I am on the tail end of an 8-month remodel of the fixer-upper lake house my husband and I bought last year. The house was originally a cottage built in 1935, so to say we’ve run into our fair share of issues during the remodel process is an understatement.
With most of the heavy lifting behind us—demolition complete, new walls up, electrical and plumbing replaced—we thought we were in the clear and that it would be smooth sailing until move-in day. After all, the only thing left is the finish work; most problems are found during demo.
Boy were we wrong.
Another problem reared its head when we had our granite counters and sink installed last week.
Months ago we bought a beautiful farm sink. It was the very first item we bought for the house, and it was the one “splurge” in the kitchen. What makes a farm sink unique is that the front apron shows, rather than being hidden behind a fake cabinet drawer.
In preparation for the install of the farm sink, we sent the counter top providers, our designer, and our contractor pictures of exactly how we wanted it to look. Ultimately the counter top providers were responsible for installing the sink. My husband and I are paranoid people and communicated with them very clearly—or so we thought.
Before: How the sink was originally installed
We arrived home late the night of the installation only to find that they did not install the sink the way we wanted. Instead, they installed it like a regular under mount sink (which means the entire sink is hidden in the cabinet and the granite is all around it). We wouldn’t have bought an expensive sink and gone to all this trouble if it were just going to look like a regular under mount sink.
Needless to say my husband and I were furious. We sent an email to our contractor, the designer, and the granite company. They were all present for the installation, they all had pictures of how we wanted it to look, and they all let it get installed as an under mount sink. This is when the finger-pointing started.
The granite provider blamed the error on the designer and contractor.
Our designer said, “It looks good this way.” While that may be true, it’s not what we wanted.
Our contractor was the only one who said, “You’re not happy; I will fix this.” And he did.
After: How the sink looks after our contractor fixed it
Lessons Learned
We can all learn lessons from the mistakes of others. Here are a few things our service providers could have done better in this situation and how they relate to your own client management:
1. Listen, really listen. No one listened to us. On the client side, we felt we communicated very clearly what we wanted, yet what we got was something else entirely.
You may be listening to your clients, but are you really hearing what they are saying? Be sure you actually listen and clearly understand your clients’ needs and desires.
2. Don’t assume. The service provider made certain assumptions that simply weren’t accurate. Had he asked us or put a few quality control measures in place (such as having us sign off on a template), all issues could have been avoided.
When dealing with your clients, don’t assume anything. And if you do make an assumption, let the client know the assumption you are making so they can confirm or deny. Even if in 99 out of 100 cases the assumption you make is correct, it’s always better to confirm and avoid the 1% of time you make the wrong one.
3. Set clear expectations with the client. At no point did anyone say, “We can’t make it look like this,” or “It’s not going to look like this.” Instead we had one vision of the outcome, and the service provider had a completely different vision. Had this been communicated early on, we could have completely avoided the issue.
4. Take responsibility and fix the problem. The only person who took responsibility and was committed to helping fix the issue was our contractor. Our contractor did the right thing by not playing the blame game and instead used his problem-solving skills to come up with a solution.
If a service snafu does arise, don’t point fingers. Address the problem and explain how you’re going to fix the problem. Great service recovery can actually strengthen the relationship.
Based on this experience, will I recommend or work with these granite providers again? Absolutely not.
Will I work with the designer again? Probably, but I will be a bit more cautious and less trusting.
Will I recommend and work with this contractor again? Absolutely. As a matter of fact, I’ve already recommended him to several friends, letting them know that “he takes pride in his work and makes sure things are done—and done the way you want them.”
Now, think about how you provide services to your clients. Are you the granite provider, the designer, or the contractor? What does that mean for the repeat business and referrals you could be getting?
