# reasons not to hire college/student painters



## davidanbess (Apr 2, 2007)

Hi I'm thinking of adding another page to my intro pack I give customers as in top 10 or 5 reasons not to hire college/student painters.
Give me your ideas


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## slowsol (Aug 27, 2005)

Sounds like a pretty negative way to present yourself to customers.


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## srwcontracting (Dec 11, 2009)

Ya..might be better to give 10 reasons why your better than the college kids! 
Know what you mean though......I'd like to give a customer 10 reasons why not to hire the guy charging half my price!


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## summithomeinc (Jan 3, 2011)

I tell my customers they pay me for my knowlege and for what I don't paint as much as what I do paint. I will only paint what I'm paid to paint. I won't paint their car, driveway, shingles, carpet, furniture, dog, window glass, harwood floors, or anything else I'm not getting paid to paint.


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## Spaint90 (Dec 26, 2011)

Im fortunate they did it to themselves in my area..Im not fond of them myself. Mostly because im a college guy and i grew up around trades..not the joke and a half these college companies throw on the market.

Aside from being investigated for wage fraud, witholding paychecks form employees. There are numerous stories in circulation about the companies..most notably that of the college guy that thought he was doing a really good cleaning job using a zero tip on cedar siding. ended up ruining the whole house. Cost 40k to replace i all.

That killed their reputation..hardcore.

I wouldnt try and make them look bad..honestly if you have to do that to sell thas sad. I can make myself look damn good without ever mentioning them, and my references will say alot more than theirs. Just stick to your guns man :thumbsup:


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## Pete'sfeets (Mar 20, 2011)

I wouldn't worry about the student painters , they help clear the clutter of tacky daft customers out there, leaving you with the more intelligent ones , that's my version anyhow. They often set the standard for high prices on account of it will take them three times as long. Good customers don't need various options they need a completed product.


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## paint_grl_25 (Apr 24, 2012)

I know a lot of guys that painted their way through college. And they ended up being fantastic painters later in life; or sales reps for paint companies. Majority of college students work for painting companies so they are not the guys you are going up against in a bid. Generally running a company while managing a school schedule can be quite hard.


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## dsconstructs (Jul 20, 2010)

paint_grl_25 said:


> I know a lot of guys that painted their way through college. And they ended up being fantastic painters later in life; or sales reps for paint companies. Majority of college students work for painting companies so they are not the guys you are going up against in a bid. Generally running a company while managing a school schedule can be quite hard.



There is the companies called "Student Painters" and "College Works"....they hire the college students. These are the companies being discussed and bid against....not necessarily the actual college students themselves. 
What I've seen of these outfits around here, and sounds like elsewhere is there isn't much time spent supervising/training them.


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## paint_grl_25 (Apr 24, 2012)

I could say that about a lot of non college student painters as well. I've had customer complaints on guys doing this for 20 years. Paint on carpet, tools left behind, paint on mulch, job not finished right or on time, or a blow and go so to speak; bad prep leading to thousands of dollars in damage etc.. You get what you pay for and that's with any person/company. A good rule of thumb is don't pick the cheapest guy (whoever the guy may be) or the most expensive. Call around and pick the guy in the middle. And if you're in the res. repaint market you don't have to be the least expensive guy. And I haven't heard of a lot of student painting companies doing big commercial jobs where the cheaper bid ussualy gets the job. Your selling point should be quality over price. Sell yourself to the customers on why paying a little more gets you a lot more. I know a guy who would throw in some extras like painting their mail box. He'd also warranty his work for ten years and do free touch ups should anything need it within the warranty period. Stuff like that a cheap company is not going to offer. I don't think its necessarily that they are college kids, as much as it is you get what you pay for. Plus if you are in the res. repaint market, bad mouthing your competition; more importantly singling out a single group of people (college kids) will probably hurt your business more than grow it. But if you take the higher road and focus on more positive selling points I think you would grow your business tremendously more than taking the route you have chosen currently. Just my two cents. 



dsconstructs said:


> There is the companies called "Student Painters" and "College Works"....they hire the college students. These are the companies being discussed and bid against....not necessarily the actual college students themselves.
> What I've seen of these outfits around here, and sounds like elsewhere is there isn't much time spent supervising/training them.


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## Spaint90 (Dec 26, 2011)

Sure theres hacks outside of the college companies..but i gaurantee you theres no quality college companies. Theres plenty outside of them thou.

If fingerpainting ever gets accepted as a faux finish i would consider subbing them in


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## paint_grl_25 (Apr 24, 2012)

Regardless; I know the DIY market and inserting a section in an intro packet of why not to hire college based companies is going to scare people off. It's all about marketing and selling points. There are hacks out there everywhere like was stated but you get more bees with honey as the old saying goes. Selling points need to be positive you can get your point across and make a sell without having to bad mouth or single out a specific group of people. But like I said that's just my opinion and it's not like I'm in marketing or anything. It's like me inserting on every price quote why not to go to my competitor because their turn over is constant and I don't think the tinter, manager or counter clerk or sales rep know what they are doing because they are new. That's not how I would get sales. Customers don't need to hear about dirty laundry. Regardless of my opinion. Ya digg?


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## paint_grl_25 (Apr 24, 2012)

For real you mean all those finger painting brush outs I did for clients aren't going to be accepted during the job submittal? psshhhh  lol:jester:


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## Spaint90 (Dec 26, 2011)

If you get them to drink enough beers first they might change their mind? might have to step it up to irish car bombs tho


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## paint_grl_25 (Apr 24, 2012)

haha yes this is true you make excellent points :thumbup:


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## Dirtywhiteboy (Oct 15, 2010)

davidanbess said:


> Hi I'm thinking of adding another page to my intro pack I give customers as in top 10 or 5 reasons not to hire college/student painters.
> Give me your ideas


Leave the kids alone and let them make their money, they need it:thumbup: Sometimes I want to go ballistic when some goodie wants to give their .02cents when my kid is doing his best to shoot fish to put himself through collage.

I Digg, I Digg, take the high road and build yourself up instead of tearing some kid down.


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## ohiohomedoctor (Dec 26, 2010)

Dirtywhiteboy said:


> Leave the kids alone and let them make their money, they need it:thumbup: Sometimes I want to go ballistic when some goodie wants to give their .02cents when my kid is doing his best to shoot fish to put himself through collage.
> 
> I Digg, I Digg, take the high road and build yourself up instead of tearing some kid down.


I did it. I sold paint jobs and small bathroom remodels to get me through college. Looking back Im sure there was some hackery involved but I did my best, and Im sure the clients who hired me expected no less for their college rentals.


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## hdavis (Feb 14, 2012)

paint_grl_25 said:


> Regardless; I know the DIY market and inserting a section in an intro packet of why not to hire college based companies is going to scare people off. It's all about marketing and selling points. There are hacks out there everywhere like was stated but you get more bees with honey as the old saying goes. Selling points need to be positive you can get your point across and make a sell without having to bad mouth or single out a specific group of people. But like I said that's just my opinion and it's not like I'm in marketing or anything. It's like me inserting on every price quote why not to go to my competitor because their turn over is constant and I don't think the tinter, manager or counter clerk or sales rep know what they are doing because they are new. That's not how I would get sales. Customers don't need to hear about dirty laundry. Regardless of my opinion. Ya digg?


Yup. talking about bad paint jobs to potential customers just makes them nervous about hiring someone to paint.

There's another thing as well. When someone tells you something like this you never know if it's true or not, you won't be able to say for sure what it says about the college painters. But you'll know for sure what it tells you about the person who said it. I think most people understand that intuitively.

And the last thing - never bring potential customer attention to your competitors.


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## aptpupil (Jun 12, 2010)

my first job in the construction field was for student works painting. we had one day of training and then our boss (who had a couple weeks of business/painting instruction) put us to work. we all did the best we could with the info we had, but i can't say we did everything right.
i think if they attached one skilled painter to each crew it would have been an effective and worthwhile program. unfortunately, in my experience, they were more about making numbers and getting sales than they were about apprenticeship or quality work. that was just my experience, though.
as to the OP - i agree with others who say that you don't want to throw an entire business model under the bus. it's not entirely accurate to call them all hacks, and it makes you look petty.


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## Spaint90 (Dec 26, 2011)

Apt pupil..they are more about marketing and getting sales. Thats the business model, i could tell you how they bid(i have the standard sheets from some of these companies courtesy of buddies that worked for them). 

The goal is to be the lowest number. The way the company is set up is they provide a junior in college going into his senior year with their signs, and name. He has to go through "training" and then he hires a bunch of kids. He rings doorbells all day cold calling to get work and has to learn how to manange everything. Its a great learning expierence. I personally dont have anything against it, i find their work humorous but probably 99.9% of these guys will go onto something else.

If your a professional contractor, you shouldnt have to worry about the college guys on the market. 

Personally i am a college student, im also a fulltime contractor. I worked for a guy in high school doing remodelling in the winters and painting for another contractor in the summers. When i graduated from high school i was faced with the cost of tuition, and decided i wasnt going to put myself in debt to get through school. I grew up in a town where 98% of the parents paid for the kids everything..so while they were all off partying that first year out. I was working 70 hours a week to start my biz. 

Most of these kids dont use the money to pay for college, that is part of their sales pitch though. 

Bottom line is it shouldnt really be an issue for anyone..i personally dont really work in the same markets. We deal with different people.


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## CarlW (Feb 2, 2006)

I don't think it's okay to call all those college painters hacks to your potential customers but I think it's just fine doing it here...


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