Discuss So fed up with ignorant customers in the Plumbing Jobs | The Job-board area at PlumbersForums.net
Crikey, struggle to get £50 when I've done the job, never mind before it.More and more tradespeople are taking £50 deposit around where I live.
Yeah I imagine it would do more harm than good, the genuine custards don't wanna pay before hand? Plus no would it work anyway? Knock on the door and ask for a tenner for my part payment?
Crikey, struggle to get £50 when I've done the job, never mind before it.
agree totally
just went to a customers house at an agreed time she let me in and theres already a plumber upstairs quoting her for the work
he looked at me and said "giz a min will ya" so i stormed out.
can understand customers getting quotes from elsewhere but booking the tradesmen to come all at same time?
had the normal one today, oil boiler needs a service, next thursday at 0900 says I, oh,can you come at 4.30 as we are both teachers, when was it last serviced says I? on bout 3 or 4 years ago says she. My little cell in the head whirrs for a bit, 4.30 and no service for years will mean late home that day, so NO thanks. do you work weekends says she, do you says I of course not says she, you all know my reply
my question about 3 weeks holiday and planning ahead failed to enlist a response bar a click of the phone dropping, seems I didnt need that sort of customer this year
I can see the frustration of the times being awkward, but as a one man band or small business, flexibility can get you jobs off the big companies who only work 9-5. I regularly book in evening appointments etc and as such have very loyal customers. If you are busy enough to be able to turn work away and pick and choose jobs that's fine and good luck to you, but for people starting out this attitude wont get you very far.
Sometimes doing an emergency job at after hours, weekends or, say Christmas eve, can win you friends as the customer (especially if they were a stranger) will often tell everyone they can about how you helped them.
Trouble is you are only brilliant in people's eyes until you fail to jump to their next demand some day & then many will not want to know you.
Yep I've had this before five of us at the same time I did wonder what was going on with all the vans in the street custard said right your all here now who will give me the best price, I went straight for the door but more alarming is that not everyone did.
I don't see why it is "alarming" that not everyone followed you through the door?!
If you're hungry, you're hungry and will quote for the work. I don't see it being rude, at the end of the day when visiting a customer or potential customer you're there to give a quote it is essentially tendering for work. What is the difference between giving a quote infront of other customers and tendering for work online?
I have been hungry for work and still look on any new customer as 'gold dust.'However I am pretty sure I would not have even got inside and would certainly have walked had I done so.I wouldn't necessarily blame anyone who stayed,that is their choice.I don't see why it is "alarming" that not everyone followed you through the door?!
If you're hungry, you're hungry and will quote for the work. I don't see it being rude, at the end of the day when visiting a customer or potential customer you're there to give a quote it is essentially tendering for work. What is the difference between giving a quote infront of other customers and tendering for work online?
But you're saying that we (as in plumbers, heating eng's etc) should be happy to stand in a room and bid each other down, its something I will never do
But isn't that what being in a service industry is all about? You are as good as your customers last experience of you.
An old mentor of mine used to say "There is no such thing as a customer list. What you have is a list of people who used you last month. You have to win their business again tomorrow, next week and next month. Never assume that they are your customer - the moment that you do, you are half way to losing them."
How many of you guys have, at any point, sent a list of materials to a range of merchants, and then played one off against the other?
How many of you have ordered something, and put your supplier to the trouble of organising it, and then cancelled because you have found a cheaper or better solution elsewhere?
We all do price around, but there sometimes is a difference between people getting several plumbers to price, say a heating job & plumbers getting prices from different merchants. By this I mean, if I price the identical products from different merchants, then I will get the same products at the cheapest cost, but people getting different quotes from plumbers using identical materials will not get the same standard of workmanship from each plumber that quotes.
How many of you guys have, at any point, sent a list of materials to a range of merchants, and then played one off against the other?
How many of you have ordered something, and put your supplier to the trouble of organising it, and then cancelled because you have found a cheaper or better solution elsewhere?
This is is just normal customer behaviour in almost any field. If you run a business then you have to accept that your aspirations and motivations are not the same as your customers'. Sure, you can set up policies and procedures to lessen the impact on you, but there is no point in getting uptight about it. Its just a risk of business life.
As with a lot of threads on here this one has thrown up some interesting replies.In my earlier post I highlighted the fact that a lot of ignorant customers of all social classes are price obsessed and that are therefore not the sort of customers you want ,unless fairly,desperate.In an ideal world you have a customer/tradesman relationship based on trust.They have confidence in you as a person,the quality of your work and if you can't drop everything for them ,except in a real emergency ,they will wait.Many of mine and their referrals trust my pricing and we both are not offended by an 'Is there room to shave it a little bit?'However Ray does make a fair point regarding not taking a customer for granted.Totally agree with that, but if you do work of the highest quality & at low cost for a customer & they then selfishly suddenly insist you do an unnecessary job for them immediately just because they have decided they want something replaced, I would prefer to let them look around.
I don't see why it is "alarming" that not everyone followed you through the door?!
If you're hungry, you're hungry and will quote for the work. I don't see it being rude, at the end of the day when visiting a customer or potential customer you're there to give a quote it is essentially tendering for work. What is the difference between giving a quote infront of other customers and tendering for work online?
I don't see why it is "alarming" that not everyone followed you through the door?!
If you're hungry, you're hungry and will quote for the work. I don't see it being rude, at the end of the day when visiting a customer or potential customer you're there to give a quote it is essentially tendering for work. What is the difference between giving a quote infront of other customers and tendering for work online?
How many of you guys have, at any point, sent a list of materials to a range of merchants, and then played one off against the other?
How many of you have ordered something, and put your supplier to the trouble of organising it, and then cancelled because you have found a cheaper or better solution elsewhere?
This is is just normal customer behaviour in almost any field. If you run a business then you have to accept that your aspirations and motivations are not the same as your customers'. Sure, you can set up policies and procedures to lessen the impact on you, but there is no point in getting uptight about it. Its just a risk of business life.
I will quite often take a quote from another merchant in. I will still use the merchant that gave me the cheaper price but I like to let them know why I'm not using them for a certain job. I think it gives them a chance to look at their pricing structure. Having said that I don't always go for the cheapest price as sometimes the service is more important.
I will quite often take a quote from another merchant in. I will still use the merchant that gave me the cheaper price but I like to let them know why I'm not using them for a certain job. I think it gives them a chance to look at their pricing structure. Having said that I don't always go for the cheapest price as sometimes the service is more important.
How many of you guys have, at any point, sent a list of materials to a range of merchants, and then played one off against the other?
How many of you have ordered something, and put your supplier to the trouble of organising it, and then cancelled because you have found a cheaper or better solution elsewhere?This is is just normal customer behaviour in almost any field. If you run a business then you have to accept that your aspirations and motivations are not the same as your customers'. Sure, you can set up policies and procedures to lessen the impact on you, but there is no point in getting uptight about it. Its just a risk of business life.
Well, there are a lot of you who I would love to have as customers with the attitudes described, and in fairness, we have a lot of customers who are like that.
But we also have a lot of customers who use us as part of a range of suppliers. One of my favourite conversations of all time went like this:
Me: "Hey T***, long time, no see. Where have you been hiding?"
Him: "Yeah, sorry Ray, I have mostly been using S**** at [competitor]"
Me: "Oh, why's that then? Is he beating our prices?"
Him: "No, its just that he took me to a golf day, and ... well... you know how it is..."
Me: "No worries mate. Anyway, how can we help?"
Him: "Well, I've taken this job on, and its a bit technically complicated for S****, so I though I'd come to you for some advice."
Me: "Splutter..."
Seriously - almost word for word.
And we did the quote, and made the sale, and then he went back to playing golf and shopping with the competitor.
I would get more sense out of next doors cat.
Tell the cat to get his post count up, and send a PM to Mark!
should have bumped the price so you could have joined him on the course for a day
I would but he really struggles without opposable thumbs.
Since when did being thumbless flipwits prevent people posting on this forum?
I have been hungry for work and still look on any new customer as 'gold dust.'However I am pretty sure I would not have even got inside and would certainly have walked had I done so.I wouldn't necessarily blame anyone who stayed,that is their choice.
However the question you have to ask is 'What sort of customers are you looking for?'I was going through some old paperwork the other day and saw a number of old ,failed quotes.The things that they had in common were,they were very cheap as I was finding it hard to get work and that even then they were not cheap enough for these customers who had one thing in common ,it was all about price.As is often pointed out in the forum there are customers who value you and your work and those who would drop you for a £5 or because you can't get to them immediately.A customer who had the bloody cheek to get 5 plumbers there at the same time was rude and brave.It is a wonder they were not shaken warmly by the throat!In effect they had wasted 4 people's time travelling there.It isn't the same as ringing for a ballpark figure.In any case ,even that is largely a waste of time because a good tradesman needs to see the job but not with 4 others!!!You will find that price obsessed customers are often a waste of time.
Same principle applies though.
The job cconsists of labour and materials. Assuming that the materials are constant, the difference is between the quality of the workmanship in the case of choosing an installer, and the quality of service in the case of choosing a merchant.
However the question you have to ask is 'What sort of customers are you looking for?'I was going through some old paperwork the other day and saw a number of old ,failed quotes.The things that they had in common were,they were very cheap as I was finding it hard to get work and that even then they were not cheap enough for these customers who had one thing in common ,it was all about price.As is often pointed out in the forum there are customers who value you and your work and those who would drop you for a £5 or because you can't get to them immediately... <snip>...You will find that price obsessed customers are often a waste of time.
Doesnt stop you...
I missed this gem earlier. Excellent post.
If you really sell a premium product or service, you shouldn't see everyone as a customer. Your potential customers are only those willing and able to pay a premium price, and your marketing and advertising ought to be aimed at identifying those people.
Focussing on the correct customer group can save a fortune in wasted time.
Why are you wasting your time on herw then ray?....
I don't sell a premium product, so I have to make do with customers lower down the evolutionary scale. In your case, much further down.
When do you want that fortic delivered incidentally?
You said about running the risk of a customer saying they dont want the product and you getting left with it.....
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