams can be extremely difficult for those taking it the first time (or the third or tenth time!). 

While most contractors will be familiar with most of the questions on the Trade Exam, the Law and Business Exam contains a number of difficult questions that could lead to a failing grade – and a delay in getting your California contractor’s license.

A delayed license means lost time – and in the construction world, that’s money left on the table that could instead be in your pocket. You can avoid losing time and money by passing the CSLB Licensing Exam the first time by following these tips when preparing for your upcoming CSLB exam.

Identify Your Weaknesses
The most important thing to narrow in on when you’re studying for the CSLB Exam is knowing where to focus your time and energy – what areas do you need to spend the most time on?

For many contractors, this is going to be the Law and Business Exam, which is filled with a lot of unfamiliar and specific laws and guidelines.

Before you even start studying, it’s crucial that you spend the time at the beginning finding the areas that you should spend the most time on, so you don’t waste time studying subjects that you already know well.

Break Up The Work
When studying, it’s important that you break up the work in ways that allow you to best retain the information. Breaking subjects and topics into smaller chunks will give you the best chance to be able to answer the many specific questions you will face on the exam.

Break up your studying into small pieces that you can become an expert in a small amount of time. Maybe you spend a week focused on one particular subject, so you can master a single subject before moving onto the next one. Maybe you focus on the things that are most difficult to you first, so you can get the hardest things out of the way first.

There’s a lot of information on the CSLB exams, so breaking it up into small pieces is the only way to effectively learn all of it.

Teach It To Others
The best way to learn is to teach the information you are learning to another person. During the course of your preparation for the exam, you may find it extremely helpful to teach the knowledge you’ve gained to someone else.

You may annoy your family and friends, but teaching others the concepts you’ve learned will help strengthen your memory – and help you pass the exam the first time.

Practice Exams
Practice makes perfect, and the CSLB examination is no different. It’s important to constantly test yourself as you prepare for the exam, to make sure that you are progressing in a way that will allow you to pass the test.

Practice exams will also allow you to see your progress – as you continue to study, your score should continue going up as you practice and retain more information. It will also help you feel more comfortable on the day of the exam, as many practice exams will reflect the exact same format as the actual exam.

Get Guidance
The CSLB exam can be extremely difficult even if you’re prepared. It’s almost impossible without any preparation or help.

If you’re worried about passing the CSLB exams – and want to give yourself the best possible chance of passing your first time – CSLS has everything you need to succeed. 

With a series of CSLB-specific prep classes, a series of practice exams for you to test yourself, and accessibility for Spanish speakers, CSLS can help you pass the CSLB exam the first time, so you can start making more money right now. Learn more about CSLS’s exam prep classes and practice exams today!

If you’re a construction contractor in California working on jobs over $500, you have to have a license with the California Contractors State License Board (CSLB) in order to legally perform work in the state. 

However, there are a number of different classes of licenses provided by the CSLB, all of which cover different areas of construction in California. 

It can be confusing to know exactly which type of license you need for a particular job – so let’s take a look at the various licenses to make sure you know exactly which type of license you need.

Class A – General Engineering Contractor
The Class “A” license is the General Engineering Contractor’s license. This license is specifically for engineers – for people whose “principal business is in connection with fixed works requiring specialized engineering knowledge and skill.”

You need a Class A license if your business involves specialized engineering knowledge in areas such as: irrigation, drainage, harbors, hydroelectric projects, airports, tunnels, bridges, parks, streets, sewage, and so on.

The Class A license is for engineers who have a 4-year degree in engineering. You must still fulfill all the other obligations of the other CSLB licenses.

Class B – General Building Contractor
The most popular of all the CSLB licenses, the Class B General Building Contractor License is for any contractor whose business involves building homes or shelters for people, animals or other property. 

A Class B license is required for:

• Anyone building a structure built as a home or other shelter for people, animals or property
• Any construction of a structure involving at least two trades
• Jobs over $500

A person with a Class B License can:

• Oversee full construction of structures designed for shelter of people, animals, or property
• Perform any carpentry or framing work
• Subcontract out trade work

A person with a Class B License cannot:

• Take a contract for trade work involving anything other than framing or carpentry unless it involves two unrelated trades other than framing or carpentry
• Take any subcontract for trade work involving trades other than carpentry or framing, unless the subcontract requires two unrelated trades other than carpentry or framing

Class B-2 – Residential Remodeling Contractor
A Class B-2 contract is very similar to the Class B contract, but it is for people whose sole business is remodeling, or as the CSLB puts it: “a contractor whose contracting business is…to make improvements on or in an existing residential wood frame structure.”

A Class B-2 License is required for:

• Anyone who does remodeling of existing structures as their primary business
• Jobs over $500

A person with a Class B-2 License can:

• Work on any remodeling project involving three unrelated building trades
• Take prime contracts for trades or crafts such as drywall, flooring, siding, painting and so no.
• Self-perform or subcontract any trades out to licensed subcontractors

A person with a Class B-2 License cannot:

• Work on any job that requires a build from scratch – it must be remodeling
• Work on any remodeling jobs that require less than 3 unrelated trades
• Do fire protection, asbestos abatement, or well drilling work without the appropriate specialty license

Class C – Specialty Contractor’s License
A Class C license from the CSLB is required for anyone whose operations require special skills and whose contracting business requires the use of these specialized building skills. There are currently 65 different specialties that require a Class C license.

Essentially, you need a Class C license if you are a specialty tradesperson as your primary contracting business.

If you perform any specialized work in the following trades, you need a Class C License from the CSLB:

• Insulation and acoustical
• Boiler, Hot-Water Heating, and Steam Fitting
• Framing and Rough Carpentry
• Cabinet, Millwork, and Finish Carpentry
• Low Voltage Systems
• Concrete
• Drywall
• Electrical
• Elevator
• Earthwork and Paving
• Fencing
• Flooring and Floor Covering
• Fire Protection
• Glazing
• Warm-Air Heating, Ventilation, and Air-Conditioning (HVAC)
• Building Moving/Demolition
• Asbestos Abatement
• Ornamental Metal
• Landscaping
• Lock and Security Equipment
• Masonry
• Construction Zone Traffic Control
• Parking and Highway Improvement
• Painting and Decorating
• Pipeline
• Lathing and Plastering
• Plumbing
• Refrigeration
• Roofing
• Sanitation System
• Sheet Metal
• Sign
• Solar
• General Manufactured Housing
• Reinforcing Steel
• Structural Steel
• Swimming Pool
• Ceramic and Mosaic Tile
• Water Conditioning
• Well Drilling
• Welding

Which One Do I Need?
Which Contractor’s License you need from the CSLB depends on what kind of contracting you do primarily for your job.

If you’re an engineer, you need a Class “A” License.

If you’re a general contractor, you need a Class “B” License.

If you’re a remodeling contractor, you need a Class “B-2” License.

If you’re a tradesperson working in a specialized field of work, you need a Class “C” License.

Whatever license you need from the CSLB, CSLS can help you get there with extensive courses that will arm you with the knowledge you need to pass the CSLB exam and become a licensed contractor. Start your contracting business today with CSLS!

As temperatures rise across California and air-conditioning puts a greater strain on the state’s power grid, the likelihood of power outages increases – especially in the hotter months. 

Contractors need to be prepared for possible blackouts or brownouts on their job sites. Just because the power’s out doesn’t mean clients become less demanding or that timelines increase.

Here’s how you can be prepared for power outages on your construction site.

How Much Power Do You Need On A Construction Site?
The first step in making a strong power plan for your construction site is knowing how much power you need. Make a list of your most common equipment that you use on your jobs and the power each of them requires.  Don’t forget tools you wouldn’t normally associate with construction – like phones, computers, fans and so on.

Identify the amount of energy all of these pieces of equipment require and you’ll be able to figure out exactly how much power you need to run your site.

Use Batteries Where Possible
Whenever possible, try to use equipment that can run on batteries as a backup. This way, if the outlets aren’t working, you have a stable source of energy for your equipment that doesn’t require electricity. 

The good thing about batteries is you can stockpile them – you’re only limited by the amount of batteries you have and how charged they are. They also don’t require ventilation like fuel-powered equipment does, giving you more flexibility for use.

Make sure you’re charging as many batteries as you could possibly need before days where blackouts might occur – it’s much better to be safe than sorry.

Generators Are Necessary
Even if you have gear with batteries, you need somewhere to charge the used ones. A backup generator (or two) is absolutely necessary on construction jobs where you might lose power. 

Nowadays, any decent-sized generator will be able to charge electronic devices quickly and effectively, so you can always have fresh batteries on hand. 

Just make sure you know how to use your generator, that it can be placed in an outdoor area with plenty of ventilation for the exhaust, and that you have enough fuel to last as long as the outage.

Plan Ahead
Realistically, you don’t have to drag your generator to every job site – usually you can find out in advance when and where blackouts are likely to occur.

Sustained heat puts a lot of stress on the power grid across California. You can find information about where and when to expect blackouts on your local energy provider’s website ahead of time. On those days, make sure you’re prepared.

Being blackout-prepared is just one tiny skill that a contractor needs to know. Enroll in CSLS today to learn everything you need to be a successful licensed contractor in California!

Site shutdowns can happen for any number of reasons – loss of funding, safety issues, natural disasters, political issues, and so on. A site shutdown that is beyond your control is an inevitability for contractors – it’s a matter of “when” , not “if”.

When you’re not on site, any number of things can happen. The most common issues contractors run into are fires, water and weather damage, as well as theft and vandalism.

So how can you protect your job site while you wait for permission to start work again? Here’s a few different things to take care of before you shut the whole thing down.

Make A “Stop Work” Plan
As contractors, we should always be planning for the worst case scenario to happen. Construction is an extremely volatile industry prone to random stoppages – so having a plan to deal with anything is critical.

To deal with any situation where you have to stop work immediately, having a plan for stopping work – a “Stop Work” Plan – goes a long way. 

This plan contains all of the protocols and procedures for shutting down a worksite safely and effectively, so that you’re protected from the risks that come along with having to stop work. 

This plan will include precautions to take with regards to weather, water, fire, theft, vandalism, trespassing, destruction, and general public safety with regards to the jobsite. Here’s a few ways to deal with these in your Stop Work plan.

Fire
To fireproof your site, always make sure you remove anything flammable or combustible from the job site. This includes electronics like space heaters. 

Ensure your fire sprinkler systems are working, if you intend to maintain them during non-operation. If they’re not active, drain the lines and secure the main water supply valves to prevent use.

Water
Make sure your job is waterproof by shutting off any domestic water supply to the site. Search the site thoroughly for any leaks or running water and make sure they are taken care of before leaving the site.

Don’t leave anything that’s unsealed or temporarily sealed to weather, along with any walls or exposed roofs. Set up some sort of leak detection technology to ensure that water doesn’t ruin all your hard work while you’re gone.

Weather
Ensure everything that could be affected by weather is properly protected and secured. 

Cover lumber, drywall or anything that could rot by simply being exposed to moisture. Protect any electric outlets from exposure to the elements. Disassemble and remove anything that could break, snap or otherwise be destroyed by winds or moisture. 

Theft/Vandalism
Continuous security is necessary to keep your assets protected. 

At the very least, build a fence around the perimeter of the site, and ensure it is constantly maintained. All gates should be locked with padlocks to deter entry. Secure all work trailers or storage with heavy locks.

Continuous security of your construction site also means foot patrols, motion detectors and video security systems. You need to keep eyes on your site at all times, both in-person and remotely.

The easiest way to stop theft or vandalism is to remove anything valuable from your site – give thieves no reason to enter the site in the first place. Easily-removed tech like computers or tablets should be taken to a storage facility until work begins again. 

These are the easiest ways to protect against the most common threats facing a closed jobsite. Learn more best practices for construction sites (and become your own boss) by enrolling at CSLS today!

Budgeting for a construction project nowadays seems like an impossible task. There are constant changes in supply, material costs seem to keep rising, and projects themselves seem to be getting more and more complex.

However, it is possible to stick to your budget throughout the process – it just requires a consistent focus on the details. 

Here are a few crucial components to staying under budget on your construction projects.

Re-Analyze Your Bid Before Starting Work
If you’re hired on a construction project, that means the client believes in your ability to get the job done – and part of that job means being honest with yourself about the budget after you win the job.

It’s crucial that you go through your budget after to make sure your proposed costs haven’t changed since your client reviewed the bid and report back any changes. 

Sometimes years can go by between a client accepting your bid and you actually starting the work – so going back to reassess your budget when you’ve finally got the green light is critical to delivering.

Clients often expect budgets to change once the actual work begins and real world issues like material cost changes begin to arise. It’s your job to make sure they have an accurate picture of what it’s going to cost before you start. It saves you both pain later on.

Always Budget Conservatively
The old saying “under-promise and over-deliver” could not be more true when it comes to budgeting. When you’re reviewing your initial bid and updating your budget to reflect any changes, always supply the client with the most conservative budget you can.

By doing this, you set their expectations of what it will cost at the very most. Then, when you deliver the project under this conservative construction budget, you look like a hero to your client and your client is happy they saved money. Win-win.

Communicate Quickly and Constantly
As the project moves along, there will inevitably be changes in budget. A material may cost more than you initially planned or a piece of the plan may be more difficult to execute. It is critical that you communicate any of these changes to your client as soon as possible.

Nobody wants to be surprised by the price of something. Communicating these changes in budget with your customer, ensures that you avoid the client feeling ambushed at any point down the line. 

Document Everything
Always stay on top of any changes in budget, make sure that you have communicated these changes in writing, and always get them to sign off on these changes. This way both you and client have a paper trail either of you can point back to in the case of a dispute.

By documenting every change in budget and confirming it with the client, you’re protecting yourself from any issue the client may have with cost. It also protects you from any legal action as you have essentially created a series of contracts with them with each agreement.

Budgeting is an essential skill of an expert contractor. Learn everything you need to know about budgeting – and much more – by enrolling at CSLS today!

It seems like the construction industry is flooded with people who are interested in building a career. This is a great thing since the industry has had such a labor shortage for the past decade. If you’re thinking about getting into construction, you couldn’t have picked a better time. Here are a few ways you can tell you are ready to take the next step.

You Want to Run Your Own Business
The ability to turn your career goals into a personal business is something that draws a lot of people to the construction industry. It’s not just that you can start a business because you can do that in most fields. Rather, you can build a stable career path on the basis that you are contributing something important to society. You’re helping to build the community you will live in for the rest of your life. The best part is that you can choose how you want to structure the business. Whether you want to start and expand a corporation or keep your services to yourself alone, you have the flexibility to decide.

You’re Learning Construction Skills
Learning experts say that if you figure out how to make learning a delight, it won’t feel like work. If you’re really engaged in construction, you will find that you spend your extra time on it. You can tell that you’re getting hooked on the idea when you notice that you pay attention to construction trends, and you find yourself looking for more information whenever you can. That kind of drive can do excellent things for you in a new career, particularly one that requires years of skill-building and a license. When you feel the future call, it’s wise to answer it.

You’ve Chosen a Field
When you were a small child, you probably had an idea of the kind of job you wanted to have when you grew up. Although children don’t always have the best reasoning for determining future careers, the decision-making process can be almost as simple. When you imagine yourself in the future, what kind of job do you see yourself doing? The more refined your decision, the closer you could be to getting your start. If you already have a field in mind, or even a specific job you’d like to work toward, you’re further than you may think.

You’re Ready for a Change
Change happens for everyone, at some point. The way that you react to the idea of change can tell you whether you’re ready to deal with it. Think about telling your friends and family about a career change. Do you feel frightened about their responses, or excited to challenge their thinking? When you imagine starting a new career path, do you feel terrified about failure, or do you anticipate success? Once you are ready to change, it may look like a big step, but you’ll still have the sense that you can do it well.

You’re Preparing for a New Career
Of course, being mentally or emotionally ready to take a big leap doesn’t mean that you’re necessarily in the physical or financial position to do so. Changing careers can take some time to research and prepare, particularly if you’re doing it in your 30s or later. Even if you’re a year or two out from being able to start your first construction job, you can still take steps toward the goal. These preparations might come in the form of learning skills you can apply to your new job, saving money to ease the separation, or researching the best way to run a contracting business. This investment will pay off by giving you a stronger footing for your new start.

Wanting to be a construction expert is the first step. Getting your contractor license takes time, but it is well worth the effort. For more information about how you can get expert exam preparation, visit CSLS today!

When your contracting business bids on a project, you might be competing with several or even dozens of other contracting businesses. If you want to win the contract, you need to have the right plan from the beginning. With these tips, you will have a better idea of how you can make your proposals stand out.

Fix Past Mistakes
As a business owner, one of the best things that you can do is learn from your mistakes. In the early years of your contracting business, you are more likely to experience failure. Where you go from there depends on what you do with that information. When you lose out on a bid, it’s a wise idea to learn why you didn’t win. Try to avoid letting your ego make excuses for you, and think about the problem constructively. Compare your failures to your successes, and see if you can distinguish obvious differences between the two. Get input when possible. These ideas will help you to correct problems and prevent them from happening in the future.

Write Appealing Content
Although each bid is going to follow a specific format, you still need to write as if you care about landing the project. Property owners might have to sort through dozens or even hundreds of bids on a project. The last thing that you want is for your bid to get lost in the shuffle, just one more generic document in a stack of 100 others. Instead, think about what you can do to grab the attention of the reader, in a way that makes your bid come to life. Make sure that your approach emphasizes the positive aspects of choosing your bid. If you decide to use humor as a way of keeping attention, be very careful, as humor is difficult to translate into writing.

Set Clear Expectations
When people are sorting through a bunch of bids on a project, they want to be able to separate them quickly and cleanly. One way that you can set yourself apart is to outline your expectations and your goals in a quantifiable way. It’s tempting to craft a bid that allows you a lot of wiggle room in terms of completing the project. The property owners and general contractors may see through that quickly, and opt for a bid with more concrete details. Be specific as much as you can, giving yourself a cushion on budgets and timelines when possible.

Avoid Making Unreasonable Promises
Practically everybody has an experience with a professional who promised far more than they were able to deliver. Since you don’t want your contracting business to be known as one that over-promises or under-delivers, it’s best to only offer work that you know you can deliver. It’s always possible that you can have problems throughout the project that make it difficult for you to complete them according to specifications. But that issue is far different from using your bid as a way to undercut the competition in a way that isn’t sustainable. After all, it’s not a business if you can’t make enough money from the projects to keep going.

Show Your Uniqueness
When you start to craft your bid, do some research into your likely competition. Most property owners will have to decide among a set of bids, and it may not be too difficult to get a sense for the other businesses out there. What are they good at? What gives you an edge? It’s a good idea to know your competition in general, but this also gives you an added opportunity for the bid itself. If you have more information about your competition, then you can use the bid to explain how your company is unique from the rest. You can set yourself apart in a way that helps the deciding party feel comfortable choosing you over someone else.

Making successful bids is one of the best ways to secure more projects as a business owner. To take the next step on your construction career path, contact CSLS today!

After a few years of keeping interest rates low, the Federal Reserve is increasing them again. In an attempt to keep inflation from spiraling out of control, the Fed uses interest rates to control the costs of goods and services. It tends to carry a heavy weight in the construction industry, and you may already see the effects. Here are a few things you can expect as a result.

Interest Rates and Inflation
If it’s hard to see the connection between interest rates and inflation, you’re not alone. There are several degrees of separation between them. When interest rates are low, it’s easier for people and institutions to borrow money. When money is easy to get, the costs of goods and services tend to go up. The Fed raises rates on the loans the banks make to each other as a way to control inflation. Although you might notice immediate changes to things like mortgage interest rates as a result, other changes could take months or even a year to show up.

Buying Power
For the construction industry, interest rates affect the kind of buying power that investors, businesses, and property owners have. Although many people pay cash for construction, it’s common to rely on short-term or long-term loans to pay for it. The amount that a person or business can get in a loan depends on how much they can pay back. Interest rates determine the size of the payment, with higher interest rates demanding a higher payment. As such, interest rates can determine how much people can spend on a construction project.

Lending
Interest rates also affect the way that lenders approve borrowers. When interest rates are low, borrowers may have more options to finance a construction project. As interest rates get higher, borrowers have to be more selective about the lending options they choose. They might be priced out of a few of them, especially if they aren’t highly qualified for financing. On the other side of the coin, lenders become pickier about who they will approve. They may expect a higher degree of qualifications to handle a higher payment or a longer term for the loan.

Project Planning
Changes in interest rates can also cause investors to rethink their project plans. It depends on their limitations and their goals for the project. For example, an investor who is trying to get ahead of rising interest rates might be more likely to schedule a project sooner, instead of waiting and possibly paying more. By comparison, a property owner who is already stretched thin may have to wait on a project because they can’t afford it at the moment. Rising interest rates often have a cooling effect on demand for projects as a result.

How Rising Rates Can Affect Your Contracting Business
Eventually, you may start to see these changes trickle down to your contracting business. Investors and property owners who are hoping to lock in a better rate now could be looking for contractors who are ready to start right away. So, contracting businesses that are prepared might get more business at first. Over time, the number of new construction starts may decrease due to the higher cost. This means that contracting businesses may have to compete for more for a smaller number of available projects.

Rising interest rates tend to have a big effect on the construction industry. If you know what to expect, you can prepare. For more tips on running a successful business, visit CSLS today!

It’s safe to say that the construction labor market is tight. If you can’t afford to keep your employees, you won’t be able to. And it’s increasingly difficult to attract them in the first place. Here are a few things you can do to ensure that applicants give your contracting business more than a passing glance.

Higher Wages
Ultimately, the best way to show employees that you see them as an asset to your company is to pay them accordingly. You can add a lot of other features that could make your job more attractive than the alternatives, but the pay has to be there in the first place. There are a few ways that you can achieve this, such as a higher starting pay rate, sign-on bonuses, or bonuses related to productivity. Think about it this way: If your employees don’t have to worry about how they’re going to pay the bills while working for you, they’ll be more likely to feel comfortable settling in for the long term.

Greater Flexibility
Everyone likes to feel as if they have some control over their careers. Flexibility may be one of the things that drew you to running a contracting business in the first place. Your employees are looking for flexibility, too. Although your company has to meet certain standards in order to function, you might be surprised by the amount of flexibility you can offer. A slight change in schedule, or the option to use paid time off uniquely, might be an enticing benefit that isn’t offered elsewhere.

Career Mobility
Sometimes, it may feel like you’re investing too much into your employees to see them take the skills and leave. And yet, upward mobility is something that most employees expect from a career. You would probably be less likely to stay in a job that didn’t have anywhere to go you beyond the first job you landed, especially if it’s entry-level. Instead, ask your employees what they want to gain from the job, and take steps to help them get it. It’s possible that they might use that advantage to get better jobs elsewhere. But if you don’t offer them much of anything in the first place, they’ll almost certainly find better options by leaving.

Job Training
Experts often say that it’s better to hire the right person to do the work you need them to do, instead of hiring based on the job you need to be done. When you are too focused on the ability to complete the work according to specification, outside of certain licensing requirements, you might miss out on a lot of great candidates. There are more people out there who are interested in learning, and they might have all the qualities of a great employee. If you can find them, it may be less hassle to train them in the job than it is to end up with someone who has the right skills and the completely wrong temperament.

Frequent Raises
Right now, inflation is a little difficult to manage for most people. If you feel like you’re constantly having to adjust your budget to accommodate higher prices, you’re not alone. But the fast rate of inflation can make it harder for you to make benefits like a higher starting salary meaningful to your employees, once they get settled into the job. After all, that salary might not feel as high if rent goes up another 10 percent in the next year. Revisit the interval in which you offer performance reviews and raises. Sometimes, offering to give someone an update in six months might be enough.

Getting employees to stick with your company takes care. If you start off on the right foot, you’ll reap the benefits. To get started on your contractor career path, contact CSLS today!

As a business owner, you are always looking for leads that can turn into paying projects for your company. If you have the right strategy, you’ll be less likely to have a slow season or long periods between projects. But cultivating a good lead strategy takes work. Here are a few things you should plan to do.

Increase Lead Generation
Since you can never guarantee that you will always have as much work as you have right now, increasing your lead generation is always a good idea. Contracting businesses get leads from a variety of sources, including:

• Online advertising on websites, search engines and social media
• In-network connections, such as colleagues or subcontractors
• Print advertisements
• Word-of-mouth recommendations from former clients

Many business owners in this industry rely on recommendations, but this isn’t a replacement for an effective marketing strategy. If you haven’t paid much attention to your website or social media profiles, now is a good time to get started. All of these can become good sources for potential leads.

Track Sources of Leads
Making a website and paying for some ad space can help you create future leads. But they won’t all work in the same way. If you don’t track the efficacy of each one, you may waste your money on a marketing approach that isn’t producing. You can hire a marketing company to do this for you, but there are also free tools on Google and other sites to track engagement, site visitation, and more. For other types of leads, including personal recommendations, it’s not a bad idea to ask where your potential clients heard about your services. If nothing, you’ll get a sense for who is making the best pitch for your business.

Improve Your Follow-Up
Once you get the lead, you need to make sure that you have an effective plan to follow through with it. Too many contractors lose out on business because they never responded to somebody asking for information. In a lot of cases, you don’t know which leads are most likely to turn into a reliable client for you. As such, you should assume that every lead could become a paying project. Set goals to respond to leads within a certain amount of time, preferably one or two business days. If necessary, consider hiring an administrative employee or outsourcing your communications, to ensure that the initial contact happens on schedule.

Don’t Force the Conversion
Potential clients come to you at different stages of the sales funnel. You might have some people who approach you when they aren’t sure about which services they need, or if they need services at all. Others may contact you when they are absolutely certain of their goals and ready to get started. In either case, the way that you respond can have a heavy effect on your success rate. If you can sense that the customer is tentative, avoid the urge to pressure them into making a choice. It’s better to provide the information that they need, answer the questions that they have, and leave them to make the decision.

Keep the Door Open
Good business owners understand that a lead that doesn’t turn into a project isn’t necessarily a failure. Sometimes, clients realize that you aren’t the right fit for one project, but you could work well for another. It’s tempting to get frustrated or burn the bridge, especially if you feel like you invested a lot of time toward a conversion that didn’t happen. Instead, do your best to keep the communication lines open. Someone who had a good experience exploring possible services with your company is more willing to consider hiring you in the future, especially if they end up being unhappy with the business they chose originally.

Generating leads is one of the most important things you will do as a business owner. Getting the right kind of education is another. To learn more about our course offerings, contact CSLS today!