OK, so you’re finally so sick of that old bathroom that you decide to actually do something about it. Smart consumer that you are, you ask friends for referrals, maybe check Angie’s List or, my favorite, go to the National Association of the Remodeling Industry’s local chapter website: www.narimetrodc.org and start your search for reputable folks to come in and make everything shiny and new.
After you’ve talked with a few people, you’ll begin to get some pricing back. Some are higher and some lower. Some are pretty detailed, and others might be handwritten on a one page NEBS form. You might even get a number scrawled on the back of a business card.
What do you make of these different approaches? Do you have questions after reading through them all? Are you satisfied that the contractor understood what you wanted, and that he or she has put together a proposal that reflects what you actually would like built? How do you know?
I believe in more information, not less. When a potential client reads one of my proposals, I want them to say “Wow! This guy is DETAILED! He must really know what he’s doing!” Judging from the reaction of many people to whom I’ve given proposals, this IS what they think. That pleases me, because that is how I want to be perceived.
For as much as I might be seen as detailed and knowledgeable though, it doesn’t always follow that I’ll get the job. Price is important, and looking into projects as closely as I like to means that I’m not always the least expensive guy out there. Shocker, I know, but I don’t actually end up working for most of the people whose projects I look at. That doesn’t cause me to question what I do though, since I don’t want EVERYONE to buy what I’m offering.
My ideal client (personality traits aside!) is someone who has good taste, a sufficient budget for the work and, most importantly, values the detail I put into not only the proposal I give, but the work that comes after. So, what does a detailed proposal mean?
A detailed proposal means that your potential contractor has taken the time to look at your project, go back to his or her office and actually THINK about it. This thinking, before the first spade of earth has been turned, means that your contractor won’t have to reinvent the wheel on the fly while the job is underway. He or she will know how things are going to go, because that’s the way they’ve planned them. Put another way, thought beforehand pays dividends later on.
In the end, I believe the goal of a thorough proposal is to leave little doubt as to what will be done, how long it will take, what materials will be used, what it will cost and what it will look like. Have a look at a typical proposal of ours, and I think you’ll see what I mean.
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