Some painting contractors are strange people. I don't mean that they have weird hobbies, or goofy hair, or walk down the street talking to imaginary demons. I mean that they sometimes completely reverse the order in which they should conduct their business.
For example, many times I read or hear of a contractor who is starting a job and wonders what product he should use. Often, this confusion is accompanied with similar confusion regarding what procedures to follow. Such questions provoke a combination of laughter and dismay.
An estimate is a projection of the labor and materials required to complete a particular job. If a painting contractor is not certain what materials he will use, how can he accurately project his material costs? If he is uncertain about the procedures he will follow, how can he determine his labor requirements? The fact is, he can't.
So how in the world can he possibly price the job? Again, he can't. He is simply throwing a number out there and hoping that it will stick. His attitude is: Get the job, and then figure out how to do it profitably.
This make work in some rare circumstances, but such an approach is doomed to ultimately fail. The time to figure out materials and procedures is before you submit the bid, not the day before you start. The fact is, if you try to slide by on the seat of your pants, you are going to wind up with a very sore butt.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Monday, April 27, 2009
You Charged too Much
Occasionally a customer will complain that a job didn't take as long as they expected it to take. They may be happy with the work, but not the time it took us to complete it. They may make noises that we should reduce the price.
The simple solution is to point out that they agreed to the price ahead of time, and that you did the work as specified in the agreement. This is certainly true, but it can also fan the fires of the customer's discontent. After all the customer is angry.
It is often more effective to turn the tables. "Mrs. Smith, would you have been willing to pay use more money if the job had taken longer than I expected?" It is doubtful that Mrs. Smith would agree to do so.
There can be a lot of reasons why a job takes less time than a customer expects. One reason, and perhaps the most common, is that the customer simply doesn't know. Another reason might be that we anticipated problems that did not arise. Or, perhaps we simply work more efficiently than the customer expected.
Regardless, the last thing we should be doing is reducing our price. Doing so implies that we did in fact overcharge, and that always sends the wrong message.
The simple solution is to point out that they agreed to the price ahead of time, and that you did the work as specified in the agreement. This is certainly true, but it can also fan the fires of the customer's discontent. After all the customer is angry.
It is often more effective to turn the tables. "Mrs. Smith, would you have been willing to pay use more money if the job had taken longer than I expected?" It is doubtful that Mrs. Smith would agree to do so.
There can be a lot of reasons why a job takes less time than a customer expects. One reason, and perhaps the most common, is that the customer simply doesn't know. Another reason might be that we anticipated problems that did not arise. Or, perhaps we simply work more efficiently than the customer expected.
Regardless, the last thing we should be doing is reducing our price. Doing so implies that we did in fact overcharge, and that always sends the wrong message.
Friday, April 17, 2009
Re-Inventing the Wheel
I have been thinking of investing in rental real estate, and I recently posted on a contractor forum seeking input from anyone who has previously done so. The response was quite interesting.
I was quickly told about the problems I would face, such as tenants who don’t pay, destroy the property, or both. I pointed out that with the proper systems in place, such problems could largely be avoided. But this did not dissuade the critics.
I was struck by how similar this is to other things I frequently hear from painting contractors: door hangers don’t work, yellow pages don’t work, customers are cheap, nobody appreciates quality, illegals are stealing all of the work, yada, yada, yada. I call these people the nay-sayers.
And then this morning I received the following Thought of the Day from the Napoleon Hill Foundation:
Certainly there are challenges in rental real estate, just as there are challenges in contracting. So? If it were easy, everyone would do it. The challenges aren’t the issue here—how we deal with those challenges is.
The nay-sayers continue to insist that painting contractors can’t make money, despite an abundance of evidence to the contrary. They see each obstacle as an impenetrable wall that halts any progress. And when someone points out evidence that contradicts their conclusions, they respond with more excuses: that may be true in large cities but not in rural areas, I don’t want to be a high pressure salesman, I won’t compromise on my quality, yada, yada, yada.
Whether it is real estate or contracting, the nay-sayers are determined to stick to their conclusions, come hell or high water. Their situation or market is completely unique, and sound business principles simply do not apply. This of course, is simply not true.
Whether they realize it or not, the nay-sayers are making an admission: they lack the skills, ambition, perseverance, or some other characteristic necessary to overcome the challenges. The crucial fact that the nay-sayers overlook is that, in most situations, others have already overcome the challenges.
A wise man learns from his mistakes. A really smart man learns from the mistakes of others. In other words, don’t try to re-invent the wheel. Learn from those who have accomplished the goals you seek. Find a mentor and listen to his advice.
This does not mean blind obedience. You must judge for yourself the prudence of each idea. But it can be a huge waste of time, money, and energy to try to discover each idea on your own. This applies to real estate, and it applies to paint contracting.
I was quickly told about the problems I would face, such as tenants who don’t pay, destroy the property, or both. I pointed out that with the proper systems in place, such problems could largely be avoided. But this did not dissuade the critics.
I was struck by how similar this is to other things I frequently hear from painting contractors: door hangers don’t work, yellow pages don’t work, customers are cheap, nobody appreciates quality, illegals are stealing all of the work, yada, yada, yada. I call these people the nay-sayers.
And then this morning I received the following Thought of the Day from the Napoleon Hill Foundation:
A POSITIVE MIND FINDS A WAY IT CAN BE DONE. A NEGATIVE MIND LOOKS FOR ALL THE WAYS IT CAN’T BE DONE.
Certainly there are challenges in rental real estate, just as there are challenges in contracting. So? If it were easy, everyone would do it. The challenges aren’t the issue here—how we deal with those challenges is.
The nay-sayers continue to insist that painting contractors can’t make money, despite an abundance of evidence to the contrary. They see each obstacle as an impenetrable wall that halts any progress. And when someone points out evidence that contradicts their conclusions, they respond with more excuses: that may be true in large cities but not in rural areas, I don’t want to be a high pressure salesman, I won’t compromise on my quality, yada, yada, yada.
Whether it is real estate or contracting, the nay-sayers are determined to stick to their conclusions, come hell or high water. Their situation or market is completely unique, and sound business principles simply do not apply. This of course, is simply not true.
Whether they realize it or not, the nay-sayers are making an admission: they lack the skills, ambition, perseverance, or some other characteristic necessary to overcome the challenges. The crucial fact that the nay-sayers overlook is that, in most situations, others have already overcome the challenges.
A wise man learns from his mistakes. A really smart man learns from the mistakes of others. In other words, don’t try to re-invent the wheel. Learn from those who have accomplished the goals you seek. Find a mentor and listen to his advice.
This does not mean blind obedience. You must judge for yourself the prudence of each idea. But it can be a huge waste of time, money, and energy to try to discover each idea on your own. This applies to real estate, and it applies to paint contracting.
Friday, April 10, 2009
Kissing Butt as a Sales Tactic
Some painters seem to think that effective sales means kissing the customer’s butt, gushing insincere platitudes, and similar types of fakery. This is no different from the proverbial used car salesman. Both are a form of dishonesty and manipulation.
The implication is that the truth is somehow one’s enemy. But the fact is, the truth is always our ally. The truth provides illumination and understanding. Dishonesty brings about destruction. The truth may be unpleasant, but burying one’s head in the sand or believing fantasies will ultimately be far more so.
This does not mean that we must be uncivil and speak every thought that enters our brain. Speaking the truth means not faking reality. It doesn’t mean being unnecessarily rude.
Effective sales is about communication and education. This means discovering the customer’s needs and desires, and then communicating how your company will satisfy those values. This requires a commitment to what is true, not what you think the customer wants to hear. Stating that the putrid green color the customer selected is perfect for her dining room ceiling is not helping anyone if you truly think it’s the wrong color.
Customers hire us for our expertise, not because they want a lap dog. If we think that the customer is making a bad decision, we have a moral responsibility to say so—and provide the reasons for our opinion. Most of the time this is incredibly effective as a sales strategy. It tells the customer that we are truly interested in what is best for her. Most people appreciate the honesty.
Again, there are civil ways to put your foot down. Honesty does not require that we insult the customer’s intelligence or berate them. Simply state the facts—you don’ think the color is appropriate because it clashes with her furniture and flooring (or whatever the actual reason is).
Too many contractors think that sales is all about manipulating people to make a purchasing decision that they don’t want to make. They see the sales process as a contest of wills between the contractor and the customer, in which each is trying to screw the other. But if we view the sales process as a mutually beneficial exchange (which it is), both our attitude and our results will be much more positive.
The implication is that the truth is somehow one’s enemy. But the fact is, the truth is always our ally. The truth provides illumination and understanding. Dishonesty brings about destruction. The truth may be unpleasant, but burying one’s head in the sand or believing fantasies will ultimately be far more so.
This does not mean that we must be uncivil and speak every thought that enters our brain. Speaking the truth means not faking reality. It doesn’t mean being unnecessarily rude.
Effective sales is about communication and education. This means discovering the customer’s needs and desires, and then communicating how your company will satisfy those values. This requires a commitment to what is true, not what you think the customer wants to hear. Stating that the putrid green color the customer selected is perfect for her dining room ceiling is not helping anyone if you truly think it’s the wrong color.
Customers hire us for our expertise, not because they want a lap dog. If we think that the customer is making a bad decision, we have a moral responsibility to say so—and provide the reasons for our opinion. Most of the time this is incredibly effective as a sales strategy. It tells the customer that we are truly interested in what is best for her. Most people appreciate the honesty.
Again, there are civil ways to put your foot down. Honesty does not require that we insult the customer’s intelligence or berate them. Simply state the facts—you don’ think the color is appropriate because it clashes with her furniture and flooring (or whatever the actual reason is).
Too many contractors think that sales is all about manipulating people to make a purchasing decision that they don’t want to make. They see the sales process as a contest of wills between the contractor and the customer, in which each is trying to screw the other. But if we view the sales process as a mutually beneficial exchange (which it is), both our attitude and our results will be much more positive.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
That Never Works
Even though I have heard this for years, it still amazes me that painting contractors make broad generalized statements like: “The yellow pages never works.” I have heard similar statements about door hangers, yard signs, newspaper ads, and nearly every other form of advertising.
Having worked with and spoken to hundreds of contractors, I have a pretty good sense of what motivates such comments. Typically, a contractor tries some form of advertising, gets poor results, and puts all of the blame on that particular media. Such analysis is superficial, erroneous, and a waste of time.
Many, many factors determine how effective a particular ad will be. Certainly on is the media used. But the ad itself is often to blame, yet few contractors stop to consider this fact. They blame the media, not their ad.
Consider an ad that states: “Lowest prices in town.” This is going to appeal to a certain type of person—the price shopper. The text in the ad will have a large impact on the types of calls—if any—that you get.
On the other hand, an ad that states: “The best value in town” is going to appeal to a much different clientele. Everything else about the ad could be the same, except for the headline, and you could experience dramatically different results.
Another factor that contributes to such hasty generalizations is the fact that very few contractors properly track their leads. If you don’t know where your leads are coming from, it is impossible to properly analyze the ad’s effectiveness. And when I say know, I don’t mean guesses—I mean actual concrete numbers.
And that leads to the final error many contractors make—they don’t compute their return on investment (ROI) for each ad. They go on “gut feeling”, which can be wildly inaccurate. Personally, when I get a “gut feeling” I usually take an antacid.
Before anyone can say that a particular media doesn’t work, he must compute his ROI accurately. Even then, all it tells him is that that particular ad did or did not work. Don’t throw out the baby with the bathwater—a bad ad won’t draw well, and that isn’t the fault of the media.
Having worked with and spoken to hundreds of contractors, I have a pretty good sense of what motivates such comments. Typically, a contractor tries some form of advertising, gets poor results, and puts all of the blame on that particular media. Such analysis is superficial, erroneous, and a waste of time.
Many, many factors determine how effective a particular ad will be. Certainly on is the media used. But the ad itself is often to blame, yet few contractors stop to consider this fact. They blame the media, not their ad.
Consider an ad that states: “Lowest prices in town.” This is going to appeal to a certain type of person—the price shopper. The text in the ad will have a large impact on the types of calls—if any—that you get.
On the other hand, an ad that states: “The best value in town” is going to appeal to a much different clientele. Everything else about the ad could be the same, except for the headline, and you could experience dramatically different results.
Another factor that contributes to such hasty generalizations is the fact that very few contractors properly track their leads. If you don’t know where your leads are coming from, it is impossible to properly analyze the ad’s effectiveness. And when I say know, I don’t mean guesses—I mean actual concrete numbers.
And that leads to the final error many contractors make—they don’t compute their return on investment (ROI) for each ad. They go on “gut feeling”, which can be wildly inaccurate. Personally, when I get a “gut feeling” I usually take an antacid.
Before anyone can say that a particular media doesn’t work, he must compute his ROI accurately. Even then, all it tells him is that that particular ad did or did not work. Don’t throw out the baby with the bathwater—a bad ad won’t draw well, and that isn’t the fault of the media.
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