I have always told the techs

Unknown

   If you would learn just to listen to the customer and try not to impress them with what little knowledge you have; you are ahead by 10 fold. The customer aka home owner will tell you all you need to know 90 % of the time.



   I had this one tech who would never shut up that a customer told him to just fix the unit and please quit talking so much, really this guy was the world worse ( I finally pedal him off to one of the local colleges and my friend who hired him called me after just 2 days and said do you know this man talks non stop and what did I ever do to deserve this.



   I believe in being polite and asking the right question but I don't want to have tea and cookies with them. I sent my youngest son out one day to the Hall sisters ( I will see you soon big e the old man ain't far behind  son ) . Four hours later he returned and said dad why did you send me there. All I said was son better you than me, they were like the Baldwin sisters on the Walton's lol.



I looked at the invoice

planted 10 tomatoes  plants

fixed back door steps

replaced front screen door

repaired tubing to a very large copper pot ( lol rotf )

total  $250.00 paid in full

 

PEACE BE WITH YOU



DAVID C. BROOME

P.S.

ALWAYS LIVED A VERY QUITE LIFE

I WILL SEE YOU AGAIN ONE DAY BIG E.

icesailor

Fixer Up'ers:

Lucky you to have a multi-talented son. He probably learned more than you will ever know from his experience with that customer. And the apple probably didn't fall far from the tree.

If she called you on the phone, she wanted to spend money.

If she called Joe or Jose the Handyman, they wouldn't have been able to plant the tomatoes, fix the back steps, replaced the screen door and fix the handle on the copper pot. And do as good a job as your son. And have the same good will toward your company. If she paid the bill, she was happy.

Do you have any idea how hard it is for older women living alone to find someone trustworthy that can actually fix something properly?

If you charge a minimum of 1 1/2 hours for a service call and you fix the problem in 15 minutes, can you afford to fix something simple that you notice is a problem that needs fixing? Ask them if they want it fixed and fix it.

You pay huge amounts of money for advertising. I never got a single lead from print advertising. The value of the Telephone (word of mouth) Newspaper from satisfied customers is worth far more than a piece in the paper or the Internet. Word of mouth is the best sales lead. And the old ladies pay their bills gladly. Not so much for the people that are looking for the cheapest price and they already know how much they are going to pay you, regardless of what the final bill will be.

JMO.