How should you begin the process of selecting a contractor?
For starters, ask your friends and associates for recommendations. Word of mouth is one of the most important forms of advertising for small businesses, we have been very thankful to build our business primarily through word of mouth referrals. Contractors are likely to work harder for you if they know that you have a connection to an existing network with whom they are associated.
Once you’ve begun interviewing contractors, we would suggest that you request and check multiple references. Here are some useful questions to ask references:
1) Can they confirm that they hired the contractor in question?
2) Were they happy with the contractor’s work?
3) Did the contractor finish the project on time and on budget?
4) Would they have any hesitation recommending this contractor to someone else?
Beware of references who are unwilling to discuss a contractor, or who give a lukewarm reference. People are understandably reluctant to give a blatantly bad reference about someone that they may work with again in the future.