By Darren Sloane
What’s a mechanical insulation contractor’s blog suppose to look like?
I don’t know but we’re going to find out!
From the ashes of the coronavirus pandemic, technology use, like this blog, are rising and advancing within our industry at a pace I’ve never seen before. As you and I venture through these pandemic times I can’t help but notice a few trends. Most of these trends have been on track for years, however the pandemic has accelerated their adoption. Take e-commerce for starters. We have been trending towards more e-commerce since the dot com bubble at the beginning of the 2000’s but it has never been more common than today. Some of the most fickle shoppers, who hesitated at entering a credit card online, have now settled for the convenience and safety of online shopping. A little closer to home, regular zoom calls, new workplace health and safety measures and contractor instagram pages are all becoming part of the norm. How many of these trends continue post COVID is anyones guess but the only constant thing in life is change.
While the past year has brought forth plenty of challenges, some of which I would love to address in future posts, it has also allowed me to take a step back to truly assess not only our company but our industry and society as a whole. It has motivated and also forced the hand of many individuals and organizations to adopt methods and practices they would have most likely avoided. Especially in the construction industry, where I think we lag behind any general technology trends. Nonetheless, we are here and we are moving forward. I haven’t shook the hand of a client, collegue or customer in over a year. I attended my first industry webinar just recently and I am seeing a plethora of contractors springing to life on social media platforms. Although we are slow to enter the game we are adapting right along with everyone else. Changing demographics in our industry over the next 5-10 years will only accelerate this.
I, for one, look forward to those handshakes, company get togethers and industry lunches as I know those will return. But I also see technology only becoming a bigger part of the picture for contractors within the construction industry. We’ve gotten by on ‘old school’ methods until now and some still will but I don’t think it’s prudent to ignore some of the tools at our disposal. Online attention through web traffic, blogs, social media, etc can allow us all to expand our reach. Not only from the marketing perspective of an individual contractor but for the industry as a whole. I don’t think it would be a bad thing to get our perspectives, our stories, out for the world to see. So many people I talk to outside of the realm of commercial construction have no idea what mechanical insulation is, usually only thinking it‘s what’s stuffed behind the drywall. It’s time to embrace the ability to communicate at large. Explain what we are, what we do and how we do it. This is going to be imperative for skilled trades moving forward as well. Looming labour shortages and an aging, working demographic headed towards retirement stress this fact. We need to connect and be seen. It’s great to build a community and land before the eyes of potential customers but it is important to grab the attention of the next generation of tradespeople, project managers and owner/operators.
I would like to take advantage of these avenues in the future. It’s one of the reasons we have again launched a website for All Temperature Thermal Insulations Ltd. and now this blog. An online presence is crucial for many industries and it may become so for construction professionals as well. I’m not only talking about websites for the big industry players or resume boasting of individuals on LinkedIn. From the biggest to the smallest contractors, they are starting to realize the importance of ‘being online’ and its potential. Moreover, I hope to share our story through this blog. The perspective of tradespeople, managers, owners and whoever else I can push to contribute. I‘d like to give a glimpse into our industry, the history, the trends and the possible future. It’s gotta start somewhere, and for me, it’s now. I hope you’ll take a couple minutes to check in from time to time to see what we’re up to and vice versa.
Cheers,
Darren