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How Can We Raise the Bar of Construction Contractor Expectations?

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With An Eye-opening Process to Hold Contractors to a Higher Standard

I read a study years ago that ranked building contractors below used car salesmen. This might not be a bad thing if used car salesmen didn’t have a reputation of…shall we say…not putting the customer’s needs first.

For builders to have been ranked below used car salesmen was very confusing and more than a little disturbing.

Then realized that I viewed customers differently than a lot of builders. For me they aren’t just customers, a project or just a way to earn money. These people have put their trust in me to build them their dream.

Over the years as I have discussed building projects with a lot of people, the number of times that I have heard construction customers say, “It was the worst experience of my life” is unacceptable.

A construction project should be among the best experiences, not the worst.

Many people only get the opportunity to experience a construction project once, especially if it’s a large one like building a new home. This makes it even more critical that we as construction contractors serve every one of our customers in a professional manner.

In a previous post about construction contractor etiquette, I shared a story of a friend meeting with a plumber. While they were in the kitchen discussing the project, the plumber who was chewing tobacco spit tobacco juice in her sink. Not just once mind you, but 3-4 times! He at least had the courtesy to turn the water on and rinse out the sink.   

When the customer told me this story, she was still surprised about this and the plumber…he didn’t even realize he had done anything wrong.

This kind of behavior is a problem and it’s no wonder that contractors have a worse reputation than used car salesmen.

Considering some situations that I’ve seen or heard, it is apparent that this problem needs our attention.

Whether it’s –

  • Standing in a customer’s upholstered chair using it for a ladder
  • Leaving an electric circuit turned off over the weekend which had a customer’s freezer plugged in to it
  • Laying down after lunch and taking a nap on a customer’s couch
  • Throwing food trash in the void behind a wall and leaving it
  • Or…spitting tobacco juice in a customer’s sink

These kinds of things are unacceptable.

The level of expectations for construction contractors has gotten so low that these kinds of actions have become the norm. 

The problem is the unawareness that there is a problem.

If this is going to change, we need to raise the bar. We’ve got to hold ourselves and each other, to a higher standard.

We need construction contractor etiquette.

The word etiquette doesn’t sound like a construction term. However, I think the definition of etiquette speaks to this issue perfectly. Etiquette is a code of ethical behavior regarding professional practice or action among the members of a profession in their dealings with each other and customers.

What would this code of ethical behavior look like for construction contractors?

It would be things that a professional builder would be expected to do:

  • Communicate – Let the customer know what to expect. Return calls, send contracts in advance, sign papers in a timely manner. Remember that they don’t do construction everyday like you do.
  • Listen – This is the most important part of communicating. You need to hear what the customer is saying. This is more than just their words. It means really listening to their hopes and desires and understanding their dreams.
  • Be on time – Show up when you say you will. If you’re going to be late, call and let the customer know. Respect their time.
  • Be responsive – Return communications in a reasonable amount of time. They just want to know that you hear them and care.
  • Be accountable – If you or someone on your team make a mistake, own up to it. Don’t blame someone else. Keep the job site “clean”.  Pick up your lunch trash and water bottles. Dust will be expected, but use plastic tarps, if possible, to contain the dust and/or clean areas if it gets out of hand. Be aware of landscaping.  Don’t park in yards or walk on flowers or other plants. If it’s necessary to work in these areas, do it with respect.

Some of this content is from Construction Etiquette by Stefaney Rants.

We need to use the Golden Rule for contractors and treat construction customers the way they should be treated, not the way they normally are.

GOLDEN RULES FOR CONSTRUCTION CONTRACTORS

  1. If you open it, close it.
  2. If you turn it on, turn it off.
  3. If you unlock it, lock it up.
  4. If you break it, admit it.
  5. If you can’t fix it, call in someone who can.
  6. If you borrow it, return it.
  7. If you value it, take care of it.
  8. If you make a mess clean it up.
  9. If you move it, put it back.
  10.  If it belongs to someone else and you want to use it, get permission.
  11.  If you don’t know how to operate it, leave it alone.
  12.  If it’s none of your business, stay out of it.
  13.  If it will brighten someone’s day, say it.
  14.  If it will tarnish someone’s reputation, keep it to yourself.

As professionals it is up to us to do something about this.

So, what are we going to do?

The first thing is to be aware of the problem. If we ignore it, it won’t go away; it will continue to get worse. This means that we need to hold each other accountable for our actions. As professionals, if we see something unacceptable being done, we need to call each other out with respect and in private. This isn’t about public humiliation. It’s about raising the bar. It’s about the customer.

In the second part of this series of posts, we’ll begin to look at the process for holding ourselves and each other to a higher standard.

Contractors get ready…the BAR IS BEING RAISED.

How Would Your Balance Sheet Look if God Took an Accounting of Your Life Today?

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This is a Question We Should Be Asking Ourselves Continually Every Day

A young man who was working at his first job had made some mistakes. He was called into the boss’s office and demanded an explanation for the poor work and mistakes. The young man began making excuses and blaming other people.

Then the boss pointed out the window and said, “There it goes.” The young man turned to look, the boss said, “It’s a buck flying by.”

Have you ever seen a buck flying by? This is known as passing the buck.

When we are called to account for our mistakes, it’s tempting to “pass the buck”.

President Harry Truman used a well-known phrase, “The Buck Stops Here”. This means that I won’t blame other people for my situation. I will take responsibility for my actions.

We all need to take responsibility for our actions.

In Luke 16:1-13, Jesus tells His disciples a story about a manager for a rich man. The employee had been wasting the rich man’s money. The employee began passing the buck.

Jesus is preparing His disciples for when He is no longer around to watch over them. They will be responsible for sharing the message with the world accurately. He’s warning them that it will be easy to become weak and give in to worldly temptations.

 He was telling them to not PASS THE BUCK.

Like the man in the Scripture who is called to account for his actions, we too will be called to account for our actions. If you were called to heaven today, how would your accounting look?

Have you been a wise manager of your life?

Ten years ago, when I fell and hit my head, I was unconscious in the hospital for three days. While recovering, I asked myself this question. This was a point in my life when I became more intentional about living my life the way God had designed it.

Too often people go through life without seeking or finding their purpose. They meander through life without even looking for their purpose. Or they come up with their own worldly vision for what they want and go for that.

God is the creator of our lives. He has given each of us a purpose. Our lives were designed by Him.

We are given the choice of how we live. God doesn’t force us to live the life He designed.

Imagine a highly skilled architect that designs amazing homes. Everyone wants this architect to design their home. People are willing to wait years to get this designer.

Then, when you finally get to that long-awaited meeting, you hand the architect your own amateur plan. The one you drew on a napkin. Then you ask this master architect to simply approve your design.

This is how most people approach life.

Without any regard to the blueprint God has given us…we ask God to approve our design.

We need to step back and ask ourselves, are we doing the designing or are we building the life that God has designed for us?

At some point we are going to have to answer this question to God.

It’s a whole lot better if we ask ourselves now rather than waiting. If we ask now, then we can start remodeling our lives if need be.

No One Can Make Me Accountable but Me…So Why Aren’t I?

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Well, that is the Ten Million Dollar Question, isn’t it?

God has a way of persistently putting things in front of us until we do something about it. That thing that continually shows up everywhere we turn, or that nagging voice in our head.

Accountability is that thing currently.

Just this past week accountability came up in a several different places.

In a mastermind that I’m in, there’s a weekly accountability and for several weeks my accountability hasn’t gotten done. This is unacceptable!

Another was in a digital marketing group that I’m part of. One of the participants suggested that I spend some money on social media marketing, because when she made that financial commitment, she got her webinar done.

What about the subcontractor who installed some ceiling tile several years ago? This past week some of the tiles were starting to come loose. It had been long enough that they could have refused to do anything about it. They didn’t bat an eye…they simply came and fixed it.

Or there’s the situation with, J&J Contracting, a painting subcontractor that is working on staining and finishing nine wood doors. He had the doors stained and sprayed the clear finish with a new spray gun. After the first coat was on, he noticed there were runs. He worked to sand them out…to no avail. He could have made excuses that it was the new spray guns fault, but he didn’t. He is going to spend a sizable amount of money to buy new doors to replace them.

This is what accountability looks like.

My proposal system needs the training that goes with it prepared before it’s ready to be marketed. This project has been dragging out for far too long. This is the mastermind accountability that I referred to earlier.

Why do we let ourselves avoid doing things we know we should do?

For me there are a few different reasons, all of which are in my control to do something about.

There’s fear – being afraid that we’re going to fail, we aren’t good enough, or it might cost too much. What about busy – I don’t have time to do that, it takes too long, and I already have these other things to do. Don’t forget uncertainty – I don’t know how to do that thing; it’s going to require me learning something new.

Now I’m going to start preaching to myself.

Several years ago, I wrote about filtering my life using my core values. There are a total of twelve different ones. I’ve written about all but three…one of those is being accountable. Guess what this post is about. 😊

Ultimately, my accountability is up to me. It is a choice.

It’s easy to put others ahead of myself. This makes my proposal system less important than construction projects…or does it? The question is, how many more contractors and customers could benefit from having my proposal system to use?

Just like in last week’s post about what my time is worth, I applied that new motivation to being more accountable. I ran the numbers and determined my time is currently worth $2.23 per minute or $133.80 per hour.

Looking forward my goal in seven years is to be grossing ten figures, that’s $10,000,000.00. Let’s play with some more math –

  • 224,640 work minutes each year
  • $10,000,000.00 divided by 224640 minutes means that each minute of the workday would be worth $44.52

This is going to get scary…

  • $44.52 x 5 minutes = $222.60
  • $44.52 x 15 minutes = $667.80
  • $44.52 x 30 minutes = $1,335.60
  • $44.52 x 60 minutes = $2,671.20

I told you it was going to be scary!

What does this mean? This means, for me to reach this goal – it’s up to me to get this proposal system out into the world, and this means…to get it out there, I have to get the training ready, this means…it’s up to me!

God has given me a specific purpose.

Bridge the gap between construction companies and customers by providing:

  • Businesses with systems and training to make their companies more efficient and profitable
  • Educating customers in what to expect throughout the entire construction process

Ultimately, it comes down to this…

I’m accountable to God.

What am I going to do about it?

P.S. I got the first draft of the Building a Better Proposal Workshop intro was done yesterday.

Here are the previous core value posts –

Writing It Down Makes It More Real

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Checklist

You’ll Hit What You Aim at Every Time

You need a clear vision of where you want to go, or you will just drift through life going nowhere in particular.

In Michael Hyatt and Daniel Harkavy’s book, Living Forward, they propose a plan for being intentional and stopping the drift. They say drifting usually happens for one or more of the following reasons:

  • We’re unaware – We simply don’t know what’s happening
  • We’re distracted – We aren’t focused on the goals
  • We’re overwhelmed – We take on more than we should
  • We’re deceived – We are often unconscious about our beliefs compared to reality

“If you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time.” Zig Ziglar

The question of how to organize and plan has come up several times over the past several weeks. I’ve been thinking about it a lot. I wasn’t aware of how intentional I had become about avoiding the drift in my life.

A couple of weeks ago, I started the discussion about getting control of your life. Then I wrote about one of the tools I use for this. I had planned to go into another tool this week (maybe next week) but have decided instead to discuss more about the importance of intentional organization.

I’d forgotten how frustrating it was when I didn’t have a clear plan for where I wanted to go or how I was going to get there.

Most people don’t go to the level of detail with their scheduling as I do and that’s okay. What I’ve been trying to figure out is why many of these same people are frustrated and feel that their lives are out of control. Through several discussions I concluded all scheduling is basically the same.

The difference is in the level if intentionality. 

In Ray Edward’s podcast about starting an online business this week, he talks about the three things you must do in order to succeed while avoiding stress and overwhelm. These same things must be done to succeed in life as well.

  • Intention – Know what you want, why you want it, and have a plan for getting it.
  • Focus – Identify the essential activities for getting there and schedule them.
  • Margin – Give yourself time for rest, recreation and reflection.

This sounds a lot like how I schedule my life and my days.

There are studies that show when writing goals down they are more likely to be accomplished. The same thing is true when writing things down on task lists and calendars. You must decide what you want and then take the necessary actions if you are to accomplish it.

Writing things down keeps me accountable to myself.