4
OPINION
Stop being treated like the enemy
W e work with contractors all over the country who have the same problem: They want to know how to get their clients to treat them like a partner instead of like an enemy. When your clients treat you like a partner, you run better projects, win negotiated work, and have happier people.
At the end of the day, there may not be a more important problem to resolve for your business, because when you get treated like a partner, you run better projects, win negotiated work, and have happier people (because they aren’t fighting all the time). Let’s talk about how you can easily start getting treated like a partner tomorrow: ■ Know your worth. First, before you can get treated like a partner, you must believe you are worthy of it. It’s shocking to me how many contractors expect to be treated like crap, so they just accept it as a part of “being in construction.” I can’t stress enough that if you don’t believe you are great, then no one will act like you’re great. If you don’t see all the value you are providing, then clients will take advantage of you. It’s that simple. So, before you can ever do anything externally to be treated like a partner, internally you need to know your worth.
By the way, the best way to know your worth? Be better than your competition! Execute relentlessly. Expect excellence from yourself and your team. Go be better, recognize it in yourself, then use the rest of this newsletter to establish yourself with your clients. ■ Set expectations. You must set an expectation with your clients that you expect to be treated like a partner and that you will treat them the same. Clients often think – based on their thousands of past experiences with other contractors – that because they hired you, they are in charge. You have to help them break this mindset. You need to teach them to treat you like a partner. You do this by being firm and direct when you recognize they are falling into that mindset. “I understand how your experiences with other contractors may make you feel this way, but we are not like other contractors. We are going to
Matt Verderamo, MS
© Copyright 2024. Zweig Group. All rights reserved.
THE ZWEIG LETTER AUGUST 19, 2024, ISSUE 1550
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker