So how much grief???

[floorguy]

Do you take from a customer, who by all accounts gives you oodles of work, but yet demands alot, not so much questioning my work or the price, but more along the lines of short notices and doesnt have all the details worked out, so when you get there, it is a pain in the butt...


Take tonight for example goes a little like this....

Wed night i get a call...."yeah Doug I have 5 fire stations that need to be done before the weekend is over"

me "ok but I am leaving out of town on Sat. I can do them Fri, I have a job early till about 3, be there by 4 (drive time and all) how big are they??"

him "oh they are all about 1000 sqft.,"

me "ok so plan on starting at 4 and work through right???"

him " yeah they need to be done."

So today rolls around, I get there a little late, no biggy I have the access card to get in...he shows me the place..

"UH this aint no 1000 ft"

"oh thats ok its just the big boys offices, the others are smaller.."

"ok"

So I gets to going after the hoses are off and part is pre sprayed...

Battalion Chief for this station.."how long you gonna be?"

"oh till we are done, i have the other 4 to do tonight to"

"NOT TONIGHT, MY MEN NEED THE REST, NOTHING AFTER 9PM"

"ummmm ok"


so long story short, what a freaking mess... ohhhh and get this how big the stations are...I went and measured cuz i was pissed..

1st one I did this one 3700
2nd 3016
3rd 2425
4th 2200
5th 1525


yeah so much for on my own...bah need a helper for hoses, and top move chairs and what not around...


soooo what to do???

I finally told him I couldnt do it till WED...

remember this guy has me do a ton of work...had 2 $3000 ish jobs for him since sept. and a possible $4500 one coming up...plus lots of $300 to $1500... This is the 1st carpet job, and I want to get in with this city for their carpets....ALL THE CITY BUILDING CARPETS!!

 

[Bob Foster]

It seems you have already developed a relationship that he can count on your good work. So based on that I think if you were more firm about issues he would have good cause to respect your boundaries of reasonableness.

 

[floorguy]

man I have tried....short of "HEY DIPPY, EVER HEARD OF THE BOY WHO CRIED WOLF????"

seriously though..I have tried and hinted...

granted this acct they do (janitorial) for the city is probably well over a million a year...so of course when they say jump...he asks how high...

as is I am already planning 1 day a week to go and do what ever work he needs, see if this can help him....

It is about a 70 mile drive one way

 

[Bob Foster]

You wait for him to call so how about you just call him twice a day for updates. If its that big of account then maybe its worth the calls.

 

[John Watson]

what the heck you whining for?? If the guy don't fit in your perimeters tell him to git, If he does, keep kissing.

Sounds like a little talk is needed between you two. Bring the Vaseline, sounds like some good jobs, a little sucking up may be in order.. You just need to decide who is going to bend over.. or come to a mutual agreement..

 

[GRHeacock]

The parameters need to be written down. You know- a contract.

How many sq ft, at what price, to be done what date. You get the idea.

If you leave it on a call whenever basis, unknown sq ft, etc, they will continue to do the same thing.

This is not good business- for either of you.

Gary

 

[Ken Snow]

I would suggest spending some getting blueprints, or measuring and diagramming all the possible areas you may be asked to clean. Then you could either put together your own recommended cleaning frequency and schedule or worse case if he still wants to do it on a "call you basis" you will have the data to know exactly what you are going to be doing before you arrive or commit. It sounds like too good an account to pass up as you didn't say anything negative about the cleaning or revenue, just the communication/scheduling side of it.

Ken

 

[The Preacher]

if you know how to build a maintenance program with colored diagrams you will be a hero and yore bank account will thank you!!!

 

[boazcan]

I like Bob's idea. Call him once a day to get a pulse on what you need to do for him that week. You may be able to prompt him to remember something that he may put off for 2 days until he needs it done NOW.

He will get the hint and start thinking about you more often as far as scheduling something as it comes up as opposed to when it needs to be done.