Electricians, HVAC technicians, handymen, and other service businesses already deal with unfamiliar jobsites, constant travel, and tough work; are you adding to the stress and difficulty of their job by being a difficult customer? Here are 5 ways to make sure you’re a good customer to your service provider.
1. Allow Flexible Scheduling
Technicians often perform multiple jobs in one day in different locations around the city, and the jobs often have unpredictable durations from loose requirements, unforeseen circumstances, and complications. Businesses schedule jobs juggling both the customer and service technician schedule. Fitting jobs into small customer timeframes keeps businesses from optimizing their technician schedules based on job location, technician skill, and duration/complexity. Offering a flexible schedule will not only make your service provider happier, but will help ensure you’re getting the right technician with the right skills.
2. Provide Information Ahead of Time
Providing as much information as possible will help the service technicians plan ahead to better and faster serve you. Whether fixing an issue or building a new solution, warning the service provider of details such as location, time of occurrence, obstacles, and hazards allows them to better prepare the right tools and person for the job. Depending on circumstances such as ceiling height, number of floors, roof/attic access, certain jobs can require additional team members to complete the job. You don’t want to end up waiting around for a second technician to arrive because the first technician was either ill equipped to fulfill the job or needed a partner. Providing this information up front allows them to bring the right people and tools the first time around.
3. Be Accessible by Phone
On the day of the job, make sure you can be reached easily by phone. Despite modern tools for navigation, finding the right job location can be tricky in some locations. Job sites in urban areas can not only be difficult to find, but can also make it difficult to find parking. Helping your service provider find your location and parking ensures they start the job on time.
4. Be Accessible at the Job Site
Service technicians are not familiar with your home. Almost any job involving electricity will require access to the electrical panel, so make sure you locate it for them. Make sure they also know where they can find you. Most customers don’t hang around to watch the job, yet many customers disappear around the house. Your service technician does not want to wander around your house looking in different rooms for you. Make sure you’re easily available to them to answer questions and finish up the job.
5. Provide a Comfortable Environment
Your home is an unfamiliar environment for your service technician. Clear out the job site, giving them room set their tools and comfortably move around. While your dog may be harmless, they are curious animals that like attention. Your service technician doesn’t want to have to worry about accidentally stepping on your dog as they move around. Also, keep in mind that your technician has likely been working all day, moving from job to job. Not only are they already tired, but they likely don’t have cold water with them; offering them a glass of cold water can help them perform faster and is of course a nice gesture. And although your house may seem comfortable to you at room temperature, body temperatures quickly rise under manual labor, so setting your air conditioning to 60-65 for the duration of their visit can make a big difference in keeping your service provider happy.
