# Do you believe the customer is always right?



## Kevin (Apr 26, 2005)

Mike Finley said:


> I tell customers "Don't look for me on the weekends because you won't find me, I will be doing just what you will be doing." Never had a customer yet do anything other than show respect for somebody who values their personal time as much as they value their own.
> 
> As for being on vacation and worrying about how much money you aren't making - buddy that is a sickness! You need to see somebody about that! LOL
> 
> ...


Words to live by! Awesome post Mike.


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## 747 (Jan 21, 2005)

I think if i was a contractor doing anything inside I would love to work with a interior designer. This way you just do what they say so you can blam them. Rite? I guess the problem probably is a homeowner doesn't want to spend the money on a interior designer and they want you to be there interior designer. That's where the problem lies in my oppinon. Example Mike Finley is talking about the guy and tile. A interior designer would have handed mike a scetch of the way he or she wanted the tile ran. No problem for Mike. I guess the point of trying to make is this. I think it would be a lot easier for all you guys if the homeowner would just higher a interior designer. That way they deal with the customer and design decision. :Thumbs:


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## ProWallGuy (Oct 17, 2003)

Mike Finley said:


> Grumpy we actually have the opposite problem. When working I tend to feel guilty that I am not able to be off, thinking about all the backlog of fun I am missing out on.
> 
> Friday at 5:00 pm the business phone doesn't get answered, everything goes to voice mail until Monday morning. There are no crisis by customers that are large enough to demand my attention before Monday. In fact they would have to be so large in order to get my attention that they would have to be in the caliber that the infastructure we have in place in our civilized society such as the police and fire department would be handleing them anyways, so there is nothing for me to do regardless.
> 
> ...



Yep, I work to live, not live to work.


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## Niner (Mar 16, 2005)

"...it was all I could do to not grab his neck and hold his head under the tile saw blade and shout you want to cut some tile mother - fu#ker????!!!!!!!! Let's cut some tile!!!!!!!!!"

I always suspected thin set fumes and that high-pitched whine of a tile saw would drive me crazy if I did it all day, every day.


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## AAPaint (Apr 18, 2005)

747 said:


> I think if i was a contractor doing anything inside I would love to work with a interior designer. This way you just do what they say so you can blam them. Rite? I guess the problem probably is a homeowner doesn't want to spend the money on a interior designer and they want you to be there interior designer. That's where the problem lies in my oppinon. Example Mike Finley is talking about the guy and tile. A interior designer would have handed mike a scetch of the way he or she wanted the tile ran. No problem for Mike. I guess the point of trying to make is this. I think it would be a lot easier for all you guys if the homeowner would just higher a interior designer. That way they deal with the customer and design decision. :Thumbs:



I wish it was that easy. Then the interior designer would have the homeowner changing things at every single step of the way. I think it would only be worse, IMHO. Not only that, but then I have to get the customer to accept my price on top of paying out a ton of money to someone else just for "design"..


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## Mike Finley (Apr 28, 2004)

Niner said:


> "...it was all I could do to not grab his neck and hold his head under the tile saw blade and shout you want to cut some tile mother - fu#ker????!!!!!!!! Let's cut some tile!!!!!!!!!"
> 
> I always suspected thin set fumes and that high-pitched whine of a tile saw would drive me crazy if I did it all day, every day.


HA HA! I think there is something true about what you suspect!


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## Mike Finley (Apr 28, 2004)

747 said:


> I think if i was a contractor doing anything inside I would love to work with a interior designer. This way you just do what they say so you can blam them. Rite? I guess the problem probably is a homeowner doesn't want to spend the money on a interior designer and they want you to be there interior designer. That's where the problem lies in my oppinon. Example Mike Finley is talking about the guy and tile. A interior designer would have handed mike a scetch of the way he or she wanted the tile ran. No problem for Mike. I guess the point of trying to make is this. I think it would be a lot easier for all you guys if the homeowner would just higher a interior designer. That way they deal with the customer and design decision. :Thumbs:


Oy Vey, you have openned a huge can of worms. Working with designers opens a whole new world of problems and headaches.

That blame it on the designer thing swings both ways! Designers love to blame it on the contractor. Wait till a designer hands you a design that isn't based on reality such as some unGodly counter over-hang and when you try to explain to her about the realities of longevity and sturdiness she just looks at you like you are from Mars.


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## Moscow (May 3, 2005)

Well form my understanding, isn't the custmer paying you for the job ? Don't get me wrong the custmer is not always right, but if they are paying for a job that gives them the right to ask any question they like and for any change they like. Money talks BS walks and if they got the money let them talk. 

If it is that bad out there then quit. 

What is funny is most contractors (think) they know it all and get all bent out of shape when the custmor just ask a smiple question or gives some advise. Just smile tell them the answer in a nice way and deal with it.

I have to deal with home owners all the time and it is a pain in the rear, but let the talk and things will go my way at the end, but as far as the contractors I have to fight tooth and nail all the time with them, get the code book out and the fight is on and we all know that fighting with an inspector is like wreastling with a pig in the mud, THEY INJOY IT.


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## AAPaint (Apr 18, 2005)

Moscow, I think you've misunderstood this thread. This topic is more about customers asserting that the contractor is not competent than the contractor not wanting to listen to the man with the money, that's what we get paid to do. 

As for the main topic, you yourself said you have to bring the customer around to understanding things on your professional level. A lot of my customers are home when I do my work, wife, husband, both....they ask questions all day long from "how do you paint such a straight line" to "WHY do we NEED XXXX to paint XXXX??" I answer each and every one the same, in a friendly helpful manner. 

I think you confused "is the customer always right" with "is the customer EVER right".....Sometimes, the customer is right. They've done their homework, or been given another professional opinion. The flying off the handle part is usually done away from a customer as in these situations, and is usually just the direct result of a customer who HIRED a PROFESSIONAL and acted in a degrading manner towards said pro because of what they THOUGHT was right...not neccassarily what WAS right.


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## ProWallGuy (Oct 17, 2003)

Moscow said:


> What is funny is most contractors (think) they know it all


No, what's funny is this:


> INJOY


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## Floorwizard (Sep 24, 2003)

> you have to bring the customer around to understanding things on your professional level.


I would also add that you need to do it in a way they understand. If you spew EXACTLY what you professionally know, they can get confused. If they understand, they coulda done the work themselves.
Usually they THINK they know, and sometimes you need to deprogram their opinions without boring or confusing them with specs.

Example:
A customer comes in to buy carpet. I turn them on to a nice nylon carpet that is 45 oz Anso Nylon Karastan. They tell me that they KNOW a 60 oz nylon will perform way better.
Now I can sit there and tell them all the specs and differences between a high pick back and a standard back, and between a branded high end nylon and a generic mill nylon, and twists and such. And I will watch the confused client walk out the door.
Or I can tell them there are more variables that affect quality in carpet besides face weight. And this carpet has higher end variables than the 60 oz, so therefore it performs better.
And either the trust has been built up and we write up the sale, or if they start bugging you more about details, then you know right off the bat, that you have not done a good enough job gaining trust, or you have a potential problem customer.

So in addition, I would tell the customer that they are right IF we are talking apples to apples. A 40 oz will out perform the 60 oz (so technically I have confirmed they are right).

I usually use alot of my time feeling the customer out. If they want to feel right, that is no problem. If they want to fight, take it to another store.


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## Tom R (Jun 1, 2004)

Moscow said:


> Well form my understanding, isn't the custmer paying you for the job ? Don't get me wrong the custmer is not always right, but if they are paying for a job that gives them the right to ask any question they like and for any change they like. Money talks BS walks and if they got the money let them talk.
> 
> If it is that bad out there then quit.
> 
> ...


At first, - - I wondered how one could 'stereotype' contractors in such a way, - - I almost even took offense to such 'associo-guiltitude', - - but upon further examination I realized it was all just coming from another one of those typical 'dumb-a$$ed-inspectors'!!  They're ALL like that!! :cheesygri


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## Mike Finley (Apr 28, 2004)

Okay some new info - on the husband so it all starts to make a lot more sense - maybe especially for Moscow.

Had an issue with the counters, had to get the counter installers out to fix it. Wife is basically in tears when I show up to meet the counter guys. She is freaked out, frazzled and at the end of her rope over the counters, not the problem but now the material itself. She is freaken out over being able to turn the lights off, get down real low and look across the counters and see a water mark from a glass. She is all upset and saying things like, I never should have done this, it's all my fault, why didn't I do this, or that... all my fault.

I realize that she is taking this way beyond anything reasonable, really takes me back, she is obviously way stressed, stressed to the point of like a break down. I talk to her again, do some reminding her of what she chose and why, explain to her about realities again of all materials and basically how your kitchen is designed to be used with the lights on, which I flip on and we look at everything and say - see how beautiful it looks..

She begins to calm down, takes some deep breaths, apologizes, says she does this all the time, doesn't know why she gets so worked up... again brings up the her fault line.

We talk some more about the word fault and how it doesn't apply. Finally dawns on me what is going on, Seems that Hubby has a pattern of playing the same mind game with her all her married life.

He has a tendency to not want to be involved in any of the decision making, leaves everything up to her so that he can come in later if there is a problem, or even worse create one just so he can lay the "I told you so" routine on her. Brow beats her and blames everything on her and she accepts the blame. Seems she is used to always being at fault for everything. She can't ever catch her breath and enjoy anything because she is so worried that she has done something wrong and lovely hubby is right there ready to pounce on her and make sure she knows it!

Guys a dirt bag, has had 3 failed businesses it turns out, has blown lots of their life savings trying to get rich quick. He suspects he is worthless human being, and is scared everybody else might find out too, so he makes sure at least one person in his life knows how smart he is and makes sure she knows how dumb she is. Jackass. 

All starts to make sense now huh?


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## Tom R (Jun 1, 2004)

Down with all HUSBANDS!! :cheesygri


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## Moscow (May 3, 2005)

Ok, I will admit that my last post was a little out of line, but let me explain why I said what I said. One I was having a bad day, I went to a home owner that hired a contractor do a job, the home owner just asked a question about how he was installing a drain to the sink and if it need to be vented, the contractor in all his glory told the home owner " who is the contractor me or you, I think I know just a little bet more then you", so the homeowner called and aske me to come out and take a look at what was going on. When I showed up the contractor was still there and in a very bad mood, I looked at his job ( that need a permit for and one wasn't taken out) adn found that he had not only used wrong fittings but there was no vent on the new plumbing install. After about 2 hours of fighting with him I just had to leave and red tag the job, and when I came back ane got on to see this post I took all my frustration with contractor's out on this post.
I have to be the bigger person and say I am sorry and I will take a deep breath read the post better and if I have nothing nice to post I will just keep them to my self.

Have a great day 
Justin


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## ProWallGuy (Oct 17, 2003)

> I have to be the bigger person and say I am sorry and I will take a deep breath read the post better and if I have nothing nice to post I will just keep them to my self.


Justin, no problem. We all have those days, and we all spout off at times.

I hope to see you around here more often, as we ALL have to deal with inspectors, so your input IMO is invaluable. :Thumbs:


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## Darwin (Apr 7, 2009)

Only if they are agreein' wit me


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## WarnerConstInc. (Jan 30, 2008)

Darwin said:


> Only if they are agreein' wit me


 
Way to go treasure hunter, this one's from '05!!!


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## TxElectrician (May 21, 2008)

Darwin said:


> Only if they are agreein' wit me


 

great post.





4 yrs later:clap::laughing:


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## wallmaxx (Jun 18, 2007)

Mike Finley said:


> How about it?
> 
> Do you believe the customer is always right?


Rarely is the customer ever right...however they sign the check...so after educating them as best I can, I follow their requests under law and by code.


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