Educating your customers

[Colour Republic]

So full of a cold and barely able to think straight I spent the weekend (and today ) , preping, lining and papering this job amongst other little bits.

So thought I'd share the pics which I have to say don't do the paper justice because it doesn't pick up the way the wall sparkles, also the room was still in a bit of disaray when i took the photos, so will update when it's dressed again.

Thinking about maybe a vodeo would be better to pick up the shimmer


anyway...


Before shots




Walls primed with Zinsser Gardz, then lined with Mav 1000 grade lining paper, Solvite ready mixed super high performance paste.



This is the paper Jannelli and Volpi 901VIP - 1m wide on a 30m roll


Close up of the paper (can ss a bit of detail in this shot)


Job done




Picture taken with flash on so you can see how it reacts with light

 

[mikethetile]

superb job Rob

stunning paper

 

[Colour Republic]

oh forgot to say, the paper is made from thousands of tiny glass beads, new blade needed for every drop!

 

[Colour Republic]

superb job Rob

stunning paper

Should be for the price, £40sqm, so that is £1200 of wallpaper on that one wall.

trimming round the fireplace was a bit tricky as trying to cut through the glass was a bit tough.

Mike, sounds silly but do you hang lining paper the same way? i.e over hang the external corners by an inch, let it dry a little then dand off to give a perfect corner?

 

[White Room]

Thats classy work Rob:cool3:

I was taught to cross line so the chance no joints matched when sticking.

I trained as a decorator in my young years

 

[SandyFloor]

Nice job. You wouldn't want to look at that in the morning and realise you'd hung it upside down :yikes:

 

[Colour Republic]

Nice job. You wouldn't want to look at that in the morning and realise you'd hung it upside down :yikes:

:lol::lol:
I did scratch my head for a little while as the pattern looks right both ways ended up finding the manufactuers site and seeing how they showed it:builder2:

 

[Colour Republic]

It is hard to get those customers, but when you do, they're the ones that become your salespeople, and you end up with many more in the future.

I've always said that's where I'd aim. Aim for the higher end of the market and be the guy with the higher price (not overly priced for nothing -but give better value for their better money) and enjoy your job a lot more.

It's tricky starting out, but if you only ever did high end work, you'll always get high end work. If you're always priced out of a job, you'll be priced out until you clock that you need to explain a lot lot more to customers about the differences in pricing.

By the way Dan, the lady of the house was over the moon, customers that love what you've done is like getting paid twice as you know you've made them happy. She asked for a stack of cards just as I was leaving and told me she has already recommeded me to 2 friends before i'd even finished!

 

[Dan]

By the way Dan, the lady of the house was over the moon, customers that love what you've done is like getting paid twice as you know you've made them happy. She asked for a stack of cards just as I was leaving and told me she has already recommeded me to 2 friends before i'd even finished!

I knew that would happen mate!

They say that 1 happy customer will tell at least 1 other and you'll get the job. Though they say if you have 1 unhappy customer, they'll tell a few, who will tell a few more. And you could have 10 potential clients' not willing to take you on. People in general spread bad news much quicker than good.

And it's the whole reasoning behind it taking years to build up a good reputation but just a week or two of poor standard work to lose it all.

That 1 customer already passing you 2 very good leads, could really turn into 5 or 6 regular really nice customers once you've done their work too.

And that, is how you grow a reputable business!

Well done.

Once again, I salute you, Sir!

 

[faithhealer]

always pays to have 'likability' as well as the skill doesn't it, nice one Rob

 

[macten]

Brilliant thread.

 

[Scott]

Nice job Rob, they got enough downlighters in there?

If you look at pic number one theres a bloke in the other room hiding in the cupboard with a camera :smilewinkgrin:

 

[mikethetile]

Should be for the price, £40sqm, so that is £1200 of wallpaper on that one wall.

trimming round the fireplace was a bit tricky as trying to cut through the glass was a bit tough.

Mike, sounds silly but do you hang lining paper the same way? i.e over hang the external corners by an inch, let it dry a little then dand off to give a perfect corner?

yes I do Rob

lining paper is lovely stuff to sand as the edges disappear, I use wallrock these days, more expensive but a nice suface to paint or paper too, I treat the external corners the same

 

[Richard Edwards]

Your initial post / thread is familar to me and I would endorse all you have said about relationships with clients and approaching the enquiry in a professional manner. I do wish more tradesmen / women would do the same.

Well done on a really good post - I like it - a lot

 

[Ken Bruty]

Beautiful job Rob, and some great advice on dealing with potential customers

 

[SandyFloor]

Going back to the title of this thread I've just educated my customer and won a job of installing 60sq.mtrs porcelain floor tiles. The customer is a farmer who has just taken over the main farmhouse and has had an extension built with ufh installed into the concrete. When I looked at the job last week I could already see some slight cracks in the screed and recommended using a decoupling membrane explaining the reasons for it and the risks if you don't. I knew his builder wanted his tiler to do the job but I had done his parents floor in Karndean a couple of months ago and he wanted to give me a shot although he also explained he was on a tight budget.

I priced it the following evening and included decoupling. I suspect his builder's tiler hasn't even heard of decoupling and his price would be a lot cheaper than mine so I didn't hold out much hope. I should add I added in some Schluter links on my email explaining the benefits of decoupling.

I got a call this morning asking me to go ahead as he'd thought about all the information I gave him and as it was a long term investment he wanted me to do the work. I was right in that the other tiler hasn't heard of decoupling and with my info I won credibility and the job.

My point is pricing to do the job properly doesn't necessarily mean you won't get the work....you just need to know your stuff and be able to back it up.

 

[Richard Edwards]

Spot on Sandy - an achievement for a true professional - well done. Hope it goes ok when installing.