The Destroy-IY ethos
I don’t often have to call out tradesman to do some work in my house. Not that I’m a handyman at all. My wife will attest to the fact that I’m quite the opposite! The reason is I’ve been fortunate to live in a new build that hasn’t required much work until recently. However, with time, the house has started to creek, the wallpaper has started to peel and I’ve needed to call in specialists to address the problems.
I’ve already covered my philosophy on DIY. I’m a fan of ‘destroy-it-yourself’ rather than ‘do-it-yourself’,
Money you saved by 'Destroying It Yourself' you can now reinvest into hiring the best professional [to fix or install something new]
So I'm always more than happy to give someone qualified my business.
The Good Guys
Thinking back to when I got my floor laid last year, I remember the guys that did it ticked all three boxes to getting repeat custom,
- Good price
- Good job
- Good manners
Even though I’m not planning to get my floor done anytime soon, I’ll keep their number just in case. As importantly, I’ll recommend them should someone I know need wooden floors installing. In fact, it was my sister who recommended these guys to me in the first place.
The Easy money
I’ve had a couple of experiences, with an electrician and a plumber that I’ve been less than enamoured with. Last year I had to call out an electrician. I’d tripped the circuit and lost electricity in parts of my house. I called an electrician and explained the parts of the house where the electricity was lost. He charged a price to fix each problem. I think it was for £45 each issue (including his call out fee). Fine, I was happy to pay £90 to get the job fixed.
He came around, he was okay apart from the fact he stunk of weed. I’ve no problem with people smoking. But if you’re meeting new customers for the first time, it’s not a good look. Anyway, he fixed the first issue and as it transpired the way the electrics are wired in the house, it also resolved the second issue. So he completed the job in like 20 minutes, easy money for him.
The Loaded question
After he was done, I asked him a question.
“How much is that?”
“90 quid.” He said, sheepishly.
“Cool.” I said.
And it was cool. The job he did was in no way worth £90. However I paid him no problem.
He had however missed an opportunity. Had he said, ‘That was much more straight-forward than I expected, make it £50.’ Not only would I have probably paid him the £90 he estimated, he would have also earned my trust and repeat business.
As it happened this was a one and done. He said he only took cash. I didn’t have any in the house, so we drove in his van to the cashpoint. He proceeded to spark up a spliff and offered me some. “No thanks, I don’t smoke.” Needless to say, I gave him his cash and never saw him again.
Flushed away
More recently, the flush on one of our toilets broke. Not great. My wife has been on me for ages to get it fixed. I simply haven’t had the time (nor the inclination to do DIY). In the end, I said,
“Let's just call a plumber, and get them to fix it.”
I’m not sure exactly what transpired however I got a call from my wife saying that the plumber had identified the flush we need (it would cost around £20) and that “it would be straight-forward for us to install it ourselves.” Alternatively we could buy the part and pay him over £200 to install it.
SMH... Pay £200 for him to do something that would be straight-forward for us to do ourselves? Did he hear himself? We paid him his call out fee. And needless to say that was another tradesman that would not be getting our repeat business or recommendation.
Lost art
I do however find it interesting just how many tradesmen (or should I be saying trades-people?) have lost the art of building relationships. If I were an electrician or a plumber I’d treat that first visit to a customer like a first date. If you play that first encounter right and you can not only have a customer for life but an advocate who will drum you up more business. I’ve been surprised at how many are happy for the call out and cash grab. Maybe I’ve just been unlucky in my last encounters or maybe it is symptomatic of modern day business practices.