Business solutions

[John K]

Well here is a thread that I have never seen on here.

Does anyone have a weakness with scheduling and returning phone calls promptly? The problem that I find is not so much on returning the call as is the customer trying to pin me down on a start date. Sometimes I schedule a job and the previous job runs longer than expected and I have to call the customer to re-schedule. There seem to be so many variables when your doing renovation work, that I find it difficult to stay on schedule.

Am I the only one with this problem? What are some solutions?

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[John Bridge]

One little thing I do is leave holes in the schedule here and there. I do mostly small jobs of five days and less. Lots of one-day and two-day jobs. Instead of scheduling them bumper to bumper, I leave a day and sometimes two days empty every week or so. It's not hard to call someone and say hey, I'm early, can we start Wed. instead of Thurs.? It's also not hard to take a day off here and there if a person doesn't want to start early. ;)

[doitright]

Hi John K, John K here :)

I also run into this situation, as some of my projects take months to complete. I just keep my clients abreast to the situation, and let them know that I will give their job the same dedication (instead of stretching too thin and leave a bunch of jobs partially completed). I have had very positive response to this method. ;)

[John K]

Thank You, John B and John K.

I will try that method.

Thanks again

[davem]

I'm not in business for myself, but I'll say that John K's ideas about communication is spot on. People don't mind bad news nearly as much as no news. I am alway impressed when somebody makes the effort to return messages promptly, or better yet to update me on a situation without being prodded. Nothing ticks me off more than deafening silence. :)

[JJC]

Hi John K,
I use a combination of both JB & John's method. Build in extra time on a job schedule so if I run into probs. they can be taken care of and finish the job on time. The client is happy I did what I contracted to do and on time or early. The next project starts as scheduled, creating another happy client. (I'm there when I said I'd be) Communications is the key in this seniario, the GC on the next project has you sched for a certain time frame to be followed by another trade. I keep the GC happy by letting them know as far in advance as possible of any changes. It's a juggling act, but works for me. Cell phones are a life saver for me. I have noticed that over a period of time the GC's will reciprocate with there sched. problems.


Jim

[RandyL]

I'm really bad at the whole customer service thing. So is one store that I work for. Major communication problems. I end up working late a lot and working a lot of weekends just because of poor planning. Hope to learn a few pointers here. Thurday night i started a job and finished at midnight. :mad: needed to be done to stay on schedule though plus worked all day yesturday. I like the "leave a gap between jobs idea". Any other tips?

[doitright]

Hi Randy :)

Reminds of a long time ago. I promised a builder I would complete his job in 10 days. I already had another part time job. In seven days I used 140 hrs. out of the 168 hrs. available (24/7). That was only 4 hrs. per night sleep. I completed his job as promised, but was burnt for two weeks.

Had another one worked 24 hrs. without stopping, except to eat and use the facilities.

Also had a client who wanted me working on the Sunday of the Daytona 500. I told him I didn't want to miss the race. He offered to bring a tv into the bathroom I was tiling. I grabbed the bait, hook, line and sinker. :bang:

Went 13 years 7 days a week no vacation. (Great family life, not!)

I know where you're at. Been there. I'm sure many of us have. Today I have boundaries (didn't know what those were back then).

We create our own situation, and can't blame others. I think we can all give each other some great ideas here, on what works, and what doesn't.

Take time for yourself and your family. As for me heading to Phoenix next week to visit my folks, mountain bike, and lap the oval at Phoenix International Raceway (with Bondurant's help).
:yipee:

[Dog paws]

I don't have anything too add to what's already been said except something my brother said to me once. We were talking about working like mules for a living and he ask me, do you think anyone, while lying on there death bed ever says,"Gee if I only would have had more time to work".

[John K]

Good point.:)

[cx]

My work is more like doitright-JohnK's work, apparently, usually months at a time. I will give a ballpark time schedule for a house or large remodel, but never will I commit to a finish date with any sort of penalty - well, I would if they would offer a really big bonus for early completion, eh? :) Then of course I'd pad the bid by a month like the big government contractors.

There is always agreement that the job will proceed at the best possible speed consistant with weather, subcontractors, suppliers, and my standard of quality work. My customers are all repeats or referrals, so it's generally something we all understand already. It's a nice way to work, but I'm sure it's not for everybody. The next customers on my list know that when the big white trailer gets parked in their yard it will stay there until they run out of either money or project, so they are usually willing to be patient while it's at somebody else's house. Just this very day I visited with my next customer and committed to the remainder of the year following my return from owling in June. They got a big list. :D

But I agree most with DaveM, communication is the key. My customer always knows what's going on (and not going on), when someone will be at the job site and when not, etc. Every day when I leave a remodel where people are living on the property, they are told when I'll be back and with whom to do what. It seems to keep them very happy and doesn't cost a dime. If something changes, they get a phone call or email and an explaination. There are always changes and delays, but no surprises.

I've found that for the most part the customers are very much like I am in that regard, if they are kept informed, they are willing to work around most anything.

Sometimes I think I envy youse guys who do a single kind of work and finish a job in a week and move on to another with a couple days off between. But then I come to my senses. I think I'll always prefer to do it all, work seven days a week, and when I take a day off every few years I make it last a couple months. :D

[fishinfarmgirl]

Cx~

Sounds like wonderful customer service. Just as it should be.

Reminded me of a quote I'll share. Some old guy came up with it. Can't remember what year.


"Excellence is an art won by training and habituation.
We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence,
but rather we have those because we have acted rightly.
We are what we repeatedly do.
Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit."
~Aristotle~

Good on you! :D

L

[jjwq8]

A tiler I am not but....

Beware of burn out.

One of the biggest pitfalls is extended overtime working.

Two hours is the empirically proven maximum. i.e. 10 hours per day. And then for no more than two continuous months. Thereafter productivity falls off very quickly for the entire working day.

Don't believe me? Check it out. The records are US Government Reports, admittedly dating back to studies of World War II working conditions, but the facts don't change.

I know. A lot of years ago when I was indestructible :shake: I allowed myself and my employer to overload me. End result? Out of house before M was awake, back in house after she had retired for the night, 3 maybe 4 hours sleep constantly interrupted by waking up to jot notes on a scratch pad I kept by my head.

My one day off per week was spent in bed with a crippling headache. Terminal hypertension had set in. 200:160. The headache was always there, I was simply ignoring it and working past it.

I was advised that I could continue my life style for between 18 and 36 months whereafter it would no longer be a problem as I would no longer be a problem.

Your Clients deserve the truth, no matter how foolish you may feel telling them.

Your Families deserve you.

Prioritize.

Just make sure you get your priorities right.

[RandyL]

So does that me I shouldn't be working till midnight? :D

[kemguru]

Originally posted by jjwq8
Out of house before M was awake, back in house after she had retired for the night, 3 maybe 4 hours sleep constantly interrupted by waking up to jot notes on a scratch pad I kept by my head.

Now that sounds awfully familiar! :D

[jjwq8]

Correct BP is 120:80 guys, get yours checked :D

[RandyL]

My blood pressure probably increases when I get home.:mad: Probably better off staying at work. :tongue:

[fishinfarmgirl]

:(

[opiethetileman]

I carry 4 cell phones and a Laptop mounted in the truck so there is no excuse for poor sceduling for my crew other than the norm of im sick and the others. But yes leave a few spare days in the field to tie down a job 100 percent till you roll out to the next one. As for blood pressure I have had two stroke's from it already Im only 31. But I still keep up with the big dogs working. But yes I have found that if you tell the hoeowner or who evere the truth they take it better than lying about why you cant be there or why your not on time. I always tell them a window to start of 9 to 930 that gives me 30 minutes for traffic and more time in the wharehouse in the am.

[tileguytodd]

1..... 6-7 hour days are enough(exceptions on occassion)
2.....calenders have a day at the end and at the beginning that get X's(they dont exist in the business week)
3.......weekend work is the exception not the rule and you must be willing to pay!!
4.......Overwork the body and it will quit even if your bills dont
5.......If work controls your life,your priorities need revision
6.......If you can't run your business or your life with the above guidelines,charge more,or hire more help.

And my biggest weakness.........sometimes you just have to say NO....This is sometimes the hardest thing you will ever do,but learning to do it when you have to is important.

Now, if you can actually do all these things and do them consistently,your a better man than me :D

[doitright]

Hey Todd :)

You could have put number 7: Just say NO! :D

I have a hard one with that on too, but I think I'm getting better at it (there I go thinking again)! :fim: ;)

[K_Tile]

Make sure you run your business and it doesn't run you! Work like hell for the first couple of years remove the training wheels and watch your business roll. If you have done it right it shouldn't fall :D

[fishinfarmgirl]

Is that your business motto Todd? :shades:

There's some wisdom in those words. Good points to think on.

L

[John Bridge]

Linda,

Will you be putting in 6 and 7-hour days when you get into residency?

;)

[fishinfarmgirl]

:rofl:








:rofl:









:rofl:








HA!




Ummmm....sure John.....you betcha!






L