If you take a job “hoping” to get paid, several things happen.
Just like a dog can smell fear, people can “smell” that attitude in the contractor.
It communicates that:
- You don’t have much confidence in yourself or your ability.
- You are not a real business.
- You come off as a low status contractor or business.
- When you give away your expertise and/or your knowledge for free, that is the poor contractor mentality. It is also why so many contractors are poor. They don’t really think much of themselves or the service they provide.
But that is not the only problem. The real problem is what happens in your mind.
Think about how you feel each time you take a job or look at a job “hoping” to get paid. At the least, it is demeaning. You feel terrible on the inside and at the mercy of the person.
I sent a text to another contractor today that stated: “They are hiring you or buying your services to see if the unit can be saved. Whether the repair of the unit looks acceptable or not, they have still hired you. Don’t do anything for free hoping to make a little money. That damages your psyche.”
Some people, knowing how you feel, or see yourself, will use that against you. “Well, that is not quite what I expected. I was expecting something a little better.” Now you feel guilty for asking to be paid. Many times things cannot be made perfect.
There are much better ways of dealing with these situations.
You have to have enough respect for yourself to believe and know that you deserve to be paid. That attitude has quite a different “smell,” and most people can tell that one, too.
I had a builder call today and ask me to look at a certain problem he had and let him know if it could be repaired. I told him he might as well let me repair it while I was there because the cost was the same for a trip charge to “look” as it was to repair. Once it was repaired, then he could decide if it would be acceptable or if not, replace the unit. He agreed to that idea. I will get paid even if he replaces the unit.
By handling the situation this way he knows he will have to pay for my services either way. It feels much better for me also. It is fair to him and also to me and my family. Rather than doing this inspection for free, I could be doing another job that paid.
People should expect to pay you. They are paying for your expertise and knowledge. Folks should expect to pay for that. We have many calls where they just want us to “come take a look” at their problem, whatever it is. We are upfront and tell them it is $XX.XX for us to “look”. Knowing that we have a service fee for looking at a problem, many are glad to pay it.
So I recommend they send us pictures, and we can go from there. Since we do charge for inspections, we try to solve problems over the phone from pictures and give those recommendations for free. Once I explain why we need the pictures, that we are trying to save them the cost of an inspection, they are usually grateful.
If people in your area learn you are willing to come “take a look” for free, you will not have time to make a living. They will bury you in calls.
When you tell clients up front what you charge for your services, generally, they are willing to pay that — especially if you come recommended.
If you don’t bring up the cost of an inspection until you tell them it cannot be repaired, they many times will balk at paying you. They will say you did not do anything.
It is not fair or honest for people to expect you to give away your recommendations for free if you have to visit their job site. It is also not fair or honest to have you attempt to do a job they know may not be perfect and then expect not to pay if it is unrepairable. With inspections sometimes that is unavoidable, especially if it is for a large client. But even with them, you can be frank and let them know what your fee is for inspections, recommendations or advice. Remember, they are hiring you to attempt to repair or to recommend.
It is also not fair to your family to give away for free what has taken you years to acquire in knowledge and expertise. Your family deserves better than “free.”
You will also be able to hold your head a little higher, people will have much more respect for you and they will have more respect for your recommendations and attempts to make a bad unit acceptable. This feels far better than “hoping” to get paid. It is a completely different attitude.
This is not done with any arrogance or haughty pride but just with an expectation of being paid for your service whether it is an inspection or an actual job.
These things are worth thinking about both for your psyche and your pocketbook.
This is all part of The Prosperous Life.
