When you’re planning a new home renovation project, it’s a big enough job to figure out this particular project. Once you start considering the right contractor to go with, your priorities are likely to be who seems like they can do this job well for a reasonable price.
But that approach means you could be missing out on a great opportunity.
The Best Contractors Don’t Just Want Projects, They Want Client Relationships
No one could blame you for being caught up in the project you’re working on now, but if you plan to be in your home for a while, you probably have a bigger vision than this one project. After your kitchen remodel, what about that screened porch you dream about or the built-in bookshelves you envision in the family room?
Your plans don’t begin and end with this current project, and you can save yourself a lot of time and trouble down the line by finding a contractor now that you will want to work with for years to come.
The good news is, the best contractors want this kind of relationship as well. Any licensed contractor that’s committed to building a long-term business knows that chasing individual projects isn’t the most sustainable way to do that. They want to find great customers and wow them every time so they keep coming back.
This is a difference you can often spot in the earliest meetings with a contractor. Are they pushing hard to get you to hire them right off the bat, or do they take time to listen to you and help you plan the project right? Are they willing to be honest with you about costs and potential issues, even at the risk of losing the current job? Are they willing to offer you references and testimonials from customers who loved the work they did?
Contractors that take a relationship-focused approach to business don’t care about the hard sell. They won’t pressure you or provide a low ball quote to get you to sign the dotted line. Because they don’t just want to win your business once, they intend to keep earning it every time you have a home improvement need for decades to come.
4 Reasons Finding a Go-To Contractor is Beneficial
This kind of relationship approach is beneficial for the contractor both because it means more consistent business and the rewarding experience of doing good work for customers they already know and like. But it brings ample benefits to homeowners too.
1. When you have an idea for a new project, you can get the honest opinion of a professional that already knows you.
Every new construction project starts with an idea, but often you start out not knowing how feasible the project you have in mind really is. When you have a go-to contractor, you can get a quick and easy opinion from someone you trust about the general scope of the change you’re thinking about before you dive into creating a budget.
And since they’ve already worked with you, they have a general idea of your home layout, style preferences, and priorities, so they can factor that into their answer as well. A new contractor will be starting from scratch and may be eager to tell you what they think you want to hear to win the business. Your trusted go-to contractor knows better.
2. You’ll have a faster, easier time planning future projects.
A big part of the early work of a home improvement project is finding the right contractor for the job. When you already have a relationship with a contractor you know you can count on, you can skip the contractor search completely. You already know who to call, so you can get into the planning and work faster.
3. You avoid the risk of hiring someone unreliable or incompetent.
Every time you hire someone new, there’s risk. What if they stop showing up, or do shoddy work? You can minimize that risk by doing proper research to find a contractor you can trust from day one.
But the best way to know with 100% certainty that the person you hire is skilled and reliable is to hire someone you’ve already worked with. Treat your contractor search for this project as a search instead for someone who will become your go-to contractor, and you’ll save yourself future worry and risk.
4. You know who to turn to for small projects in between big ones.
All those little around-the-house maintenance projects that feel too small to call in a professional for aren’t—not if the professional cares about the relationship. A contractor that cares about the relationship beyond the check they’ll be getting for the big project you’re working on now won’t mind coming by to help you add grab bars to the bathroom or install your new washer. They’re happy to be there for the small stuff just as much as the large, because they know you need them.
Fineline Construction likes when new customers hire us to help with the big project they’ve been dreaming of. But what we really care about is when customers call us back for more work—even the small stuff. We even offer a home care program customers can sign up for that covers many of the small jobs and maintenance tasks homeowners often struggle to keep up with.
We don’t expect every new prospect we meet with to trust us that much from day one, but we strive to earn that trust from the first moment we meet, through every project we work on after. And our current customers can attest to our success at doing so. If you could use a go-to contractor that values building a relationship over winning one project, let’s meet.