Real-Life Decision Making
Through normal wear and tear, all houses reach a point where maintenance
is a necessity. Proud homeowners hire expert house painters to bring their
residences back up to par.
In all cases, it's important for the house painter to communicate
with their customers.
"When communicating with customers, a little bit of psychology helps as
well as manners, keeping your cool, [and] being able to listen," says David
Lick, who teaches painting and decorating at the college level. "You have
to answer questions so that it makes sense to the customer, without talking
down to them."
You're a house painter, and you've been hired by an elderly woman,
Edith Townley, to repaint the interior of her home. Since she's living
on a fixed income and money is tight, you've assured Mrs. Townley that
you will help to keep costs down.
Mrs. Townley is in a big hurry to get her home painted, since her granddaughter
is coming for a visit next weekend. She hasn't seen her granddaughter
in many years, and she's anxious for her home to be redecorated.
As you do a preliminary check of the surfaces in one room, you immediately
see that the paint is coming loose and flaking in some areas. It's obvious
to you that the walls have been painted over and over again many times. This
will mean more work than a simple paint job.
You immediately determine that three options are available to Mrs. Townley.
The first option is to repaint the surfaces as you were hired to do, which
is by far the cheapest and most expedient route to take. By choosing this
option, you'll have her home painted by the weekend, you'll save
her money and she'll be proud of her home for her granddaughter's
visit. Also, you'll be able to keep to your schedule and start a new
job the first of next week. However, since you are leaving the existing paint,
you won't be able to guarantee your work.
The second option entails scraping off as much of the old, flaking paint
as you can and painting over the surface. This option would take more time,
since you'll have to spend time scraping and sanding the surfaces. It
will also cost Mrs. Townley more in labor expenses, and you don't know
if you'll be able to finish by the weekend.
By recommending this option, you may still be working at Mrs. Townley's
home the first of next week, which will delay all of your other scheduled
jobs.
The third option is the most expensive and time-consuming of all. You could
use chemicals to remove the old paint, then paint over the entire surface.
Using this option would allow you to guarantee the whole job. However, Mrs.
Townley's cost will escalate, you won't be able to finish by the
weekend and your other jobs will be delayed. Not only that, you're
concerned about the toxic fumes of the chemicals and how Mrs. Townley would
react to them.
What are you going to do?