I’ve always been somewhat of a Green builder.  Growing up and coming of age in a cold climate, I learned to  prefer 2 x 6 exterior walls for additional insulation.  We use to catch rainwater in an old cistern and pumped it out to water the garden.  We were squarely in the working class, so we re-used nearly everything and built for function way more than form.

Green idealism has been around for years.  But it wasn’t until recently with the surge in energy prices and the discussion about global warming that becoming Green is a necessary business strategy.  Customers look for some kind of tangible “green” symbol on anything and everything.  They now care about where the product was sourced, where it was built, the sustainability of the materials involved, etc.

I have always felt much of the recent green trend is just that - a trend with a defined shelf life.  With that sentiment, I do think a realistic greening of our industry is upon us.  This is an important shift in public perception.  I recently joined the U.S. Green Building Council and am diligently working towards the LEED AP certification.  Sustainability is upon us, and fighting the tide is a losing battle.  Although I could tell clients that Building Science has been a passion of mine since I was a teenager, there is nothing like the proverbial letters after one’s name to verify and qualify that statement.  I am beginning to feel like a credential collector, which is something I never thought I needed in this industry - but I believe that sentiment is no longer correct.

Our clients don’t just want a contractor - they want an expert partner that can guide them through the maze of questions and regulations.  They want someone who understands tax credits enough to point them in the right direction.  They want a contractor that cares about where the product was sourced, how sustainable the process was in both harvesting and building the end result.

As contractors, we can never be educated enough.  Building scientist (BS), renewable energy guru (REG), tax credit understander (TCU), sustainable product sourcer (SPS) - and, oh yeah - be able to build a facility on time and within budget with no punchlist.  Sheesh!  These are all letters that we now must, in some way, put after our name.

It is unfortunate in some aspects, but true and incredibly exciting in others - our industry has grown up and continues to do so, and we are quickly being considered more of a professional service than anything else.  We always use to wear multiple hats in our companies, now we may need multiple heads to wear all of them that people expect of us.  Let’s not fear these new expectations put upon us, but rather embrace them as a sign that we are succeeding at our goal, and are looked to for expert guidance and advice.  That alone is a powerful change in perception.  Trust me, it will take some time to get used to.

I am about to put the finishing touches on a porch I have been building for my family.  A rather unremarkable job for the most part, until I set down to thinkin’ about it.

Part of the process that I steer all of my potential clients to is an attempt to assign each lead a number that corresponds to a stage in the sales/execution process.  (1-5)

1. Website feeler or call for information (cold lead)
2. Potential for developing relationship (warm lead)
3. Pursuit in Progress (prelim scope of work/design ideas)
4. Proposal
5. Client

But what struck me as I was sanding and spit polishing our new gathering place last weekend was just how different the project seems from an owner’s perspective.  We didn’t want to start with anything more than a rough design, because it is fun to tinker, modify, change and adapt as we go.  My wife (our CFO) wanted a firm price before we tore the old one off (without a design! Sound familiar?)  I wanted to know how many of my summer weekends this porch that I hadn’t designed yet or planned would take. (Familiar to anyone?)  In essence, my wife and I were the worst possible clients!   

It made me realize just how important the process of lead to client navigation is.  I preach over and over that we cannot give anything more than an absolute ballpark guess of cost (and I try to stay away from anything other than a # to see if we aren’t even in the same orbit)  until after Phase 3 is complete.  We can’t begin to know what something will cost or how long it will take until we have a rough scope of work and at least a preliminary concept design, which then pushes us into phase 4.  But yet, on my own porch, with my own precious time and my own precious resources, I became the worst possible client.  I wanted to know everything possible without going through steps 1-4.  It suddently dawned on me on why my clients are often like this.

When we commit to a project, we know the end will justify the means.  But so often, our clients don’t enjoy the means of getting there.  This is the area that I strive to excel in for my customers.  We have developed a simplified process not only for tracking lead to client - but for tracking earthwork to punchlist.  We strive to make the means enjoyable by setting out a plan that gets them to the justification at the end of the project.  We work diligently, almost religiously, on tracking costs and avoiding missing steps in our process.  I did none of this on my own project at my own home.  Part of it is because I didn’t want to make the effort.  Part of it is, as sick as it sounds, building things is not only my livelihood but my hobby.  I didn’t want to make my hobby seem like work.  In so doing, we bumbled the cost to complete.  We missed the estimated completion time.  Our design looked nothing like what we started out with, because we started with hardly an idea.  Sure we are happy with the end result.  But is cost 1/3 more than I thought and took 3 weekends of work longer than I estimated.

Our clients want to behave in this manner, too.  They have a vision and immediately want to send out invitations for the housewarming party while the addition is nothing more than a sketch or two on a sheet of paper.  It is our job as professionals to guide them in the steps of building, the “Order of Things” as I like to call them.  Betraying this order causes a curse to be put on our projects in terms of time and dollars and ultimately client retention and good word of mouth.  The “Order of Things” is darn near the ten commandments in my company.  But, oddly enough, not for my own project.  I betrayed my own commandment of thou shalt not betray the Order.  I like this phrase so much I want to write a book about it someday.

I often marvelled at how some folks that hire us haven’t a concept of the difficulties and pitfalls in renovation and construction.  It is our job to develop a process, stick to it and not sacrifice it for the sake of expediency.   If we do, years of tinkering with process go out the window, and goodwill often goes with it.  Don’t become your own worst enemy - develop your process and stick with it.  The efficiencies gained when you can say “Client X is a 3 right now” and everyone knows exactly what that means is important for laying the foundation that our reputations are built upon.  I didn’t follow my own plan, but I learned something valuable - how my client thinks the moment that they call some one to design or renovate their home.  How much will it cost?  When will it be done?  When can you start?  I am sorry, Mr. or Mrs. client - the answers to all of these questions can’t be determined until you are at least a 4!!!