Deal Breakers If you find yourself doing business with a difficult client, “look back and identify all the little background red flags that turned into screaming red flags,” says consultant Dennis DuRoff. Using those flags, you can then: 1) define who your ideal client might be, and 2) develop a list of “deal-breakers” for prospects going forward. For instance: missing more than two meetings in a row, asking for price concessions, making caustic references to other contractors, or insisting on ordering their own materials in violation of your usual terms.
Professional Discourtesy Most remodelers appreciate referrals from other contractors, but how well do you know those contractors — and how reliable are their recommendations?
“Not only am I going to check out customers, but I’m also going to check out designers” who contact Trull Building Co., says Ron Trull, Newtown Square, Pa. A designer and her client came to him “out of nowhere, and off we went on this master bathroom,” he says. The project was well under way by the time the client-designer team became “unbelievably, super-critical of everything,” starting with the marble slabs the two had selected, and continuing through the “tile we redid about three times. We just could not satisfy them,” he says.
“The designer was never even a consideration of someone to check out,” Trull says. He guesses that had he asked for the names of other contractors the designer had worked with, he would have learned enough to decline the job. Ultimately, he walked away from it, leaving $15,000 on the table.
Petit Construction’s worst-ever client was referred by a contractor acquaintance of Boyd Petit’s. “Some red flags went up in the first meeting, but I figured, ‘What could go wrong?’” Petit remembers. “He could vouch for them, he knew them.” Making matters worse, Petit agreed to some price concessions for the so-called friends of a friend, cutting his profit margins. His number-one lesson to re-learn: “Don’t ignore warning flags.”