Do You Want To Work For a Quality Contractor?

Rapid response and good communication is a sure way to keep the business of building owners who value the contribution a quality contractor brings to the table.

By Greg Hayne

No matter what region you are from, when bidding you notice your competing bidders. Certain names that, if you see them on the list, make you cringe.  You know instantly that you now have little chance of getting the work.  They bid low because these are the contractors that may not be quality oriented, don’t really do “safety,” pay their employees cash under the table and as a result don’t produce a quality roof.

Now think about this, if you don’t want to compete against those types of contractors, who do you want to work for?  You want to work for building owners that recognize there is a difference between what you give them and what they get from those other guys and more importantly, they value the difference.   These owners have a name and it is descriptive:  Knowledgeable. They are good at what they do, just like you are. They value the contribution a quality contractor can make and they don’t want bottom feeders on the bidders list any more than you do.

One thing about knowledgeable building owner/managers that you need to be aware of is that these managers are, well, knowledgeable.  Like you, they know what they are doing and like you they have certain expectations for how those that work with them will perform.  Fortunately their expectations are the same as yours!

Let’s look at one example. If a supplier took three or four days to return your call, if it at all, would that harm the relationship you have with them?  Of course it would.  You want them to return your call on the same day you called them or at least within the next 24 hours.  The same expectation is true for people hiring roofing contractors. They want same day or at least a 24-hour response from their roofing contractors when they call for assistance.  A GC calls you, leaves you a voicemail, invites you to bid a job, due fairly soon.  He describes the job.  It is right in your wheelhouse.  You are good at it, competitive, like doing it.  When are you going to call him back?  Are you going to wait three or four days?  No!  You’re going to call him back right away.

No matter the excuse, the number one reason a roofing contractor’s service department gets replaced, in my experience, is because of poor communication viewed as a delay in returning calls. The same can be said about responding to emails. Respond within 24 hours if not immediately.

Now here is the key - if you want others to be better about returning your phone calls and responding to your emails, you need to set the example.

We can help! The Hayne Coaching Group has an innovative and proven training, implementation and support program called “Creating Great Service” in which we teach the best practices of the best service contractors in the country and then help our client roofers implement those best practices into their organization.  Click here for more on Creating Great Service.   We also offer facilitated peer groups for non-competing roofing contractors, including one with a focus on developing and growing commercial service departments.  Click here for more on our facilitated peer groups.

About Hayne Coaching Group Hayne Coaching Group helps roofing contractors prosper by discovering and implementing smarter, better ways to work.  We provide executive coaching for key leaders in a company and organized and facilitated industry peer groups, so that companies may benefit from their group’s collective experience, buying power, accountability and so much more. For more information, visit www.haynecoachinggroup.com.