Do you go to a client’s house with your head full of ideas about the way things should be done? I know some painting contractors do it that way, because I have gone to a client’s home and had the client tell me that the contractor told them such and such.

When I go to a client’s home the first time to get the scope of the job they want, I go to measure. I want to measure the job: walls, ceilings, count doors, windows etc.

The idea that I have is to go to the Measure Call with a blank mind. I don’t want to push my ideas on the client. I want the client to talk. I ask questions and try to get as much info as I can. I try not to answer any questions on the Measure Call. Oh I am not rude when a client asks a direct question, I usually say that I will answer that when I give them the proposal, or I might give a generic answer.

What this approach does is two-fold. Number one, it allows me to measure and not lose track of my purpose. Now even though I keep this in mind, the occasional client will get me to step up on my soap box and I go on and on, wasting time and being an unpaid consultant. Usually the info given at this stage will be used against you and provided free of charge to the next painter in the door. And secondly, the client probably won’t remember, which painter gave them that advice, when the time to make the buying decision comes up. So even though I still sometimes get side tracked, it is easier and easier to remind myself what my purpose is. My purpose is not to be an unpaid consultant.

So what do I ask? Of course I ask about the job, but I also want to know how many estimates the client is going to get (if they tell me they are getting 5 or more estimates I usually will walk away, after politely telling them that I am not interested) usually to me that many estimates mean the client is just beating the price down. I had a client tell me that they were getting 8 estimates. I asked if they were providing a specification as to the description of the job. My idea was that everyone would be bidding the same specifications. But no they told me that they would follow whatever the painters said. Wow, so if they got some stumblebum painter to give them this low price and that painter convinced them that his way was right, then that was who they would go with.

I also want to know when they will do the job. I ask them if they have a budget for this job. Have they ever used a contractor before? Is there a time or date that they need to finish by? Are they painting to sell or rent, and just what is their motivation to paint. Basically I want to know a whole lot of stuff. Sometimes I may tell them that this is not a good match for us and them and politely turn down the estimate. You have to be careful and not blow off a good job, but sometimes it is just not a good match. I would rather not spend 2 hours estimating a job that I don’t want. I don’t provide an estimate just because they ask for one. My estimates are free to the client, but not free to me.

Most importantly, I leave with more information on the measure call than I give to them. That information is only for the time that I return and sit down at the kitchen table to go over the estimate and either I get the job or I don’t. I would also rather have them say “no” instead of “I’ll think about it”. That is the subject for another article.

By: P E Cavanaugh