Six Tips to Earn Your Customer’s Respect


By: Jenn Danko
Issue Date: November 2009

When Ben Morey’s team of remodelers finished a home renovation shortly before the property was sold, its new owners made an unwelcome discovery.

“They decided they wanted to remodel the bathroom, which had not been part of the scope of the work we had done for the previous owner,” says Morey, CEO of Morey Construction in Long Beach, Calif. When they began work on the bathroom, the new owners unexpectedly found mold and dry rot beneath the tub.

While Morey’s project manager had knowledge of the mold and damage at the time of the renovation due to a patch on the backside of the tub wall, he never reported it to the owner in writing. When a real estate agent showed up at his company office to inquire about the situation, Morey realized he had to do the right thing since his PM was responsible for documenting the issue in writing, and had not done so.

“It was clearly a case where we didn’t follow through,” says Morey, who ended up writing a check to the new owners for more than $10,000 to remediate the problem on their own.

But the painful experience led to a positive one; the real estate agent was so impressed by Morey’s proactive professionalism that he referred two new clients his way, which covered the expense several times over.

The contractor says his actions were just one way he has gone about earning the respect of his customers in his 33 years in the business.

What are other ways you can go about earning the respect of your clients? Follow these tips to keep them happy while completing the job:

1. Remain consistent
Delivering competitive quotes are just as important as consistently delivering top service and workmanship. Just ask Neal Creech, president and CEO of Creech Custom Builders in Atlanta, Ga. Keeping price margins consistent will avoid client sticker shock in the long run, he says.

2. Know yourself
Know what you do well and what you don’t do as well, Morey advises. Being upfront with your customer will yield more polished results, and the customer will appreciate your honesty, he adds.

To further maximize the scope of your work, “bring people into the company that complement your strengths,” he says.

3. Do what you say
In the specialized industry of building and remodeling, even competing businesses keep close contact in local circles. That’s why it’s important to uphold your reputation and always follow through on the words behind your work, Creech says.

Morey says straightforward customer communication is a key way to earn their respect. He follows a methodical process when it comes to laying the groundwork at the start of a job.

“You have to tell folks, ‘You may be asking this of me, but here is the way we do things’ . . . ‘These are the steps we have to take together in order to get the answers to the questions you have,’” he says.

Talking someone through the work process also establishes more trust between the contractor and client when it comes to quoting an estimate.

“I can’t just start throwing numbers out there blindly because there is nothing to base those numbers on and no trust involved,” Morey says.

4. Listen up
Let the questions that you ask show who you are and your experience, Morey advises. “For most contractors, they want to spout off their experience to show they are knowledgeable,” he says. “Trust comes from letting people tell you what they have in mind, then you turn around and define that by saying, ‘This is what I hear you are saying. Is this the case?’”

Such behaviors show clients that you are actually listening to their needs, which will build trust.

5. Shout it out
When a situation turns tense, always control yourself and allow a client to voice their concerns before problem solving starts.

“People in tense situations want to be heard,” Morey says. Build the trust you are looking for by stepping back and allowing them to shout. “Even if it is not justifiable, you happen to be there, so encourage them to talk.”

6. Honesty is policy
It’s an obvious tip, but actions will always speak louder than words, Creech says.

“If you tell someone that you are honest, they are going to assume that you are not honest,” he says.

And since integrity builds trust, what you do will always have more merit than what you say, Morey says.

Why should contractors establish a level of trust with their clients? To start, it makes working on the project much more comfortable, says Creech.

“And you are not spending a lot of time trying to win credibility,” he says. “It works for both the contractor and the customer because there is a lot of transparency and neither has to play games.”
Morey says justifiable trust reinforces the idea that the customer made the right choice to go with your business.

“Hopefully you created something that [the client] will tell others about,” he says. “You had a great working relationship and, as a result, more people will come to you for business.”