After too many bad experiences, we've learned that the best way to get a project straight is to hold a meeting with clients before work begins. Pre-construction conferences have saved us an incredible amount of work and confusion. They've also saved us plenty of money. At our company, a typical job passes through two different people before work begins. The salesman works with clients to understand what they expect from a project, what it will look like, and how it will function. But once the bid's accepted, the production manager and the lead carpenter take over. Without good communication between these two and the sales rep, clients will find themselves explaining their ideas again to the production crew. As the job progresses from
