The Great, the Good, the Dangerous, the Bizarre, and the Neurotic

Parts 1 & 2 of a 5 Part Series
Note: This blog post is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

“We’re all crazy. It’s just a matter if my crazy can co-exist with your crazy.”

It’s been my observation that all of us are crazy, at least a little bit. It’s the human condition. Oh sure, we don’t think we’re crazy because we think we’re normal. And we are normal. At least to us. 

As such, we’re not aware of our little maddening habits that drive the other people around us crazy. At least not until someone calls us out on it. Typically, the only people we allow to do that and live to tell the story are our significant others. Maybe not even then.

So most of our day-to-day interactions with other humans outside of our family tend to be brief. But what if you’re a remodeling contractor or a custom home builder? You’re going to get to know your clients on a very, very close basis for an extended period of time, months for sure, perhaps even years. You better be able to mesh your crazy with your clients’.   

Geoff and I were privy to some very intimate conversations with our clients, some of it was way too personal and way too much information. When you’re working in someone’s master bathroom, clients will sometimes say things that make you think, “You know, I didn’t really need to know that.”

So, as a custom residential contractor, you have to have a good sense of humor, about yourself and of other people, along with their foibles and frailties. It helps to have some compassion for the human condition. Especially some awareness as we disrupt our clients’ lives by intruding with our crews and the messes they make.

Oh sure, not everyone is crazy. If a client is rich and wealthy, they’re not crazy.  They’re just eccentric. Or if they’re brilliant and smart, they’re also not crazy. They’re just idiosyncratic. 

So if we’re all crazy, how do we co-exist? Well, if our mutual crazies mesh together like cogs in a gear wheel, then we can have a good working relationship and get things done.  

For instance, I’m a perfectionist. I gravitate towards high design and finishes. Therefore I see things that are out of alignment or not plumb or level. I also see flaws in finishes. They’re like visual snags and they jump out at me.

Conversely, I love productivity. It makes me happy to see a lot of action and tasks accomplished efficiently. 

So I like perfect work done quickly.  Not too tough, right? And my wife also says that I’m easy to live with. Hah!

So I’ve found that the best clients for me are those with similar idiosyncrasies.  I have no trouble with clients who like great finishes and quality work, provided that they make decisions quickly so we can produce results. 

Additionally, I like clients who are straight shooters, people who are direct, upfront and honest. People who enjoy life and understand that all construction projects are journeys. Who also understand that it’s my job to provide the best team and experience I can for them while we’re working together and who let me do that. 

Of course, it’s a real bonus when clients are appreciative of the talents of the trades and respect them as people. When we’re building something with that kind of partnership between the client, the design professionals and the team of trades, then it’s a blast!

By nature, I’m a people pleaser. I basically look for the good in people. That’s how I could stand 48 years in the custom residential construction business. So it took me awhile to learn that there are a few miserable human beings who look for flaws in the world around them. They look for flaws in workmanship, in people and in communication. They are unhappy human beings and their goal is to bring you down to their level. They’re not happy until you’re not happy. Some of these folks are gas-lighters and emotional manipulators. Some are liars. Some are cheats. Some will suck the oxygen out of a room. 

I can’t work for these types of people. There’s too much pain and suffering. I can’t do it because my crazy doesn’t mesh with their crazy. I had to learn to spot them and turn their work down. That can be really tough to do, especially when business is slow and you’re looking to keep your crews employed and cash coming in. 

Yet, I’ve learned that when you let go of a client that’s not right for you, inevitably a better fitting client shows up.  I believe that’s because you just made room in your life for that to happen. 

You just have to be willing and able to not take a job with a client who you don’t mesh with. Otherwise, you’re in for a very long and painful haul. And with profit margins being tight, inevitably those kind of jobs aren’t worth it.

Before we talk about those kinds of clients, let me speak about the great and the good clients. Fortunately, by far the vast majority of people fall into these two categories.

Part 1: Great and Amazing Clients!

I was fortunate to spend the bulk of my career building and remodeling in Santa Barbara. The city has a worldwide reputation as a place of beauty, with significant cultural attractions, good restaurants, and benign weather, especially the winters. As a result, it’s a great place to work, and it attracts a lot of successful people who want to live here.

Santa Barbara is a small market. You’ve heard of 6 degrees of separation. Here it’s 1 degree. It’s also a very competitive market. No matter what you do, whether it’s in the trades, being an accountant, a lawyer, a doctor, a realtor, a restauranteur, you name it, there’s a lot of other people trying to figure out a way to make a living doing the same thing as what you do. 

So, it’s a great town to live in if you don’t need to make a living in it. If you’re a service provider in this town, you better be at the top of your game. The clients and customers are savvy people. They are used to and expect great service.  The competition is fierce. Word of mouth is huge. People are slow to embrace new businesses. You get one shot. You better do it right. Yet, this isn’t too unique. Anywhere in America, where you have a high end market, you have similar conditions.  

As Geoff and I built our reputations and grew the company, we got better opportunities to do bigger projects and more significant work. And with that, we got to meet and work for some amazing people. People who are household names. People who have made incredible contributions to the world, whether it was in tech, manufacturing, science, industry, or in the entertainment business. 

As a result of working to build or renovate their personal homes, we got to know these people quite well. And of course, the most amazing clients were those who remained genuine despite their tremendous success. These great clients truly appreciated the efforts that others made on their behalf. They were grateful. They learned the names of the individuals who were working on their project and let them know they appreciated their work. If something wasn’t quite to their standards, they didn’t throw a fit. They clarified what they wanted and adjustments were made. They respected the trades as people and because of that, they got superior results. Not by bearing down on them, but by lifting them up with acknowledgement. 

Great clients are good decision makers. They make decisions quickly. If their decision doesn’t yield the results they wanted, they understand it was their decision. Of course, if a promised result was not delivered, they expect it to be fulfilled. While they’re not pushovers, they own their decisions and don’t try to blame others.

Great clients are also effective communicators. They speak clearly, without judgement, but make their wants and needs known in a way that doesn’t demean others. They keep it professional. 

They also like to understand what it is they’re getting. They take the time to review the plans and submittals themselves. They don’t just count on the professionals and then act surprised when the product is installed. However, they certainly expect to be given an opportunity to see submittals, shop drawings, samples and mock ups, as they should, and as a good builder does in order to avoid misunderstandings and setbacks. 

Of course, great clients are good payers. They pay on time and they pay fairly for work completed. If there are issues, they’re worked out calmly and equitably. While they may negotiate hard, once a deal is struck, they don’t renegotiate. They understand that the trades are working people who need to be paid quickly. They also understand that the trades are much more likely to return quickly if they are paid quickly.

Lastly, great clients are willing to share some of their wisdom. Consequently, the best part for Geoff, myself and our project managers was that these extraordinary people often shared what they’d learned that worked for them. As a result, we also learned invaluable skills and knowledge that would help us in our own journey to be successful.

Part 2: Good Clients

Fortunately, the vast majority of clients are good people, regular folks who want some improvements made to their properties or just their house built. Yes, they have foibles and quirks, but then so do we. They might lose it once in a while, but generally are pleasant to deal with.

There’s not a whole lot to write about good clients except that they’re good people, just folks raising their families, doing their jobs and figuring things out like you and me. Thank God they are the vast majority. Good clients share many of the same great character traits and emotional intelligence as great clients. Sometimes we’re guilty of underappreciating our good clients, perhaps even take them for granted a bit. 

However, the beauty of the following types of clients outlined in Parts 3, 4 and 5 

is that they make us very appreciative of our good and great clients.  

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For more, click on: 

Clients and Contractors - Part 3
The Dangerous, the Bizarre, and the Neurotic