One Easy Thing You Can Do to Get More Work as a California Contractor

When it comes to launching their businesses as licensed California contractors, many new CSLS graduates find that marketing is the hard part – at least for the first few months of their careers.

That’s understandable. It can be difficult to get those first few clients and projects when you don’t have a lot of references, or long track record, to draw on. And so, many of them turn to all kinds of complicated marketing techniques and schemes.That’s perfectly fine, but some people miss the easiest thing they can do to get more work as a licensed contractor: just be easy to work with.

In other words, clients (as well as other contractors) like to be around people who are helpful and have the right mindset. They dislike working with people who are late, rude, or unprofessional. That’s certainly not hard to understand, but it can mean a shift in thinking if you aren’t used to paying attention to behavior in that way.

Here are some very quick tips for being easy to work with and developing the right reputation:

•  Make sure to show up at a job site with the right attitude. Listen to something funny or pleasant on the radio during your drive over if you need to.
•  Be aware of your working environment, and the effect it has on clients, neighbors, etc. Things like loud music, swearing, and arguments will likely cost you future work.
• Only hire or work with other people who adhere to the same standards of behavior that you do. If you bring someone to a project who his rude, disrespectful, or unprofessional, it’s going to reflect badly on you.
• Carefully explain your work, project budgets, and details in your agreements to new customers. The last thing you want is for someone to be upset over a simple misunderstanding.
• Follow up on every project and make sure that your clients are satisfied with their work. This isn’t just good customer service, but also a great opportunity to gather testimonials and referrals.

Ready to take that first step and become a licensed contractor? Click here to find out about classroom and self-study options with CSLS. We have more than 250,000 graduates and a 99%+ success rate, so you can’t go wrong with our programs!