By Bert Zethof

Have you ever hired a trades contractor whose casual approach to doing business led to misunderstandings and even arguments? This happened to a relative of mine recently when he hired an independent contractor to paint his house.

The first sign of trouble was the sketchiness of the description of work to be done without a clear understanding of the specifics by both parties. An extreme example of this is the contractor who writes his proposed price on the back of his business card. This left the work open to interpretation and constant debate over what was or was not included in the project.

The contractor exacerbated the problem by expressing a strong self–interest. He began every conversation with the point that the particular task in question was not included in the quote and he wouldn’t make any money if he did this task. Before long and not surprisingly, the parties became angry and were constantly arguing.

There are four important steps for a contractor to take that will help to prevent these problems:

• Prepare and agree on a detailed description of the work to be done
• Manage the customer’s expectations about the work
• Keep lines of communications open, always acknowledging the customer’s needs
• Do the little extras that don’t cost much but mean a lot to the customer (e.g. haul away scrap wood and empty paint cans)

The contractor who effectively implements these steps is more likely to have satisfied customers who will gladly refer more business.