Cash Flow Tip 4 - Delighting Your Customers

All other things being equal your cash flow will be better if your customer is delighted with the work you have done.

D. Brown Management Profile Picture
Share
Cash Flow: Tip 4 Delight Your Customers - Direct and Indirect

Consistently delighted customers are more likely to:

  • Approve your scope and contract terms
  • Approve your Schedule-of-Values (SOV)
  • Approve your progress billings
  • Proactively communicate with you and help you solve any problems with your billings
  • Bend the “Rules” to help get you paid


Unhappy customers will tend to do the opposite.  They will tend to focus on doing the bare minimum to meet their contractual obligations and internal policies.    

While it is easy to narrowly define the “Customer” it will accelerate your cash flow significantly if you broaden your definition.  There are dozens of people on every project that have some hand large and small in getting you paid. Don’t overlook everyone from inspectors who might be reviewing your construction progress to accounts payable who is ensuring your compliance documentation is all in order.


Cash Flow Tip 4 - Delighting Your Customers
Great cash flow is a key driver of valuation and successful successions. Running out of cash is is the #1 reason contractors fail. Improving cash flow improves your Return on Equity. Protect yourself and never let cash flow be the limitation to your profitable growth....

Cash Flow Tip 4 - Delighting Your Customers
Great cash flow is a key driver of valuation and successful successions. Running out of cash is is the #1 reason contractors fail. Improving cash flow improves your Return on Equity. Protect yourself and never let cash flow be the limitation to your profitable growth....

Operational Clarity Over Optimum Tax Efficiency
The tax code is complex and that can make deal structures overly complex. The legal system is just as complex. Trying to get every possible issue contingency covered can also make the deal structure extremely complex.
Field Productivity - The Improvement Pyramid
An improvement of a few minutes per day to actual installation time compounded monthly is worth about $800K per year for a $25M contractor. What is it worth to you? Improvements to field productivity can be viewed as 4 major stages of a pyramid.
Weekly Percent Planned Complete (PPC) and Project Performance
Improving the project planning and delivery process starts with improving predictability around the schedule. Nearly every Superintendent and Foreman is familiar with the Short-Interval-Plan (SIP) and typically fill one out weekly looking ahead 1+ weeks.