For the past 20 plus years I have been helping homeowners find cost effective solutions remodeling their homes. As a design build and exterior renovation expert, I met many homeowners who were looking for a professional and ethical company to renovate their home. Thankfully, I worked for great companies who always did what was right for the customer who received the best possible craftmanship and quality materials.
Also in my 20 plus year career, I had the unfortunate experience of meeting many homeowners who were treated poorly by contractors. The poor treatment left homeowners with shoddy workmanship, unfinished projects, wrong materials, projects that had to be ripped out because they didn’t meet code, mechanics liens for unpaid material bills, messy work sites, lawsuits from uninsured workers and more.
In a former post, I mentioned that contractors are the most complained about industry in the country according to the Consumer Federation of America. Since 1999 the contracting industry has more complaints against it than used car salesman. Is it any wonder that homeowners are wary and scared when it comes time to hire a contractor to work on their most valuable investment, their home.
It has been one year since I gave seminars on How to Hire A Contractor at the DCU Worcester Spring Home Show. I presented this seminar with a panel of professionals from the Better Business Bureau, The Mass Attorney Generals Office, a consumer advocate and an attorney. It was apparent, that most people were concerned about hiring a contractor. Many contractor nightmare stories were brought up and discussions were held to find ways to protect the homeowner from these tragedies.
I have always wondered how can I help protect homeowners from having a bad experience with a contractor. Giving these seminars and providing homeowners with the tools to properly hire a contractor is a start. I have always thought wouldn’t it be good to offer training to the contractor?
So how can I help homeowners by coaching contractors?
In February of this year I decided it was time to start the Contractor Coaching Partnership. I spent the last 16 years working for a great contractor in the residential remodeling industry learning how to help homeowners have good experiences remodeling their homes. We did kitchens, baths, additions and roofing. I believe the success we attained was due to the team we had and the committment to industry best practices. We were big on educating and training our people using systems based on industry best practices. I helped develop a company that last year was ranked in the top 150 companies in America. Thankfully, I will be able to use this great experience and training to coach contractors servicing the residential homeowner.
The cost of entry into the residential construction industry is low. There are many excellent craftsman in the business.
However, if you truly look into to the residential construction industry you will find that most residential contractors are not well versed in the subject of how to run a business.
I will be helping homeowners by coaching and training residential contractors on the subject of using systems and best practices to better serve their customer and employees.
I am going to use this blog as a forum for homeowners and contractors to discuss issues concerning the residential homeowner construction industry.
I welcome any and all comments from homeowners and contractors.
If you know a homeowner having issues with a contractor please let them know about this blog. If you know a contractor who is struggling please let them know about this blog.
A goal of this blog is to better the homeowner/contractor experience. Please spread the word.
Thank you
Mark Paskell
The Contractor Coaching Partnership
