Dear Corbett: Why Don't Homeowners Want It Done Right?
Corbett Lunsford
Dear Homeowners: please read and absorb what the quality contractors come up against with typical clients. This is part of why high quality construction and home improvements are hard to come by...
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Hi Corbett,
Hate to bother you, but you said if I had aquestion to get in touch with you. Sometimes I feel like just throwing my hands up in the air and giving up; why did I read that article about making the heating system airtightback in 1992 when I started my HVAC business? And why six years ago did I bother learning about the whole house approach? There are times I wish I wasn’t disciplined and motivated to do things right.
If a customer just wants a new energy efficient furnace or A/C and is not concerned with all the other issues with the house, should I just give them what they're asking for and take their money? Knowing how easy it would be to do that, I just can’t lower my standards. Even companies that are doing 'whole home performance' now, I’m following behind them fixing some of their mistakes already.
I get people telling me about the problems they are having inside the house. The question I’m always asking the homeowner is, If I see some safety concerns or other issues would you like me to tell you? On a service call, the first thing I have to get right is the problem with the equipment, than I can let them know what I see with the whole house and heating/cooling system generally.
I’m always getting pushback on this: "my heating system is just 7 years old, everything's fine." And here I am, telling them it was not installed correctly, and that we have to start all over again. Always running into oversized furnaces and air conditioners with undersized ductwork.
Not sure if I’m explaining things correctly to the homeowner as to what I’m trying to accomplish inside the house for them. It always seems to come down to the price. Maybe I have to do a better job in showing value to the customer?
Right now, looking at one job, the call was for high end air purifying filters. The homeowner told me the house is 4000 sq ft but might include the garage and it’s 8 years old. Their 5 year old son has allergy problems, $650.00 utility bill a month, a lot dust in the house. They have 181,000 Btu output for heating and 10 tons of cooling! Told the homeowner the first thing we should do is test the house and HVAC systems first before installing the filters. It apparently costs "too much" to fix the problems. Help?
Thanks,
Sal C.
Hey Sal-
Great question, and I feel your pain! Sometimes it can seem like our clients actually prefer to hire mediocre contractors to do cheap home improvements that make things steadily worse in the house. I promise you, though, that it's not true. Yes, I believe it's 100% about education and showing the value, and judiciously using the powerful marketing tools Fear and Sex Appeal to do so.
Keep at it. I'll keep an eye out for your success stories to come.
Looking Forward,
Corbett