Questions To Ask Potential Painting Partners
Chapter 6
Chapter 6: Questions To Ask Potential Painting Partners
Asking your potential painting partners the right questions is also key to hiring a commercial painter for your multi-family property. Our team at CertaPro Painters® of Indianapolis would like to share 17 questions you can use to help qualify your bidding contractors.
1. Tell us about your experience and expertise.
It’s critical to ask your bidding partners about their experience and expertise in the multi-family painting and repair industry. Here are some things to look for in their responses:
- Years of experience
- Number of projects completed in the multi-family industry
- Skill-based licenses or certifications
Having these insights about experience and expertise can help you better qualify who is the best fit for your project.
2. Have you worked on projects with similar scopes in the past?
Asking potential partners whether they’ve worked on projects in the multi-family space with scopes similar to yours can be useful to understand their familiarity in addressing your specific needs. For example, if your buildings need a niche repair, you may want to work with a partner who has expertise in that type of repair.
Note: If a bidding partner doesn’t have experience working on a project with a similar scope, it may not be a bad thing. This is where it’s important to look at other factors, like their experience and expertise (in general) and any examples of previous projects they can provide.
3. Could you share some examples of multi-family projects you’ve previously completed?
Being able to see examples of multi-family projects bidding partners have previously completed can help you better recognize the quality of work they produce. These might include case studies or before and after project photos.
Note: If a potential partner cannot share examples of projects they’ve completed at other multi-family properties, that may be a red flag and something to consider when making your selection.
4. What does your customer feedback typically look like? Are your customers satisfied with the results of their projects?
Customer feedback and satisfaction can be very telling when choosing a partner for your property’s upcoming project, which is why it’s important to inquire about this with bidding contractors. You may ask for things like:
- Customer testimonials
- Customer reviews
- Net Promoter Score (NPS)
- Referrals from current customers
This information might help you better gauge what your property’s experience could be if you choose to work with a certain partner.
5. What types of paint options and repairs do you recommend for our buildings?
Different commercial painting and repair professionals may recommend different solutions for your buildings. To compare these, it’s helpful to ask what paint options and repairs each potential partner recommends for your property’s buildings. Then, you can look at each recommendation side-by-side and see which one or ones fit best.
Note: If you don’t feel you have enough information, you can always ask follow-up questions about these recommendations.
6. Can you tell us about the warranty you offer?
Knowing the type of warranty you’ll get after your project is completed can be especially important as your community plans and budgets for future painting and repair needs. This also allows you the opportunity to compare the different types of warranties each bidding contractor offers. Good questions to ask each contractor you’re considering: what are the most common types of warranty issues you cover and do not cover? What role does the paint manufacturer specified on your project play in your warranty process? How long does it take you to address a warranty claim, on average?
Note: If you’re unsure what a specific partner’s warranty would or wouldn’t include, you can always follow-up with them to get more information.
7. Are you licensed and insured to complete work in our area?
Although it may seem unnecessary, making sure the partners you’re considering working with are licensed and insured to complete work in your area is important. By taking this extra step, you can help protect your property from any potential liability. In general, this is just something good to check prior to selecting someone to work with on your project.
8. How long can we expect the results of our project to last?
Understanding the estimated longevity each bidding partner can offer for your property is critical, especially if you’re wanting to work with someone who can provide high-quality results. You can also use this information to help you think forward to what your painting and repair needs might be long term if you work with a specific partner.
9. What benefits can we expect to gain from working with you?
Inquiring about the benefits your property can gain from working with each individual partner is another way to determine who can offer you the best results. Benefits you may choose to ask about or look for include:
- Minimal resident disruptions
- Consistent communication and updates
- Longevity of painting and/or repairs
- Support after your project completion or warranty
The specific benefits that are important to your community may differ depending on your goals.
10. Tell us about the painting and project preparation processes you use.
Painting and project preparation processes can be especially important in the multi-family industry because often these projects take place while residents are still living there. This might mean you look for a partner who uses communication during their project preparation process to ensure you and the residents at your property are aware of dates and times when project operations will take place.
This could also mean the different priming or cleaning processes your bidding partners use prior to applying paint on your buildings. This information can help indicate how long your paint may last.
11. Do you use safety precautions while on-site? If so, what are they?
Safety is critical for any project, which is why it’s so important to make sure your potential partners plan to use safety precautions while on-site. Besides the safety precautions their workers intend to use, you can also inquire about the safety precautions they plan to use while working around your residents.
Note: This can be especially important if special equipment is needed to complete your project.
12. Should our residents expect any disruptions during the duration of our project?
If you’re concerned about the amount or types of disruptions your residents may experience throughout the duration of your project, this is something you can ask about. Doing this will give you a better understanding of what to expect when working with each bidding partner and more easily allow you to compare how residents might be affected.
13. Who will be our primary contact?
While this is a simple question, knowing who your primary contact will be from start to finish is useful, even in the bidding process, so you can get an idea of who you’ll be interacting with. You can even choose to meet with that person, prior to selecting who you want to work with and see how your communication styles align.
14. How often and through what mediums will you provide us with project updates?
Working with a partner who provides frequent project updates through mediums that work for you can sometimes make all the difference in how smoothly things go.
15. What timeline and costs do you expect for our project?
If your property has a specific timeline for your project to be completed, you might ask how long of a timeline each bidding partner estimates. This can help you narrow down your options, especially if a potential partner doesn’t foresee being able to work within your preferred timeline.
Also, being aware of estimated costs is important to ensure you’re able to stay within your allocated project budget.
16. Can you accommodate the need for flexible scheduling?
If your property expects the need for flexible scheduling, you’ll want to make sure you ask each potential partner if they will accommodate that before selecting who to work with. Otherwise, you could end up choosing a partner for your project who isn’t able to offer the flexibility you need.
17. What makes you unique from other commercial painting contractors?
While this question is broader, asking it may help you uncover the nuances and niche areas of expertise each bidding partner offers. For example, this question could help you learn that one potential partner focuses on communication and another focuses on minimal resident disruptions. Your property can then use these insights to help determine who is best suited for your upcoming project.
Now that you know what questions to ask your potential painting partners, it’s time to make sure you know what to look for with your warranty.
