Advice from Contractors:

How to Best Prep a Customer for ...
       The Rigors of Construction
       The Assault on Their Privacy
       The Pillaging of Their Life Savings and
       The Ubiquitous Sheetrock Dust in Their Morning Coffee

By Bill Alexander

In my more than 20 years in the construction business, I've yet to discover the guaranteed, sure-fire, never-fail method of preparing customers for the impending abyss of a construction project. Once in a while I'm lucky enough to get a grizzled veteran of the "construction wars," but the reality is that most consumers will do only one major project in their entire lifetime. These unfortunates haven't a clue as to what they're getting into.

As a general contractor, it's my assignment to guide these folks through the process, get paid, and hopefully not have my customers end up in counseling as a result of the work. Clear, concise verbal, graphic, and written communication, all peppered with lots of questions, is the way to accomplish this. I live by the words "early and often"; they apply not only to voting, but also to informing my prospective clients about the construction process and its potential impact on their lives.

Verbal Communication

It's been my experience that while verbal communication is the fastest means of transmitting an idea and is the primary tool we construction types use, it is also the most susceptible to misunderstanding. When talking with clients, I constantly recap the ideas that have just been discussed, making them listen to how I heard them express an idea or a plan. This gives them an opportunity to correct any of my misperceptions, greatly reducing the opportunity for misunderstandings.

Graphic Communication

I'm a firm believer that a picture is worth a thousand words. By asking the architect or owner to draw a picture, I can confirm that what they want is what I thought I heard they wanted.

Even better is the full-scale mockup. There is no substitute for being able to reach out and touch a real live sample. It's far better for an owner to discover they aren't happy with a detail or an assembly in mockup rather than when it's permanently installed.

Besides getting to be a hero and communicate in living technicolor, by making mockups I get to practice on the assembly ahead of time and work out the bugs before I install it into the construction. I typically include a line item allowance in my bids to cover the cost of these mockups.

Written Communication

The written word is without a doubt the most efficient and least expensive way I communicate. It's the rare customer who doesn't understand the written word. Ideas can be more elegantly stated and have a more lasting impression.

Most importantly, written communications provide a lasting record of an agreement. Even if no other written communication is provided to inform customers about job progress, I take detailed minutes of each client meeting; these invariably help settle misunderstandings regarding discussions and agreements of the previous weeks.

Ask Lots of Questions

I take the attitude that there are no dumb questions I can ask a customer when getting ready to start construction; the only bad construction question is one that is never asked. I'm not very good at reading my clients' minds. Because they look to me as the professional, they assume that I know all of the answers. Better they find out early that I have feet of clay.

I ask all of my customers very detailed questions about what their expectations are and how they want things done. Information is power that can be used to the customer's advantage to protect them from bad decisions born of inexperience. By asking questions, I may discover that my customer has unrealistic or unsustainable expectations. The sooner I know someone's expectations are unrealistic, the sooner I can prevent the inevitable disappointment that will accompany my failure to meet these expectations.

I have found that most general contractors are good craftsmen. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about their communication skills and their ability to prepare customers for what they can or cannot expect from the construction process. Good communication will solve most of the problems that can't be solved by the talent in their hands.

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