The local contracting community can tend to feel small. You know the reputation of a lot of contractors in your area. When you find subcontractors you trust, you stick with them. But, of course, sometimes you have to bring on people you’re not familiar with. Sometimes, despite a successful working relationship in the past, issues arise. However, there are a few practices you can adapt that will solve many of your top issues with subcontractors.
Expectations
For every person you bring on to the job, the expectations need to be crystal clear — to both of you. Just like spelling out, in detail, what you will and will not be doing for the customer so you manage their expectations, you need to make sure you and your subcontractors are on the same page.
Contract
How detailed is your contract? Hopefully, you can say it’s extremely detailed. It should include the basics, like due dates, materials, and costs. But it should also spell out the fine details such as what are the consequences for missing deadlines? How many times will they be required to come back and fix a problem if you aren’t satisfied with their work? What are the conditions on payments? You get the idea.
Communication
It’s inevitable that issues will arise from time to time. When they do, your communication skills can pull things back from the brink before a small issue becomes a major problem. When you first notice a problem (the subcontractor has a delay, is avoiding you, is showing signs of difficulties), address the issue. The longer you wait, the worse the situation will get.
Discuss how the issue can be resolved. For instance, if they’re financially overextended, you may have to modify the subcontract so you can take back some of the work. Or, if their performance isn’t up to your standards, you can correct the issue before it’s too late.
If you apply these three principles, working with subcontractors doesn’t have to be a pain point! For some ideas on how to improve team communication across the board, read this blog post next. HFS Financial has even more ideas on the best business strategies around.