I tell them that I'll give them a call IF things slow down, but if they get anxious to feel free to give me a reminder, then you can drop it off the priority 'things to do' list, which doesn't need them on it, and when they call back you can enter them into the system as a pretty sure thing and book them for an estimate or whatever. Doing this stuff is trying enough without having to figure out when someone else wants something done. Rich.
How do you deal with this?
How do you guys deal with customers that want you to call them when you aren't busy?
I just had my second customer tell me this and now I am wondering if I should handle it differently than I have so far.
Basically at the end of a job for a new customer they have told me that they want some more work done. For example I did a small remodel on a customers master bathroom and while I was there he showed me an unfinished area of his basement that he would like a new bathroom built in. At the end of the job I was doing he said for me to call him in a few months or whenever I wanted or basically when I wasn't busy and sit down with him and talk about doing the new bathroom. Sounds great at the time and I filed it away thinking great, if I get slow I have this job to fill in the time with, however now I am wondering if there will ever be another time when I am slow or if things will probably just keep going as they are or get even busier.
Now I am getting to feeling a bit guilty because a lot of time has passed and I am booked out 6-8 weeks still and I am remembering that this customer wants me to call him some time about doing his additional bathroom. If I call him now I'm just adding more work on top of work, and if I wait another month I will still be 6-8 weeks out.
Plus I don't even know if the customer still would want me to do the work, who knows if he has the money now or what may have changed.
It seems that allowing yourself to be the guy who calls the customer back for more work is a catch 22.
Perhaps I would be better off telling them that it would be better if they contact me when they are ready to have it done instead of relying on me calling them when I am ready?
Anybody else running into this and how do you handle it?
I just had my second customer tell me this and now I am wondering if I should handle it differently than I have so far.
Basically at the end of a job for a new customer they have told me that they want some more work done. For example I did a small remodel on a customers master bathroom and while I was there he showed me an unfinished area of his basement that he would like a new bathroom built in. At the end of the job I was doing he said for me to call him in a few months or whenever I wanted or basically when I wasn't busy and sit down with him and talk about doing the new bathroom. Sounds great at the time and I filed it away thinking great, if I get slow I have this job to fill in the time with, however now I am wondering if there will ever be another time when I am slow or if things will probably just keep going as they are or get even busier.
Now I am getting to feeling a bit guilty because a lot of time has passed and I am booked out 6-8 weeks still and I am remembering that this customer wants me to call him some time about doing his additional bathroom. If I call him now I'm just adding more work on top of work, and if I wait another month I will still be 6-8 weeks out.
Plus I don't even know if the customer still would want me to do the work, who knows if he has the money now or what may have changed.
It seems that allowing yourself to be the guy who calls the customer back for more work is a catch 22.
Perhaps I would be better off telling them that it would be better if they contact me when they are ready to have it done instead of relying on me calling them when I am ready?
Anybody else running into this and how do you handle it?
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1 - 1 of 10 Posts
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