“Everything we thought was important went out the window,” Menn says. “We learned that people are proud of their remodeling. They want their friends to see it. The moral of the story is: You need a little protection, but it’s not the driving force.”
The company began adding other elements to its Web site’s client-only area. The section, called “In Progress,” now offers design and construction contracts, drawings, and change orders. “It’s something we use to market our company,” Menn says. “Over the last eight years, about a third of clients are sold because of this.”
SITE COMMANDER Jim Scovell and John Wolfe, co-owners of Scovell Wolfe & Associates in Kansas City, Mo., are two of the latest to digitize the remodeling experience. They bought a domain name eight years ago, but, “as many small companies do, we found ourselves working continually in the company instead of on it,” Scovell says.
They recently launched a Web site with a section where clients can view their contracts, bid proposals, job-cost sheets, change orders, allowances, and invoices. They can view before, during, and after photographs. The site even features a dummy account so potential customers can get an idea of how it works.
The site is modeled after principles of online banking, where customers do everything online that they can do in person. The owners used Get Online Chicago to develop the site for about $9,000, plus a yearly retainer for hosting.
Many of the company’s clients are couples who both work or who leave for winters or summers. “We wanted to give them access to their projects from anywhere in the world,” Wolfe says.
Many people don’t keep good files on remodeling projects. “Where’s that file? Where’s that contract? I lost the invoice, could you send another?” they ask.
“The site is protection for us and offers convenience for clients,” Scovell says. “If there’s ever a dispute, we have a record. We have our entire remodeling process available at the click of a mouse.”
DESIGN SAFEGUARDS You don’t have to offer a smorgasbord of features to benefit from client-only pages. Custom Design & Construction in Los Angeles is a design/build company that does projects throughout the greater metropolitan area. It launched a password-protected site in 2003 to allow clients to review design drawings without coming to the office — and to protect its intellectual property.
The company prefers to have clients meet at their office for the first few meetings, which are crucial and involve major changes; but for smaller changes during the process, clients can access the drawings on the company’s Web site. Clients receive an initial e-mail that explains how to access the site. Subsequent e-mails from the clients about design changes are saved on the company’s server for future reference.
The company converts AutoCAD drawings into PDF files online. Clients can’t print, edit, or forward the files.
Biz-comm, in Fairview, N.C., set up the site and continues to host it.
“[The client-only site] makes the process run smoother and move along quicker,” says Samantha Bede, Custom Design & Construction’s head of design and sales. “About 90% of our clients use the site. They appreciate not having to drive through L.A. traffic to our office.”
An unexpected benefit is being able to iron out more details during the design phase. “Before, clients had to come into the office and make decisions on the spot,” Bede says. “Now, they can consider the drawings at their leisure.” That translates to fewer second thoughts and changes during construction.
Not all remodelers have been so fortunate. With a vacation-home market where most clients live more than two hours away, Tice Construction in Spooner, Wis., was an ideal candidate to do business online.
Six years ago, president and owner Craig Tice hired a Web designer to build a site and spent about $35,000. The designer went out of business before getting to the client-only portion.
“It was a grand idea,” Tice says ruefully, noting that he plans to try again.
Loring Leifer is a freelance writer in Kansas City, Mo.