How to Treat Your Contractor

Concrete Contractor Larel Canyon CA are a special breed. There are certain ways to deal with contractors that are quite important for the customer to understand. Not understanding some of these principles can get the customer into a higher bill and lower quality of service.

There are a lot of variables in the process. You need to listen to verbal and non verbal expression to get the most from the experience.

Most contractors primarily work for wealthy people. Most of these people think they are better than the contractor. Contractors have dealt with this their whole life and absolutely hate rudeness. They are actually quite sensitive in this area. Don’t think that just because you speak politely that you aren’t talking down to them. Many customers talk down to contractors quite naturally without realizing it.

What happens when you are rude? The price goes up dramatically. Many contractors double the price on one sign that the customer is onerous. In addition, a few contractors pride themselves on doing a job that won’t last for these kinds of people. I’m not saying that all contractors are this way. I am saying that your chances of getting a good job done go down dramatically with each rude comment.

Drinks and Food

Contractors like customers to show appreciation for the work that is being done. A good way to show appreciation is to bring them a drink or sandwich. It’s not so much the sandwich, but the thought that you care. After you show the contractor you care about them as a person, they will go to much greater lengths to work hard for you. To pull this off, you will need to be sincere. If successful, you will notice them coming around more and the job getting done faster. They will give you ideas and offer to help with small things because they appreciate you. Remember, they are tired of working for onerous people. When a good customer comes along contractors work extra hard to make everything turn out right.

Love

A masterpiece takes a lot of love. If you are trying to create a very special place, you need to have love in your heart. Contractors fall in love with two things: great jobs and great customers. If you spend the money to get a good design and are willing to do things the absolutely right way the contractor can fall in love with the job. If you aren’t in this category, then the contractor needs to fall in love with the customer. The ideal situation is a great customer and a great project and a great contractor. It does happen.

Price – Don’t Ask Low Ball Questions

Do you see any carpenters on the cover of Forbes magazine? Have you ever heard of a billionaire dry wall installer? The fact is that most contractors are small companies that don’t make a lot of money. In construction, profit margins are thin and even though things cost a lot of money, the contractor spends most of it on labor and materials.

Here are some examples of bad questions to ask. “Since you’re here and all, can you just throw in this freebie?” OR Contractor makes a small error, “Can you just take a few thousand off the bill for this?” OR You could ask a landscape contractor, “I saw some dirt getting hauled away by the freeway. Could you just go over and see if you can get me some free dirt?”

Many customers try to get out of paying the full bill by looking for errors. There are even forensic construction companies that specialize in looking for errors. Thus, contractors are somewhat worried about getting paid. Any questions signaling tightwad puts the customer on the bad list. In fact, many contractors will choose to walk away on just a couple of low ball comments. If you’re one of these customers, get a new guy that doesn’t understand the cost of doing business.

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