The average home contractor must have more skills than wielding a hammer, handling electrical work or making simple plumbing upgrades. They have to be good at ordering supplies, managing their workload, hiring help, and keeping to a schedule.
With all of that on their plate, it is understandable that some home contractors forget about their customers. Yet it is essential to their business model to keep these customers happy. How can you do that and get everything else done? You should integrate these actions into your everyday activities.
Text Regularly
Rather than wait for your customer to question you about progress, make regular texts part of your business model. They will appreciate hearing from you every few days, and they may be less inclined to call and complain about things running behind schedule. You want them to be aware of how hard you and your employees are working.
It’s also important to tell them when weather is affecting your ability to work. You want them to be aware of any problems, however small, that are impeding progress. Most of all, you want them to feel part of the process. Your reward will be fewer complaining customers and more understanding ones.
Take Pictures
Sending pictures with your texts can make your communication even more meaningful. Every time you use this form of update, you are showing them progress. Our smartphones make this an easy thing to do. You can even ask your workers to take occasional pictures and send them to you.
Your pictures shouldn’t just cover progress. They can include the materials you are using. This can show that you are spending money correctly and that you are choosing high quality materials for the job.
Protect Their Stuff
If you are working on an existing home, protecting their belongings is essential. Inside, you may need heavy curtains to cordon off the work area. This will keep the dust away from their furnishings. You should make sure your workers aren’t tracking dirt or mud into the finished areas of the home. At the end of the day, you should tidy up your area.
Outside, you will need construction mats to prevent the yard from being torn up. You should discourage your workers from parking on grass. If rain is frequent, the mats can be used to keep your machinery or trucks from getting bogged down in mud.
Warn Them About Problems
There are many issues that can arise between a contractor and a client. The first big one is, of course, cost overruns. If you are communicating regularly, you will be able to warn the client that it may happen. They will know in real time as you encounter obstacles that may require the cost to be higher. If luck holds and costs are kept in check, your client will be relieved. They will also admire you for your honesty.
Likewise, the schedule may get behind. Regular communication should also help with this, making sure the customer knows that you haven’t been slacking. Those pictures and texts should illustrate your efforts to keep to the timeline.
Every effort you make to prevent problems will pay off in the long run. By reporting early and often, customers will come to respect you and hopefully recommend you to their friends. At the end of the job, they are more likely to be satisfied with the work, since they have been kept in the loop at every juncture.
