Anyone who has done any home remodeling or worked with building contractors will appreciate the following story. It is hard to think of an environment that could benefit more from an improvement in simply working well together, otherwise known as getting along.
I was part owner of a duplex in Southern California during one of the biggest real estate booms ever. The insanely rising prices soon became irresistible, so we decided to fix the place up and try our luck in the marketplace. This was not a simple task, however, as “deferred maintenance” had long been in effect.
A friend put us in touch with a well-regarded contractor whom I will call Brett. He seemed thoroughly knowledgeable and experienced, so we set out working on our duplex.
At first things went reasonably well, but it quickly became apparent that we were going to have our share of the difficulties that so many before us had experienced with home contractors. In our case, the problem was not ability or skill. Brett was highly skilled in all of the fields required by our remodel. It was more of an attitude problem for us.
We later came to realize that Brett had been “stiffed,” not paid properly or at all by certain previous clients. Everyone knows that clients have problems with contractors, but there are always two sides to every story. It turns out that sometimes contractors have problems with clients. In Brett’s case, these experiences left him with a real belligerent attitude and a major chip on his shoulder.
How we managed to improve the situation with Brett
From the very beginning of our project, we consistently did two things with Brett:
- We made it a point to pay him on time, every time. We let him know we were paying attention to the billing, but we didn’t go out of our way to question everything he charged.
- He did seem to think that, since he was the one with the skills, that he would make all the decisions as to just how something was done. We politely but firmly disabused him of this notion on a few key occasions. We explained that we really enjoyed working with him, but if he was not willing to recognize that we had the final say in methods, we would have no choice but to find someone who would.
It worked, and it worked well
We were 100% fair with Brett, unlike many of his other clients had been. And we insisted on the same kind of treatment in return. To his credit, he was willing to change his ways and work with us. It worked out extremely well for all of us.
What we learned
Our experience working with Brett illustrated the two essential components of a successful transaction.
First of all, we went out of our way to be consistently fair in our dealings with him. The most important aspect of this meant making sure that we paid him on time without any difficulties or other drama. This is not the only component of “playing fair,” however. For example, we made it a point to be as clear as possible in our communications with him. Clear and consistent communication is an important ingredient in getting along, as I discuss in more detail shortly.
The other half of our strategy was equally straightforward: We made it clear, from the beginning, that we required the same kind of fair play in return. Without an effective “or else,” this is the kind of thing that can be easily ignored. I made it clear to him on a couple of occasions that we were willing and able to find others for our project if he wasn’t willing to “play fair” as we were.
So, the only question remaining at that point was, did Brett value the excellent treatment he was getting from us enough to be willing to reciprocate? I think everyone knows that this kind of situation can and does go differently much of the time, but this time it worked, and it worked well.