As the coronavirus pandemic continues to unfold, there's only one thing we know for certain: None of us know what things will look like in the weeks to come. The pandemic may continue to impact life for the next three weeks, three months, or longer. However, at some point the health crisis will slow and businesses can resume operating in a more normal cadence. Business in a post-coronavirus world will not be the same as it was before, though, and there's a good chance many things will be done differently, consultant Michael Stone writes on Markup and Profit.
For those doing residential work, sales calls might change. Homeowners might not be in a hurry to invite you into their home or building to talk about a construction project. You can always video chat, but that raises questions. Will an online chat allow you to take their measure so you can decide if you want to do business with them? How will you deal with requests to send your quote by email? How will you gather the information you need about the project?
It’s possible production will change as well. Will masks and booties become mandatory? How will you keep your tools and equipment clean and sanitized if needed? Some of you are already dealing with that on jobs today. These new practices will increase the cost of the job, both in time and materials.
Maybe more homeowners will choose to move out of their home or building while you’re working. They’d rather stay with friends, family, or in a hotel than deal with a parade of workers coming through the home where they’re living. Or maybe they’ll move out at your request. If that happens, you’ll need a system to show them your ongoing progress, ask and answer questions, and work through changes and issues when they aren’t at the job site.
What about inspections? Will you set up cameras at each job site so that you can provide a video feed to the building inspector as the job goes along? When we come out of this, everyone will be behind on projects and as a result, the building departments are going to get a flood of inspection requests. There are only so many inspectors to go around.
After outlining several elements of business that may change, Stone emphasized that there are several things that will not change. Contractors will still need to make sure to charge enough to cover all job costs and overhead expenses and make a reasonable profit to survive long term. Human nature also will not change. While the nature of sales calls may change, the fears homeowners have when choosing a contractor will remain and it will remain just as important for contractors to address those fears.
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