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Wouldn’t It Be Nice to Know Everything About Everything?

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But Since This is Impossible, I Recommend Getting the Help of a Professional

You’ve probably met people that think they know everything about everything. And there is no convincing them otherwise.

There certainly are people who know more than I do, but it’s not about knowing everything or who knows the most.

It’s about knowing what you know and using that knowledge to help others.

Last week I wrote about construction questions and answers. I used a window project as an example. You might remember that the customer had received a quote for more than $36,000 to replace thirteen windows.

After I looked at the project it was clear that only one needed replaced. I told you that I would let you know what I came up with. I gave them a proposal to replace one window and repair some of the wood finish on the rest.

My price for this was $4,771.71. That’s 86% less than the original price.

It’s less about the price and more about the work that “actually” needed to be done.

The real issue with this project like many others is in finding what the customer needs and not trying to sell them as much as you can. The focus on selling rather than service is prevalent.

This level of service requires asking questions and listening to the answers. Finding out what it is that the customer wants and needs.

This is what professionals do. Professionals help you find the solution to YOUR problem, not give you a one size fits all answer.

Because we don’t know everything about everything, means we need to find someone that knows something about something.

I’m sure I could find information about how to do brain surgery online…but if I needed brain surgery…I would find someone that has experience and specializes in that. I haven’t seen any DIY brain surgery shows yet.

Granted, if you have a construction project go bad it’s not the same as brain surgery.

My point is this. When doing a construction project, you may not even know what you don’t know. This is where the guidance of a professional comes in. This is not to say that every building contractor is a competent, skilled professional.

I’ve heard too many people complain about their bad construction experience. Every time it came down to them making decisions without due diligence.

Almost always it comes down to being sold rather than serviced.

To minimize the bad construction experience you need to be clear on what’s most important. Is it price or quality? Is it having it done fast or waiting for the skilled professional?

Most of our construction projects come from references and recommendations. The ones that don’t start with building a relationship, not selling.

If you or someone you know is considering a construction project, I would recommend spending the time and energy in finding the right professional and asking the right questions.

An “Out of the Box” Solution to Get Your Construction Projects Done

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Finding the Right Contractor for the Project Can Be a Problem

This is a construction industry issue…and it shouldn’t be.

We’ve all heard horror stories where someone either couldn’t find a contractor or hired one that later they wished they hadn’t.

I’m currently discussing this with someone in the middle of one of these situations.

After recently buying a home, they found a soft spot in the floor next to an exterior wall. With some further investigation they discovered some moisture damage that includes subfloor, floor joist and exterior wall problems. Some of the issues are structural.

The first hurdle was, having recently moved to a new location, they didn’t know anyone. They began looking for contractors, finally finding a few. After contacting them, only a couple came to look at the project. Of those who did, one never followed back up and the other said they wouldn’t do the structural work.

They had reservations about these contractors. It didn’t help that they had previously had issues with a painting contractor on a different house.

If this water damage is not fixed it’s going to lead to more significant problems in the future. Finding himself in this spot, the homeowner began to consider doing the work himself. He has done some small construction projects previously, but it didn’t take him long to realize this one was more than he could do.

Not knowing what else to do he contacted me.

Theses homeowners used to live closer and knew me through a family member. The first question was, would I come the 2+ hours to do the work?

We’ve done work further away than this before, but they were bigger projects. 

My biggest concern was finding qualified sub-contractors willing to go that far for a project of this size. It will be harder with everyone currently being so busy here close to home.

I felt his pain and really wanted to help him!

It’s a problem to find qualified construction contractors, especially in sparsely populated areas. There are too many people who call themselves contractors, but really are just a guy with a hammer.

Having run into this problem numerous times throughout my career, I have given a lot of thought to possible solutions to this problem.

One of the options that continually came up in these situations is long distance construction consulting.

What exactly would this long-distance construction consulting consist of?

This is the real question, isn’t it?

The customer’s issues come down a lack of construction experience and include things like –

  • Questions to ask the contractors
  • Communication to expect from contractors
  • Construction processes, standards and codes

What if there was a way for construction customers to have an experienced contractor in their corner? Someone to explain the process and support them through the process.

I’m working on this as an option for this customer. Providing the support and insight needed to get their repairs done. Giving them the comfort of a professional they trust that has their back through this process.

This service would include –

  • Me going to the job site and evaluating the project
  • Preparing a scope of work that could then be presented to less experienced contractors, giving them the expectations for the work to be performed.
  • Preparing a budget for the customer so they would have a price to compare to prices from contractors
  • Me reviewing pictures and reports from the customer as the onsite manager

This would be similar to what a general contractor would provide with the exception of actual construction work.

Now I’m going to get to work on figuring out what this service will cost them and preparing a proposal for it.

I will let you know how this construction customer consulting goes as we move forward.

Giving Work Away for Free Doesn’t Sound Like a Very Good Plan

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The Benefit to Me is More Than Dollars and Cents

There’s a learning curve that goes with expanding my business from construction to include coaching and consulting.

After all, a coaching/consulting business isn’t the same as a construction business…or is it?

Several years ago, it occurred to me that most construction companies that I worked with knew how to build a building…but not a business. This became apparent when they would continually ask me how I did this or where I learned that. Or worse case when a construction company and customer ended up in court because something hadn’t gone as expected.

Then it happened, I got a wakeup call and realized that I needed to share this knowledge and experience with other construction companies and customers.

The problem is I’ve never been very good at teaching. It was always easier for me to just do it myself. Even though I didn’t realize it at the time, this is a pretty selfish attitude.

So, if I’m not naturally a teacher, how do I get these systems into the hands of the people who need them?

This is when I developed a downloadable proposal system, available online. It was complete with instructions for how to use it, templates, examples and a database. And what happened next…crickets.

What’s the deal? There’s definitely a need for better business systems in the construction industry. So, why aren’t people buying this inexpensive proposal system and taking control of their businesses?

Recently I have been in communication with a construction company that has shown interest in the proposal system. We’ve met a few times and discussed the system. I even did an example proposal of a project they are getting ready to start (at no cost) to compare to their system.

During our most recent meeting we discussed how my system could work for them. He asked some questions about some concerns he had.

If my system works so well for me, why wouldn’t it work the same for every other construction company out there?

That’s when I had an aha moment. It’s because they aren’t me.

So, I need to rethink this whole thing. Rather than me focusing on selling my system and teaching it others, I need to find out what they need and build them a system that works for them specifically.

I need to approach this more like doing a construction project. I wouldn’t build the same house for every customer. They’re all different. They have different needs and wants. Once I figure out what those are, I can build them the project of their dreams.

This is how I need to approach the coaching and consulting for construction companies. I need to find out what they need and build it for them.

This new thinking is going to require me to do some work in the beginning at no charge so that I can learn how to do this. Giving away work doesn’t sound like a very good plan…

But I think the long-term benefits to both me and them will be worth it in the end.

As a Construction Company It’s Hard to Make a Profit

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We Work Too Hard in the Construction Industry to be Giving Away Money

Just like there’s a proper way to do construction projects…the same is true for proposals.

You don’t shingle the roof before you pour the foundation or start hanging sheetrock on a wall that hasn’t been framed.

There’s a proper way to construct a building. Doing proposals is the same. Having a system for doing proposals makes this possible.

Pricing of any construction project uses the same information to arrive at a dollar amount…material and time needed to do the work. Where problems arise is in overlooking or forgetting something, guessing at how long it will take, or unclear communication.

The key to unlocking the profit vault is having a system that prevents overlooking, guessing and poor communication.

Proposals should be done, so that you –

  • Avoid miscommunication
  • Have happy satisfied customers
  • Have budgets for customers
  • Provide scope of work to production crews
  • Have budgets for production crews
  • Take responsibly as the professional
  • Have a more profitable business

This is accomplished through five simple steps. These five steps are –

1st – Gathering information – Gathering the right information correctly and effectively is critical to preparing an accurate and thorough proposal. The initial gathering should include:

  • Measurements and dimensions, existing and new
  • Building materials, existing and new
  • Pictures of pertinent areas and existing construction
  • Customer’s design ideas and finishes.

The important thing in this step is to gather any and all information needed to prepare an accurate proposal. Using the system’s Bid Sheet minimizes the chance of overlooking things because the different areas of a construction project are already listed out.

2nd – Preparing a scope of work – This is the process of taking the information that was gathered and describing each specific task in terminology that both the customer and the contractor understand. It needs to include enough specifics to be thorough without being too technical. This written description will be transferred to the Proposal and serve as a written description of work to be performed and materials to be provided.

3rd – Pricing the project – This process is the copying and pasting of pertinent information from the Data Base to the appropriate cells of a blank Worksheet.

4th – Quantities – Fill in the quantities of the work on each line item included in the project. This may be lineal feet, square feet, square yards, cubic feet, cubic yards, numbers of pieces, etc. Now you have prices for each of the different tasks to be performed.

5th – Preparing the proposal – Now you have everything needed to complete the Proposal. Take the descriptions from the Bid Sheet and the prices from the Worksheet and put them together on the Proposal. After filling out some job specific details the proposal is ready for the customer.

Proposals done well, above everything else, is the one thing that will contribute to you having a profitable business!

The Blueprint for Building a Better Proposal system provides clear and accurate proposals…every time.

You can get the Blueprint for Building a Better Proposal and have proposal system that will do all this and more. This system is currently at a reduced Holiday price of $497 plus it currently includes some bonus templates.

If you would like to learn more about how proposal mistakes cost construction companies a fortune, check out this free download.  

How to Build a Successful Construction Business Without a Master’s Degree

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Building a Successful Business Doesn’t Have to be Slow and Painful

The majority of small and medium sized construction companies have the construction part figured out but get overwhelmed by the “business” side of things. Most of the people working at these companies learned a trade…not how to run a business.

Like me, most started doing business full of enthusiasm, having no clue what could go wrong. I had no clear plan or system for running a business.

Trying to balance construction projects and running the business can be overwhelming.

I had no idea how to do a proposal, a production budget, or accurately invoice a customer for progress payments. No one told me I should set money aside for things like taxes, tools, or emergencies.

One day I looked up and wondered how I got here. I liked building things…not necessarily running a business. As I built my business, I learned these things, but it was a slow and painful process.

The truth of the matter is…building a business doesn’t have to be slow and painful if you know how.

Think about it, a traditional trade school education will cost between $7,000 and $40,000. It’s been my experience that a real-world, hands-on education is worth even more. Often classroom education doesn’t translate well to the construction site.

Early on in my construction career, I was working for a local house framer. On a couple of different occasions, he hired some young men from the community college’s construction program, for summer help. After a few times of doing this, he stopped.

He said, “It took longer to unteach and reteach than it did to start from scratch.”

Looking back, I now realize how valuable that hands on education was. I just wish I’d had someone teach me the business part.

Instead, I got my business degree from HKU, also known as Hark Knocks University. And let me tell you, the tuition is high and it takes a long time to graduate. What’s an education like that worth?

Wouldn’t be great if you could get 40 years of experience without having to wait 40 years to use it?

You can!

This is what we’re doing a Solution Building. We are taking those 40 years of hands on, trial and error education and making it available to other contractors through programs, trainings and downloadable tools.

One of these tools is the Blueprint for Building a Better Proposal system.

This proposal system allows for the preparation of proposals that communicate clearly and accurately with customers, while allowing for increased profitability. It will give construction companies years of advantage over the competition for a lot less than the cost of a traditional education.

Currently this proposal system is available at a Holiday price of $497 plus some additional bonus templates through the end of the year.

What’s the Most Powerful Tool in the Construction Contractor’s Toolbox?

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This Tool Can Make You More Money with Less Chance of Cutting a Finger Off

The past couple of weeks I’ve written about how much we love our power tools and how tools make building easier.

The sense of control that comes from pulling the trigger on a power tool is amazing. We feel like we are in control of our destiny. There’s no task too big. We can conquer the world.

There’s no doubt that power tools make construction projects go faster and easier than using hand tools. (And there are a lot of cool new tools that we’d like in our toolbox.)

Of all the tools out there, which is the most powerful?

This is a question that could be debated forever.

I would argue that the most powerful tool isn’t a tool in the normal sense of the word.

If the purpose of power tools is to increase control and be more productive, then having a power tool that would 10x these things would be worth 10 times what you paid for the most expensive tool you have.

Increasing your profit margin just 10% on a $5000 project and the tool has paid for itself.

What kind of tool could have this kind of return on investment?

The tool that I’m talking about is affordable and won’t wear out like other tools.

Most construction companies are great at “constructing” but are overwhelmed by the business side of things. This is not where their heart is.

You don’t need a master’s degree in business to be successful if you have the right tools.

A tool for doing clear and accurate construction proposals is this kind of tool.

Without a tool for doing proposals, a lot of contractors make mistakes that cost them a fortune. Unexpected costs, changes to projects after they’re started and poor communication are a lot more expensive than the cost of the tool.

Those mistakes include:

  • Lack of clarity with both the customer and the production crews
  • No budgets for customers and production crews
  • Losing money
  • Not doing accurate proposals due to a lack of time
  • Guessing at pricing of projects

Learn more about those mistakes and how to avoid them with this free download.

Download Here

Wouldn’t it be nice to have a tool that would –

  • Increase you profit
  • Communicate clearly with both the customer and the production crews
  • Allow you to consistently and accurately price construction projects
  • Allow you to customize it to fit your company’s specific needs
  • Give you the freedom to delegate the paperwork so that you could focus on construction

The Blueprint for Building a Better Proposal will do all of this and more. I use this proposal system on every construction project I bid.

Just like power tools make construction projects easier…there’s a “power tool” that will make doing construction proposals easier, allowing you to reduce stress, be more profitable and build a successful business.

You’re not in business to lose money, so get this tool.

Get Your Power Tool Here

We’re currently running a special Holiday offer for our Blueprint for Building a Better Proposal system. The reduced Holiday price is $497, including some additional bonus templates.

In addition to this special offer, we’re having a drawing for building contractors.

One lucky winner will receive a DeWalt cordless tool combo kit valued at more than $700.

Your opportunity to win starts now and ends at midnight 12/3/21.

Enter here
for your chance to win

Can You Imagine What It Would be Like to Build a House Without Power Tools?

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So, why is it That Most Construction Contractors Will Do Proposals Like That?

Think about building a house by sawing every board and sheet of plywood with a handsaw. Mixing the concrete all by hand. And driving every nail with a hammer.

This sounds like a long drawn out, difficult method for building.

This is how most construction contractors do proposals.

The same way they’ve been done for 100 years. It’s like building with hand tools but it doesn’t have to be like this.

There’s a power tool for doing proposals.

When doing proposals, the old “hand tool” way the contractor will do them the same way grandpa would have.

If they are a particular person, they will determine the size and quantities of the material needed. This will include –

  • The cubic yards of dirt that needs moved
  • Cubic yards of concrete
  • Boards needed for framing of floor, walls, roof
  • Siding, exterior trim, exterior paint
  • Shingles, roofing underlayment, flashings
  • Insulation for floor, walls, attic
  • Doors and windows
  • Base, casing, stairways, misc. trim
  • Cabinetry, countertops, closets
  • Interior paint, stain, clear finish, wallpaper
  • Carpet, vinyl, tile, etc.
  • Plumbing pipe, fixtures
  • Heater, AC condenser, ductwork, registers
  • Electrical wiring, fixtures, receptacles, switches, breaker panels
  • Porches, decks, railings

Once these things have been figured and counted, they will get prices for each of them to determine the cost. Then they will guess at how long it will take to do the work and put a price to it.

Less detailed contractors just guess at the whole thing.

Building a house takes a lot of pieces. The same number of pieces…regardless of how you figure the price.

Wouldn’t it make more sense to have a power tool that would allow you to consistently determine the price whether you are a detailed person or not?

The Blueprint for Building a Better Proposal is a “power tool” for doing proposals.

This power tool provides:

  • A scope of work that communicates clearly with customers and production crews
  • A budget providing production crews with a clear understanding of time allowed and material costs
  • A system that allows for delegating portions or the complete proposal process

To get this “power tool” in more contractor’s business toolboxes, we’re offering a Holiday Special beginning Black Friday through the end of the year. This special includes a reduced price for the proposal system plus free bonus templates.

In addition to the reduced price for proposal system there’s going to be a contractor drawing for a…

DeWalt cordless tool kit

Check next week’s post (11/28/21) for details of how to get entered in the power tool drawing.

If you or someone you know would like to learn more about how this power tool can help avoid the 7 common bid mistakes contractors make that cost them a fortune.

Click here.

Things Will Go Much Smoother When the Contractor Knows How to Speak Customer

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The Importance of Learning a Foreign Language When Doing a Construction Project

It’s difficult to understand someone speaking a language you don’t know or understand. Imagine being in a country that speaks a different language and trying to explain something.

This is the same thing that happens with construction customers and contractors.

The contractor says something that the customer doesn’t understand. The customer doesn’t want to appear like they don’t understand so they just nod and go on. This is contractor language…

Most customers don’t speak contractor.

This disconnect can lead to misunderstandings. Misunderstandings can lead to hurt feelings and frustration. The hurt feelings lead to disagreements and impasses.

This is the biggest problem in the construction industry.

I’ve written about the importance of good communication multiple times. On more than one occasion I’ve been asked by customers to help them understand “contractor” they found themselves at an impasse with their contractor.

Every contractor, at some time, has had an unhappy customer. This is almost always due to poor communication and/or a lack of understanding. It may have been some small misunderstanding or might have been major enough to result in being fired or going to court.

Several years ago, a partner and I were meeting with a customer early in the process of building a new home. The customer pointed out that the distance from the electric meter to the house was more than the 50’ allowance, as per the written proposal.

He asked if this was a problem. My partner told him no, it wasn’t a problem. Guess what…

It was a problem.

The problem didn’t surface until later when the customer was billed for the additional 100’. After some research, the communication breakdown was uncovered.

The customer asked, “if it was a problem”. What he really was asking was…”is it going to cost more?”.  

My partner’s response in reality was, “it’s not a problem to dig the additional 100’, but it will cost you more”. This isn’t what was said.

Neither intended nor expected this to be a problem. It was a simple matter of misunderstanding…

A contractor not speaking customer and a customer not speaking contractor.

That was a small thing that was clarified and resolved.

Sometimes they turn into big legal battles than can result in catastrophic outcomes.

Once again, I’ve been called in as a translator. This time it’s by a person having a construction project done by a contractor who doesn’t speak “customer”. This situation is going to be expensive for all parties and involves attorneys.

Situations like this break my heart. I understand why they happen…but they don’t need to. As the professionals in these situations the communication responsibility is the contractors.

Contractors need to learn to speak customer.

This is the reason I developed my proposal system. It’s a way for contractors to speak customer.

If you know someone in the construction industry that would benefit from learning to speak “customer” share this link to the Blueprint for Building a Better Proposal with them.

What is Your Motivation for Being in the Construction Business?

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Having the Wrong Motivations Gives the Rest of Us a Bad Name

I’ve written before about situations where I’ve been involved in resolving issues between contractors and customers where they’ve gotten crossways with each other.

How poor communication leaves both sides with unrealistic expectations and sometimes ends in legal battles.

Once again, I’ve been asked by a construction customer to help them with a construction disagreement. They just want to get their home and their life back.

They’re in the middle of a dispute with a construction company that has been dragging on for more than a year. Their home has been left unfinished, damaged from rain leaking in, poor quality work, etc.

Why is it that they find themselves on opposite sides of this battle?

I’ve always advocated that poor communication between contractor and customer is the biggest problem. However, as I’ve been working on the current situation, I think there might be another deeper level to this issue.

Communication is certainly a part of it, but maybe communication would be better if the underlying motivations of both parties were considered. A skilled communicator can convince you that what their saying is true, even if it isn’t.

I think this is the underlying problem. It’s a lack of trust. None of us want to be lied to. Last week I wrote about competition vs. cooperation and how we can have both and everybody wins. It comes down to who we are competing against and who we are cooperating with.

Our motivation is directly connected to our why.

Contractor – Why am I in the construction business? Is it to help the customer achieve their dream construction project or to just make a lot of money? Don’t get me wrong. To stay in business, you have to make a profit, but if that is more important to you than serving your customer, it leads to situations like the one I’m currently working on.

Customer – Why do I want to do this project? Is it to improve the value, make it more functional, reduce maintenance, or to impress the neighbors? It’s your project and any of these motivations is fine.

The important thing is that both parties involved know the motivations.

Sometimes the motivations are hidden and not discovered until problems begin. Sometimes motivations aren’t clear, even to oneself. Knowing what the motivations are and being true to those motivations is critical to minimizing these kinds of problems.

Discovering motivations requires asking questions.

It frustrates he heck out of me that these kinds of situations happen…and they don’t have to.

We need to raise the bar of construction industry standards.

The Why Question is the Most Important One That Gets Asked the Least

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WHY is That… and What Do We Do About it?

As I’m working on the workshop for Building a Better Proposal system, I was contemplating WHY questions.

Why –

  • Should construction contractors do proposals?
  • Don’t they?
  • Does a customer want to do a construction project?
  • Do we do the same things over and over expecting different results?
  • Do people in horror movies repeat the same bad decisions?

Small children constantly ask the why question, over and over and over…? You know what I mean. This is how they learn. Why do we outgrow this sense of curiosity and stop asking the WHY questions?

The answer to all questions starts with WHY.

  • Why should construction contractors do proposals?

This question is the one that baffles me as much as any. How can contractors expect customers or production crews to know what work is going to be done and what it’s going to cost without some clear communication? I don’t think you would buy a truck without knowing what you were getting. I know I would be disappointed if I ordered a new $70,000 truck and when I got it, it was a 1999 ½ ton pickup missing a wheel and the driver’s door.

  • Why don’t contractors do proposals?

The most common answer to this question is that they simply don’t know how. This is something that just isn’t taught. Most contractors start out doing construction, not paperwork. They figure out some guesstimation process and then wonder why customers are upset when they get a bill that is higher than they expected for less work.

  • Why does this customer want to do this construction project?

This should be the primary question that a contractor gets the answer to. It is more important than what. The “what” answer has a “why” answer behind it. The why question doesn’t have to be asked directly, but regardless, needs to be answered. The why is the foundation for the customer’s dream. A foundation is critical to building construction projects and dreams.

  • Why do we do the same things over and over expecting different results?

We all do this to some degree. Why? Why do we continue to repeat things thinking it will be different this time? We shouldn’t do things just because… “we’ve always done it this way”. The more we walk back and forth in a rut the deeper it gets and the harder it is to get out. I heard it said once that a rut is just a grave with both ends kicked out. Stop walking and determine if this what you want and if it’s the best plan. If not do something different.

  • Why do people in horror movies repeat the same bad decisions?

This question is a fun example of the previous one. If you’ve ever watched any horror movie you’ve seen this. The teenagers are in a dark scary place and instead of getting out they continue to hide in a basement, an attic, a cemetery, etc. The GIECO “horror movie” commercial is a great example of this.

It’s up to us to decide, are we going to do something different or stay in the rut?

These are just a few questions about construction proposals and…horror movies. 😊 We should be asking the WHY question about everything. This is the most important question there is.

We have the choice. We can just keep doing things the same way…or we can stop and ask why. Why are we doing this? Whatever “this” is. Until we answer the why question all other questions are harder to answer.

Be like a child and ask, why…why…why…why… and never stop.