Not long ago I wrote a post about No Show Tradies. Even as a tradeswoman, I struggle to find good tradies. Ones that will show up on time, do what they say they will do and charge me accordingly. Customer service is SO important in this day and age when people are looking to save money. It is what keeps a business trading.
An example where I have been let down with customer service is with a computer technician. A different kind of trade, but never-the-less a business that provides a service.
I have had issues with my computer for over a year now but have slowly waited for it to die a long death, backing up every file I save on an external hard-drive till it dies completely altogether.
A year ago when the issues started, I got our normal company computer technician out to fix various issues with my computer. I was charged over $600 and the issues that I wanted rectified were never fixed and I paid him because he updated the virus settings on my computer and did basic maintenance. I’m not one to NOT pay my bills. I was happy that he had fixed other areas of my computer, but not at all happy that he didn’t fix the original problems that I had outlined to him in the first place. When I asked him about it, he said, the issues weren’t really issues because I could use other points on the computer and made me think that I was making an issue out of nothing.
Due to this incident, I decided to find a different technician and a week ago the on button to my computer tower broke which meant I couldn’t turn the computer on. I rang a new technician who was able to fit me in that afternoon and got my computer going so that I could use it for work and blogging, but he advised that it was time to invest in a new computer because it would be ridiculous spending money on an old computer. He didn’t charge me for coming out, but because of his genuine advice and sincerity, I have decided to give all my computer maintenance work to him and although he is a bit dearer per hour than my last technician, but he is more efficient and HONEST.
I don’t mind paying a bit extra if I am going to get the service and my issues are going to get resolved.
Last Friday afternoon, my dad and I had a predicament where we had to replace a hot water unit on Saturday morning which was of course Australia Day and fell on a long weekend. We needed an electrician to hook up the new unit. We called our list of preferred electricians – one didn’t want to work and was rude to my dad on the phone for possibly asking him to work on a long weekend, our back up didn’t answer his phone all Friday afternoon, so as a last resort I phoned an old friend who had just started his own business to see if he was interested in helping us out.
Firstly, he already had two jobs booked that morning, but he was able to squeeze our job in between the two booked jobs. The real test was to see if he would actually show up on Saturday morning – and he did – 10 minutes early to the time we had agreed he’d aim for.
I love a tradesperson that is eager to do work no matter what the size or difficulty of the job. If I had it my way, I would want to do easy jobs all the time because they are quick to do and it is easy money!
Anyway, I want to sing this electrician’s service highly because he has only started his business since getting fully qualified to run it and we need to support young business’s because they are the tradies of the future.
The details for this electrician is Bright Solutions Electrical, and the manager and owner is Stewart Cowan. Check out his website and give his Facebook page a like if you are looking for a reliable electrician in Brisbane. I love Facebook because liking a page is virtually having a business card saved into your iphone or smartphone (providing you use facebook on your mobile!)
Bright Solutions Electrical got us out of trouble on a weekend where it was difficult to find a tradesperson to assist us. Trades that go out of their way to assist you are like gold and need to be remembered and used often. The other great thing about Bright Solutions Electrical is that their charging was excellent. Other trades would double their rate due to coming out on a long weekend or class working on a Saturday as double pay
Word of mouth advertising which is free advertising is a direct result of good customer service. If our customer service is crap, it will slowly kill a business.
Provide service that is above expectation, you will not only win loyalty, but you will gain new business just through word-of-mouth and recommendations from your loyal clients. We will be using Bright Solutions Electrical now for all our electrical needs because of the good service and I am happy to endorse his service to our clients. It’s just like what Julia Morgan a famous American Architect quoted ‘Never turn a job down because it’s too small; you don’t know where it could lead.’
