I have just had the most fantastic experience of having my loft turned into a bedroom and bathroom, and the builder and his team were absolutely the opposite of those nightmares you sometimes hear about.

Absolutely everything they said they would do they did, at precisely the time they said they would do it. The work they did was of a high standard, they cleaned up everyday, they didn’t turn the air blue with swear words (as our neighbours’ builders did for the four months they were working next door), and they were always responsive to questions and minor changes, etc.

So, how do I thank the team? They left the site yesterday, and neither my wife nor I had a chance to say anything, but would a card suffice? What about writing a good reference? Whats sorts of things are helpful to small, independent building business people?

Tell us who and where they are!

Good reference / review on something like Check a trade if they are registered… but yes, a card / beer is always nice.. Everyone likes to be appreciated!

J

Check their website to see if they have a comments page/ link to ratedpeople etc and leave a good reference there.

It might be the brownie points that wins them their next job or at least gets them in a position to quote for work.

Starlight Lofts. Cardiff

4 Stella for each man. & a good review.

Dammit
Couldn’t you have been near Cambridge…….

Just offer to be a ref if they need you, if they have a website then send them a few words so they can use it in their testimonials. But do tell them, speaking as a decorator it really makes my day when people do that

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUXTN6ENsKQ[/video]

Pay them. and Pay them early. Such a rarity in the industry these days.

Also provide a glowing reference for them. These are priceless. Drop off a crate of ale at their office.

Oh and of course tell other people, it may take awhile to filter through but all of my work now comes from word o mouth. Saves me a bloody fortune on advertising

Thinking about it, a couple of choice photographs once the room is fully finished with nice lighting etc. for their website.

Often trades don’t get to see the project in its final state.

My wife always just gives them a bit extra money. Nothing says that you value a job highly than you thinking it is worth more money than the person who did it for you. Easier than beer / chocolates or whatever, which you don’t know if they want. She is probably right, she usually is!

Offer to let them bring potential customers round to have a look at the completed job (occassionally) – that seems to be what our attic conversion builder was most pleased with (and he brings us a good bottle of wine each time!)

Couldn’t you have been near Cambridge…….

I can recommend a Brickie, Chippie and Roofer, in Cambridge, if you’re interested – all did excellent work on my workshop. The Roofer mainly works for a Loft Conversion company which has done about half my street so far, so I’d probably use them if I were going to hire a company.

Take them down the caff and buy them all breakfast.

Friends that build fancy oak garages like it if they can use places to show new clients and testimonials.

Although in a slightly different line of work we used to appreciate the thanks for our work. Cash/beer for the staff, big thank-you letter for company portfolio.

Mine were bikers – two tickets for Blaenau! (Cheers Gav and Bill if you read STW!)

wait four months and see what the work is like after its been lived in…bound to be some minor teething problems !

I would have thought payment and agreeing to be a reference for them where they could send people to check out their work would have sufficed.

We had a similar experience (bar the plumber) and we recommended the builder to a couple of neighbours. Each on went ahead and the builder duly came round and gave us £100 referral each time 🙂

As lowey said. So many subbies struggling with cash flow. Early payment is greatly appreciated. Any of the smaller trades on our site who come in and do a good job get paid straight up. The bigger firms out there have a lot of subbies on 90 days and then a years 10% retention!

I always pay within a couple of days of getting the invoice, there’s nothing worse than chasing late payers if you’re self employed.

April fools was 2 days ago…

properbikeco – Member

April fools was 2 days ago…

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