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I live in an area (Gatlinburg, TN – a tourist town)with a lot of out-of-state home owners (probably 70% of homes) There is a ton of work & twice as many so called contractors. I’ve found that if you can win their trust you’ve got the job. Many things determine this trust: Licensing, insurance, reputation, etc. There’s one thing that I do that just puts the icing on the cake. This is my tip. With the new age of computers & communication through email I take full advantage of the capabilities I have. First of all I communicate through email because you can simply print out your conversations which makes it easy to reference & settle disputes if they arise. The most effective thing I do is send updates on the job via a digital camera. My clients love this!! They can see exactly whats going on through every stage of the project (makes it easier for them to send YOU, THEIR hard earned cash!). This is also a great reference tool for future jobs (and they’re stored neatly on your PC). This approach has won me a lot of jobs & makes the home owner trusting & VERY comfortable with you. This tip is for the contractors on the up & up that care about what they do & take pride in satisfied costumers.
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Replies
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I'd recommend a website for anyone in the business. I refuse to pay the high price for paper advertising (it doesn't work any how) but a website can be as large as you want, loaded with information that would cost a fortune in print adds....and it's easy. I did the whole thing for about 150.00 and I pay a small maintenance fee to my ISP.
The good thing is, I don't have to try and convince a client, I just direct them to my site and somehow it makes me (a very unprofessional person)look professional. It has become my only form of
advertising. E-mail, scanned pictures etc. etc. Love it.
*I would also highly recommend a website. It's a 4 color brochure, changeable on a moment's notice, can have secret pages for specific jobs and can be put into a prospective customer's hands in a heartbeat.I would also highly recommend, when taking on an out of state project, getting PAID IN ADVANCE EVERY STEP OF THE WAY. Leave no more than a couple hundred dollars for payment after completion. Remember, when it comes to a dispute, he who has the money usually keeps the money.
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I live in an area (Gatlinburg, TN - a tourist town)with a lot of out-of-state home owners (probably 70% of homes) There is a ton of work & twice as many so called contractors. I've found that if you can win their trust you've got the job. Many things determine this trust: Licensing, insurance, reputation, etc. There's one thing that I do that just puts the icing on the cake. This is my tip. With the new age of computers & communication through email I take full advantage of the capabilities I have. First of all I communicate through email because you can simply print out your conversations which makes it easy to reference & settle disputes if they arise. The most effective thing I do is send updates on the job via a digital camera. My clients love this!! They can see exactly whats going on through every stage of the project (makes it easier for them to send YOU, THEIR hard earned cash!). This is also a great reference tool for future jobs (and they're stored neatly on your PC). This approach has won me a lot of jobs & makes the home owner trusting & VERY comfortable with you. This tip is for the contractors on the up & up that care about what they do & take pride in satisfied costumers.