Finding Contractors - Pick Any 2 of 3

[Christian Malesic]

As the President / CEO of a contracting business (full service electricians) in Central, PA and an instructor for the NAHB (National Association of Home Builders) I offer the following. You can have 2 of the following, but never 3:

Price
Qualilty
Customer Service

That last category covers: scheduling the job, making you a priority, showing up on time, working a full day, manning the job, calling to brief you, professionalism of forms & processes, meeting your deadline to finish the work, etc.

The prob in the REI business is, by default we always look to Price as a must have, leaving us to determine which of the other two can we deal without - not realizing that time is money and how much more important Quality & Customer Service issues can be. Price should be our lowest priority (within reason, of course) and we should be willing to pay for professionalism and quality up front, rather than paying on the back end by delays, poor performance, inspections that will not pass, etc.

If You Can't Afford to Do It Right... How Can You Afford to Do It Over?