Roughly one out of every five jobs Dutchess Building Specialists, Poughkeepsie, N.Y., does is for a client the company has worked for previously. Yet in the past, when crews went to begin a job for a repeat client, they often had to start from scratch.
"We'd go through this scientific process of trying to figure out exactly which siding panel was used, or which company out of three made the slate-blend roof tiles, or what stain we used on the woodwork," says owner Brian Altmann. "It got to the point where we were spending too much time reinvestigating the materials we were using."
That problem led the company to come up with a form that lists all the products used on a particular job. The lead carpenter on the job fills out the form, which then gets dropped in the job file, after which the information is entered into a database.
The last step in the process is to print a copy and mail it to clients for their records. That way, if clients want to hire a painting contractor, they know exactly what paints or stains were used in their recent remodel, and they can quickly be matched.
Clients, Altmann says, are "impressed by our organization and the level of detail we provide. It's an extension of customer service. It demonstrates to them we've gone the extra mile. It's one more little edge, one more separation between us and our competition."
For carpenters working on a job for a repeat client, "it helps to be able to dig that form out of the computer and be able to quickly get the product we need."
Altmann includes the form in his presentation book. "Everything I do is a service I'd want if I were a customer," he says.