How to Make Life Easier

Setting proper expectations

 

One of the most significant lessons I have learned being in business for myself is the importance of setting proper expectations.  This one simple action can make life a living (heck) or can significantly improve our quality of life.

 

Setting proper expectations carries into every facet of our lives, but I’d like to focus on our three biggest interfaces as painting contractors – employees, clients, and suppliers.

 

1.     Employees:  Time spent screening employees and discussing expectations will pay for itself many times over if executed properly.  If not done well, it can affect turnover, customer problems, culture, and perhaps most importantly, our time.

 

This area involves discussing working hours, dress code, conduct, absenteeism, quality expectations, payroll, culture, communication, etc.

 

I am a firm believer that many painters WANT direction.  They want an employment where they are held accountable.  They want to work hard and make money.  They want to do good work.  However, for the most part, many painters have had experiences that are quite the opposite from this scenario. 

 

Set the expectations and then back it up, and MAGIC happens. 

 

Ex. -  About ten days ago, I came very close to firing a relatively young (21 yr. old) painter because he was consistently showing up late for work.  We discussed it & I reminded him of our policy & the expectations we had discussed at the interview.  Since our discussion, he has been to work ten minutes early nearly every day.  It seems that at his last job, nobody was ever on time, including the boss. 

 

 

2.     Clients:  This one is huge!  I take between an hour and an hour & half for each estimate call.  Besides the actual estimate, which only takes about 20-25 min., the purpose is to build rapport and establish expectations. 

 

The client has certain expectations of us.  We need to determine those and find out exactly what they need.  I’m not talking about painting necessarily.  I’m talking about the service end of the job.  Scheduling and delays; not playing a radio, because they have a young child; color selection;  communication; chain of command; etc.

 

Likewise, we have certain expectations of the clients.  They need to be made clear what those are:  moving knick-knacks & wall-hangings; being home at a time for us to access the front door on an exterior job; being available at a time for a final inspection; opening & closing windows every day for several days after we leave so that they don’t stick while the paint cures; color selection; payment schedule.

 

3.     Suppliers:  Building a healthy relationship with your paint suppliers can also make life easier.  They are usually willing to bend over backwards for us if we set the proper expectations with them.

 

They have certain expectations of us.  They want us to represent them and the industry well.  They prefer to have a decent amount of time to prepare color matches.  They expect us to pay our bills on time. 

 

Likewise, we have certain expectations of them.  We expect them to provide the right answers to the questions that we have.  If they don’t know the answer, we expect them to find out.  We expect them to properly mix their paint (one thing I have my SW guys esp. do is dry-down a sample of every gallon that is mixed to check for proper tint). 

 

 

Perhaps this is not earth-shattering news to most of you.  However, I feel that it is so significant to what we do that it merits discussion.  Setting expectations often goes unspoken.  It is assumed.  From my experience, that is often where the problems come from.  We assume too much instead of getting everything out into the open.  Once guidelines and ground rules are established, they provide a framework for Making Life Easier.

 

What expectations do you set?  How can we get better at this?

 

Submitted by Ross Dessert, Certa ProPainters (Kansas City)