Diamond Certified Video Reports

Classic Shades Painting Co. in 5 Useful Answers

• Play from Beginning
• What does Helpful Expertise mean to you and your team?
• How did you get into this industry?
• What inspired you to start your business?
• What are the handful of questions shoppers should be asking companies in your industry before they b
• What makes your company different from the other painting companies?

Classic Shades Painting Co. - Diamond Certified 5 Useful Answers - video transcript

Well, the expertise in my business means delivering a quality job, a high-quality job, and doing it in such a way to where it's easy for a customer to experience it. And by that, I mean, you do the job in such a way that the client doesn't have to worry about it. They know the team is going to show up, and there’s no mess left behind. Most of our clients work, so when they come home, they can live their lives. If we say we’re going to finish the job in a certain way and by a certain time, it just gets done. I mean, that’s really as simple as that. How did I get into being a painter? Well, actually, I was not quite 14 when I was faced with a pretty big decision. That was: stay being a kid and continue with high school, or go learn a trade and finish high school at night. That was the decision that had to be made. The fact of the matter is, painting was not my first choice. I didn’t think of becoming a painter, but it just so happened that this was the school that accepted me. Now, almost 45 years later, here I am, enjoying every bit of it. Well, I was a painter, and I was working for one of the biggest shops in San Francisco. The job was good, the pay was good, but what I didn’t like about it was that very often, you would have to show up at their shop at 6 o’clock in the morning. Sometimes, you would be picked to go to a job, and sometimes you would be told to go home. You’d be standing by the wall with a bunch of other guys, and then they’d say, “Okay, you and you and you, go to work,” and the rest of you guys would go home. I didn’t like that. I felt like I was not controlling my schedule. I was not controlling my life. Being dependent on that kind of situation, I decided, "Hey, I’m going to start my own business, and that’s going to be really easy." Well, it wasn’t easy, but, you know, after working for other people for 10 years as a painter, I’ve been working on my own for almost 35 years now, and I’ve never looked back. I’m very happy that that decision was made. Well, they should definitely ask whether or not— and verify—that their contractor is licensed, that they’re insured, not only with liability insurance but workers' compensation insurance. They absolutely have to look into the contractor's track record to make sure they have a history of doing this type of work and having satisfied customers. For example, Classic Spanning has an impeccable 100 score in helpful expertise on Diamond Certified. Well, I think what makes Classic Shades Painting different is that we’ve, over these many years, put together systems which help us deliver a high-quality product in a way that’s very easy for a customer to experience. There’s an emphasis on quality and service. I mean, these are the two vital things that I think every company should concentrate on. We use top-quality products, and we have people who, on average, have been with the company for 10 years. I mean, that’s our average. So, we have a group of people that work together for a long time. They’re happy to be doing what they’re doing, and they do it well.