How to Always Deliver Clean and Neat Installations

Make sure that you have not forgotten a wire, and that wires are protected during the rest of the construction process.

Most importantly, document your system. Make sure that any changes made from the original design are reflected in the documentation.

This way, they're billed for and any additional equipment can be ordered in time for the trim out.

Clean-Up

Pick up after yourself. This sets an example for your employees.

They should be expected to act in a professional manor because they are representing your company -- cleaning up at the end of a job is part of that professionalism. It also shows other potential clients what they can expect of you.

Furthermore, the clean-up phase prevents the loss of drill bits, batteries, half full boxes of wire and anything else that might get left behind in the rush to leave the site.

Processes Pay

By following these steps and being thorough in each phase of a project, you will not only impress the homeowner, but also the architect, builder, designer and any other trade that can see your work.

It's important to remember that the most profitable projects are the ones you get from referrals. They don't cost any advertising dollars and you have already earned the clients trust.

So, they are more likely to be forthcoming about what they are really looking for in their project. When I owned my install company, if I did not get a referral from a client during or after a project, I considered it a losing project because it stunted our company growth.

These steps will make you more profitable and make the trim out phase more efficient at the same time. Take the documentation and use it to plan, execute, and clean-up.

You will eliminate most of the road blocks that cause projects to go overtime and, when you establish this as a company policy, you can more accurately bill for time and material cost. At the same time, you will be training your entire staff to follow the same company rules.

When you promote someone from the pre-wire crew to the trim out crew, they will know what is expected of them and know what is expected of their replacement on the pre-wire crew.

Take time to do it right and you won't have to make time to do it over.

John Russell is the president and head designer of Russell Systems Inc. and can be contacted at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) and also through http://www.RussellSystemsInc.com.