What exactly is a process? And why is a process important to your business? How can you create a procedure for your business? I will discuss each of these items in details in several articles.

Simply put, a procedure is a well defined course of action that will achieve a desired result.

Wikipedia breaks procedures down into three divisions:  Management processes, Operational processes and Supporting processes.  I am going to discuss operational procedure mostly, because that will be your most useful procedure.  “Operational processes constitute the core business and create the primary value stream.”  In other words, the operational process is one you use each and every day.  You build your company culture with this process.  Your reputation will be created around your process.

Typical processes are the guidelines for purchasing, manufacturing, marketing and sales; the obvious life blood of almost any business.  I like the way that Wikipedia defines a business process:  “A business process begins with a customer’s need and ends with a customer’s need fulfillment.”  You can’t get much plainer than that.  This is certainly what a good construction firm wants to live up to.

I can safely say that all successful companies have a well defined process, and they stick to it.  Whether the process is a simple page-long document, or a 300 page binder, a process tells you what you should do and in what order you should carry out your duties.  It also should say what you should not do, such as “Don’t take jobs that don’t fit your company niche”.  “Don’t give away free estimates”.  “Don’t discuss certain internal affairs of the company with your client.”

A simple process that we share with the customer on our first visit is called the Job Process Flow Chart.  The purpose of this disclosure is to clarify to the customer how we will

Job Process Flow Chart

proceed from their first contact with our company, right up to their project start-up.  You don’t need a lot of detail here.  You don’t want to seem too complicated or technical.  The flow chart merely tells the client how they can expect to get from A to B.  Without saying a word though, your biggest message comes across that you are organized, that they can trust you, that you know where you are going and are willing and able to lead them to their “need fulfillment”.

Here’s the basic layout for the Job Process Flow Chart.  It is made up of four distinct parts- First Contact, Design Visit, Second Visit, and Project Development:

First contact: 

Talk over the scope of the project, budget, and average prices. This takes place the first time that you are contacted by the customer.  None of us have excess time on our hands – the right questions will qualify your client.  I always say, “There are two kinds of people in the world: my customers and those that aren’t”.  That may sound a little skewed, but in all honesty, at the point of qualification, this is what you need to know.

Set an appointment time to discuss their project further and receive a Quick Quote.  Maximum time allowed is 1 1/2 hours at no charge. I lay this out on the flow chart.  They have passed the first test and you have decided to invest your time to get to know more about their project.  People love to talk about their dreams and will do so ad nauseum if you let them.  Let them know what the objective of the meeting is BEFORE you go to their house or they come to your office.  Let them know how long you expect the meeting to last.  For instance, the conversation might go like this:  “I really am looking forward to visiting you and learning more about your project.  I want to assure you that there is no charge for this visit, as long as we keep it under and hour and a half.  In that amount of time I’ll be able to see if your project is feasible and can come in within your budget.  Then we can get into a Design Retainer Agreement and really get down to brass tacks.”  That takes less than a minute to say, but you just laid out a lot of information:  ‘I am anxious and excited to visit you.  This visit is free, from then on you can expect to pay for my time.  Let’s stick to task and we can get a lot done. We are going to look at the feasibility and budget for the project. I expect you to have some idea of what you are willing to invest in this project.   And then the coup de gras, the next step is either a paid for estimate, a design, or both.’  All of this works like clockwork.  The key is to lay everything out BEFORE it happens.  This must be your M.O. throughout each and every part of your  job.  It works.

Go over the presentation book, sample contracts, etc. Your presentation book shows clearly written and easy to understand documents that they can expect to encounter as they move forward.  Once again you are preparing them for the future.  I used to be very rigid about showing my presentation book at the beginning of the visit.  Slowly I learned to relax and show it at the appropriate time in the visit.  In the end, I usually let them invest their time and show me the project, then it was easier to get them to sit down for 10 minutes and go over the documents and licenses and maybe even display a few of our awards.  Don’t make it too long or too detailed.  And don’t think they will remember everything you told them, because they won’t.  It always surprised me that they didn’t remember every word of my presentation that I showed them with such enthusiasm.  That’s reality.  So you will have to show some of these items to them again. Every time you show them a document, or part of your process, they have either verbally or subtly accepted it.  That is to say, if they don’t object, and they continue to deal with you, then they have accepted your terms/methods.  Once again you are making sure there are no surprises for them as you proceed.

Make any necessary measurements for a Quick Quote (Probable Cost). Keep in mind, you don’t have a contract for design in hand yet, so you can’t afford to go measuring the house yet.  You might take a few measurements, depending on the type of project.  Then it’s time to shake hands and head back to the office.  You leave with a good idea whether you want to work for them and whether they can afford their project.  You may still offer them a Quick Quote (a very rough estimate put together by you or your estimator), but the best way is to leave them with a verbal idea of the cost of the project and let them know that you will let them know how much the estimate or design will cost, unless you already have decided.  If you have, then tell them and ask if they would like you to draw up the papers.  Remind them that the only way to really know the cost of the project is to have a detailed plan that they approve.  With that in hand you can tell them exactly what it will cost.  Without the design it is impossible to know how much it will cost.  That brings to mind another “don’t” you should have in your operational process book – “Don’t design as you go”.  A sure road to disaster.

Next I’ll lay out the flow chart for the second phase of the process:  The Design Visit

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www.RemodelerBiz.com is published by Randall S Soules, a 37 year construction veteran. The intent of this web site is to help builders, remodelers and those in the trades, create a rewarding career and lifestyle.  At Remodeler Biz you’ll find helpful articles on niches, marketing, graphic standards and the design-then-build field.