customers keep calling needing same day or next day service--uggghhh

[huggytree]

Im on a horrible roll...im too popular these days and im stressing out

im getting multiple calls per day asking for me to come same day or next day for bids or parts of jobs.....everyone wants me to work on whatever 'part' of a job THEY are ready for....which makes me very inefficient.....and ontop of it they want me to show up for bids same day or next day.

in each case i tell them 4-6 days until i can show up...and in each case all i hear is silence on the other end for 3-5 seconds....its like they are shocked that i cant just change my plans just for THEM!

when i hear the silence and then a comment like 'well...uhhh.....i guess if thats the best you can do' i change my mind and push back some other project or decide to work a 12 hour day to accomidate them....

what can i do to make them all give me a 7 day notice for jobs....its getting crazy....3 calls today and 2 yesterday....the majority of them could have called me a week ago...they just decided to wait

the answer is most likely because I DO accomidate them and they are used to it....i worry if i dont they will find someone else who will....its my despiration to hold them as a customer that keeps me stressing out and constantly rearranging my schedule

any idea's on how to gently push them into giving more notice?

i think part of it is they are all slow right now, so any "ANY" job is their top prority and needs to be started NOW...because they are sitting around doing nothing....this has not been an issue(not often) until NOW....its been going on now for a month

thanks!

[Pack-Secure]

Tough one for sure. Not sure if you can nudge procrastinators. Perhaps looking at hiring a sub contractor to help with some of the work.

I will say, IT MUST BE ROUGH to be so popular. (Sarcastic Grin)

[GreaterVisibility]

Could you charge more for same day service, or service needed within 48 hours or something? Maybe if it hit them in the wallet a bit, they would care enough to call you with notice. Truth be told, we just find that a lot more people as the years go by are running around busy and forget things, then due to their lack of planning and forethought expect you as the business owner to agree that their situation is now an emergency.

[Wozcreative]

If these are the same people you've worked for in the past, you should just let them know that you need 4 - 7 days in advance, or whatever that could be. As GreaterVisibility mentioned, you should also consider charging more for rush jobs, or at least not offer free estimate if it is under 4 days.

You might want to consider hiring a part-time estimator that would go to these jobs, though this will cost you money on jobs that you may not get. That is a tough one.. why don't you try for a couple of days.. telling a few people you wont make it until XYZ,.. chances are they will wait.. what do you have to lose? You're already losing your mind

[huggytree]

it is not really a case of being too busy....in 4 days i have ZERO work...im dead in the water....its about everyone calling me on Friday and needing me on Monday(when i already have a full day scheduled)

they are ALL old/existing customers....good customers.....it would be horrible to lose any of them...all fast payers and jobs well organized at the jobsite

the problem is EVERY thing they have is an emergency and planned late....i have been telling EVERYONE for 2 months now....'i need 7 days notice!'

not 1 person has listened...they all call with 1-3 days notice....the larger jobs i of course had to push off 7-10 days.....but the small 1-2 hour jobs is whats killing me now....and people wanting me to do a partial job(which makes it horribly inefficient)...example: "can you come and just per her toilet in, she's pregnant and i dont want her to wait 2 more weeks w/o a toilet upstairs while were waiting for a countertop"....yea i charge $59 more for an extra trip charge, but in the end its adding time onto a small job....installing 1 fixture at a time on a bathroom......


with bids---no one seems to give me more than 2 days notice....and when they call its all setup already...sometimes in the middle of the day on the other end of town....it can take me 3 hours just to do a 30 minute bid because of drivetime...

i think its just because its so slow for most of the contractors right now...they are despirate for anything and want to JUMP when they get the opportunity

no contractors charge for estimates, so i cant do much with that one (the charge is in my hourly wage)......i could charge extra for emergency service...i already charge extra for Sat/Sun work.....im going to think on it....the extra $50 or $100 doesnt make up for the stress and screwing of other customers though

i have considered that this is part of growing pains.....its the beginning of the process of growing as a business.....hiring someone would fix much of this....but like i said at the start...in 4-5 days im completely out of work for 2012.......its just having soo many different customers and having them all need me on the same day.....

[dereksbicycles]

I think that one of the problems is that many houses have only 1 bathroom. That 1 toilet breaks. Who wants to wait 4 days for working toilet? Customer will just go with other person rather than wait for you to fix toilet. Life is unfair sometimes.

[huggytree]

today (saturday) i got yet another call for an emergency from a builder.......i was willing to go, but i charge $100 extra for a saturday call.....that pretty much ended the conversation...the homeowner is rich and can afford it, but the builder didnt feel right asking her to pay for it.....

once again i came up with a solution which meant id have to get up 1 hour earlier on Monday to accomidate him.......i always kill myself to accomidate these people...that would have been 4 special accomidations for Monday(its a record)

ive gone back and forth on hiring for 3 years now......im busy for 2 months, then slow for 6 months, then busy again for 2, then slow....back and forth.....it makes it IMPOSSIBLE to hire someone

2 years ago it showed signs of evening out, but the past 2 years have been horrible.....either too much work or nothing....and when i say nothing im talking 4 hours a week

i dont think its really a hiring issue yet......i see it as a customer management issue.....i have built up 20 steady builders/remodelers.....i have every small builder out there..my problem is too many eggs in the basket.....if i had 1 or 2 large customers like most plumbers do it would be easy to manage...

[Freelancier]

Prioritize. Not every problem is an "emergency".

You won't lose every 2-hour job, but you might lose one or two, and that's ok if you make sure the client understands that they're not using you this one time because you're very successful and do a really good job.

Here's how I prioritize my work: support requests always come first and if the client is "down" (in your case, unable to use any plumbing in their house), I'll skip meals to get their problem resolved as fast as possible. After that comes new work. Customers are told this up front and explained to them that when they are "down" they will love that I put them before someone else, but that in the short-term, it might mess up their schedule a little if it happens while I'm working on their project. In your case, remodeling projects -- although they pay the best -- should also be the lowest priority after support requests from existing clients. Support requests from new clients are not really "support" requests, since you're not supporting anything you did for them in the past, so it's a new project instead no matter how fast they need it.

Those are just some ideas. What you need to do is define and explain your scheduling prioritization to your clients and do it in a way that makes you look like someone who is looking out for their best longer-term interests.