When I have need of a contractor or subcontractor, I have learned the ultimate Litmus Test that cuts a good 90% from contention:
Do they return phone calls in a timely, professional way?
Simple as that. And if they fail that test, by not calling me back, they are cut from my list. Immediately.
I will not chase someone to do business with them. If they can’t get back to me quickly now, how in the world is it going to go any better when they’ve taken my money? It won’t. It will only get worse.
I’ve used this rule for home contractors. When we bought our house and were looking to do a major reno before moving in, we actually only had 1, and I mean, literally ONE GUY, who was good about calling us back and staying in touch. The job became his to lose at that point. The pricing became a secondary issue, and really the quotes from anyone else were WORTHLESS because we couldn’t trust the work. So the quote from this 1 guy just became the price we had to pay.
When the job started, in hindsight we were quite naive with how big a job we actually had (basically every room in the house including a kitchen and bathroom gut), and how badly it could have gone with the wrong person. In our case it was done on time, and I’d describe the experience as “pleasant”. How many large home renos have you heard of that could be described that way?
We applied this same rule when we did a backyard renovation (with pool) with the same results. An army of trades people coming and going every day, on time, getting things done on schedule.
I myself operate by this same rule. I always returned calls quickly for prospective clients, and a lot of times I was told how impressive that was. The reality is this is not hard, so if someone isn’t doing it, set off the red alerts.
I apply this rule to anyone I work with. If they do not call me back as expected, they are cut. No excuses, no apologies. I want to work with reliable people, and this expectation delivers me reliable people.
