Lesson from a builder… no surprises.

Last weekend I was let down by a builder. What a bloody surprise. 😭

He’s fixing an old wall that runs alongside the house. It’s painfully boring money to spend, but it has to be done. He’s working weekends. First weekend, he shows up as expected. Second weekend, no show. Then come the excuses about the van not working. What is it with builders and their vans?

If he’d just said in advance, “I can’t make it this weekend”, there would have been no issue.

It’s the surprise and lack of warning that’s annoying. It’s the fact I got out of bed early to let him in that pissed me off.

I talk a lot in workshops about negating surprise. The client should never be surprised by the price. The client should never be surprised you didn’t do a 50-page deck. The client should never be surprised that you work differently.

If we tell prospective clients what we’re doing, why we’re doing it, and what to expect, everyone relaxes. They'll more likely go along for the ride because there are no surprises.

“I’m going to come back with three options. At the top end it could be as much as £200,000, and I’ll also show you what we can do for your budget of £40,000. Is that ok?”

When we lead and tell the client what’s happening and what’s coming next, you’ll be surprised how few surprises there are.