What do you look for in a Electrican??Improvement suggestions WANTED!

cossworxenergy

Hi everybody,

Currently working as an electrical contractor allbeit not alot happening. I was just wondering has anybody any suggestions on improving services of an electrician??
What do you expect of a good electrician??
Anything that annoys you??
Suggestions of service improvements??
Products or services you find hard to get??
Payment options? Would you use credit card? Would you finance your work? DO you prefer cash? Would you use a service whereby you pay a fee for a year like the AA and get unlimited house calls to fix faults??

Any suggestions would be hugely appreciated.

Juwwi

I dont think a yearly fee like an AA membership would work.
Unless you would be willing to keep calling out to houses to change lightbulbs and plugs.

I work in the construction mainly in private houses and a big thing most
people like is time keeping and leaving the place spotless at the end of day or job.

Advertising might be worth investing in.

Thoie

Things I'd like (that aren't necessarily feasible)

- someone who charges "normal" rates from, say, 2pm to 10pm, rather than the more normal 9-5. That way I could book an evening call without paying a fortune in overtime, and not have to take time off work. It's a bit harsh on the electrician though.

- as Robbie said, I'm very inclined to use someone again if they clean up properly after themselves, and take care of things (like taking off their shoes if they have to step into the bath, for example). This is a bit hard to advertise I'd imagine.

- an electrician with a good supply of "standard" equipment with them, like transformers, switches, wiring, tools. From a purely selfish standpoint, myself and a lot of my neighbours have had issues with PCBs going in water pumps, but presumably it would be hard to keep a stock of those as they might be different for each place?

- if the electrician has to source a part, offer genuine advice on generic items, ordering over the internet from the UK etc.

- a courtesy text/call if you're running more than 15 minutes late, with a new ETA.

- payment options - the ability to pay cash or credit card or laser or cheque. Most of the time I'd prefer to pay with laser. Cash only outfits are a pain in the neck, as they can't give an esimate until they've seen the problem, and I rarely have more than €40 on me at any given time.

- I think the AA idea could be costly to you, again as mentioned by Robbie. Some people would call you out for really stupid things, plus you'd have to figure out does it just cover labour, or does it cover parts as well.

- if a repair job is going to be very costly, a delayed payment option might be nice for some people, but you could end up getting seriously stung by it. I could see that managing your cashflow could be a bit of a nightmare.

- if you're a bit of a handyman as well (or know a plasterer/painter), advertising set rates for rewiring a house of x sq metres might attract some people. Many young people buy old houses that need a complete overhaul of the wiriing, and if you could say the house will be rewired, with x number of sockets per room, the holes replastered nicely and the entire place painted for a certain price I'd imagine people might jump at it.

Delta Kilo

I think the most important thing for a tradesman, especially dealing with domestic clients is to be true to their word and actually be there when you say you will be there and if you can't be there for whatever reason, give a ring or text explaining so. It is such a pain in the neck when you are waiting for a tradesman to call and he never does, especially when people are taking time off work to be there.

Another point, I always believe that you can tell the quality of a tradesman by the quality of his tools. I remember a carpenter at our house and he was brilliant. True to his word, always there on time and worked hard and quickly. He had a van full of DeWalt and Makita tools, with most of his handtools being stanley. He was a true professional and had a waitinglist of people.

I remember another guy who came and he was a slobber. No care or pride in his own work and this reflected in the finish. All of his tools were either "powercraft" or "parkside" or some other cheap brand. Every tradesman should have a decent set of tools. It makes you look real professional.

And another thing be neat and tidy up after yourself when you are finished! Word of mouth is the best form of advertising so you should leave a good impression!

Juwwi

Just one other thing Im thinking of doing myself is when giving a quote
give it on headed note paper with your full name and address and a landline number.(most of the time I ring later with the quote)

This could be done by-email also if u have to go away and source a price of parts.

I know Im very weary of letting a stranger into my house and going to work and giving them a keyand I think this could reassure people.

cossworxenergy

Thanksfor the feedback so far it is greatly appreciated.
Have allready have most of these in place.


-Texting customer if difficulties arise seems to go down very well.
-Allready accepting major credit cards with laser to be implemented eventually due to its costs.
-Tidyness is a definite as allways.
-The AA type service would only cover call outs for faults and provisional remedial solution. Where the proper job would be completed as soon as possible. Changing bulbs etc would not be covered. Faults woould only be covered.
-Quotations I do are done rapidly with direct email to wholesaler with price requests and all quotes are printed with company header contact details web adress etc. Seems to go down well a prompt quotation.
-Regarding financing jobs I would seek near enough the cost of materials to be covered and then work out a plan for the rest at 0% interest. I think this might be succesful in the current climate.

Thanks for your help so far its great to get an insight to customers wishesand would appreciate further commentary and suggestions.
Regards,

Anthony

antoinolachtnai

I think 'AA' type cover for electrical in a house is a bit nuts. Electrical isn't like a boiler. It doesn't (or shouldn't) require regular maintenance.

Commercial (even small commercial) is different though.

What about clear documentation? A little checklist of things to check if the lights go out? Professional labelling and a little manual/wiring diagram? You could even have a little logbook that would be left at the fuseboard, maybe tethered to the wall. As well as being good practice, it also makes the job easier and safer for the next electrician who comes along (whether it turns out to be you or not).

Putting a label on there with your name and address on it would seem like a good idea.

I think you are unwise to get involved in financing customers' work. Maybe break it over three monthly payments, but that would be about it.

The other thing is that when a job is done, to ring back a week later to make sure everything is ok. Also take this opportunity to ask for more work or a recommendation.

The other thing is price. The price has to be good. It's not everything, but it has to be decent.

It also has to be transparent, it's good if you can explain on the quotation how you are calculating it.

DublinDilbert

Delta Kilo wrote: »

Another point, I always believe that you can tell the quality of a tradesman by the quality of his tools. I remember a carpenter at our house and he was brilliant. True to his word, always there on time and worked hard and quickly. He had a van full of DeWalt and Makita tools, with most of his handtools being stanley. He was a true professional and had a waitinglist of people.

I would judge someone based on how they use the tools, not the brand of the tools.... Anyone can go out an buy an expensive drill etc.... Before you hire someone, do you ask to see the inside of their van to check out their tools? Or maybe just go based on their work wear? Snickers = Professional


What would really help with electrical work, would be to outline the various options to people and the advantages/disadvantages to each.... Even have some basic material to hand out to people, for example to explain what type of finish they would get if they used plastic trunking rather than chasing and the potential cost differences...

Also for the likes of a re-wire have a check list for each room (say 1 page per room), number of sockets, socket locations (diagram for this), Light fittings, phone points, network points, extractor fans etc.... You'll need to capture this anyway to prepare your quotation, so why not do it in a format where the customer gets a copy, so they know exactly what they are getting....

Also have samples of the materials you would use, rather than trying to explain to people what a GU10 spot light is, you could just have a case of samples.....

cossworxenergy

I dont think the brand of tools would allow you to make a judgment of an electricians capabilities in fairness. Also these tools you refer to from Lidle and the likes are top quality and are rated 1000Volts whats a brand name anyway???
I really like the idea of a booklet for troubleshooting in case of faults etc. I think I will compile one of these soon and use it as a marketing tool also. So thanks very much for this suggestion.
Regarding AA type service I would like to reiterate that it would cover faults and system failures not everyday maintainance as suggested. Same as the car service basically!!!!.
When I compile a quote they are comprehensive and detailed and also include a drawing where suitable. This is very much welcomed by customers and is allways unexpected.
ONCE AGAIN HUGE THANKS FOR YOUR SUGGESTIONS AND KEPP THEM COMING I AM DELIGHTED FOR THIS INSIGHT INTO CUSTOMERS WANTS AND NEEDS.
THANKS A MILL