The second job from a building client and the referrals after

2 days ago
3 min read

Updated: 2 days ago

Introduction

Homeowners having building work done are living inside it. They are cooking in a bedroom, listening to drilling at eight in the morning, and watching strangers walk through their house for three months. What they remember afterwards is not the quality of the blockwork, which they cannot assess. It is how that period felt.

That is why the second job, and the referrals to neighbours and friends, correlate so poorly with technical skill and so strongly with communication. A builder who finished a beautiful extension and was impossible to contact for six weeks will not be recommended. Neighbours ask about the experience, not the brickwork.

The disruption is the product as far as the client is concerned, and it can be managed. Managing it costs nothing but attention.

1. The second job from a building client is won during the first

Everything is decided before you leave site.

Communicate weekly without being asked

A short message on a Friday: what happened, what is next, anything needed from them. Almost no builder does this and every client notices. Five minutes on a Friday afternoon.

Give bad news early

A delay disclosed in advance is manageable; one discovered by the client is a breach of trust. The timing matters more than the delay. Tell them the day you know.

2. Manage the household, not just the site

They live there.

Say what each week will involve

Noise, water off, no kitchen, people in the garden. Give the dates. Forewarned is tolerable; discovered is not. A note on the fridge works better than a conversation.

Protect and clean daily

Dust sheets, a tidy site, boots off in the house. Clients judge the whole job by this. Allow time at the end of each day for it.

3. Handle variations so they do not poison the ending

Money is where relationships break.

Price every change before building it

A shared running list, updated weekly. Both sides sign it off. Nobody disputes a total they watched accumulate. Send it with the Friday message.

Own your own errors plainly

If it was in the drawings and you missed it, absorb it and say so. That honesty is what earns the second job. Clients can tell the difference and remember.

4. Finish properly

The last five per cent is what gets remembered.

Do the snagging quickly

A list closed within a fortnight is a good ending. One dragging for three months undoes everything before it. Book the snagging visit before you finish.

Come back when you say you will

The post-completion return is where most builders lose the referral. Diarise it. Three months is a good interval.

5. Stay in touch afterwards

Second jobs come years later.

Contact them a year on

Briefly, asking how it is standing up. It costs a message and it is when the next project gets mentioned. Ask whether anything needs attention.

Ask for the referral at completion

When the client is pleased and the work is visible to neighbours. That is the moment, and almost nobody asks. Ask for one name rather than in general.

Conclusion

Clients cannot assess your blockwork and can assess three months of living in a building site, so the second job is won during the first — with a short message every Friday saying what happened and what is next.

Give bad news early, because a delay disclosed is manageable and one discovered is a breach of trust. Say what each week will involve, protect and clean daily, price every variation before building it and keep a shared running total. Own your own mistakes plainly, close the snagging list within a fortnight, and return when you said you would. Then ask for the referral at completion while the work is visible to the neighbours, and contact them again a year later.