On 09/19/04 18:06 ET, AHEM said...
Instead of free, how about working out a plan
to kick a little money to the builders for sending
you leads (assuming that they pan out).
Illegal, for the most part (at least here).
There's nothing that a contractor hates worse
then having an irate customer calling them to
complain about one of their subs.
Therefore, my advice is to align yourself with
a handful of contractors that you can work well
with. Once you have a good base, make it worth
their while to send you customers. Remember that
for every additional sub that's on a project,
the contractors life gets that much more complicated.
Do your best to uncomplicate it. First and foremost,
do a good job at whatever you do. Secondly, don't
involve the builder for unncessary things. These
are busy guys who typically don't like to be called
400 times a day with questions. Thirdly, make
it worth their while. Forthly, treat them as
business partners. If they have a problem with
their own personal system, go out of your way
to help them. If you leave a good impression
in that regard they'll be more apt to recommend
you to their customers.
Lastly, make it worth their while to partner with
you.
I'll agree with most of what you're saying, but your worth to the builder needs to be in the form of getting the job done for the homeowner in a manner that makes the builder look good for having brought you on board. And that's it. There are laws regarding "referral" fees (more commonly called kickbacks) and the like. There's a need to tread very lightly on this ground.
I too have a few select builders that I've worked with for several years. First and foremost, they know that I'll drop everything to get to their jobs, and satisfy their clients. I get loyalty, they get quality and service.
