It's a cliche, but going the extra mile really does bring long term financial rewards. Let me explain how.
This week I've had a lot of work going on to rennovate my living room.
The ceiling was a mess because an upstairs leak had gone through, so we needed a plasterer.
I wanted the TV on the wall with cables hidden through the cavity, so we needed an AV specialist.
We were having new radiators repositioned in the room, so we needed a plumber.
A wood burner was replacing an aging (and utterless useless) gas fire, so we needed a fireplace company.
New light fittings ... a sparky.
New carpets ... carpet fitters.
And finally, so it didn't look like a child had grabbed a set of brushes and gone to town, decorators.
Out of all these trades there's just two I would have do more work for me, in a heartbeat -
The plumber and the decorator.
The plumber went out of his way to come back more than once to ensure his tasks were completed around other trades - he didn't have to, but he knew it would make the project come together smothly.
In other words, he looked beyond just his element of the project and worked to the bigger picture.
The decorator also added considerable extra value beyond just splashing the walls with colour.
He identified errors and upcoming headaches in other parts of the project, for example, in having the fireplace out we would need to get the skirting replaced.
So I bought the skirting and he kindly put it in for me.
He also inserted new door handles (in an evening after another job) ...
A bracket for the curtains ...
And spent an age smoothing down the walls to ensure the paint finish was as good as it could be.
He offered extraordinary additional value and I shall definitely have him back to paint the entrance and hallway part of the house, which is a considerable project.
The others simply came, did their thing, and left.
It's not that they did a bad job, it's just they didn't try to understand the bigger picture of the project to see how, or where, they could make things better, easier or simpler.
Offering additional advice and opinion takes no additional time, but unless you're dealing with those with OCD, you'll find your customers value and appreciate your opinions - and get you back time and again.
If you'd like 51 ways to save time and money, drop me an email and I'll be happy to start sending you our simple tips and tricks.
Hints that you can quickly use to help you keep more of your hard earned money for yourself.
Best,
Sarah