How to Get the Right Answers During the First Consultation
When you start to bid on jobs for clients, you may realize immediately that communication is key. If you ask questions in the right way, you will get better answers. Here are a few tips to help your clients communicate what they expect from the project.
Start With Goals for the Project
As you start talking to customers, you will notice that many of them don’t really have a solid grasp on what they want from the remodeling or new construction. On the other extreme, they may have chosen a significant number of details, but might not be able to explain their intent for those small aspects of the project. Start by asking your prospective clients broad, open-ended questions about the goals they’d like to achieve once construction is complete. Ask more specific questions to get information about their answers, as needed.
Identify Problems to Solve
What property owners want from the project and the problems they face with the existing arrangement may not be a perfect overlap. Without addressing what the customer doesn’t like about their home or office space, you might start planning a renovation that will be awesome and functional, but not in the way the client wants to use it. If you can, schedule the consultation on-site. Have your clients walk through the space as they normally use it, and help them to identify current issues. Some people are afraid to be specific about what they need to change, out of fear of seeming strange or too picky. By asking them to mime regular activities, you might discover more concerns than they would think to present to you.
Ask About Budget Expectations
As a contractor courting clients, you will often encounter two types of people: those who have no idea what such a project costs, and those who are wary of sharing their budget with you. Unless your prospective client is independently wealthy, they probably have some idea in mind of what they plan to spend. Your goal is to avoid investing too much of anyone’s time creating a project that the customer can’t afford or won’t pay for. If a basic question, “How much are you hoping to spend on this project?” yields vague results, you can try a different tactic. Provide a ballpark estimate of the cost of similar projects you have done, and see how the client reacts. If someone balks at your estimate, ask them to provide a counter. In if you want, you can assure them that you can work through their budget, within reason, and show them examples that are closest to their expectations.
Take Care in Determining Details
When you present a lot of ideas to a potential customer, you should know that there’s a limit to what people can absorb without getting overwhelmed. Your worst nightmare is talking beyond a person’s ability to listen, to the point where they are blindly agreeing with you simply to end the conversation more quickly. The trouble with this dynamic is that it leads to dissatisfied customers, abrupt changes to the details, and project delays as a result. Restrict your discussion of individual topics to no more than 10-15 minutes at a time. Offer breaks as needed, at least five minutes for every hour. Provide information in writing if you can, and give people time to talk amongst themselves before making a choice. This way, you know that they have made a reasoned decision they are more likely to uphold during construction.
Bring Visual Aids
About two-thirds of the general population learns visually, so having the ability to show as well as describe, will help you reach your audience more fully. Over time, you will accumulate completed projects that you can refer to for interested clients. Make it as visual as possible, with plenty of color and views from different angles. This will help people to envision your offer, and make more recommendations about specifics.
The beginning of a successful career as a contractor starts by providing the right kind of product for your clients. To do that, you must know what they want. For more information about how CSLS can prepare you for work in the construction industry, contact us today!
