Service First Philosophy

There is a business book I like and recommend called, Profit First. The idea is that a business owner should always set aside their profit first in order to assure they can pay their operating costs, salaries and taxes. This helps prevent the business owner from working for free or only for his/her creditors and the government. Sounds crazy, unless you’ve ever run a business.

The obvious idea behind Profit First is to put what’s most important first so that it’s not forgotten. Profits are most important to a business because, without them, the business wouldn’t survive.

Setting balance sheets aside, this concept of most important first is exactly how Happy Renovations was built. Our “most important” or, our “why” is service.

This means when you hire Happy Renovations, whether as a consultant or for a complete renovation, we are first concerned with your experience during your renovation process – we want it to be a happy one.

Why is it more common to hear about bad renovation experiences than it is good?

Well, it’s because most general contractors and tradesmen are focused on their trade and on getting the job done first. That’s how they get paid but, more importantly, that’s how they bill you.

Let’s leave the balance sheet closed in it’s appropriate online file, but let’s look at pricing. When a general contractor or tradesmen gives you a bid they consider labor, materials and their overhead and profit. They do not have a line item for service.

The contractor might say service is implied, but the reality is that service is secondary or conditional.

If the job is going well, staying on budget, all tradesmen show up and all products are where they’re supposed to be when they’re supposed to be well, then, maybe you’ll get lucky and experience good service. But all of the elements have to line up perfectly for these things to happen.

At Happy Renovations, when we put together a bid for a client we include a line for service. It’s our design, planning and management line. This line is an assurance to our clients that they have hired an advocate and personal renovation assistant who will do everything possible to make their renovation experience a happy one.

Though this post sounds like an advertisement for Happy Renovations, the reality is that the knowledge behind the pricing in a renovation project is powerful in helping you manage a happy renovation for yourself.

If your contractor hasn’t carved out their own customer service line in his/her contract, you can do it for them. Our next post: Creating Leverage for a Better Renovation Experience shows you how.