Masonry Magazine November 2007 Page. 53
Do not accept responsibility without the authority to pull it off.
ity of others, and ask how the owner wanted to handle it? Of course not, because he was also afraid of the owner. If he had written an RFI, then maybe you and I wouldn't be having this "talk" right now.
In this case, all the contractor did was whine and complain, and then threaten to walk off the job. Not cool, possibly illegal, and just plain stupid, as all of you regular readers and Team members know.
There are better ways to tackle problems like these, and education plays a big
COACH GARY SAYS:
A smart contractor is an educated contractor.
part. Reading trade magazines like Masonry will keep you plugged into the latest advances in your field, as well as keeping your projects well managed. Hey, here's an idea: Maybe we should all send emails to every one of these TV PMs and contractors, and tell them to go to the FullContactBlog Web site, where they can read free articles. And, they can check the archives of the online version of Masonry, where almost 30 columns are housed for Full Contact Project Management.
Just so that you know, NASCAR did finally come back on the channel, with the top two finishers of the race being cars sponsored by home improvement stores. During the race, something else crazy happened. One of the commercials actually showed a guy another TV PM with a bullhorn shouting to a bunch of construction workers, "Hurry up people! We only have seven days to completely demolish and rebuild this house!"
COACH GARY'S CORNER:
Ready to protect your own profits, rather than just donate them to the job like you've always been doing? Need to find out what an RFI is? What is the best way to handle RFIs? Could you use some coaching? Go to the new Web site at www.FullContact Blog.com and participate there with Coach. Subscribe and get free audio updates and other info that will help your projects. See what's new in the world of project management. Click on over to the archives, and use the helps available to you there. Also, you can get Coach Gary's book "Get Paid for a Change!"
It boggles the mind, but will a column about the makeover follow this one about the flipper? Just a few years ago, hardly anyone knew what a construction project manager was. Now, everyone wants to be one. Reality? Yikes!
Gary Micheloni is a working project manager, speaker, author and consultant. Got a question? Go to the Blog and ask him.
Copyright 2007 Gary Micheloni
Companies Are Built on Relationships
# MASONRY NEWS CONTRACTOR TIP
Several months ago, I wrote that if you think everyone is pulling for you to survive in business, you'd better think again. I also stated that, "If you're not pissing someone off, you are probably not getting anything done." (I want to apologize for not writing about this subject last month for I forgot and wrote about a different subject. I thought that one was great, too. Didn't you?) Well, contrary to two months ago, this tip is about making sure you don't piss off the wrong people: your customers.
Why is it so important to build our company with relationships? It's simple: Customers choose to deal with people they like. Have you ever seen a contractor who has a wonderful attitude, is easy to deal with and is liked by all the general contractors and owners, who doesn't stay busy? I haven't. I consult with masonry contractors and owners from all over the country almost on a daily basis. Time after time, I find that the ones who are the most positive and have the best attitudes are always the busiest. These people are fun to talk to. They don't take their jobs or lives too seriously and are always willing to help others, even their competitors, in most cases.
Yes, you have to have good safety programs and do top-quality work at a high rate of production to succeed. But, if the general contractor, owner or any of his managers don't like you personally, you still won't get the job in most cases. In fact, they may not even call you for a bid because of the extra stress they'll have to endure while dealing with you during the bidding process.
What about the contractor who always pays his bills, but is hard to deal with? This guy cusses you out every time you make a slight mistake, even if the situation was out of your control. Arguing with him and cussing back is certainly not the answer. In fact, that's a losing proposition. I tell my managers and foremen to bite their tongues and give the customer what he wants without complaining. My reasoning has always been that the cost is usually only an extra couple of hundred dollars to give him what he wants with a smile, and we will get our money back later. Then, when we do get it back, we get thousands without the difficult customer even realizing it. We aren't stealing from him, but we are gaining, due to the fact that not many (if any) other subs will work for this guy due to the stress he causes them while doing his work. Therefore, with hardly anyone else bidding his jobs, we can get thousands more on the next bid we give him. The theory is, "pay me now or pay me later." We know we can get much more if we make him pay us later while letting him take pleasure in chewing our asses temporarily.
People always take the path of least resistance. If you are hard to deal with, you are only making their jobs (paths) harder. So, if you want to stay busy, don't be a pain in the ass for your customer to deal with by complaining every time he wants a little something extra done, or by just plain complaining about little meaningless things every time you pick up the phone to talk to him. Instead, give him service with a smile. I can assure you that your customers will pay you much more now for the pleasure they had dealing with you and your people in the past.
Damian Lang is a mason contractor in Southeast Ohio who has four companies that do combined sales of $18 million. He is also the author of the book "Rewarding and Challenging Employees for Profits in Masonry." To order a copy of his book or to attend one of his seminars held specifically for mason contractors, call Kemi Huck at Lang Masonry, 800-417-9272