Over the past few months I have had a number of contractors come to our house to give bids or perform jobs that I can't do or don't have the time to do. I have been flat-azz unimpressed and impressed with the way some of these guys act around a customer.
The DISH guy came out a few weeks back to get us switched over to satellite. This guy bitched the entire time. He showed up without the tools (I loaned him a ladder and flashligt) to pull a new cable and whined that he had to go back to the shop to get what he needed. He bitched about the company and customers constantly and left a mess when he left. When he finally did leave, he gave me a sheet of paper describing how to give him "10's" on his customer service evaluation when they call. Sorry, but no 10's were given.
I had another guy come out to do some glass work and he showed up on time, introduced self, thanked me for choosing him to do the job, wiped his feet on the floormat, and in every way acted as a total professional. He is 72 and does glass work to give himself some play around money. Great guy who did great work.
Had a guy show up yesterday, and all he wanted to do was talk was religion and politics. I tended to agree with him on most things but damn, it got old quick listening to him, especially when I wanted him to focus on work he "might" be doing for me in the future. The guy is supposedly good at what he does, but he has to be his own worst enemy when it comes to landing work.
A little dose of common sense around customers and some basic manners sure would help some of these guys out when it comes to dealing with customers. And on the same token, it's no surprise why some contractors are successful and always booked simply because they can show up on time and act like someone you can handle having in your house.
