Most people enter the construction industry because of their love of working with their hands and the satisfaction that you receive from creation. To most people construction is just about the end result and largely for the client, this is true, however for the contractor, the pride should be in every stage of the work that then eventually comes together as the finished product. And yes in a way a lot of the satisfaction in the job comes in the after thought process, when you are looking at that finished extra story on the house you were working on and thinking how you built that. But the point remains that if there is no pride in the work ongoing then it will be extremely difficult to look back with any kind of pride on your ability.
Before any work can commence however, comes the all-important and infinitely annoying task of pricing up all of the necessary work on a job and giving an accurate and fully costed quote to the prospective client. The most irritating part is when you spend all of the time double checking your calculations and really spending a good deal of time of giving them the most comprehensive and reasonably priced quote and take the time to explain every part of it to them, only for them to unexpectedly choose another contractor to handle the work for them because of one discount they gave. So let’s take a look at how you can make this process easier and more efficient, and far less annoying if the client decides to go elsewhere.
More eyes, more hands
Obviously when you are quoting up its important that you are as thorough as you possibly can be. This is because you can’t exactly amend a quote after you have given it over to the client and most won’t like any extra work being added in in top of the price they were originally quoted unless it was truly something completely unforeseeable, like unseen subsidence. However, simply telling your client that there is an extra charge that you didn’t include due to “oversight” will not go down well at all, so to avoid losing favor with the client, its best to have a clearly laid out and comprehensive quote going from the get go, and the best way to ensure that you don’t miss anything important is to have an extra pair of eyes or two to look over everything and give you some reminders.
After all, nobody is superhuman and we are all capable of mistakes and oversight, however if you just ask a couple of your trusted laborers to come with you and to actively point things that require attention to you as you make up a list and then everybody does a final check of the area against the list to make sure that everything is accounted for and factored in can mean the difference between giving a $500 quote and a $1000 quote which means a big difference both in terms of their money and your trustworthiness as a tradesman to give an accurate and reasonable quote, so get some of your chaps to give you a hand with it.
Software
As the construction industry moves at a slower but steady pace into the 21st century, there are many different improvements and advancements within the trade, in all areas from the equipment to the materials and also in the models of business and the administrative tools that we as tradies use to give our customers the most comprehensive and all-encompassing quotes and evaluations that we can. To this effect in the push to get the construction industry as up to date as other physical industries are, there are new programs called a builders estimation system which allow you to do many things digitally and more efficiently.
These specially designed programs are able to calculate input work against which supplies and equipment necessary can all be calculated at the base price for your area and a digitally generated timeframe for the work can be established and then all of this information in its digital form can be quickly and easily sent off to your client to view and approve or to discuss with you further. Either way these programs are designed to save you, the tradesman, time and effort during the quotation period.
