Satisfying Customers Expectations
We’ve all been there–you meet a prospective customer for the first time, and it seems like a perfect match. You’re both excited for the job to begin (more so for it to be finished on the client’s end). Proposal and bid phase work out nicely, and you are hired! If they were all this simple, you think; but then you arrive at a job bump–and the relationship between the customer and yourself is put to the test.
Challenging Change Orders
I believe that the question is not whether most projects have change orders, but instead, how many change orders you receive on average. By changing a blot colour, our counter leading to moving electric boxes or pipes, adapting to change will be or will be the very desired skill of general contractors and project supervisors.
Receiving requests from customers is to be expected–once you finish a job, you proceed. Yet, the client works or lives in that space, so preferences are redefined with every step of the project. The problem begins with the timeline and budget debate. Moving from marble to Formica countertops, or even a downgrade in hardware will generally reduce prices, but correcting the layout or moving infrastructure already installed will always come at an extra cost.
Setting expectations is best done right at the beginning of this discussion before a re-bid has taken place. Communicate with the customer the modifications requested will need longer work or have a direct time onto made-to-order materials like finished surfaces. Then, as soon as you’ve had an opportunity to converse with your vendors and subcontractors and get updated bids, put the adjustments –original and revised–in writing for them, and it is useful to also email the file to them to receive a date stamp on that shift.
Subcontractor Availability
Most general contractors hire quality specialist subcontractors for a variety of trades, from framing to plumbing, to electric, to HVAC. Because they are commonly independent or tiny companies also, you’re probably not the sole general contractor they work for. Shifting over a few days can mean your job is currently slotted after a different client of theirs. Communicate this effect to the customer, not to frustrate or steer them from making the change, but rather to place the expectation for this stage of the job to be completed.
As we’ve said previously, it is helpful to find and employ reputable vendors and subcontractors to keep your work site running smoothly, on time and budget. If you are looking for a dependable construction fence leasing company in the Toronto area, contact TMP Fence today.
