If you’ve been in the kitchen and bath design and remodeling business for any length of time, you’ve probably experienced a situation where you think your firm has executed a portion of a client’s project to perfection, only to hear: “But that isn’t what we expected!”

Over the past 30 to 40 years, we’ve gone from sketches on the back of napkins to extensive CAD drawings and computer-generated “walk throughs,” as the industry has attempted to deal with more sophisticated clients. As the amount of information available to our clients increases, it’s important that we find ways to clarify what, exactly, we are going to provide them with.

The various home improvement shows on cable TV, with their ability to edit out the rough spots, have made even extensive remodeling projects seem almost pain free. This can cause confusion when homeowners have to deal with the realities of remodeling.

This month, we will take a look at clarifying how to document the scope of the work you are contracting with a client, dealing with some of the subjective issues that arise and protecting your business in case a serious dispute arises.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

Controlling client expectations begins with your marketing strategy. What your literature, ads and sales presentations say about how you are going to deal with the client will define their initial impression of what they will receive from your firm. The samples they are shown and the displays and craftsmanship they see in your showroom can help set the tone of what they will expect to see in their completed project.

Be careful, however, of relying on clients’ memories of what they saw in your showroom. While your showroom displays may have their share of imperfections, the typical customer will not usually examine the details of “fit and finish” in your showroom with the same level of attention that they will later give to their own project.

Make sure that your sales staff is realistic when describing the remodeling process; if your typical bath remodel takes six to eight weeks, this should not be described as “just a few weeks.” The same is true of cost estimates: Be careful of off-the-cuff estimates that you usually will later have to revise upward significantly. The best approach for cost estimating is to start with a ballpark estimate that you have spent some time developing.