Why are tradesmen usually so terrible with time keeping? And why your local NICEIC regitered electricians serving Medway and Maidstone come out on top (most of the time!)
What makes us so reliable as tradesmen? And where do other tradesmen go wrong?
There can be a myriad of reasons why tradesmen make terrible time keepers. Other than genuine mishaps such as a traffic accident or something really didn't go to plan, tradesmen typically suffer from:
Not keeping their diary up to date
Squeezing too much work into a particular time frame
Not preparing themselves the days and weeks leading up to a booking
Failing to keep booking details
Not allocating enough resources to a particular job
All in all, it's generally poor admin. And we were guilty of it, too! Really guilty of it, in fact...
Double bookings, forgetting bookings, completely misjudging time required and allowing for setbacks, forgetting client's addresses and contact details, so even if we wanted to turn up, we literally couldn't! The list goes on, and they're genuine issues that contractors past, present, and future will struggle with unless they get their admin nailed.
This is what makes us reliable electricians
Lets talk about our 6 step client process:
1 - Initial Contact
A client will approach us in a number of different ways. Possibly through a phone call, or they fill out the call-back form on the website, or they message us over social media channels, or e-mail us, it's a long list of avenues!
Generally at this point you would have already been in contact with Ciaran who runs the office, or you're about to! Ciaran is the magician who keeps the plates spinning in the background. He'll get in touch, find out how we can assist you, and either produce a quotation there and then, or advise that you require a site visit to discuss the works and for an accurate quotation to be made. He will get your name and contact details so we can get hold of you, send you quotations, certificates & invoices, and all the rest of it!
2 - Booking
Depending on how the initial contact goes, Ciaran will either book the works in with you over the phone, or book in a quotation visit. Ciaran has access to all the operators diaries, so he'll be able to see when we're busy, when we've got a free slot, and when we're local to you. Ciaran is familiar with the industry and knows there needs to be redundancy in our diaries to allow for travel times, parking, setbacks, and the like. We'll find a suitable time and date for both parties and log you on the automated system, which not only reminds you of the booking, but also reminds us!
3 - Quotation
Generally, anything beyond a minimum charge booking, or fault finding, will require a quotation visit, to make sure we're all on the same page. An operator will come out to you within the time slot provided, and if something catastrophic has happened, we'll you let you know as soon as we know, often hours in advance! Once at your property, our polite tradesmen will discuss how we might be able to help you, perhaps give you some good ideas, and steer you down the practical route of how we might bring your ideas to life. It is at this point we'll have a good idea of what materials are required, how much work is involved, the potential potholes we can avoid by planning in advance, and potential pot holes we're likely to encounter in the operations part. Research might go into the quotation part, as will arranging quotations and availability from suppliers and other external services.
4 - Operations
Once the quotation is accepted and work is booked, suppliers are given the go ahead and logistics are arranged. You would have been booked in a rough time slot with a rough operating time. We turn up and the first thing out of the van is the dust sheets! We'll then make access to where we're working, protect anything that may be damaged in the vicinity, and go about our work. We're your friendly local electricians - we're all ears to a quick catch up, any ideas or issues you might have, and of course, we wouldn't be tradesmen if we didn't welcome a cup of tea!
5 - Invoicing
Once operations are complete and you are happy with the work, invoices are sent off! There may have been a deposit invoice generated in order to book the work in for larger projects, and for even larger work there's often staged invoices, to protect both you and us. Those will be deducted from the final invoice, of course!
6 - Aftermath, Aftercare
As part of our long lasting relationship with us, you'll likely get a call to ask you for feedback (and a cheeky review!), so that we can better understand our clients and improve our processes. By choosing us, you're provided with a 6 year's guarantee on the workmanship, backed by the NICEIC's platinum promise. You're also provided with a 1 year's guarantee for all materials supplied with us, backed by, and sometimes even extended by, our supplier's manufacturer's guarantees.
