6 Ways to Find and Hire Install Teams and Subcontractors

“It really is an installers market right now” 

I’ve been hearing this more and more over the past few months. And it’s not just limited to home improvement - the service industry as a whole is suffering from lower labor. 

Compound this with lumber prices having increased 69% since January, and it's a wonder ANY jobs are getting completed. 

Regardless of whatever side of the fence you sit on as the root cause, the fact of the matter is that your home improvement business is bound to run into installation issues (if it hasn’t already). 

I recently talked to a few industry pros about how they’re sourcing labor right now and compiled a list of the six best (and most unique) ways that could be useful for anyone in need. 

1. Find and Join Facebook Groups

Facebook Groups are an awesome (and 100% free) way to connect with industry peers. Not only can you learn what others are doing and seeing success with, but you can also pose requests for project help and employees.

The strategy for finding a great Facebook group is to:

• Look for a closed group with at least 1,000 members.
• High activity of 10-20+ posts per day. 
  
  

Open groups tend to attract a lot of half-baked marketing “professionals” and other shady folks who use it as a sales tactic.

2. Use Social Media Ads

Social media ads are a GREAT way to target potential subs and employees. The platform can be daunting at first, but here’s a quick walk-through. 

Let’s say you’re looking to target roofers in Virginia. 

First, create a web page with a qualifying form and a “thank you” page. 

Use the “thank you” page URL as a custom conversion in Facebook so it can optimize and serve the ad to people that are more likely to fill it out. 

With your location nailed down, now zoom in on your target audience. 

Although you CAN target people that list roofing in their job titles, the general rule of thumb is to target as broadly as possible and let Facebook’s targeting dial in and optimize for the specifics. 

3. Use job board sites like Craigslist

You’re probably familiar with these sites - even if it was just to peruse the “missed connections” tab. Y’know, just for fun.

Sites like these are pretty straightforward and free, but are hit or miss. The first two methods listed are way more targeted and can get you better results, but it’s always worth posting on these sites for posterity. 

Protip: use the “skilled labor” section of CL rather than the “labor/move” section. You’ll find better results.

4. Hit Up Local Lumber Yards or Suppliers

This is a great tip that we learned from those Facebook Groups we mentioned earlier.
  

Couldn’t have said it better ourselves, Aaron. 

To ensure quality, we see customers use Hatch to manage all subcontractor and homeowner conversations. Some companies even require an end-of-day picture of the job site to be sent to ensure clean-up actually happened.

5. Use Bid-style platforms

Of all the options on this list, this one is probably the least cost-effective but will absolutely get you in front of install teams. 

Primarily built for commercial construction companies, you can still get your foot in the door with a bidding platform if you’re desperate for labor.

One of the most popular we’ve seen is Building Connected.

6. Connect ZoomInfo with Hatch

This is our favorite option - mostly because it’s just so cool to see how Hatch customers are doing it. 

Step 1 - Use a platform like ZoomInfo to find installers in the area you need a job completed

Step 2 - Upload that list of contacts into an install Hatch board and use (or customize) our “Install/Recruitment” campaign. 

Step 3 - Launch your contacts into the campaign and wait for responses. 

Step 4 - Hop in and continue the conversation.

How do you typically manage the hiring process? Do you have enough hands on deck right now or is it a project management nightmare?

If this is a concern, we can help. Give us a shout if you want to launch an installation campaign in Hatch yourself or just want some advice!