Is it wrong to Sub-Con work without consulting the customer?
Discussion
Frimley111R said:
I'd add that if you are perceived as a one man band then people naturally assume that you will do the work and they are buying you personally. If you market yourself as a company then people are more likely to assume you have multiple electricians and will not expect you to arrive.
Hence why I asked what name the OP trades under.Frimley111R said:
Contract Killer said:
So is this customer just a bit nuts, or am I in the wrong?
Cheers
It's just one customer, ignore it. The biggest companies in the UK sub stuff out. All ours are sub contractors and no-one has ever said a thing (electrical business too)Cheers
When I worked (until very recently) for a major Electricity provider, we engaged numerous "big" contractors.
If any of those big contractors subbed any work out and that contractor didn't have prior Client Project Manager approval AND that subbie wasn't on the approved list, he would be allowed to set foot on the jobsite.
I've had a few bad experiences of exactly this (i.e the eprson you meet seems pretty sound but the person they said is not as good).
Long as the quality is there i suppose there cannot be a complaint
If you present yourself as a one man band type thing though its prob worth being upfront
Long as the quality is there i suppose there cannot be a complaint
If you present yourself as a one man band type thing though its prob worth being upfront
We recently had a new boiler fitted, we did the standard 3 quotes, and chose a tradesman. I didn't choose the cheapest, I actually chose the chap based on him as a person (or, at least how he put himself across). We've been very unlucky with tradesman, and I've suffered enough sub-par, scruffy cowboys types to last me a lifetime. So, to that end, I wouldn't be overly impressed if he sent a sub-par, scruffy cowboy in his stead.
Another thing I'd consider is, if the subby was actually any good, wouldn't he be a successful self employed tradesman? Rather than living off scraps from those that are
Another thing I'd consider is, if the subby was actually any good, wouldn't he be a successful self employed tradesman? Rather than living off scraps from those that are
skinnyman said:
Another thing I'd consider is, if the subby was actually any good, wouldn't he be a successful self employed tradesman? Rather than living off scraps from those that are
Being a good tradesman doesn't necessarily mean a good businessman.Depending on the work required..........I know sparkies that have part qualified helpers who do the 1st fixing or basic stuff who are more than capable of going to site on their own and their work is then checked & signed off by the sparky, but to be fair they should at least be initially introduced to the client and shown the work 1st.
Are we saying we only ever want to deal with 1 man band tradesmen...........how would a general builder, let say a Chippy by trade, ever get anything done if he had to be able to do and be qualified all the other trades required to build an extension etc?
alfie2244 said:
skinnyman said:
Another thing I'd consider is, if the subby was actually any good, wouldn't he be a successful self employed tradesman? Rather than living off scraps from those that are
Being a good tradesman doesn't necessarily mean a good businessman.Frimley111R said:
Mr Pointy said:
Frimley111R said:
It's just one customer, ignore it.
What a fantastic attitude. No wonder getting hold of decent trades is almost impossible.You are clearly utterly clueless in managing customers. I'm not sure why you are posting in a thread about something you know absolutely nothing about unless you're just trolling it.
You can't change your entire business based on the opinion of one customer. What if one says 'You're too pricey'? Do you cut all your prices even though all the other customers buy at your current prices? What if one says 'I want one with <insert option> on it.' Do you spend time and money adding that even though no-one has asked for it?
You are half the other poster's start posting drivel like this, completely missing the solution because you didn't even spot what the real issue was. It's not until someone finally enlightens you that you figure it out and claim you knew this all along.
It's shocking to think that some of you must be running your own businesses.
cashmax said:
Frimley111R said:
Mr Pointy said:
Frimley111R said:
It's just one customer, ignore it.
What a fantastic attitude. No wonder getting hold of decent trades is almost impossible.You are clearly utterly clueless in managing customers. I'm not sure why you are posting in a thread about something you know absolutely nothing about unless you're just trolling it.
You can't change your entire business based on the opinion of one customer. What if one says 'You're too pricey'? Do you cut all your prices even though all the other customers buy at your current prices? What if one says 'I want one with <insert option> on it.' Do you spend time and money adding that even though no-one has asked for it?
You are half the other poster's start posting drivel like this, completely missing the solution because you didn't even spot what the real issue was. It's not until someone finally enlightens you that you figure it out and claim you knew this all along.
It's shocking to think that some of you must be running your own businesses.
My response was not related to the OP (and you can see I did that subsequently) but was related to the 'pointy' idiot.
You pick me up for not identifying the OP's issue and providing a solution, which I actually did and yet you, yourself, completely missed that I was responding to Pointy idiot.
Oh, and nice one for slagging off half the posters on here....maybe you should change your name to 'Mr Popularity'
Was the sub contractor English? Or did he/she not look as "easy on the eye"?
Your customer might have been kicking up a fuss because she didn't like the way the person smelt. I've had several sub contractors around (as a customer) and nobody has explained at the beginning that someone else will be doing the work. Only once it happened at the end, when the builder was asking how the sub contractors were and if they cleaned up after themselves, etc.
Your customer might have been kicking up a fuss because she didn't like the way the person smelt. I've had several sub contractors around (as a customer) and nobody has explained at the beginning that someone else will be doing the work. Only once it happened at the end, when the builder was asking how the sub contractors were and if they cleaned up after themselves, etc.
Frimley111R said:
cashmax said:
Frimley111R said:
Mr Pointy said:
Frimley111R said:
It's just one customer, ignore it.
What a fantastic attitude. No wonder getting hold of decent trades is almost impossible.You are clearly utterly clueless in managing customers. I'm not sure why you are posting in a thread about something you know absolutely nothing about unless you're just trolling it.
You can't change your entire business based on the opinion of one customer. What if one says 'You're too pricey'? Do you cut all your prices even though all the other customers buy at your current prices? What if one says 'I want one with <insert option> on it.' Do you spend time and money adding that even though no-one has asked for it?
You are half the other poster's start posting drivel like this, completely missing the solution because you didn't even spot what the real issue was. It's not until someone finally enlightens you that you figure it out and claim you knew this all along.
It's shocking to think that some of you must be running your own businesses.
My response was not related to the OP (and you can see I did that subsequently) but was related to the 'pointy' idiot.
You pick me up for not identifying the OP's issue and providing a solution, which I actually did and yet you, yourself, completely missed that I was responding to Pointy idiot.
Oh, and nice one for slagging off half the posters on here....maybe you should change your name to 'Mr Popularity'
The same goes for all the posters who clearly don't understand the value to be gained from customer interaction.
Oh, on your first point, you are correct I don't run a business. I sold it to private equity for circa £50M.
Clients not "wrong" so much as has a preference and wants someone they feel comfortable with in their home, some people can feel pretty vunerable inviting a stranger into their home and do like to case someone out. OPs mannerisms/talk probably suggests he's a one man band because that's what he's used to doing so customer assumes, and gets a bit of a shock. OP isn't wrong technically so much as should think about semantics, how he phrases things.
After a bad experience with a plasterer, I now always ask tradesmen who will we doing the work.
After going through a few plasterers who did an OK job, we finally found a really good one, he did a few rooms in our house and all were good, so we got him back again to do another and he sent a subbie round. They were rubbish, and left the place a mess.
After going through a few plasterers who did an OK job, we finally found a really good one, he did a few rooms in our house and all were good, so we got him back again to do another and he sent a subbie round. They were rubbish, and left the place a mess.
Frimley111R said:
I'd add that if you are perceived as a one man band then people naturally assume that you will do the work and they are buying you personally. If you market yourself as a company then people are more likely to assume you have multiple electricians and will not expect you to arrive.
This is correct.The only reason to trade as John Smith Plasterer or whatever is for the recognition and trust using your own name brings (well that and a lack of thought to the future!). For everything else e.g. subbing out work, selling the business it's really not very helpful.
I've said it before but there should be a basic bit on business set up and marketing as part of college courses trades guys do.
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