I have had to hire contractors to work on my own home . When I go looking for help, that’s what I expect to find. Customer service to me, is a forecast of how the job is going to go. Wether or not we are doing routine maintenance or bringing a masterpiece to life, in the end we are trying to check a to-do off of our list. We need someone who is going to help us do that.

Say, I am looking for a new roof for my shop (just did that!). I want to call a company and feel, that they had my back. I do not want a fake receptionist to blow smoke or a call center that is equally as fake. I want communication and info. Fast! I don’t want to have to do endless hours of research on the internet or in stores about what type of roofing I need. Or what the process should look like so, I can babysit my contractor. I literally, feel like I need to do the research so I can know what it looks like if I am getting a good product or god forbid, getting burnt, again! Lets face it, there are a lot of contractors out there  that are hack jobs. 

Use your intuition on their authenticity! Calling a contractor and knowing they are the pro and will answer your questions with your house painting needs needs in mind and not theirs, is a very big deal.  That’s how it should be. If not, you are going to basically, have to teach yourself how to paint houses, roof or whatever to make the educated decisions. This is a lot of valuable time that is lost….

 Get a referral!  Find a company that has contracted or painted houses and done it in a successfull manner. Hopefully, even went above and beyond! Maybe, you haven’t got a referral or found the 2 or 3 you need.. Luckily, there are referrals all over the internet in the form of reviews. Surprisingly, a lot of people wait until they have had a bad experience to look them up.

Check those reviews!!!! As the owner of Preble Painting, LLC, we did 140+ jobs last year. We are a Spokane house painting contractor and have been in business for 10+ years. It is  hard to get good referrals for painting when you’re not asking.  I have just started asking, recently. For every positive referral we have online, it represents about 100 successful jobs or so. But, if you do a bad job, we all know that will get blasted all over the internet immediately. But, read into even the bad reviews to discern if that customer has a valid complaint or if the contractor just didn’t have time to estimate their house. Some people are irrational, but we always make them happy. I do not think we have any bad reviews but, I have seen some pretty picky ones towards companies I have hired personally. We have completed about 1000 jobs with zero bad reviews. It’s because, we care. I will do anything to keep a customer happy. All they would have to do is tell me they are not 100% satisfied. I will do backflips!!!! If I ever got a bad review, I guarantee the customer never gave us a chance to make it right  Small mistakes can happen. Even in the form of a discount if the job was completed already and the problem was punctuality. I will do anything to up keep our reputation. Our new #1 goal is 5 star reviews. It is well know by our customers and team members.

No reviews or info is bad!!! Whoever you look up should have multitudes of info across the web. It is inevitable in the age of the internet. Not finding info means, that company might not really exist in the fashion that they have described to you if, they claim to be a “pro”.

Establish dialog with your contractor. See if they are for you. If you can’t communicate with them at first, chances are, you never will. I don’t wan’t to talk to a contractor or anyone who is being fake, dry or shrouded in mystery. It makes me feel like I’m getting the wool pulled over my eyes or they think I can’t see it. I think “Is this even a real person?”.  Some people like this fake “professionalism”. Not me. And I won’t be fake for anyone!!!!! Maybe, a little more serious. If your seriousness makes me nervous! That is why I may not be for you. You may see me as rude or you may see me as genuine and sincere!! Some people need to find more of an “old business” painter or contractor. You make click with him or simply enjoy the level of “professionalism” they have to offer. I however, look at it as selling your soul for business!!!! This is the type of person that will tell you what they think you want to hear. Not, what they as a pro, think you need to hear. I believe, this is the start of going downhill as they will then, be giving you the incorrect product. But, thats just my honest, opinion!

Ask about their employees!!! Who knows who or what is going to show up after the painting or roofing proposal. Do they just hire anyone? Or are they extremely picky? I personally only hire guys that I can trust to crash on my couch with my family in the house. (This has never happened but, I seriously think like this during the interview) I don’t want a stinky couch!!! Or a wife that is nervous about my decision. I hire on character and will teach skill if it is lacking. But, we don’t hire often. I just retain our members we have hired. Someone with a good moral compass will pick up on what they don’t know, immediately. As soon as they know what they don’t know, they are almost there!!! We are a very, tight knit group. A well oiled machine!!! Tuned in and continually perfected. There is only 6 of us and it took me 10 years to get these 6 guys. They are my family. Our family and their families are all brothers and sisters. One bad apple will ruin the whole batch. There is so much truth in that!!!

This article is getting long winded! I hope you have found something in this article useful. I have been extremely truthful and tried to be as non-biased as possible. Most of these examples are used to back up what I am saying with experience.

Thank you for spending the time to read my words!! This is my first blog post. Yeah, there’s some editorial issues but, thats just me!! Maybe I will edit it soon. Good luck on your journey to creating your masterpiece or vision and have a great day!!! 

-Darrick Preble

Preble Painting, LLC