Hit Rates, New England Market, Lead Gen & More w/ Johnny Illick & Chris Huston of ReArch
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REARC Companies' 76% hit rate—nearly double the industry average—isn't luck, but the result of a rigorously engineered pre-construction process that treats business development like farming: plant many seeds (looks), then meticulously filter for only the highest-value opportunities. Chris Huston, VP of Preconstruction, and CEO Johnny Illick reveal how they’ve built a flywheel of profitability by focusing on large, high-velocity projects ($10M+), using AI-driven contract analysis and one-page cheat sheets to reduce risk, while also investing in workforce development through a jointly funded trade school in Vermont to combat the skilled labor shortage. Their strategy isn’t just about winning bids—it’s about building long-term relationships with A&E firms, subcontractors, and public entities across northern New England, where they’re seeing strong demand despite higher build costs. The real differentiator? They don’t just respond to RFPs—they proactively create value by helping architects grow their business, which in turn makes them the preferred partner.
Achieve a 76% project win rate by treating business development like farming: plant 129+ qualified 'looks' annually and rigorously filter for only high-value, high-velocity opportunities.
Prioritize projects over $10M to $15M to level staffing resources, reduce administrative overhead, and boost billing velocity from $400K to $3M+ per month.
Use AI and contract automation tools like Data Crunch to generate one-page contract cheat sheets that empower PMs to push back on owners and prevent costly claims.
Invest in workforce development by co-founding a trade school with competitors to address the 2:1 retiree-to-new-worker ratio in Vermont and New Hampshire.
Win public projects by building trust with A&E firms—help them grow their business, and they’ll refer you more work, creating a self-reinforcing referral engine.
…and 3 more takeaways available in PodZeus
The Unfiltered Pre-Construction Playbook
“We're farmers. We plant seeds and the more seeds you plant, i.e. the looks back to you. And then you can really sift through those and say, OK, this one's good. This one's not.”
The 76% Hit Rate: How They Beat the Industry Average
“Our lowest in the past five years is around 50 percent but we're our highest was at about 77 percent in a given year which you know is not it's simply to say that through the process we use”
The Flywheel: Scaling Up to $150M in Volume
REARC’s growth strategy centers on increasing average project size to $30M–$50M, reducing administrative strain while increasing billing velocity and profitability.
Data-Driven Decision Making: Tracking Looks, Wins, and Losses
REARC tracks every stage of the funnel—looks, pursuits, wins, losses—since 2018, using HubSpot CRM to refine their strategy and validate their growth trajectory.
The $10M–$15M Profitability Threshold
“If we hit the the margin that we're predicting it's going to be such a home run and frankly um confidentially that one is complete you know five percent and and it will still be a home run because of its billing velocity of three to four million a month”
“If we hit the the margin that we're predicting it's going to be such a home run and frankly um confidentially that one is complete you know five percent and and it will still be a home run because of its billing velocity of three to four million a month”
“We actually took an instructor away from one of the tech schools. He's brilliant and he relates well to the kids, and we're trying to graduate 100 students a year through this program.”
“We might get five to eight bids kind of down in the Southern New Hampshire region where up here, we're lucky to get three per trade.”
Host
Guests
REARC Companies
organization
Johnny Illick
person
Chris Huston
person
Windover
organization
Inflation Reduction Act
other
ABC
organization
PC Construction
organization
Captive Insurance
organization
Pisa Galley Construction
organization
HubSpot
organization
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