Two Hammers

The dreaded phone call “This is Mrs. Jones, remember me?” after ascertaining that the house has not flooded or burned down, need not be such a fearful event.  Sure it is a hassle to schedule a few hours to go find out the problem and fix it, however, what better way is there to spend a couple of hours catching up with a good customer.  Cheerfully address their concern and make any small adjustments and touch ups you see.  While there find out if Mrs. Jones has any friends or neighbors starting to contemplate a remodeling project.  Nothing is more powerful than a referral from a happy customer that knows that you stand behind your work.

The other night, late, a customer called in a panic.  Immediately thoughts race to what was done wrong with the new light fixtures which would have caused the house to burn down.  “Help, the toilet is overflowing!” says the panic stricken homeowner.  Thinking quickly; “Lady, we changed the light fixtures in the bathroom, not the toilet”.  “Yes, but you were the last ones to do work in my house”.

Where does it end?  If you do any work in someone’s house, are you liable for everything?  This is a far too common of an occurrence.

The only protection is - If it is not in your contract, do not touch it.

This was then followed up by another customer with a burned out light bulb, then still another with a tripped GFCI.  What a week!

Again I was reminded of the importance of saying “no”.  Few times have I said no to a project and regretted it.  No matter how difficult it is, or how hungry you are, sometimes you have to say no; and stick to your guns when the customer appeals your decision.  I follow the following rules for accepting a project.  If is smells bad - it is, trust your gut instincts, you probably subconsciously detected something.  If you do not hit it off with the customer - walk away, the relationship will not get better with the stress of the job.  If the customer’s expectations and schedule are not realistic - find another customer.  If you are already overextended - do not make it worse by taking on more commitments.

There have not been many times when I have said no to a project and later proved to have been wrong.  Learn to say no when you have to.  And stick to it when the customer comes back 3 or 4 times.  There is nothing worse than getting involved in a bad remodeling project.