The basic services:
What, exactly, do you do?
How much does it cost?
Ratings:
How much control do the contractors have over their ratings?
A contractor I know of doesn't seem to be listed on your system. Does that mean they have a bad rating?
I've found a business on your system, and it doesn't seem to have a rating at all. Does that reflect badly on the business?
I am a new business, and I'm not getting deals on your system because I haven't built-up a good rating. Is there anything I can
do?
I am a contractor. How can I protect myself from bad ratings which I don't deserve?
Deal-making:
How do I decide which contractors I'm going to employ?
Do I call the contractors, or do they call me?
How does elimination work?
I've made the shortlist, and now I've selected which contractors I want to employ. What do I do now?
What protects me from accepting an offer accidentally?
What happens if the contractors on my shortlist withdraw their offers?
What's the follow-up process for?
A contractor has approached me directly, asking to close the deal outside the Yes-We-Can system. Should I agree?
Aggregation, subcontracting, and Buddying:
Why do I need project-management?
What is aggregation?
I've seen mention of "Buddies". What's that about?
The basic services.
Several things. Firstly, we maintain a directory of contractors which work in various branches of the building trade. You can search our list, in order to find just the kind of contractor you're looking for. In that respect, we're just like a directory or search service.
But we go a step further. We also record how satisfied each contractor's customers are with the service they received. You can use that information when you decide which contractors you want to invite to quote for your work.
Finally, we know that many customers are wary of revealing personal details to individuals and companies they don't know. So, we will allow you to talk to the contractors entirely anonymously, using a special mailbox which we provide you. They will never know who you are until you're ready to tell them. Even better, we keep a record of all the email conversations you have with every contractor, until you ask for the records to be destroyed. Those records are tamper-proof - and you can use them as written evidence of what you agreed.
For more detailed explanation, take a look at What We Do.
If you're a client (that is, you are seeking contractors to do work for you) then it costs nothing at all - ever.
If you're a contractor, you can get a basic listing for free just by signing-up and entering your details (and, of course, there's no charge for us recording your rating - whether good or bad!) You can opt for additional services, and some of these are chargeable - full details are provided on the contractor registration pages, which you'll find under "About You"
Finally, when a client and a contractor agree some works, we charge a very small percentage of the sale price (currently 2%). It is the contractor who pays this.
Ratings.
How much control do the contractors have over their ratings?
None whatever. The only people who can control a contractor's ratings are the legitimate customers of the contractor - and we know who the legitimate customers are because we have put them in touch. No deal, no rating! We do have measures in place to detect fraud and rigging, and businesses which try to cheat our system will have their cheating recorded in their rating. We may also suspend their account.
A contractor I know of doesn't seem to be listed on your system. Does that mean they have a bad rating?
Certainly not. Not every contractor belongs to Yes-We-Can, and of course it makes no sense to try to put clients in touch with contractors who are not part of our system - nobody would be listening!
If a contractor isn't listed, then it means we don't know about them.
On the other hand, if we know of a contractor which deserves a bad rating, we certainly will list them - even if they're not listening! A bad rating means customers are complaining.
I've found a business on your system, and it doesn't seem to have a rating at all. Does that reflect badly on the business?
Not necessarily. They may have just recently joined our system. No rating means we don't know anything about them.
I am a new business, and I'm not getting deals on your system because I haven't built-up a good rating. Is there anything I can do?
Yes. You could provide your own customer testimonials on your site page, or you could buddy-up with an established contractor (see below).
I am a contractor. How can I protect myself from bad ratings which I don't deserve?
Bad ratings generally don't come out of the blue! if you experience problems on a job, you should try to resolve the problems directly with the client, and make sure that your feedback reflects your efforts.
If, in spite of your best efforts, the client still posts bad feedback, there are several things you can do. Firstly, you will be given a right of reply. If that's not adequate, then you should provide us with any independent evidence you can: if the feedback is untrue or libelous, we will derate it or withdraw it altogether.
Some clients naturally rate more harshly than others - it's just their way. We know who those clients are: in addition to monitoring the feedback you receive, we also monitor the feedback that clients give, and the harsh reviewers are automatically "softened" by our system. A bad review from a client who generally gives very good reviews will count for much more than a bad review from a client who is never satisfied!
Deal-making.
How do I decide which contractors I'm going to employ?
Every time you decide you want some work doing, you create a job in the Yes-We-Can system. The job proceeds in four stages:
- Starting-up,
- Elimination,
- Acceptance, and,
- Follow-up
Let's talk about starting-up, first. When you first tell us about the job you want doing, and your preferences, we will provide you with a list of suitable contractors whose preferences also suggest they would be interested in your business. For each contactor on the list you can:
- immediately reject any that seem unsuitable.
- securely email any that seem particularly impressive, asking them to quote, and
- leave the remainder on your list, giving them permission to contact you.
You can also add extra business to your list if you already know about them.
Do I call the contractors, or do they call me?
Both! When you first tell us about your job, we'll show you a list of suitable contactors. In addition, there will be contractors who aren't obvious choices, but who are on the lookout for jobs like yours, so our system won't show them to you. But it will show your job to them, and they may decide to contact you through the secure email system. In that case, they will be added to your "permission" list.
Now you begin the elimination phase. You will discuss the details of your job with the contractors on your list. The discussion will take place through our own email system (not yours, because we keep your identity secret) and we keep a permanent record of everything that was said.
During those conversations you will be able to reject contractors who you decide are unsuitable, and contractors can withdraw themselves from your job, until eventually you're left with a shortlist.
I've made the shortlist, and now I've selected which contractors I want to employ. What do I do now?
While you're discussing your job with prospective contractors, you will agree (a) the work you want doing, (b) which contractors will be doing what, (c) price and terms, and (d) schedule. According to the rules of use of this site, you are inviting tenders, and the contractors are making offers to you. Nothing you say is binding at this stage.
When you've made your final decision, you will accept the offers of the contractors you've decided to employ, and reject the remainder. Once you've accepted an offer, then both of you - the client and the contractor - are legally-bound to fulfil. The contractor cannot change the terms without your agreement. You cannot withdraw from the arrangement.
Acceptance seems like a big deal. What protects me from accepting an offer accidentally?
Because acceptance is so important, it proceeds in a two-step process. During the startup and elimination phases, you will not be able to accept offers at all. When you're getting close to deciding who you're going to employ, you "unlock" the job so it is possible for you to accept offers. When you unlock, two things happen immediately:
- If there are any contractors on your shortlist who have not yet made a complete offer, you will be reminded, and encouraged very strongly to either reject them, or persuade them to complete their offer.
- Every contractor still on your shortlist will be told that you've unlocked, and will be told your full contact details. They will be given a final opportunity to either confirm their offer, or to withdraw it.
Once everybody has confirmed, you can then accept with one click.
What happens if I unlock, and then the contractors on my shortlist withdraw their offers?
Occasional last-minute cancellations are, of course, inevitable; contractors will be negotiating several different clients, and somebody else might accept their offer before you do. For that reason we advise you to make sure, when you're compiling your shortlists, that you always keep a plan B is reserve in case your first choices withdraw.
If a particular contractor develops a habit of withdrawing at the last minute, that will be reflected in his rating.
If you find that all your contractors have suddenly withdrawn without reason, perhaps there's something that you're not explaining properly when you start-up the job.
What's the follow-up process for?
Because now, the real work starts! It is during the follow-up that you begin to rate your contractors, every single day, if you want. If problems or disputes arise, you should continue to use our email system, because everything you say (and everything they say in reply) is recorded permanently, where neither you nor the contractor can be accused of tampering with it.
A contractor has approached me directly, asking to close the deal outside the Yes-We-Can system. Should I agree?
Certainly not! On the one hand, it is against our rules for a contractor or a client to arrange deals (or offer to arrange deals) outside our system. It's also very dangerous for you to accept. You lose the benefits of the secure email, you lose the ability to provide feedback on the progress of your job, and (unless the contractor is offering you large financial incentives) you gain nothing in return. You should ask yourself: why would a contractor want you to give away your protection like this, and why would he not want your feedback?
If a contractor asks you to step outside our system, you should inform us immediately. We will suspend their account.
Aggregation, subcontracting, and Buddying.
Why do I need project-management?
Some jobs are simple, one-job jobs, such as building a garden wall or re-plastering a room. But many of the jobs you do will require a number of different contractors, all working around each other. Somebody has to project-manage all that.
You can project-manage it yourself if you want, but many contractors will be wary of DIY project management because of the risk that things could go wrong. Many contractors will only work on jobs which are professionally project-managed.
If you're employing an architect, usually the architect will be the project manager. Where you're not employing an architect, you may find it helpful to employ a project manager or an aggregator as part of your team.
Some contractors may be offering services which they do not supply themselves, but which they provide using other contractors with whom they have an established relationship. That is, they have teamed-up with bricklayers, plasterers, electricians, and so on. The contractor who buys-in the services in this way is called an aggregator:
When you're planning your job, aggregators can be very valuable. The aggregators handle the contractual details with the specialist contractors, they do the planning and scheduling, and they provide all the ongoing project management. You only have one deal to negotiate (with the aggregator) and then he ensures everything goes to plan. Often an aggregator can save you money: because he's buying specialist services in bulk, he is able to negotiate good rates, which can then be passed-on to you.
The important feature of aggregation is that it is the aggregator's job to make sure your work gets done, and he can use whatever specialists he needs to accomplish that. If one of his subcontractors lets him down, he must find another one to do your job. It is the aggregator who is working for you, not the subcontractors. If anything goes wrong, it's down to the aggregator.
I've seen mention of "Buddies". What's that about?
Buddies are a bit like aggregation, but represents a closer and more permanent working relationship. Where a contractor offers a limited range of services, he can team-up with another business to fill in the gaps. for example, an electrician could team up with a plasterer, or a plumber and heating engineer could team up with a gas fitter.
The main purposes of the buddy system are:
- to enable you to get a broad range of services without having to do lots of detailed negotiation,
- to enable established contractors to "vouch for" start-up and developing businesses who, although they do a great job, don't yet have a rating of their own.
When you employ a contractor which has a buddy, you get the benefit of the skills of both companies. The feedback you provide goes to both the main contractor and to the buddy (which is different to aggregators: only the aggregator gets the feedback, not his subcontractors).
