- May 12, 2009
- 6,933
- 7
- 76
Ok, you have a problem at your house.
You need an electrician, plumber, Hvac, tiler etc etc. The guy turns up to do the work, he is either self employed or an employee.
I am focused on the employees.
Now these guys get paid regardless of how the job turns out, so these are some things you can do as a client to get the very best out of the tradesman.
1) Be polite and keep in mind that domestic work is shit, you can increase the tradesman's care factor by being polite.
2) offer the person a drink of water or a cup of tea. This is nothing, but if someone offers me a cup of tea, it gives me a bit of a pick up and i do a better job.
3) One guy even cooked me a 3 course meal and his wife made me the best hot chocolate ever (elderly couple and very wealthy, had 6 central air systems). He was a regular client, and he rang me later down the track as he was having problem with a thermostat, i stopped off at his house on my way home, that day, fixed the problem in 5 minutes, and didnt charge him for the call out. ( i could have charged $190, he had cash ready, i said dont worry about it)
Sonambulo makes a good point:Free food for the contractors will cost you a little extra money but it's usually a drop in the bucket compared to the cost of the job itself. When I worked in the trades we would always pay much more attention to what we were doing when the client was paying for our meals.
It's shitty and unfair to the other customers but it's just the way it is.
4) Dont stand over the person. They are qualified, they dont need your supervision. But feel free to ask questions, at the appropriate time. I enjoy educating clients on how to use equipment properly, but if they are rude to me, my care factor drops and i dont give a flying fig.
Addition by Lxskllr: We just want to get the job completed and get out of there. Leave the tradesman alone. An acception to this rule is seniors, who enjoy a chat.
5) Dont tell bullshit stories to the boss. One lady rang up and complained that i was working slow. It was the middle of summer and at that time of year it is impossible to get mechanics out. I had a ripper of a migrane but i thought id do the right thing and get her job sorted. I explained to her that i had a migrane, but i wanted to help her out and get the job done, so she wasnt without air con on a 40DegC day. She rang up and bitched that I was slow. Tradesmen do try to help you out. Let them, and refer to rule 1.
I hope this list helps out, there seems to be a few ATOTers that have bought new homes and i am sure heaps own their home. I will try to refine the list as much as possible. And suggestions will be appreciated.
Seamoose
Good Points by RagingBITCH
If the client was saying "hurry the FVCK up, I have tennis in 5 hours, you guys are slow, you smell, you're dirty", IE, overall rude, would a contractor do the same quality of work as someone who is polite and courteous to them? I don't care about their perfectionist mindset...they are not going to do the same level of work.
In general if there isn't a wide variety/range in attitude from Customer A to B, then yes, they'll put in the LOE they would be proud of.
But, if Customer C is a complete polar opposite of Customer A, then that goes out the window.
Great words from BoomerD: Treat the contractor and his workers like people...you'll usually get better work...and often faster as well.
You need an electrician, plumber, Hvac, tiler etc etc. The guy turns up to do the work, he is either self employed or an employee.
I am focused on the employees.
Now these guys get paid regardless of how the job turns out, so these are some things you can do as a client to get the very best out of the tradesman.
1) Be polite and keep in mind that domestic work is shit, you can increase the tradesman's care factor by being polite.
2) offer the person a drink of water or a cup of tea. This is nothing, but if someone offers me a cup of tea, it gives me a bit of a pick up and i do a better job.
3) One guy even cooked me a 3 course meal and his wife made me the best hot chocolate ever (elderly couple and very wealthy, had 6 central air systems). He was a regular client, and he rang me later down the track as he was having problem with a thermostat, i stopped off at his house on my way home, that day, fixed the problem in 5 minutes, and didnt charge him for the call out. ( i could have charged $190, he had cash ready, i said dont worry about it)
Sonambulo makes a good point:Free food for the contractors will cost you a little extra money but it's usually a drop in the bucket compared to the cost of the job itself. When I worked in the trades we would always pay much more attention to what we were doing when the client was paying for our meals.
It's shitty and unfair to the other customers but it's just the way it is.
4) Dont stand over the person. They are qualified, they dont need your supervision. But feel free to ask questions, at the appropriate time. I enjoy educating clients on how to use equipment properly, but if they are rude to me, my care factor drops and i dont give a flying fig.
Addition by Lxskllr: We just want to get the job completed and get out of there. Leave the tradesman alone. An acception to this rule is seniors, who enjoy a chat.
5) Dont tell bullshit stories to the boss. One lady rang up and complained that i was working slow. It was the middle of summer and at that time of year it is impossible to get mechanics out. I had a ripper of a migrane but i thought id do the right thing and get her job sorted. I explained to her that i had a migrane, but i wanted to help her out and get the job done, so she wasnt without air con on a 40DegC day. She rang up and bitched that I was slow. Tradesmen do try to help you out. Let them, and refer to rule 1.
I hope this list helps out, there seems to be a few ATOTers that have bought new homes and i am sure heaps own their home. I will try to refine the list as much as possible. And suggestions will be appreciated.
Seamoose
Good Points by RagingBITCH
If the client was saying "hurry the FVCK up, I have tennis in 5 hours, you guys are slow, you smell, you're dirty", IE, overall rude, would a contractor do the same quality of work as someone who is polite and courteous to them? I don't care about their perfectionist mindset...they are not going to do the same level of work.
In general if there isn't a wide variety/range in attitude from Customer A to B, then yes, they'll put in the LOE they would be proud of.
But, if Customer C is a complete polar opposite of Customer A, then that goes out the window.
Great words from BoomerD: Treat the contractor and his workers like people...you'll usually get better work...and often faster as well.
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