How many yellows are there?

In a recent episode of A day in the life of Levco, our team came across an unusual situation without an obvious great resolution.

We were playing the you’re getting warmer game with a client who was trying to select a wall color for a basement kitchen we needed to paint urgently.

Timing for completing the project was crucial. We were in a hurry, yet wasting precious time hoping our client would make a paint color selection for us.

Some folks find picking the perfect color easy, others like me look at the tiny swatches of color and get freaked out. I always abdicate the color selections to professionals.

Having the right color is very important

It all started when we had a yellow color made at the paint store that our client selected from a fan deck. That yellow ended up being too light once it was applied and allowed to dry.

The following day, with a color chart in hand again, she picked a different color. Once applied, it was unsatisfactory too. (it turned out to be too yellow).

Ratcheting up the pressure on our client to pick something was not fun for anyone. We were acting like order takers in a fast food line that was backing up around the corner.

Frustrated and bewildered, we realized that this could conceivably take an eternity to find the perfect yellow for the basement kitchen. There must be at least 35 varieties of yellow in this fan deck.

Looking for an emotion

The game changer occurred when Steve Wadsworth, our project manager asked her a powerful question. “What do you want the room to feel like?”

That stopped her in her tracks “A color is not a feeling, so it did not initially make sense”, she said. After pondering the situation and reorienting the conversation a feeling was settled on. “I want the room to feel like there is plenty of sunlight”.

With this new information Steve was able to go to the paint palate and select a color he felt set the mood she was looking for. Confident in his selection, Steve had a gallon prepared.

Like sunlight

Once applied and allowed to dry, our client viewed the freshly painted kitchen. She was elated, the color selection was perfect. Ta-Da! Upon personally inspecting the basement kitchen, I must agree, Steve nailed it so well I am going to recommend this color for all the basements we remodel.

By elevating our clients pressure to make a perfect selection on her own, and looking at paint color as creating an emotion, Steve was able to add a great story and some well deserved punctuation to our tag line, “We create what you imagine!”

The game changer

Untangling a communication stalemate in this case, took both parties to be committed. Had we continued to act as merely sideline observers in the color decision making process, we could still be waiting, or worse, left her with a color on the wall that wasn’t quite what she had in mind.

Q: What is the difference between a chicken and a pig, in an eggs and bacon breakfast?

A: The chicken was involved, the pig was committed.

Unlike most remodelers, the Levco Team cares very much about the process and is committed to arriving at great solutions to real problems. Creating enthusiastic referrals is our goal, therefore stellar results on our projects do not happen by accident.

Your comments are welcome. To ask questions or get more information about remodeling, click here to email me directly, or call 208-947-7261

If you or someone you know is considering remodeling or just wants to speak to a trustworthy remodeling contractor please contact me, you’ll be glad you did.