When you call a general contractor to sell a trade service or a product, ask for the estimator or the project manager, not the owner, say who you are and the one kind of job you do in your first sentence, and ask for a place on the bid list, not for a meeting. Below is a 25-second opener, three replies you will hear, a voicemail, what to look up before dialing, and the federal and state rules for the call, including what the FTC says about business-to-business calls.

This script is for subcontractors (concrete, framing, roofing, electrical, drywall), suppliers and rental yards, and estimating or takeoff services. A general contractor does not buy what you sell the way a homeowner does. It buys prices for a bid it has already been invited to submit, and whoever it calls back is on its list. The aim of the call is to get on the list.

Who answers, and who to ask for

Three people can pick up. The office manager or receptionist forwards calls and rarely buys. The estimator or bid coordinator builds the numbers for each job and decides which subs get an invitation to bid. The project manager or superintendent picks subs after the job is won, often on the estimator's list. Ask for the estimator first. If the company is a few people, the owner is the estimator, and a short call at 7:30 in the morning, before the crew leaves, is the best bet.

Look up the license before you dial

General contractors are licensed by the state in many places, and the lookups are public. In California, the Contractors State License Board's Check a License page lets you search by license number, business name, or the name of a person listed on the license, and it covers home improvement salespeople as well. Other states have their own boards. A two-minute look gives you the exact business name and the people named on the license. Write down the name of an estimator or qualifying individual if you find one. Then check the company's website for its project types, because "commercial tenant improvements" and "custom homes" are different calls.

The 25-second opener

Dalton Concrete is a made-up two-crew flatwork sub in Phoenix. Its owner, Reuben, calls.

Hi, is this Carla? This is Reuben at Dalton Concrete, we do flatwork, slabs and sidewalks, mostly tenant improvements and small retail. I'm calling to get on your bid list for concrete. Who handles that, you or someone else? ... Great. What do you usually need in a bid package from a sub, so I send the right thing the first time?

It names the trade and the job type, asks for a bid list spot and a single next step, and shows that Reuben knows subs get dropped for sending incomplete bids. If Carla says "send me your insurance and license," that is a win. Ask for the email address, and say it back.

Three replies you will hear

"We have our guys."

Understood, most do. A second price on a job tends to be useful for you when your regular is booked out or high on a bid. I'd just like to be on the list as a backup. Can I send my license, insurance and three recent jobs, so you have them if you need them?

"Send it to the bid desk email."

Will do. Is there a name to put on it, so it does not get lost? And is there a day each week when you go through new subs?

"What's your price per square foot?"

It moves with access, thickness and finish, so I'd rather price a real job than guess. If you have a plan set coming up for bid, I can price it in two days. Do you have one now?

Do not quote a price on a cold call. A number without a drawing starts an argument you cannot win, and it shows up later as the price they remember.

The voicemail, in 30 seconds

Hi Carla, Reuben at Dalton Concrete, 555-0173. I do flatwork for tenant improvements around Phoenix and would like to be on your bid list for concrete. I'll email my license, insurance and three jobs, and I'll call again Thursday morning.

The voicemail ends with a day, and you call that day. Then follow with the email within the hour, with the subject "Dalton Concrete, flatwork, bid list." For the email version of this approach, see how to find general contractors to sell to.

The legal basics for the call

This is a general summary, not legal advice. Check your state's rules before a large call campaign.

  • Federal do-not-call rules. The FTC's Q&A on the telemarketing rule says most phone calls to a business made to solicit sales from that business are exempt from the Do Not Call registry, and its guide to the Telemarketing Sales Rule says most calls between a telemarketer and a business are exempt from the rule. The word "most" is doing work. The FTC lists exceptions: calls to induce the retail sale of nondurable office or cleaning supplies are not exempt from the rule (though they are still spared its registry and recordkeeping parts), and calls to business lines that solicit individual employees to buy for their own use are not exempt either.
  • Lying is never exempt. The rule prohibits false or misleading statements to induce payment, and its business exemption does not cover that part (16 CFR 310.6(b)(7)). A call that claims a relationship or a referral you do not have is a problem under any rule.
  • Recording. If you record calls, tell the person at the start. California Penal Code section 632 makes it a crime to record a confidential communication without the consent of all parties, with a fine of up to $2,500 per violation, and the California Supreme Court (Kearney v. Salomon Smith Barney, 2006) applied it to a Georgia firm that recorded its calls with California clients. Other states differ; is it legal to record business calls has a table.
  • State rules. Some states have their own telemarketing registration and calling-hour rules, often with business exceptions that vary. Your state attorney general's consumer pages usually say. Ask before you dial a list of 500.

If you plan to use an AI voice or automated dialing, read is AI cold calling legal first. The rules for those are stricter than for a person dialing by hand.

After the call: the four things to write down

  • Name and role of the person, and whether they were the estimator.
  • What they said they need in a bid package.
  • Date you sent the package and date of the next call.
  • Whether they have a bid out now, and its due date. A bid due in a week is the one call worth making again tomorrow.

Keep it in one sheet. A call you did not log is a call you will make again.

Rocketship, which we make, covers the email side of the same plan. Describe the contractors you want, for example "general contractors doing tenant improvements in Phoenix," and it finds the people, reads each company's own website, emails them from your Gmail, mentioning your license and recent jobs, follows up and books the call on your calendar. It also makes AI phone calls on Launch and up, and says on the call that it is an AI assistant. Start the 7-day trial (card required) or see the plans.