By Marjie O'Connor
If all projects were the same, remodelers’ lives would be much easier. The rules that are so effective in settings such as manufacturing could be applied easily to increase efficiency and reduce costs in remodeling. Continuous quality improvement, elimination of redundancies and process consistency have resulted in wider profit margins in plants around the world, so why not in remodeling?
The very obvious answer: No two darn projects are alike! We're not talking about cars rolling off an assembly line here. We're dealing with houses that someone else built, homeowners who can get pretty emotional, subcontractors who sometimes seem to be on a different space/time continuum than the rest of the world, and suppliers who appear to be a bit vague about why delivery schedules are important. What's a remodeler to do?
Plenty, according to Bruce Case of Case Design/Remodeling in Annapolis, Md. Even though he grew up in the business, Bruce learned the hard way that sometimes you have to take the bull by the horns To help your clients get a door that will last, provide security and give them the curb appeal they're looking for, you should be able to explain to them the characteristics of the various materials and types of door construction—and how tough that is when the bull won't stand still.
"I didn't control the variables going into a project," Bruce told an audience at the 2004 Remodeling Conference in Chicago. "So the variables ended up controlling me."
His advice: Find a way to control 85% of the variables. But first you have to identify them. After some hard analysis of his own business, Bruce did just that. He lists them as the following:
- Clients
- Personnel
- Materials
- Subcontractors
- Scheduling
- The remodeler himself.
This article is the first of a series dealing with each of these variables, starting with perhaps the most volatile of all: the clients.
Controlling the client
It is critical for remodelers to know what kind of clients they want. Everyone in the industry can remember a time when they accepted projects against their own better judgment just because it was a large, interesting job—and eventually regretted that decision. Bruce recommends identifying the kind of projects and clients that have been the most profitable for your company and sticking to those same types as much as possible.
Setting client expectations is also essential. Remodelers have some special challenges here, since they are often trying to make an addition seem as if it has always been part of the house, no matter how old the house is. Bruce recommends going through the vocabulary used in sales presentations and contract to make sure the verbiage doesn't pin the remodeler down to very specific standards. Some subtle changes can make a big difference. For example, "Use the word 'blend' instead of 'match,'" he advises.
With projects involving special-order or client-supplied materials, Bruce uses a worksheet called the Sub & Material Coordination Form. The salesperson fills it out and gives a copy to the client. The columns on the form spell out all the pertinent information, so the client can see exactly who is responsible for what. The goal is to head off any misunderstandings once the project is underway.
Another practice Bruce has established is a pre-construction walk-through with the client, the salesperson and the lead carpenter or project manager, each with a copy of the client's checklist in hand. Doing this walk-through a week or two before the project begins lets the salesperson go over what the client's objectives are and clarify any confusion. Just as important, it gives the client a chance to meet the person who will be running the project and discuss it with him.
"The salesperson can do most of the talking during the first half of the walk-through, but the project manager should take over after that," Bruce says. "That 30 minutes or hour spent on establishing a good relationship between the client and the project manager is well worth it."
Bruce also recommends the creation of an informal flow chart — a calendar of what will happen when: The date demolition will begin and end, when the plumbing and electrical rough-ins will start, when the drywall will be finished, etc. The chart gives the client an idea of all the steps involved and why everything can't be done sooner. It can also reveal any inconsistencies between what the salesperson and the project manager believe to be realistic.
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