Top Market Shifts for Contractors During Covid-19

Quotes

“I think for us you know 2020 is really hard to describe. I think it spared no one. Uh, Covid was
tragic. Lives were lost, lives are still being lost, jobs furloughed, doors closed um and really
across the board, everyone was impacted in some form or fashion.” (9:32)
“How many restaurants did you know that never had a drive thru, have a drive thru, or curb side
is now going to become a thing of the future, I mean it’s not going away.” (19:04)
“The Gen-Zs don’t ever call you on the phone, but they will text you til the cows come home.
Right? So you have to identify what type of communication the people you are dealing with want
to use.” (29:55)

Market Shifts

We all know by now that the pandemic changed the way we run business as well as affected the
construction industry, but how do we make these changes and move on? Now that the world is
on the path to somewhat normalcy, how do our businesses evolve going forward?
“I think for us you know 2020 is really hard to describe. I think it spared no one. Uh, Covid was
tragic. Lives were lost, lives are still being lost, jobs furloughed, doors closed um and really
across the board, um everyone was impacted in some form or fashion.” (9:32)
As FMs we must adapt to the market shifts of working remotely, supply plan management and
all the ever-changing technology, as well as deal with the complications of Covid. Covid took its
toll and 2020 affected everyone. Whether it was loss of loved ones, loss of jobs, or the increase
of anxiety and health issues. Tom Kay joined Shawn Black on a recent episode of the recent FM
Evolution podcast to discuss the market shift and the ways the construction industry should
adapt.
“As terrible as the Pandemic and Covid has been it actually forced an accelerated change in
many many ways. And some of those ways are actually beneficial for us not only now, but
certainly in the future. You really had to evaluate how you do every bit of business.” (9:54)
The pandemic has forced businesses to work remotely for now and probably way into the
future. Although some employees may return to the office eventually, not everyone will. So,
remote work will continue, but the embracement and leverage of technology will continue to
help us move forward.

“We’ve had to adjust how we internally communicate with our team, as well as we communicate with our external clients.” (10:30)

This may also mean over-communicating. Reach out to friends in the industry and ask how
they worked and are continually working through issues related to Covid. Show empathy,
not only towards friends but also to competitors, start the conversations, and grow the
relationships.
“How we are going to get this thing, how are we going to get through it together?” (15:58)
Covid has produced a lot of anxiety and fatigue. It’s very important to make sure that
everyone continues to feel like part of the team, you don’t want an employee or a client to
feel like they are on an island. When using social media and other technology, smile and
ask teammates and clients how they are doing.
“Our employees are our family, our clients are our family. Culture is very important to us, our
clients know that we love them. I think our clients know, if they’re not successful, we’re not
successful and it really starts with the culture that we have.” (32:59)
“We’re all going to come through this stronger, and we’re all going to come through this, we
have learned a valuable lesson that will only strengthen us as we move forward and we’ll also
have some level of hey we came through this thing together.” (37:39)
Moving on does require adapting to changes, dealing with new technology, and adjusting to new
elements, but if we listen to our internal and external partners and focus on fundamentals, the
challenges that came from the pandemic, may just be what makes us a success.