Contractor bench · operating document
Who is on the bench, what is still missing from each, and the follow-up sequence that turns a single introduction into a two-year relationship — and into the only quality control the bench actually has.
Three jobs, one sequence. That is the whole argument for doing it.
Someone renovating in 2026 is a seller in 2028. The introduction is not the product — the two-year relationship is.
You are not auditing anyone's paperwork. What you can know is whose quotes hold, who answers the phone, and who the client would use again. That only comes from asking.
Feedback is scarce in the trades. A contractor who hears why he lost a job stays engaged far longer than one who receives a free website.
Ten businesses, all with a slot. One is live; nine are placeholders holding a position until you supply the detail. A profile only goes live once its documentation row is complete — an unverified profile carrying a confirmed date is worse than no profile at all. A profile only goes live once its documentation row is complete — an unverified profile carrying a confirmed date is worse than no profile at all.
| Business | Trade | Shown on site as | On file | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kitchen Pro — Margaret | Kitchen renovation | Kitchen A | — | Placeholder |
| HomesByNash | General contracting & management | GC A | — | Placeholder |
| Darko Renovation | Basement finishing | Basement A | — | Placeholder |
| Milan Bogdanovic | Caulking & sealants | Caulking A | — | Placeholder |
| Nala Painting | Painting | Painter A | 20 yrs · 2-man · insured + WSIB claimed | Live — needs honest line |
| Duarte Painting | Painting | Painter B | — | Placeholder |
| Brane Renovation | Flooring | Flooring A | — | Placeholder |
| Romic Solution | Electrical | Electrical A | ECRA/ESA 7015931 · travels to Halton | Placeholder |
| Rade Brkic — hardwood | Flooring (hardwood) | Flooring B | — | Placeholder |
| West End Handyman | Handyman & small repairs | Handyman A | — | Placeholder |
One profile is live — Painter A, on the strength of 20 years and a two-man crew. It still has no honest line, which is the field that makes someone want the introduction.
Nine are placeholders. They hold a slot and appear nowhere on the site. Each needs three things from you: years, set-up, and the honest line.
The documentation column is empty for all ten. Nala's "insured + WSIB" and Romic's ECRA/ESA number were both read off the contractors' own websites — neither is a document you hold. Until a row has real entries, that profile should not carry a certificates-on-file date.
Four short things, in your words. Nothing gets written about a real business that you have not said.
Both sides get touched at the same moments, which is why they are set out on one axis. Everything before day 60 is one or two sentences — short messages get answered, paragraphs get ignored.
Add to the introduction you already send
I'll check in briefly in a few days to make sure they actually got back to you. If they didn't, I want to know — that matters to me more than it does to you.
Sets up day three so it isn't a surprise, and tells the client what standard you hold people to.
When you send the name
Sent your name to a homeowner in Oakville for a bathroom reno, roughly $15–40k, hoping to start in spring. They have a written scope, so you're not starting from nothing. Please get back to them within two business days. If you're too busy right now, tell me and I'll place it elsewhere — no hard feelings, and it doesn't affect the next one.
The last clause matters. A contractor who fears losing his place says yes to work he can't take, and the client pays for that.
Text
Hi name — did Contractor get back to you? No detail needed, just yes or no. If not, I'll chase them or give you someone else.
The most common failure is not a bad quote — it's a contractor who never calls back, and that happens in days. Answerable in one word, which is why it gets answered. A "no" is a bench event: two of those and he comes off.
Text
Hi name — have the quotes come in? If you want a second pair of eyes on what's included and what isn't, send them over. No charge, and I'm not selling you anything — I just read a lot of these.
Reading a quote for someone is the most useful ninety seconds you can spend on a relationship. It also shows you what your contractors actually charge — which is how the cost bands on the site eventually get written from real jobs.
Text
Did you get to quote the Oakville bathroom?
Hi name, How did the bathroom turn out? Two things I'd genuinely like to know: did the final price land near the quote, and would you use them again? It's the only way I find out whether the people I recommend are still worth recommending. If something went wrong, I'd rather hear that than the polite version.
That last line is what produces honest answers. Most people won't volunteer a complaint unless you make it clear you want one.
Text — the most valuable message here
Did you land the Oakville bathroom? If not, any idea what you lost it on — price, timing, or scope? Genuinely useful for me to know.
Over ten or fifteen introductions this tells you who is priced in market, who is chronically unavailable, and who loses work for reasons that are really about how a quote is presented — something you can actually help them fix.
Hi name — no agenda here. Your house is a 1974, and this is the time of year worth looking at gutters and grading. Two minutes with this tells you what that era typically used: yovan-gabric.ca/renovate/hazard-profile If anything on it worries you, just ask.
Do not mention selling. A renovating homeowner who feels prospected stops replying — you'd lose a two-year relationship to save eighteen months.
Email — same shape, keyed to the build year you already hold
Cheap, and hard to forget. Needs express consent — see below.
Canada's anti-spam legislation covers commercial electronic messages, and a REALTOR® following up with a homeowner sits squarely inside it. Rough shape, to confirm with your broker of record — not legal advice.
Day 3, 14 and 60 sit comfortably inside the implied consent an inquiry gives you, which expires (commonly cited as six months). Month 6 and the annual letter do not, unless you have express consent or an ongoing business relationship. Every commercial message needs sender identification and a working unsubscribe.
The practical fix: ask once at day 60, when you have just done something useful and they are well disposed.
Would you like me to send you a short note once a year about what's worth checking on a house of this age? One email, every twelve months, and you can tell me to stop at any time.
One row per introduction. Keep it to this — a tracker nobody fills in is worth nothing.
| Date | Homeowner | Trade | Given | Replied <2d | Quoted | Won | Final vs quote | Use again | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Signal | What it means |
|---|---|
| Replies inside two days, consistently | Keep. Rarer than it should be. |
| Two no-replies | Off the bench. No third chance. |
| Final regularly exceeds quote | Loose quoting. Warn clients, or remove. |
| Quotes plenty, wins little | Priced high, or presenting badly — tell him which. |
| Client would not use again | Off the bench that day. |
Ten introductions fit in a spreadsheet. A hundred do not — this is the first thing in the whole plan that genuinely justifies a database, and it is exactly what Phase 3 was for.