A recent post on Michael Stone’s blog raises an interesting point—many contractors seem to have plenty of time to complain, but no time to fix or prevent the object of their complaints. He tells the story of a contractor who was receiving complaints that his employees were damaging things they didn’t work on. Michael suggesting taking pictures prior to starting work. The contractor declared that that would be too much trouble.
Apparently, dealing with customer complaints wasn’t too much trouble. Apparently, upsetting customers is preferable to avoiding the complaints. Apparently, an ounce of prevention isn’t worth a pound of cure (in this contractor’s opinion).
Years ago we noticed that we seemed to get the same types of complaints over and over. It wasn’t that we had tons of complaints, just that the one we got were similar. I sat down with my supervisors and we made a list of the common complaints and what caused them. We discovered, like the contractor above, that most of these were pre-existing conditions. But we were getting blamed for them!
So we put together procedures to identify these items before starting any work, and we then brought them to the customer’s attention. Not surprisingly, most of the time the customer was unaware of these issues. But when inspecting their fresh paint job, they would have seen these issues and assumed we were responsible. Suddenly the complaints virtually stopped. And we often were able to sell additional work to correct the problem.
The little extra time we spent addressing these problems has saved us countless hours over the years, avoided upsetting customers, and perhaps best of all, helped us increase our sales.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Principles and Plagiarism
My contracting company has had a web site for nearly 14 years—we were one of the first painting contractors with a web presence. This, along with my writing skills, has made the content of my site a target for pirates.
Over the years, a remarkable number of individuals have decided that they would use content from my site. With only a handful of exceptions, this was done without my knowledge or permission. In other words, they stole from me.
What I find particularly interesting in many of these cases is the particular content these pirates choose. For example, one decided to copy my entire site, substituting the name of his company in the appropriate places. He even used quotes from my employees talking about an organization he did not belong to.
Included in his plagiarism was the use of my tag line, “Painters with Principles”. This was both amusing and infuriating. The infuriating part was his blatant disregard for the intellectual property rights of others. The amusing part was his hypocritical claim of being principled.
To be principled means to be guided by a specific set of rules of conduct. It means that one acts in a certain manner consistently and without exception, that one does not make exceptions when it is “convenient” or expedient. Principles provide us with the tools to choose our values and the means for attaining them.
You may think that this is ivory-tower BS that has nothing to do with paint contracting. You would be horribly wrong.
Consider just a few of the choices you might face in a day:
1. You meet with a customer to inspect a job and promise an estimate on a particular day. Do you honor your commitment, or ignore it because you conclude that the customer is cheap and won’t pay your price?
2. You discover some rotted wood that wasn’t included in your estimate. Do you tell the customer and supply a price, or do you slap some caulk on it?
3. A customer asks if you like the color she selected. Do you give your opinion, and simply tell her that it will look great?
Your answer to each of these—and the myriad other choices you face in a day—are ultimately determined by your principles, or lack thereof. And your choices will ultimately determine the results that you get. Your choices will ultimately determine if you are successful or a failure.
Those who think that they can steal my words are certainly cheating me. They will come up with all kinds of excuses to rationalize their behavior—“I’m not hurting anyone”, “it’s just words”, “everybody does it”, etc. But what they don’t realize is that they are the primary victim of their dishonesty. They can lie to their customers (which they are doing by plagiarizing), they can lie to their wives, they can lie to the world, but they cannot lie to themselves. They know, whether they choose to admit it or not, that they are scoundrels.
There was a time when I would simmer over such actions. I no longer do so. Instead, I remind myself that such people are living the miserable lives that they deserve. And I let my lawyer make their lives a little more miserable.
Over the years, a remarkable number of individuals have decided that they would use content from my site. With only a handful of exceptions, this was done without my knowledge or permission. In other words, they stole from me.
What I find particularly interesting in many of these cases is the particular content these pirates choose. For example, one decided to copy my entire site, substituting the name of his company in the appropriate places. He even used quotes from my employees talking about an organization he did not belong to.
Included in his plagiarism was the use of my tag line, “Painters with Principles”. This was both amusing and infuriating. The infuriating part was his blatant disregard for the intellectual property rights of others. The amusing part was his hypocritical claim of being principled.
To be principled means to be guided by a specific set of rules of conduct. It means that one acts in a certain manner consistently and without exception, that one does not make exceptions when it is “convenient” or expedient. Principles provide us with the tools to choose our values and the means for attaining them.
You may think that this is ivory-tower BS that has nothing to do with paint contracting. You would be horribly wrong.
Consider just a few of the choices you might face in a day:
1. You meet with a customer to inspect a job and promise an estimate on a particular day. Do you honor your commitment, or ignore it because you conclude that the customer is cheap and won’t pay your price?
2. You discover some rotted wood that wasn’t included in your estimate. Do you tell the customer and supply a price, or do you slap some caulk on it?
3. A customer asks if you like the color she selected. Do you give your opinion, and simply tell her that it will look great?
Your answer to each of these—and the myriad other choices you face in a day—are ultimately determined by your principles, or lack thereof. And your choices will ultimately determine the results that you get. Your choices will ultimately determine if you are successful or a failure.
Those who think that they can steal my words are certainly cheating me. They will come up with all kinds of excuses to rationalize their behavior—“I’m not hurting anyone”, “it’s just words”, “everybody does it”, etc. But what they don’t realize is that they are the primary victim of their dishonesty. They can lie to their customers (which they are doing by plagiarizing), they can lie to their wives, they can lie to the world, but they cannot lie to themselves. They know, whether they choose to admit it or not, that they are scoundrels.
There was a time when I would simmer over such actions. I no longer do so. Instead, I remind myself that such people are living the miserable lives that they deserve. And I let my lawyer make their lives a little more miserable.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Painting Estimates and Real Estate
I have recently begun to look at real estate investing. With the number of foreclosures in the market, and depressed prices, this is a good time to get into the market.
We spent several months educating ourselves before we began to seriously look at properties. Now that we are doing so, I see a lot of similarities between estimating painting jobs and purchasing real estate.
In both cases, you must know your numbers. I can analyze a property without leaving my desk. If the numbers work, then we go look at it to verify assumptions and put our eyes on it. But knowing the numbers is key--if the numbers work it is a good deal. If the numbers don't work, I would be wasting my time.
This is no different from painting. If you know your numbers, you can easily identify what price you must charge on any particular job. If you don't know your numbers, you are wasting your time, and maybe burning money.
Estimating/ sales is a numbers game. We aren't going to get every job, but if we have enough leads and land a reasonable number, we will be profitable. The same is true in real estate--we have already submitted two offers and are looking for more to bid on. We won't get them all, but if we make solid offers our real estate gig will do well.
I've heard many contractors say that our profession makes us naturals to get into real estate. I think there is some truth in that. But I think what really prepares us is knowing our numbers.
We spent several months educating ourselves before we began to seriously look at properties. Now that we are doing so, I see a lot of similarities between estimating painting jobs and purchasing real estate.
In both cases, you must know your numbers. I can analyze a property without leaving my desk. If the numbers work, then we go look at it to verify assumptions and put our eyes on it. But knowing the numbers is key--if the numbers work it is a good deal. If the numbers don't work, I would be wasting my time.
This is no different from painting. If you know your numbers, you can easily identify what price you must charge on any particular job. If you don't know your numbers, you are wasting your time, and maybe burning money.
Estimating/ sales is a numbers game. We aren't going to get every job, but if we have enough leads and land a reasonable number, we will be profitable. The same is true in real estate--we have already submitted two offers and are looking for more to bid on. We won't get them all, but if we make solid offers our real estate gig will do well.
I've heard many contractors say that our profession makes us naturals to get into real estate. I think there is some truth in that. But I think what really prepares us is knowing our numbers.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Twisting Like a Pretzel
A recent thread on a painting forum raised the issue of working on Sunday. I opposed the idea, stating that I desire to have a life and I’m not willing to turn into a pretzel to please my customers.
One responder stated his desire to be flexible and show the customer that he “will be there for the customer”. I emphatically disagree with this position. Not only does it convey the wrong idea to the customer, it also sets the contractor up for a nightmare.
I doubt that the poster literally meant that he would do anything to please the customer. So where does he draw the line? Apparently he is willing to give up his weekends and evenings. What else is he willing to give up? If he is willing to meet customers at 7 p.m., why not 8 p.m., or 9 p.m.? If he is willing to be there for them at 7, why not be there for them at 9 or any other time they choose?
Some may say that my questions are silly, that we have to draw the line somewhere. I agree that we must draw a line. I simply disagree where the line should be drawn, and who should draw it.
While I believe that we should exhibit some flexibility in dealing with customers, it should be on our terms. We should establish the type of business we want to own, and then operate on that standard. I choose to have a life in addition to my business. I do not want my business dominating my life and preventing me from enjoying other activities.
I will admit that there was a time I would do almost anything a customer requested. And I was miserable. My life was being dictated by the desires of others. And when I finally realized this and established set work hours, a funny thing happened—customers were generally accommodating. We occasionally lose a lead, but it is rather infrequent. Just as customers find a way to accommodate the cable guy, or the phone company, or a multitude of other service providers, they can find a way to accommodate the painting contractor.
One responder stated his desire to be flexible and show the customer that he “will be there for the customer”. I emphatically disagree with this position. Not only does it convey the wrong idea to the customer, it also sets the contractor up for a nightmare.
I doubt that the poster literally meant that he would do anything to please the customer. So where does he draw the line? Apparently he is willing to give up his weekends and evenings. What else is he willing to give up? If he is willing to meet customers at 7 p.m., why not 8 p.m., or 9 p.m.? If he is willing to be there for them at 7, why not be there for them at 9 or any other time they choose?
Some may say that my questions are silly, that we have to draw the line somewhere. I agree that we must draw a line. I simply disagree where the line should be drawn, and who should draw it.
While I believe that we should exhibit some flexibility in dealing with customers, it should be on our terms. We should establish the type of business we want to own, and then operate on that standard. I choose to have a life in addition to my business. I do not want my business dominating my life and preventing me from enjoying other activities.
I will admit that there was a time I would do almost anything a customer requested. And I was miserable. My life was being dictated by the desires of others. And when I finally realized this and established set work hours, a funny thing happened—customers were generally accommodating. We occasionally lose a lead, but it is rather infrequent. Just as customers find a way to accommodate the cable guy, or the phone company, or a multitude of other service providers, they can find a way to accommodate the painting contractor.
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