The Gap Between Words And Meaning

Ty Cobb Backer 0:00

Episode 329 of Behind it to About. And today I want to talk about one of the biggest gaps in our industry, and quite frankly, just about every service industry known to man there's a gap between what customers hear and what the contractor is actually saying. Okay, because as a contractor, we say things all the time that sound normal. We think a lot of things are trivial, trivial. And we say things like, we'll take care of it. We'll be there tomorrow. Um, we're almost done. We'll we'll clean up before we leave, right? And and all of those things sound sound very simple, normal, no big deal, right? But to homeowners, those words mean something much bigger. That means uh they hear uh certainty, they hear clarity, reliability, peace of mind. Uh I don't have to worry. These people seem organized, these people care, they respect my property, they they seem to be in control. And the problem is a lot of the times we drop the ball. Even before, even before we get the job, the estimate took too long. Um, we relate to the appointments, communication with spotty, uh the the scheduling just felt messy. Been there, did that. I've done all these things, I've experienced it, I've been on both ends of this, and and we assume, right, as a contractor, that they understand. And and a lot of times um we we just don't explain enough. So, and then somehow we still end up getting the job, okay? We do a really good job on the roof and wonder why they they never uh gave us a review. They they didn't refer us to anybody, they never called us back for that other project that we talked to them briefly about when we were there. And the simple answer to that is because we did a great roof, does not erase the broken customer experience. So today, today I want to talk about trust. I want to talk about communication and why so many contractors think they did a great job while the homeowner walks away feeling unsure. You know, we and and for me personally, we we grade ourselves on our craftsmanship, but but customers grade us on confidence. So I want to walk walk us through this a little bit. Where, you know, me as a contractor, I'm trained to to focus on the install. We think in terms of shingles, flashing, ventilation, leak protection, and and workmanship, all of which are very, very, very important. But but the homeowner is not judging us on the job the same way. Okay. They they are asking questions like did they show up on time when they said they would? Did did they keep me informed? Did did I feel like my home was respected? Did I trust them from beginning to end? So roofing is not just a construction business, okay? It is it is a trust business with trucks, ladder, shingles, and and the roof is is essentially the the product, okay. But trust is the experience, okay. So what we say versus what they hear, and listen, this is gonna probably be the centerpiece of of this episode. Because what we say sometimes is we'll take care of it. But what we really mean is is that we do this all the time. Okay. We we can we know what to do, we know our jobs, right? But and and what they hear, okay, sometimes because we all have different stories, right? I will not have to chase you because that's let's face it, most homeowners have had bad experiences with contractors, construction workers. Okay. Um, but they want to feel they want to hear, I'm in good hands. They want to feel that. They they they want to know that we are staying on top of it, right? And then sometimes we say stuff like insurance should cover it. And what that really means is this looks like a valid claim. But what we should be really explaining is that there is an opportunity that it it may not be approved. And there, but there's a good chance for approval, like fully walking them through that entire process and giving them a price, like if it doesn't get approved, you know, and when we say things like it looks like a valid claim, they're they're thinking to themselves, there will be no surprises. I am financially safe. This should go smoothly, okay? And then we say stuff like, uh, we'll be there tomorrow. And what we really mean is that is the current plan, right? The current plan today is that uh we'll be there, you know, not even specifying exactly what time we'll be there. And then if we're if we don't get there till 11 o'clock and we know damn well that we're not gonna get there until 11 o'clock, it's 7:30 a.m. in the morning, we tend not to shoot them a quick message or a phone call stating, hey, the crew's running late, we're finished up the job before, or we got caught in the rain, you know, explaining to them before it's too late in the day. So then they can arrange their schedule because they're arranging their schedule around what schedule you gave them. Okay. So we got to speak in clear English um because they plan on scheduling their day around the schedule that we're giving them. You know, and then they then they're second-guessing everything at that point in time because I've I've had this happen. I've had this happen to me recently where you know, we were chasing, you know, uh the contractor down and um said they would be there, they wouldn't show up, ghosted us, and it didn't sit well with me. Didn't sit well with me at all. Finally, they came out, they performed the duties, and I didn't even really care about how well they did it because I could have hired anybody to do the job, but it was the the way that I felt before and chasing them around, not even during, I wasn't even there when the project took place, but then how they ghosted us afterwards because we needed some more stuff done, right? So it was it was what I'm trying to explain here today, it's it's the entire experience, even though they their craftsmanship was on point. It has nothing to do with the project on how I feel today about that particular contractor. Nothing. Okay, so what I'm trying to say is it's very a lot of customers' frustration, I guess, does not come from what we intended. It comes from what they believed we promised. Okay. So how how trust gets lost before before we even win the job, right? And and that's exactly what happened to me. The customer experience starts long before production, okay? It's the entire experience. So it took forever, you know, to get the estimate. Um uh they were actually late to the appointment. The follow-up felt so slow, communication was inconsistent. Um, and and I want to talk about how it made me feel. Um it left me feeling confused. Um, did we do something wrong? Right. So if if they are if if they're gonna run late, what happens? So then I start thinking, if they're running late to that, so then what happens when they start my job? If getting the estimate was hard, what is the rest of it going to feel like? Okay, if I'm already having to chase them down, will I have to chase them down for anything else? Okay, customers do not assume we will improve after they sign, they assume the pre-sale experience is a preview of what and how the project is is gonna go. So the way you sell the job, okay, teaches the customer what to expect once they hire you. Okay. So, and the little things that that we as contractors think are trivial, you know, um, that are normal things, okay, homeowners do don't. They they don't speak in terms of you know, roofing terms. They don't they don't know our lingual. So we think they should know um, you know, we we are not coming. You know, this is the one thing that pisses me off sometimes, too. Just because it's raining, we assume that they know that we're not coming. Okay. We think being an hour late is no big deal. We think they know uh the supply delivery might change things, okay. We think they understand that schedule shift, we think cleanup was good enough. We think the job was great because the roof looks great, but the homeowners hear and see things differently. Okay. No update on any of that stuff means no respect. Late means disorganized, weak cleanup means carelessness, poor communication means unreliability, silence means something is wrong, and that's that's exactly what I was experiencing. Okay, I felt like something was wrong, right? They don't care how busy you are, they don't care what you had to go through to get to that job, they don't care that it rained, unfortunately. It's just a world that we live in. They don't understand the hoops that you have to jump to on a day-to-day in the adult daycare center that we run here. They don't they don't want to hear it, they don't want to hear the excuses either. You know what I'm saying? They and and quite frankly, it's like, yeah, you did a great job on my roof, but that so could have the other three contractors that I got priced from. I went with you because I know and I like and I I did I did trust you. So to us, rain delays are obvious. Okay, it's trivial to the homeowner. Silence feels like neglect, felt neglected. And what feels trivial to us feels personal to them because it's their home, it's their freaking home, and a customer does not know what is happening, starts creating their own story, and it is usually not a good one from my experience. So a homeowner can be satisfied with the roof and and still not be excited about the company, okay. And that drives me freaking crazy. So they they may be relieved that the job is over, but not impressed, not impressed enough to to recommend us. Um, they might think that the the roof looks good, but communication was rough. Okay, they they did the work, but I had to chase them to to come and finish the job. And the process was was stressful, right? And that is why we get no reviews, that is why we don't get any referrals. That's why we don't get any repeat projects, no strong word of mouth. Okay, and everybody knows any contractor, any business owner knows that word of mouth is is the best um form of lead generation. So you do not get referrals for for what you meant to do. Okay, if if if today if today had a had a title, I think that's that's what it would be. It would be it would be you don't get referrals for what you meant to do. Okay, and a couple weeks ago that we talked about the almost, right? And this kind of falls right in line with that, and with with our with our season kicking off, a lot of these things are on the forefront of my mind to make sure that our systems and processes and KPIs are dialed in. So you get referrals from how people felt working with you. You know, a great roof with a frustrating experience creates relief, not loyalty. You know, because when my project was done and it was over, I felt relieved. Like, okay, I can move on. Now I need to hire someone else to finish up all the other things that are related to that, but not necessarily needs to be done by the same person. So, so, so what a trustworthy contractor actually does, okay, and this is the thing that we try, you know, we're not perfect, but progress rather than perfection. But, you know, I would say the first thing would be is is to you know get the estimate out fast. Why? Because speed communicates seriousness, right? Be on time or communicate before you're late, not after, but before, right? Confirm appointments and schedules clearly. Do not make the customer guess when you're coming, okay? And then have a weather, a weather communication standard. Do not assume they know the plan change, send the quick text message or make the freaking call. Okay. Give updates before they ask. That one habit alone builds enormous trust. Okay. Give updates before they ask, right? That's it's it's your job, it's what you do, right? And this is the other thing too, cleanup. Okay. Make cleanup a part of the job, not the end of the job. Cleanup is not extra credit, okay? It's it's part of the quality, it's part of the it's part of the job. Make the homeowner feel guided, you know, not managed. They should feel led through the process, right? Professionalism, professionalism is is not just how well you installed the roof. Okay. It is how little uncertainty the customer feels along the way. Good contractors build roofs, great contractors build confidence. Okay, so I'm gonna challenge, I'm gonna challenge us and I'm gonna challenge the audience out there if anybody's in in business, any business, okay. Where where are we losing trust before production even starts? Okay, how long does it take to get an estimate out? Are we showing up on time? Okay, are they chasing us down? Are they making repeat phone calls? Are they sending you know text messages, emails? It's just so frustrating when it happens. We're not communicating the schedule clearly enough. Um, are we assuming the homeowner knows things um when we're not explaining them well enough? You know, does the cleanup match the quality that we claimed that we were going to deliver, right? The customer does not separate your workmanship from your communication. To them, it's all one experience. Okay, the customer does not separate your workmanship from your communication. To them, it is all one experience. So, anyhow, unfortunately, um half of what I think I was gonna say today, I shared in the first five or ten minutes of when you couldn't hear. So I'm gonna I'm gonna get this wrapped up a little bit here. I got a meeting here shortly. And my phone's blown up, but but before I go here, let's let's let's let's do um quick takeaway. As as contractors, um we have to stop thinking that a great roof automatically means a great job because the homeowner is not just hiring us for shingles, labor, and materials. They are hiring us for certainty, okay, for communication, for follow-through, for peace of mind. It's a freaking home. It's their largest investment. And every time we are late, okay, and every time we go silent, and every time we assume they know what we know, every time we leave cleanup a little short, we chip away at that trust. Okay. Then we wonder why they didn't leave us a review, why they didn't refer us to anybody, and why they did not call us back for the next project. And the answer is simple. It's not always the root, a lot of the times it's the experience around the roof. So I know for us this week we're gonna take a hard look at our company and ask ourselves, ask ourselves, what are we saying? Are we communicating clearly? What is the customer hearing? And and where is trust, where's the trust gap at? Where where are we losing trust? Because this is the bottom line. Because the companies that win long, long term, okay, are not just the ones that do great work. They are the ones that make customers feel safe, informed, respected, and confident the whole way through the project, not just during the beginning, right? Because we can smash it out of the park in the very beginning, okay. We can do an amazing, an amazing job on the roof. But if our cleanup and they're still finding nails, and if we didn't set the expectation up front about like, hey, there may be a few nails left over, you know, setting proper expectations and I think painting a clear picture on like what this is gonna take and what it's gonna entail and how long it's gonna be, and and not jerking them around on their work schedule or anything like that goes way further than how fast you got the roof put on. So, anyhow, thanks for listening today to Beyond the Tool Belt. Share this with someone on your team because everybody in the company affects trust. And I will see you next week for episode 330 of Behind the Tool Belt.

SPEAKER_00 19:00

Thanks to our sponsors, TC Backer Construction, Hook Roofing Marketing, Rufal, and Project Map It. And thank you for watching. Subscribe to our YouTube channel and follow us on Facebook. We are streaming on all major platforms. See you next week for another episode of Behind the Tool Belt.