Experience
Step one of asking about a company’s experience may seem obvious to anyone who has ever hired a contractor, but few consumers proceed to step two to find out who will be doing the actual work.
Step one includes the obvious questions: how long have they been in business? Have they done similar sized projects? Do they have a good standing with the BBB? Do they have a history with WCB coverage? Do they have sufficient liability insurance? Will you get a warranty?
The answers to these questions will tell you a lot about a company and give you some points to compare. They’ll also allow you to weed out the duds and fly-by-night operations. If a company can’t provide references and addresses of projects of a similar size and scope of work to the project you are considering having done, there is really no need to proceed to step two of this “experience” analysis.
Step two involves asking questions about the actual workers and crew who will be working on your project. After all, these will be the people doing the work. It’s great if you are tendering a high-rise project and the company has addresses of high-rises they have painted, but dig a little deeper: do the workers who completed these past projects still work for the company? Will they be the same workers doing your job? How long have the workers that will be on your project been with the company you are considering hiring? If there is a problem during the warranty period, who will be back to fix it?
Based on the answers to these questions, handing out references and addresses from years past may have little meaning. Sub-contracting companies in particular tend to have a very high turnover rate with little loyalty to their workers, and vice versa. As such, businesses that subcontract their painters may not actually have the experience they claim.
At Vanguard, we will happily share not only our past projects and references, but also which of our current employees were involved with those projects. We work hard to build long lasting relationships with our clients AND our employees.
