Why should all homeowners be present during a consultation? (Article/Video)

You’re looking to get your windows, door, or siding replaced and begin your research into the best contractors in your area. 

After finding a few you decide are worthy enough to meet with, you enter the consultation phase. 

Most home remodeling contractors will schedule an in-home consultation with you and all homeowners. In the times we’re enduring now, virtual consultations have also become a viable option. 

Finding the time to schedule a consultation with a home remodeling contractor may come as a conflict to you. You and your partner both have full-time jobs, external hobbies, and maybe kids you’ve got to cart to and from school and evening basketball practice. 

Not to mention you’ve also got to take the dog for a walk and eat dinner, right?

Trying to carve out time in your day to meet with a home remodeling contractor can cause extra stress, and when a contractor asks that your partner join you, you might be wondering, why?

“My partner is busier than I am.” 

“They really don’t have the time to sit through this.” 

“Am I not enough to make the decision myself?”

“They’re just trying to make the sale to us.”

These are all statements of concern that we at Southwest Exteriors have heard before. While we do ask and recommend that all homeowners and decision-makers are present during a consultation, there is no hidden agenda, perks, or discounts for you to do so.

The truth is that having all decision-makers at a consultation is in your best interest.

In this article, we will dive into why having all decision-makers in the home present during a consultation is recommended and beneficial to you and your project. 

We must address common misconceptions about why contractors ask all parties to be present and go into why it is beneficial to you. 

Debunking the myths about why contractors want all homeowners present

When a contractor asks that your partner be present with you during the consultation, you may be wondering, is this necessary? Are they trying to take advantage of me? Am I not capable enough to decide without my partner? 

The most common misconceptions with all contractors who ask all homeowners present are that they are just trying to make a sale and that they do not believe one homeowner is capable of making the decision. 

Here we will address those misconceptions in the industry and explain why having all parties present is beneficial to you.

Myth #1: The contractor just wants to make a sale

Whether you have experienced it first hand or have only heard the rumors, you may be familiar with the idea that contractors only want all homeowners present as an incentive to give you a discount on your project and make the sale that day. 

This is true. 

There are many contractors out there that will say, “Hey, it’s not required that your partner is with you during this consultation, but if they are, we’ll offer you a discounted price on your overall project.” 

When a contractor offers this to you, it is a clear sign that their goal is to just make the sale. They are not there to help you make the best decision for you and your home.

While this is a popular sales tactic, this incentive is not used by all contractors and is not present at Southwest Exteriors. Having both homeowners present is only beneficial to you for reasons that we will outline later in this article.

Myth #2: They don’t trust you to make the decision on your own

If you are an independent person who constantly makes decisions on your own, having a contractor ask that your partner be present with you may come off as offensive. 

You might be thinking, “Why don’t they trust just me? Am I not good enough to make this decision on my own?” 

This is not the case at all. While it may be true that some contractors want to bribe you with a discount to have all parties present, there is no reason a contractor should be discriminatory to one party and believe they cannot make the decision themselves.

The truth is that when only one out of two or three parties is present, the other parties will not receive the same amount of information as the one who was there for the consultation. 

With this, you might think, “Well, I can just give my partner the information from the contractor, and we can make the decision together later.”

Here we’re going to explain why this never works and is a disadvantage to you, your home, and your project.

So, what are the benefits of having all parties present?

Now that we’ve dismantled the two most common misconceptions about why contractors ask for all parties present during a consultation, we can detail the benefits for you. 

All parties can establish their wants, goals, and needs

As a homeowner, you need to establish what exactly you are looking for and what you want to get out of a project. 

All parties must establish their wants, goals, and needs for the right decision to be made. 

When all parties are present during a consultation, it allows each to outline what they like, what they don’t like, what’s important to them, and what their fears are. 

These are all important aspects to choosing the right contractor and getting the most out of your project.

During a consultation with Southwest Exteriors, we also show real samples of the products so you can see what you like and help make that decision. If your partner is not present during the consultation, they are not able to see the products and add their input. 

All parties will get all information

When only one party or homeowner is present during the consultation, they then have the responsibility to relay all the important information to the other parties.

This leaves room for error, omission, and overall not getting the same amount of valuable information. 

If one does not have all the information the other received, how are they able to know what they want? This can lead to making a blind decision on the project and can end up in disappointment if your project does not turn out the way you expected.

All parties get an equal chance to ask questions

Any home remodeling project is a big investment. If only one party of the home gets to directly ask the contractor their questions, how will the other one get answers?

Even if your partner tries to relay all the information to you, they are not able to answer your questions. 

Asking questions is an important aspect of a consultation to ensure you know what you are getting into and to help you choose the right contractor. 

This will also save you time in the long run. If you continue to call your prospective contractor with questions you were not able to ask during the consultation, then the farther away it keeps you from completing your project.

Having all parties present during a consultation is in your best interest

Although there are contractors out there that only want all parties present to give you a bigger discount and convince you to buy from them, this will be one of the biggest advantages for you and your project.

Having all parties present allows equal opportunity for all homeowners and decision-makers to get all their questions asked and receive the same information from the source.

With Southwest Exteriors, we ask that all homeowners and decision-makers be present during a consultation for this exact reason. It is beneficial to ensure that you and all parties can make the right decisions for the project.