With the economy being what it is these days and the building industry being extremely competitive, you can understand why building companies (and for that matter, the DIY'er when it comes to smaller jobs) are looking to reduce costs in order to maintain profit margins and make construction or decorating jobs pay. One area that is always looked at when it comes to reducing costs is by cutting non essential materials, things that are not actually required to do the job, although this is often a false economy.
This can be anything from floor protection to reducing the level of professional indemnity insurance that a company has. The problem with doing this is you will more than likely end up paying more in the long run.
If we take floor protection on a decorating job as an example, the cost to put down a protective film or sheeting in an average size room is probably less than ten pounds and even if you put down a more expensive floor protection like a extra heavy duty corrugated surface protector that would only cost around forty pounds. Compare this with the cost of replacing a carpet, vinyl or wooden floor, which may be several hundred or even several thousands of pounds, is it really worth the risk?
There are other indirect advantages. Whilst decorating, the decorator is more likely to work a lot faster knowing that the job will not make a loss if they drip any paint. The customer (if on-site) will also see that you are a professional company, and that you are protecting and keeping their possessions safe. This type of approach, when it comes to customer service, would obviously help them to decide who to use on future projects. It is always better to keep your customers happy, they will likely tell friends and colleagues about how careful, tidy and professional you are and word of mouth in the decorating industry is better than any advert and can really grow a business.
When you add all these reasons together, is cutting corners the way forward? Saving a few pounds off the cost of a job? I think not. If you are going to do a job then my advice is to always to do it properly, don't cut corners, your customers aren't stupid, they will know a professional outfit when they see one. Let's face it there are enough cowboys out there!
----------------------------------------------------
Richard Johnson - The construction industry's leading supplier of Temporary Floor Protection Materials http://www.protection.co.uk/products/floors/
EasyPublish this article: http://submityourarticle.com/articles/easypublish.php?art_id=266757
No comments:
Post a Comment