Category Archives: ONLINE EXTRAS

Dealing With Difficult Customers

Turn micromanaging, indecisive, and demanding clients into glowing recommendations

Difficult customers can come in all shapes and sizes; spend any time as a painting contractor and you’ll run into one eventually. Every contractor can probably recall a customer who made their work so difficult that they started to regret taking the job.

Unfortunately, these situations aren’t only frustrating, but can potentially hurt your business’ reputation if not handled correctly. As such, you need to be prepared for these customers in order to stay successful. And in a competitive marketplace where word-of-mouth is king, retaining customers and generating repeat business can grow your bottom line. In this article, we offer suggestions for how to professionally respond to three of the most common types of difficult customers.

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Four Simple Strategies for Choosing Extraordinary Exterior Colors

Help homeowners beat color decision paralysis and start jobs faster

First impressions are important, and for homeowners, their guests’ first impression of their home will be its exterior. It’s no wonder so many homeowners want to freshen up their exterior with a fresh coat of paint—and why many of your potential customers want your opinion on their color selection.

Though you may not feel like the right person to ask about this, successfully helping a homeowner decide on a color can help you to close more leads, get jobs scheduled and started on-time, and position yourself as a color hero to your clients. Sue Wadden, Director of Color Marketing at Sherwin-Williams, offers strategies you can use to help your clients select the perfect exterior look. Continue reading Four Simple Strategies for Choosing Extraordinary Exterior Colors →

Are You Ready for Exterior Season?

11 products that can maximize your productivity on the job site

Depending on where you live, exterior season is either just around the corner or already here. While that’s great news for your business, exterior painting comes with its own distinct needs and challenges.

Thankfully, we’ve done the prep work for you. Check out our checklist of 11 products you and your crews should keep stocked this season to maximize your quality and productivity.

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Anatomy of a Sprayer

What sets a quality airless sprayer apart from the field?

A paint sprayer is a professional painter’s best friend on the job site, allowing them to do high-quality work quickly. And when a sprayer breaks down, that same painter can find their productivity severely diminished. No one wants to deal with equipment issues in the middle of a project.

“When contractors trust their business to equipment that is going to drive their productivity, it’s important that they buy a high-quality product that their teams can rely on, day in and day out,” says Dan Johnson, Global Total Markets Manager at Graco. “I was just at a job site yesterday where a painter was using an Ultimate 695—a 30-year old model that was still getting it done.”

Knowing your equipment inside and out can be the key to getting the most out of it. In this article, Johnson explains the major components of an airless paint sprayer, explaining both how each part works and how to choose the right sprayer for your team. Continue reading Anatomy of a Sprayer →

Easily Navigate the Color Conversation with Homeowners

Use FREE Virtual Color Consultations to differentiate your business from the competition

Did you know choosing color is homeowners’ biggest pain point when it comes to painting their home? And when a potential customer can’t decide on color, it can quickly become your biggest paint point too.

Indecisive homeowners can drag their feet when it comes to closing a sale or starting a job, causing unnecessary delays and frustration. But what if you could help homeowners find or match their perfect color without choosing the actual color for them? Instead, you can become an invaluable resource to your customers by connecting them with a trusted and trained color expert—someone who can build their confidence and guide them to quicker decision making.

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Save Time on Sanding

How to get a better finish faster

It was a disaster. The contractor and his crew had been contracted to paint a $4 million house for a new homeowner. But while power sanding to eliminate overspray from a knockdown ceiling, the painting crew hit a snag. The temporary heat wasn’t fully keeping the March moisture and condensation at bay, and the recycled drywall paper on the sheet rock was getting damp. Add to it that the 2000 RPM power sanders had raised the paper on the sheet rock, and the resulting texture of the walls could only be described as “furry.” For efficiency’s sake, the contractor decided to paint the prime coat over it with sprayer. He succeeded at making the texture no longer furry—except now it felt like 80-grit sandpaper. When the homeowner walked in, he could see every butt joint, flat, and nail spot in the wall under natural light. The homeowner was livid.

At this point, the contractor asked Kent Annis, president and owner of Full Circle International, for help. Kent took in the scene, told the crew to pause what they were doing, and asked the painting contractor to follow him into the basement. The contractor brought a roller and a fan, and Kent brought Full Circle’s Radius 360.

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Advice for a Young Painter

What experienced painting contractors wish they’d known when they started

The painting industry may be constantly changing thanks to new trends, products, and technology, but experience never goes out of style. With new painters joining the market every day, we invited veteran painting contractors to share their wisdom with the next generation. Here’s what they said they’d tell someone getting into the trade.

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Bolstering the Family Business

Relationship with Sherwin-Williams rep strengthens this contractor’s bottom line

Since its founding in 1948, Tilden A. Bonin Contractor, Inc. has served clients throughout the greater Lafayette, Louisiana area with high-quality painting. The business has stayed in the family for three generations, being most recently purchased by brothers Todd and Durk Viator from their uncle in 1995.

Shortly after taking over the company, the brothers decided to start buying paint from Sherwin-Williams instead of a rival chain. It was a simple decision at the time, driven by convenience.

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4 Things You Need to Know About Respirators

Be prepared with these safety tips from the experts at 3M

Respirators are important. You know that well as a painter. After all, a properly chosen respirator can help keep you breathing easily even when you’re surrounded by paint chemicals and airborne particles. It’s not just you, either; more and more people have learned about the value of respirators since the pandemic.

“Since COVID-19, many more people know what N95s are,” says Jason Lunn, Application Engineer at 3M. “Plus, many people now understand the difference between a mask and a respirator—that it comes down to the fact that NIOSH-approved respirators are designed to form a tight seal to the face, while masks are not and can have gaps around the edges.”

But there’s still plenty of things many people—even veteran painting contractors—don’t know about respirator safety. Lunn believes it’s because most people were never taught it.

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Expect the Unexpected

These 3 products are at their best even when the weather’s at its worst

Working exterior jobs in early spring can mean dealing with unpredictable and suboptimal weather. Rain, sleet, snow, and cold temperatures can delay or ruin your best-laid plans.

But if you’re stocking the right products, you and your team can be prepared to perform at your best, even when the weather’s at its worst. Depending on your regional demands, we recommend these three paints for your spring exterior projects.

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Unlock Your PRO Advantage Today

Put Sherwin-Williams resources and innovation to work for you.

Your needs as a professional painting contractor are evolving. Whether it means finding more time in your day, being more productive on the job site, or seeking advice on tackling a difficult job, staying competitive in this fast-paced industry is tough.

As your supplier, Sherwin-Williams understands your needs and has developed Sherwin-Williams PRO+, an exclusive program of pro-level services designed to help you grow and manage your business. PRO+ benefits allow you to take advantage of exclusive discounts, productivity-enhancing tools, personalized support, and more.

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Faster Color Choices, Faster Finishes

Provide guidance and expertise with Sherwin-Williams color tools and services

One of the trickiest challenges pros face is helping customers make color choices. As a contractor, you may not feel like an expert on color or have the time to dedicate to help homeowners through the possibly overwhelming color selection process. Thankfully, with Sherwin-Williams in your corner, you have all the tools necessary to help even the most indecisive customer imagine the perfect palette.

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Delivering Durable Results

3 reasons Emerald Urethane Trim Enamel may be right for you

Paint choices matter. Knowing which paint to use is key to a successful and profitable interior paint job–especially one that needs to withstand the wear and tear of high-touch surfaces like cabinets, windows, doors, and trim.

With up to 4x faster dry-to-recoat time*, Emerald® Urethane Trim Enamel (EUTE) is one of many PRO+ductive Solutions Sherwin-Williams offers as part of their PRO+ program. PRO+ductive Solutions help contractors save time by completing jobs quickly and generate profit through innovative products and services.

Part of the latest wave of PRO+ductive Solutions, EUTE is a water-based urethane modified alkyd with the look and feel of an alkyd/oil finish. This bold product combines contractor-friendly dry times with the highest quality paint Sherwin-Williams can offer. Consider these three reasons why EUTE may be right for your next job.

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Design-Driven Color with Impact

Capitalize on expert advice to give your property a competitive advantage

First impressions are important. A fresh coat of paint in a stylish new color can go a long way to help your property get noticed from the crowd and attract new residents.

Sherwin-Williams’ team of color experts can help guide you through the color selection process.

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The White Glove Experience

Dedicated reps offer solutions to your everyday challenges

When you’re managing a property, every day can bring new and unexpected challenges. Even if you’re part of a larger national property management company, you still need to make decisions at the local level using every resource at your disposal.

Thankfully, through your company’s national account agreement with Sherwin-Williams, you have access to a suite of tools and services. Whether you’re based in Minneapolis or Miami, Boston or Boise, Sherwin-Williams offers unrivaled coast-to-coast consistency of products, color and industry expertise. Your national agreement ensures that you get the same benefits no matter where your property is based, with convenient access to top-tier service.

“We aim to give our local properties the white-glove experience,” says Chris North, Sherwin-Williams Director of Property Maintenance National Accounts. “It’s about customer service. Property managers work hard, and we want to give them the quality treatment they need and deserve, and no other competitor can offer that same level of service.”

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6 Steps to Better Floor Protection

Insure yourself against spills, drips, and accidents

All it takes is a single drip on a client’s carpet or quality hardwood to change the trajectory of your crew’s workday. Cleaning up accidents costs you valuable time and money, yet many painters ignore floor protection altogether.

Even if you have the world’s most experienced team of painters, accidents can still happen—and that’s why good surface protection is so important.

Maria Costello, vice president of supply chain management at Trimaco, and Josh Jobe, regional sales manager for Trimaco’s South Central region, offer these six tips to painters to make sure that their floors are properly prepped before every job.

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Stronger Together

Why pro painters should join the PCA

Running a painting business may sometimes leave you feeling alone, like you’re on a remote island figuring out how to survive on your own—but it doesn’t have to be that way. There’s a community of painters ready to connect with you and elevate your business. If you’re not part of the Painting Contractors Association (PCA), you may be missing out on cost-saving resources and a network of fellow painters who want to support you.

PCA has come a long way from its 1884 origins as a negotiating arm of the painters’ unions and, later, as a kind of social club for professional painters. Today PCA is focused on equipping painting businesses with the resources, training, and personal support necessary to succeed.

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