It's difficult these days to know what tomorrow will bring. The coronavirus has changed the world in which you do business so fundamentally that you have a hard time keeping up.
For many first-time remodeling clients, this is what they experience in the best of times! Why? The whole process is foreign to them.
What do I mean?
What Happens When and Why
You, in normal times, have a step-by-step process that is so familiar you take it for granted. And many remodelers take it for granted that their clients understand it, too.
Most first-time clients don't. Every day entails some new situation/term/issue that is a shock. They feel surprised and frustrated. How come they weren't told this might happen is a question many of them have.
Your "normal" has been set aside for the time being.
They Expect Things to Go Right
Because of your process, which took significant effort and time to create, you tend to think things will go well. It is rare in these last few weeks and the weeks to come, that you can rely on that.
Your first-time clients have no idea how much work goes into simply staying close to being on schedule. They are surprised and sometimes frustrated when their remodeler cannot stay on schedule.
This topsy-turvy day-by-day everchanging environment will be going on for several months, in all likelihood. Be thankful when anything goes right!
Problems Occur and Then...
You have built a team that has done many projects. Most have gone well, leaving your clients very happy with their experience with your company.
Your inexperienced remodeling clients also want to like your workers and feel smart that they hired your company. The problem is that there are always problems, even during the best-run projects. They are simply part of the cost of getting the project done.
You and your team are experiencing these same stressors on a daily basis. Little is going as smoothly as you would like. In fact, it is basically a miracle when things DO go right.
The only way to make it through this time of uncertainty is to accept the fact that you have much less control over the outcomes than you are used to having.
After all, that's what you expect of a first-time remodeling client, isn't it?
And, the truth is that most remodeling projects end well, even if the journey to completion had its ups and downs.
All the lessons you and your team are learning now will pay off in the long run. Hang in there. There is always a first time for everything. You just have to live through it to reap the benefits.
