Spaces for Life: To bid or not to bid

By Lance McCarthy

American Traditions:

Celebrate Thanksgiving by buying a bigger TV
Call your year-old phone “old”
Use three bids to pick a contractor

There is a bit of silliness in all three of these traditions, but the last one may surprise you. Though it is thought to be wise, choosing a contractor by comparing bids is amazingly ineffective, and often leaves the client feeling frustrated and cheated.

In my last column I explained why competitive bids are more like “apples to potatoes” than “apples to apples”. Unless you give all the bidders a 50-page set of architectural plans and specifications, the bids say more about bidder’s assumptions than they do about the true cost of the project. Using these “guess bids” as one of the main factors in choosing who to work with is extremely unreliable, and often leads to the exact wrong answer.

How do competitive bids lead to the wrong answer?!

The most competent contractors tend to be the ones that leave fewer things out of the bid, and include higher allowances for items. The least competent contractor tends to need the work the most, and price the most aggressively or the most erratically. Result: a lay person simply doesn’t have enough information to decide who is the ridiculous goober, who is the well priced winner, and who is the bloated high-roller.

So if competitive bids don’t work, how do you choose a good contractor?

Here are three outrageous ways to choose, all of which are far better and more accurate than using that big-number-at-the-bottom-of-the-page technique:

Method #1: Judge us by our clothes

Don’t judge a book by its cover? You want a contractor that cares about appearances, and dislikes messes. A wrinkled shirt, or stains on my clothes are telling you how cleanliness ranks in my priorities.

You are seeing me at my job interview. Would you dress like that for a job interview? Why should I? It doesn’t need to be a suit, just a clean, collared shirt, a clean pair of jeans, and clean shoes. Definitely watch the shoes. If I don’t care about that now, why would I care when you aren’t looking?

Method #2: Hears yur perposal!

There are few qualities that are more important in a contractor than attention to detail. Although the numbers don’t mean much on an initial bid, the spelling and punctuation actually tells you a lot. Some people simply aren’t good spellers. That’s ok, the computer is. In the age of spell check, there is no excuse for spelling or punctuation errors. If I misspell “lavatory” or “undercabinet”, why would I take the time to make sure a wall is straight or that the paint lines are sharp?

The universe tends toward chaos. A contractor who is strong enough to bring order to a proposal, will likely bring order to the project as well.

Method #3: Listen to your heart

OK, I know that sounded like a joke, but I am very serious. I tell my clients that the “who” is more important than the “what” or the “how much”. Those questions can be manipulated, but the “who” will make or break the project. Having the right person as a partner in creating your space is the most important decision you will make. Everything else will be right or wrong based on this choice.

You have developed a gut instinct for people over the years. This applies to contractors more than you think. Do I listen well without interrupting? Am I asking the right questions? Do you feel like I understand what you are trying to accomplish? Do you feel like I will work in your best interest even when you aren’t there?

So… ask for the bid. Look it over. Thank the contractor. Then use everything else to make the decision. Be the person in the room that can’t relate when your friends complain about the horrible contractor they chose using a competitive bid.

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Spaces for Life: To bid or not to bid

By Lance McCarthy

American Traditions:

There is a bit of silliness in all three of these traditions, but the last one may surprise you. Though it is thought to be wise, choosing a contractor by comparing bids is amazingly ineffective, and often leaves the client feeling frustrated and cheated.

How do competitive bids lead to the wrong answer?!

So if competitive bids don’t work, how do you choose a good contractor?

Here are three outrageous ways to choose, all of which are far better and more accurate than using that big-number-at-the-bottom-of-the-page technique:

Method #1: Judge us by our clothes

Don’t judge a book by its cover? You want a contractor that cares about appearances, and dislikes messes. A wrinkled shirt, or stains on my clothes are telling you how cleanliness ranks in my priorities.

Method #2: Hears yur perposal!

The universe tends toward chaos. A contractor who is strong enough to bring order to a proposal, will likely bring order to the project as well.

Method #3: Listen to your heart

So… ask for the bid. Look it over. Thank the contractor. Then use everything else to make the decision. Be the person in the room that can’t relate when your friends complain about the horrible contractor they chose using a competitive bid.

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