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Guy at the supply house in Boise asked why I still shake hands on a job, and it got me rethinking my whole deposit setup
I was picking up shingles at a supply house in Boise two weeks ago and the counter guy, been there like 20 years, asked why I bother with a handshake when I quote a job. I said it builds trust and he laughed and asked how much trust cost me on my last 3 flake clients. Truth is I ate about $1,400 total across 2 jobs in the past 8 months from people who seemed totally normal at the handshake stage. He said he makes every contractor pay half up front and now I'm wondering if I've just been too soft. I still like the handshake for the small $300-$500 repair calls but for anything over like $2k I'm thinking the deposit needs to be non negotiable. Anyone here run a hard 50 percent deposit rule and did it cost you jobs or save you headaches?
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mitchell.avery1mo ago
Reminds me of a buddy who runs a tattoo shop, dude switched to card only deposits and said it was the best thing he ever did. Handshakes feel good til somebody ghosts you on a Friday. 50 percent up front ain't rude, it's just the cost of doing business now.
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