WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.560 --> 00:00:05.679 The Carpentry Show with Robin Clevitt, powered by Festal's new innovative eighteen volt cordless 2 00:00:05.759 --> 00:00:10.199 range from drills to sours, including dust extraction, all powered by eighteen volt 3 00:00:10.240 --> 00:00:18.239 batteries. Discover more at festal dot co dot UK. Welcome to The Carpentry 4 00:00:18.239 --> 00:00:22.280 Show with Festal on Fixed Radio. I'm Robin Clevitt with you for the next 5 00:00:22.280 --> 00:00:25.879 hour. On today's show, I'm going to talk about the challenges we face 6 00:00:26.000 --> 00:00:30.199 with customers. Okay, it's not always as simple as all customers are tight 7 00:00:30.359 --> 00:00:34.679 or all customers are clueless. The truth often sort of lies somewhere in the 8 00:00:34.759 --> 00:00:40.000 middle. Sometimes things we do or don't do with our explanation can have unforeseen 9 00:00:40.119 --> 00:00:45.759 consequences with our customers. So I've had my producers find some examples shared online 10 00:00:45.759 --> 00:00:50.840 by tradespeople that have had challenging moments with customers, and I'm going to use 11 00:00:50.880 --> 00:00:56.920 those to give some of my advice The Carpentry Show on Fixed Radio. I'm 12 00:00:57.000 --> 00:01:00.759 Robin Clevitt on The Carpentry Show, and today I'm giving some on how to 13 00:01:00.840 --> 00:01:06.000 interact with customers and avoid challenging situations. So to do this, I've asked 14 00:01:06.000 --> 00:01:11.560 my producers to find some challenging customer interactions shared by trades people online. So 15 00:01:11.680 --> 00:01:15.640 here's the first one. I've had a customer agree to a quote which clearly 16 00:01:15.680 --> 00:01:19.840 states at the bottom that VAT is excluded. They're now saying, at the 17 00:01:19.879 --> 00:01:25.079 conclusion of the work that shouldn't apply and they won't pay it, which is 18 00:01:25.200 --> 00:01:30.040 thousands of pounds due to the size of the job. Now that to me 19 00:01:30.480 --> 00:01:34.680 is scary, I mean really really scary, because if you get to the 20 00:01:34.760 --> 00:01:38.239 end of the job and they're basically saying we're not paying the VAT and let's 21 00:01:38.239 --> 00:01:42.799 say it's a ten grand jobs straight away, that's two grand. Two grand 22 00:01:42.000 --> 00:01:46.239 that you've got to find because if you are VAT registered, you've got to 23 00:01:46.280 --> 00:01:49.959 do your return and pay any VAT du regardless of whether you've charged it or 24 00:01:51.000 --> 00:01:53.120 not. You can't go back to the batman and say, by the way, 25 00:01:53.159 --> 00:01:56.120 they haven't paid me. The vatman is not interested in that. The 26 00:01:56.200 --> 00:02:00.400 vatman just wants you to collect what is due to them. So that is 27 00:02:00.400 --> 00:02:02.920 a real problem. And I think that that sort of dispute which we all 28 00:02:04.000 --> 00:02:06.840 kind of get these disputes from time to time where people say, oh, 29 00:02:06.959 --> 00:02:09.360 no, I didn't understand that was included. But the VAT, even if 30 00:02:09.360 --> 00:02:14.039 it's a small line at the beginning somewhere on your estimate or quote. You 31 00:02:14.039 --> 00:02:19.080 know, so this is the price five thousand pounds excluding VAT. The client 32 00:02:19.159 --> 00:02:23.520 should understand what that means. If they don't understand what that means, that 33 00:02:23.639 --> 00:02:25.800 isn't your problem. Okay, you should have the right to go back to 34 00:02:25.840 --> 00:02:29.080 them, But you know how hard it is. They're holding the money. 35 00:02:29.319 --> 00:02:31.680 You're desperate for it. Now. I would say that it sounds to me 36 00:02:31.800 --> 00:02:36.120 like if you've been doing stage payments, so you've been going through the job. 37 00:02:36.199 --> 00:02:38.120 Every time you raise an invoice to them, you'd say, this stage 38 00:02:38.120 --> 00:02:43.719 payment is five thousand pounds vat a thousand okay, because it would be twenty 39 00:02:43.719 --> 00:02:46.479 percent, and then they would pay it so they would know. So this 40 00:02:46.520 --> 00:02:50.439 sounds more like to me, you've done the job, then you've invoiced them 41 00:02:50.479 --> 00:02:53.199 and they've said, oh, we didn't realize we're having to pay the VAT. 42 00:02:53.400 --> 00:02:55.439 I think that that is just out of order and the client is in 43 00:02:55.479 --> 00:03:00.639 the wrong. The trouble with that is they're holding the purse string. Then 44 00:03:00.719 --> 00:03:02.520 they might find a problem with your work and say, actually we don't really 45 00:03:02.520 --> 00:03:06.080 like what you did there, and you didn't quite finish that bit of skirt 46 00:03:06.120 --> 00:03:08.639 in right, and you're untidy and we're not happy, and then all of 47 00:03:08.680 --> 00:03:12.319 a sudden you're into those things. So it is really difficult. So my 48 00:03:12.439 --> 00:03:15.240 advice on that one is make sure that people, even though it's typed somewhere 49 00:03:15.319 --> 00:03:19.360 on an estimate or an email, make sure you say to them as well, 50 00:03:19.680 --> 00:03:23.479 this price is net veted. There's no VAT because I have to charge 51 00:03:23.479 --> 00:03:25.759 that on top. So if it's five grand, it's going to be sixth 52 00:03:25.759 --> 00:03:30.199 grand when you're finish. Alternatively, just price all your work to include the 53 00:03:30.280 --> 00:03:35.159 VAT. Then the customer knows exactly what they're going to pay. So here's 54 00:03:35.159 --> 00:03:39.520 another challenging customer situation. I do a lot of before and after pictures and 55 00:03:39.639 --> 00:03:45.000 film elements of my work for social media. One customer has since found my 56 00:03:45.120 --> 00:03:49.439 social media and asked me to remove the pictures, with the threat of legal 57 00:03:49.599 --> 00:03:53.240 intervention if I don't comply. Now, this is very current, I would 58 00:03:53.280 --> 00:03:59.800 say, in our world, because everything revolves around snapping a picture, putting 59 00:03:59.840 --> 00:04:04.319 it on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube for the benefit of you know, marketing. 60 00:04:04.360 --> 00:04:06.840 You might want someone to see what you've done and you might get another 61 00:04:06.919 --> 00:04:12.639 job, or just because you're like sharing pictures of carpentry work with other carpenters, 62 00:04:13.159 --> 00:04:15.720 you know, like we all do. So this is something that I 63 00:04:15.720 --> 00:04:19.279 think we need to concentrate a lot more on. And even if when you 64 00:04:19.360 --> 00:04:23.759 do an estimate to someone or a quote, and if you say, by 65 00:04:23.839 --> 00:04:28.000 the way, we sometimes take pictures of our work or film our work and 66 00:04:28.079 --> 00:04:32.360 this may be included on our social media platforms for marketing purposes, is this 67 00:04:32.519 --> 00:04:36.399 okay? Get some agreement. It's a little bit like when you get asked 68 00:04:36.399 --> 00:04:39.920 to do TV work. If you've ever been asked to do anything on TV, 69 00:04:40.079 --> 00:04:43.079 the first thing you get is some sort of form to say, by 70 00:04:43.120 --> 00:04:46.920 the way, we have the right to show this anywhere we want to anyone 71 00:04:46.000 --> 00:04:49.160 we want, for the rest of you, in the whole of the universe. 72 00:04:49.199 --> 00:04:51.879 And it actually uses words like universe. So I do think that you've 73 00:04:51.879 --> 00:04:56.720 got to be so careful. And I have worked for people who just do 74 00:04:56.759 --> 00:05:00.600 not want any pictures of their property, of their work, and I think 75 00:05:00.639 --> 00:05:02.879 I really respect that as well, because a lot of people are private, 76 00:05:03.279 --> 00:05:08.600 and especially if you've got sort of security issues or you don't want people to 77 00:05:08.639 --> 00:05:10.519 see where you live or know where you live. So I do think, 78 00:05:10.600 --> 00:05:14.040 yes, get checked, get your customers to understand that this is what you 79 00:05:14.079 --> 00:05:16.319 do, this is how it works. And for me personally, because a 80 00:05:16.319 --> 00:05:20.399 lot of my customers know I do social media in terms of educational videos on 81 00:05:20.439 --> 00:05:24.879 YouTube and I like to do sort of stuff on Instagram as where it just 82 00:05:24.879 --> 00:05:28.920 sort of goes hand in hand. They do agree with me that I kind 83 00:05:28.920 --> 00:05:32.519 of say to I'm only doing your work if I can make a film or 84 00:05:32.519 --> 00:05:36.480 do some pictures, and generally speaking, they agree with me. But I 85 00:05:36.519 --> 00:05:40.959 also say I'm never going to take a picture of your address, of your 86 00:05:41.079 --> 00:05:43.800 name, of your house, the number of your house, of your location, 87 00:05:44.240 --> 00:05:46.560 of any drawings. If you do a picture of a drawing, make 88 00:05:46.600 --> 00:05:49.959 sure their address is blurred out. Okay, there's more on the way The 89 00:05:50.040 --> 00:05:56.000 Carpentry Show on Fixed Radio. You're listening to The Carpentry Show on Fixed Radio. 90 00:05:56.160 --> 00:06:00.279 I'm Robin Clevitt, and I've been going through some challenging customer interactions share 91 00:06:00.319 --> 00:06:04.079 by tradespeople online, and I've talked about how I would approach each scenario. 92 00:06:04.160 --> 00:06:09.079 So let's get back into it. Here's another one I've quoted a job for 93 00:06:09.120 --> 00:06:13.519 the total amount of seven thousand, six hundred and thirty five pounds. This 94 00:06:13.600 --> 00:06:16.879 is exact because it includes labor and materials. They've come back to me and 95 00:06:16.920 --> 00:06:20.560 said, let's just call it seven and a half grand would be over pricing 96 00:06:20.560 --> 00:06:25.800 it to a more rounded but higher number. Have not caused them to haggle. 97 00:06:26.240 --> 00:06:29.399 I was honest, and I got stung for it. Well, it's 98 00:06:29.480 --> 00:06:32.600 human nature to haggle, and lots of people have got no shame in haggling. 99 00:06:32.800 --> 00:06:35.240 Indeed, when I grew up, I was sort of taught to haggle. 100 00:06:35.319 --> 00:06:38.240 It was the thing that you did, you know, went to the 101 00:06:38.279 --> 00:06:41.519 market to buy a pair of boots and there would be thirty eight quid and 102 00:06:41.560 --> 00:06:44.680 you say you take thirty five mate, every now and then they'd say, 103 00:06:44.720 --> 00:06:46.519 yep, take it. So it was it was just the way. It's 104 00:06:46.519 --> 00:06:51.079 the way of the world. And in some cultures haggling is what you do. 105 00:06:51.120 --> 00:06:55.800 You're expected to haggle. So but I would say, when you're pricing 106 00:06:55.839 --> 00:06:59.399 a job for the general public, especially if you do like you know, 107 00:06:59.439 --> 00:07:01.079 as you say, price it exactly for what it is, labor and materials. 108 00:07:01.079 --> 00:07:03.199 And they'd come back and said seven and a half. You just got 109 00:07:03.199 --> 00:07:05.040 to go back to him and say, sorry, I can only do it 110 00:07:05.079 --> 00:07:09.680 for seven thousand, three hundred and sixty five unless I sorry, I said 111 00:07:09.680 --> 00:07:13.439 that when we're around seven thousand, six hundred and thirty five, unless I 112 00:07:13.560 --> 00:07:16.680 take something off, because you can't actually, you know, unless you're giving 113 00:07:16.720 --> 00:07:21.319 away your time for free. It's really difficult, isn't it. And your 114 00:07:21.360 --> 00:07:26.000 point about rounding it up to a higher number, you can do that. 115 00:07:26.040 --> 00:07:28.959 And I do know a lot of people if they expect someone to haggle. 116 00:07:29.319 --> 00:07:31.639 I mean, look at double glazing. That's how it was sold years ago. 117 00:07:31.720 --> 00:07:34.959 You'd get a salesman out and they would count your windows and they'd sit 118 00:07:35.040 --> 00:07:38.560 you down for a few hours, tire you out, and then they'd say, 119 00:07:38.560 --> 00:07:41.319 and I'll come up with a price, and it's twelve thousand, five 120 00:07:41.439 --> 00:07:44.600 hundred and fifty thousand, and you'd go how much And by the time they 121 00:07:44.680 --> 00:07:46.560 leave, it was down to five thousand, six hundred and fifty because they've 122 00:07:46.560 --> 00:07:49.720 managed to call their manager and he said, we can do a special offer 123 00:07:49.839 --> 00:07:55.199 just tonight if you sign up. So yes, haggling is one of those 124 00:07:55.199 --> 00:07:58.519 things, so yeah, try try to avoid it if possible, and just 125 00:07:58.560 --> 00:08:01.319 stick to your guns and all. So say to people, this is my 126 00:08:01.399 --> 00:08:05.480 best price. Okay, when you give them the price, this is my 127 00:08:05.519 --> 00:08:09.600 best price. I've got no movement on this whatsoever. Okay, So that's 128 00:08:09.639 --> 00:08:13.079 my advice on that one. Here's another one. I've had to come off 129 00:08:13.079 --> 00:08:16.120 the job for a few days due to a family issue. The customer seems 130 00:08:16.160 --> 00:08:22.839 frustrated and doesn't seem to understand or believe me. How can this be better 131 00:08:22.879 --> 00:08:26.160 approached or done differently? If you've listened to stuff that I've talked about in 132 00:08:26.199 --> 00:08:31.839 the past, I often talk about managing expectations, and I think that this 133 00:08:31.920 --> 00:08:35.799 is a classic example. So what do I mean. So you've gone to 134 00:08:35.840 --> 00:08:39.279 start that job and a couple of days in, one of your kids is 135 00:08:39.360 --> 00:08:41.639 ill, and your wife still has to go to work. So you've had 136 00:08:41.639 --> 00:08:46.000 to literally drop what you're doing because your wife's actually doing better than you in 137 00:08:46.039 --> 00:08:48.559 the paid job. And you often hear this, and you have to stay 138 00:08:48.559 --> 00:08:52.039 home with the kids, which means that you just can't go into the job. 139 00:08:52.080 --> 00:08:56.440 And you might be doing a bedroom redecoration or replacing some skirt and you've 140 00:08:56.440 --> 00:08:58.039 got the old one off. It all looks a mess, and the customers 141 00:08:58.080 --> 00:09:01.919 do get the hunt with it. So the only thing I can say about 142 00:09:01.960 --> 00:09:05.559 this is manage their expectations in the first place, and if it is likely 143 00:09:05.000 --> 00:09:09.480 that you won't be there, as long as you tell them that before you 144 00:09:09.519 --> 00:09:13.120 say I'm happy to start. Your work is five days work, but I 145 00:09:13.240 --> 00:09:16.639 might have to take a couple of days out because of family issues. So 146 00:09:16.679 --> 00:09:20.399 I'll do a couple of days this week, and I may do two days 147 00:09:20.440 --> 00:09:24.159 next week and a day a day on the following week, or I may 148 00:09:24.200 --> 00:09:26.279 be able to get it all done in one visit straight away. The customer 149 00:09:26.320 --> 00:09:30.519 can take it or leave it okay. But if you if you don't tell 150 00:09:30.519 --> 00:09:31.759 them anything, they just think, oh, he's off doing another job. 151 00:09:33.080 --> 00:09:35.840 They don't know what you're doing, and they try to contact you, and 152 00:09:35.879 --> 00:09:37.720 you're busy with the little ones at home and you haven't got time to answer 153 00:09:37.720 --> 00:09:39.879 their call. They think you're not answering their calls, and the next thing 154 00:09:39.919 --> 00:09:43.080 you know, you've fallen out with them. So try to avoid that by 155 00:09:43.279 --> 00:09:48.200 managing their ex based expectations. I always think that's the best way to go 156 00:09:48.279 --> 00:09:52.279 there. There's more customer interactions to go through and hopefully learn from, So 157 00:09:52.440 --> 00:09:56.840 stay with me here. On Fix Radio, the Builders station Fix Radio. 158 00:09:58.480 --> 00:10:01.879 Time to crack on. This is the Carpentry Show with Festival. I'm Robin 159 00:10:01.919 --> 00:10:07.120 Clevitt on today's show. I've looked at some cases shared online with a customer 160 00:10:07.399 --> 00:10:11.399 and the tradesperson communications have broken down or have gone a bit sideways to see 161 00:10:11.440 --> 00:10:16.440 what we can learn from them. So here's more scenarios found by my producers 162 00:10:16.480 --> 00:10:20.360 online. I have a customer that's texting me and phoning me about their job 163 00:10:20.679 --> 00:10:24.440 at unusual and unsociable times. They're a bit of a warrior and if I 164 00:10:24.480 --> 00:10:28.960 don't reply, they get frustrated. I'm not sure if I should say anything, 165 00:10:30.360 --> 00:10:33.759 but the midnight texts need to stop. This is a classic. If 166 00:10:33.799 --> 00:10:39.039 you're self employed, working for the general public, or even working for sort 167 00:10:39.080 --> 00:10:43.279 of larger firms, you do get sort of people just thinking you're accessible all 168 00:10:43.279 --> 00:10:46.399 the time, and it's I don't think it's on really. I think that 169 00:10:46.399 --> 00:10:52.000 that's the most frustrating thing. When your phone's beeping and you look at it 170 00:10:52.039 --> 00:10:54.000 and it's from the client. You don't want to open the message, but 171 00:10:54.080 --> 00:10:56.759 you do want to open the message, and if it's WhatsApp, as soon 172 00:10:56.759 --> 00:11:00.440 as you open it, they know you've seen it, which is the worst 173 00:11:00.480 --> 00:11:03.200 thing as well, and it can be really intrusive, and it can also 174 00:11:03.519 --> 00:11:07.279 create a lot of anxiety. And it's the anxiety and stress that makes our 175 00:11:07.320 --> 00:11:15.039 work sometimes not that enjoyable. So personally, I'm very lucky because after all 176 00:11:15.080 --> 00:11:18.799 of my years of being in this trade and working generally for the general public, 177 00:11:18.840 --> 00:11:22.879 so I mean people's houses, I've learned how sort of to make them 178 00:11:22.919 --> 00:11:26.600 not communicate with me out of ours. It's not that I turn around to 179 00:11:26.639 --> 00:11:31.120 them and say you can't text me before before eight o'clock in the morning and 180 00:11:31.200 --> 00:11:33.559 after five pm in the evening. Of course I wouldn't do that. If 181 00:11:33.559 --> 00:11:35.879 there was a real problem, they could do that. But I think what 182 00:11:35.960 --> 00:11:41.279 I do is the fact that I can foresee when they're going to actually potentially 183 00:11:41.559 --> 00:11:45.399 get in touch with me about something. Okay, for example, you might 184 00:11:45.440 --> 00:11:48.200 have had a bit of timber landed late in the day. You haven't got 185 00:11:48.240 --> 00:11:50.120 time to move. It's blocking the drive. What I will do in that 186 00:11:50.159 --> 00:11:54.720 case is tell them that it's blocking the drive. I won't let them discover 187 00:11:54.799 --> 00:11:58.240 it that it's blocking the drive. Otherwise they'll get back and they'll say there's 188 00:11:58.240 --> 00:12:00.720 some timber all over the drive. What do we do? So it's little 189 00:12:00.720 --> 00:12:05.120 things like that is predicting the question. If you think that someone is a 190 00:12:05.120 --> 00:12:09.360 warrior, then you unfortunately have to hold their hand a bit and predict when 191 00:12:09.399 --> 00:12:13.200 that warrior is going to start contacting you. And I think it is out 192 00:12:13.200 --> 00:12:16.320 of order when you get a text at midnight or something like that and it 193 00:12:16.360 --> 00:12:20.399 says, by the way, we're not over happy with the fact that this 194 00:12:20.559 --> 00:12:22.919 doesn't look as we wanted it, because that's the last thing you need. 195 00:12:22.960 --> 00:12:26.320 You're not going to sleep, it's going to keep you awake the next day. 196 00:12:26.320 --> 00:12:28.840 You're going to be sort of unhappy. You're going to go to work, 197 00:12:28.879 --> 00:12:31.639 and there's going to be an atmosphere. So I do think that you 198 00:12:31.720 --> 00:12:37.679 need to sometimes tell clients what their worries are. So you need to address 199 00:12:37.720 --> 00:12:39.000 them. If you think they're going to come in and think this looks like 200 00:12:39.039 --> 00:12:43.000 it's going wrong, tell them why it's not going wrong and put their mind 201 00:12:43.000 --> 00:12:46.720 at rest. So you've just got to sort of look after them and imagine 202 00:12:46.720 --> 00:12:50.559 if you were in their shoes. I think that's the only thing you can 203 00:12:50.639 --> 00:12:54.759 do. This one is someone on a large scale job. So I've had 204 00:12:54.799 --> 00:12:58.480 other trades come and go on a house build. A neighbor is accusing the 205 00:12:58.519 --> 00:13:01.679 scaffolders of damaging to their vehicle, damage to their vehicle. I don't really 206 00:13:01.679 --> 00:13:07.120 want to drag the scaffolders into this. I'm not sure I even believe the 207 00:13:07.159 --> 00:13:11.320 neighbors. It's a nightmare. Now. This has happened to me, and 208 00:13:11.240 --> 00:13:13.960 it was terrible. I've said the story before, I'm going to repeat it 209 00:13:15.000 --> 00:13:18.559 again. One of my best friends, Carl Downing, who's in Norway carpenter, 210 00:13:18.039 --> 00:13:20.759 he was very sick, had to have a kidney transplant. He was 211 00:13:20.840 --> 00:13:24.679 halfway through a loft conversion. He called me and he said to me, 212 00:13:24.120 --> 00:13:26.639 Robin, can you just drop what you're doing and come and just help me 213 00:13:26.639 --> 00:13:31.399 get my job a bit forever long? I'm just not capable of doing it. 214 00:13:31.440 --> 00:13:33.240 I'm on dialysis now, sort of like for eight hours a day, 215 00:13:33.279 --> 00:13:37.000 which is which is horrible. Okay. So I turn up there and the 216 00:13:37.039 --> 00:13:41.799 scaffolder had put the scaffold up, so there's nothing wrong with that. And 217 00:13:41.840 --> 00:13:45.279 we were going to be taking down a big gable wall and that involves a 218 00:13:45.279 --> 00:13:46.919 lot of dust and a lot of mess, and right next to his house. 219 00:13:48.000 --> 00:13:50.919 It was a nice house he had in South Fields in South London, 220 00:13:50.960 --> 00:13:54.279 expensive houses. Next to it was a little mews and a little sort of 221 00:13:54.440 --> 00:13:58.559 driveway. And I was only up on the scaffold for about five minutes and 222 00:13:58.639 --> 00:14:00.919 this guy comes out of this how said. He looks up at me and 223 00:14:00.919 --> 00:14:05.879 says to me, if there's any dust on this car at all, I'm 224 00:14:05.879 --> 00:14:07.639 not happy about the scaffolds, any us on this car at all. I'm 225 00:14:07.639 --> 00:14:11.120 going to sue you. Sort of think it was just so offensive, I 226 00:14:11.120 --> 00:14:13.559 mean really offensive talking to me like I was the dirt on his shoe. 227 00:14:13.840 --> 00:14:18.720 And I was like, look, I'm here to do a job. I'm 228 00:14:18.720 --> 00:14:20.000 going to do my best to keep it tidy. I said, we'll put 229 00:14:20.039 --> 00:14:24.279 some plastic on the boards on the scaffolding, will put plastic up the scaffold 230 00:14:24.320 --> 00:14:28.720 handrails, and we'll put some stuff on to stop anything coming down. And 231 00:14:28.759 --> 00:14:31.559 he was just a complete and utter nightmare, this guy. So if this 232 00:14:31.639 --> 00:14:35.200 has happened to you and then someone comes to you and said the scaffolders have 233 00:14:35.279 --> 00:14:39.519 damaged their vehicle, it's really hard to prove otherwise unless you've got pictures of 234 00:14:39.519 --> 00:14:41.240 the vehicle before, or they've got pictures. I mean, it's just really 235 00:14:41.240 --> 00:14:45.279 difficult. It's one of those things that you sometimes just have to take on 236 00:14:45.320 --> 00:14:46.919 the chin, even though you think you're in the right. You can get 237 00:14:46.960 --> 00:14:50.840 into an argument with them, but generally speaking, they're going to sort of 238 00:14:50.919 --> 00:14:54.360 always want to win and it's just going to cause sort of frictions. I 239 00:14:54.399 --> 00:15:00.960 think you just have to again predict if there could be a liabel liability sort 240 00:15:00.960 --> 00:15:05.320 of thing with a neighbor, or sort of see if there's a possibility that 241 00:15:05.360 --> 00:15:07.320 someone's going to just sort of like take take you on, so to speak. 242 00:15:07.360 --> 00:15:11.000 So on my side of things, on my story a little, this 243 00:15:11.039 --> 00:15:13.960 was a funny ending because he said to me this book. He pointed up 244 00:15:13.960 --> 00:15:16.080 to me and as he was having a go at me and shouting, he 245 00:15:16.080 --> 00:15:18.399 said, this is a very expensive car, as if to say I'd never 246 00:15:18.519 --> 00:15:22.799 driven an expensive car anyway. A couple of weeks later, one of my 247 00:15:22.799 --> 00:15:24.960 other customers live around the corner. I said to him, it's my anniversary, 248 00:15:26.080 --> 00:15:28.799 Nigel, and he said, right where you're going and said I'm taking 249 00:15:28.840 --> 00:15:31.399 Becky to Brighton and I'm going to borrow your car, and just just joking 250 00:15:31.399 --> 00:15:35.080 because he had the most amazing Ferrari and he said to me of course you 251 00:15:35.159 --> 00:15:39.200 can. You know, here's the I'll ensure it for you. Pick up 252 00:15:39.200 --> 00:15:41.480 on Friday afternoon. So on Friday afterno picked the car up on the foot 253 00:15:41.480 --> 00:15:45.159 and going straight to see Carl because he loves a car. Cheer him up, 254 00:15:45.200 --> 00:15:46.879 take him around the block, pulled up. The only place to part 255 00:15:48.000 --> 00:15:50.519 was outside. This muse gone inside, Carl being Carl, wanted to ask 256 00:15:50.600 --> 00:15:54.000 me loads of questions about his building work. Before I knew it. Had 257 00:15:54.000 --> 00:15:58.639 a cup of tea and I hear a little two outside. I've gone downstairs 258 00:15:58.679 --> 00:16:00.960 and it's this idiot who sort of pointing the finger at me, telling about 259 00:16:02.000 --> 00:16:04.840 his expensive car. And there's me with the key to the Ferrari and I 260 00:16:04.960 --> 00:16:07.440 just jumped in the car. He looked at him. If I could have 261 00:16:07.519 --> 00:16:12.360 just photographed his reaction when I just gently reversed and just pulled this car out 262 00:16:12.360 --> 00:16:15.960 of the way, it was absolutely priceless. So anyway, there's a few 263 00:16:17.000 --> 00:16:19.440 more. There's a few more scenarios to share with you, and I'll discuss 264 00:16:19.519 --> 00:16:23.480 these before the end of the show. Fixed Radio. That's about it for 265 00:16:23.480 --> 00:16:27.399 today's Carpentry Show, where I've looked at some challenging customer interaction. Share by 266 00:16:27.480 --> 00:16:33.919 tradespeople and talked about what I would have done in each situation, so one 267 00:16:33.000 --> 00:16:37.080 or two final ones. It's so frustrating to invoice the customer on a Monday 268 00:16:37.240 --> 00:16:41.360 and by Friday they've still not paid. I wish there was a way to 269 00:16:41.399 --> 00:16:47.320 create a sense of urgency and hurrying it along. Yes, of course getting 270 00:16:47.360 --> 00:16:52.080 paid is the most important thing. So what do I do. Well? 271 00:16:52.320 --> 00:16:55.759 I always invoice weekly, so if I'm doing a fairly big job, they 272 00:16:55.840 --> 00:17:00.120 get the invoice or the application for payment is called in our case, on 273 00:17:00.120 --> 00:17:03.639 a Thursday, and they have to pay it by Friday, and that was 274 00:17:03.679 --> 00:17:07.240 agreed when we started the job. So they're generally on the bigger jobs. 275 00:17:07.240 --> 00:17:10.200 And even if I'm doing a smaller job like the job I've just completed, 276 00:17:10.480 --> 00:17:14.000 which was only three and a half day's work. Before I started that work, 277 00:17:14.039 --> 00:17:18.119 I said that I generally invoice for a small job like this, I 278 00:17:18.160 --> 00:17:21.279 invoice it on completion and it's paid on completion, so you pay it on 279 00:17:21.279 --> 00:17:25.200 the same day, and they agreed it. So I think that once you've 280 00:17:25.240 --> 00:17:29.680 got that out of the way, in the sort of period where you're agreeing 281 00:17:29.720 --> 00:17:32.240 and everyone's friendly and it's all nice, they can't wait to get the work 282 00:17:32.279 --> 00:17:34.000 done. You can't wait to go and do it then. I think that 283 00:17:34.000 --> 00:17:37.720 that's really important. So you just make sure you confidently say, by the 284 00:17:37.799 --> 00:17:41.720 way, this is the deposit if you need to take a deposit. This 285 00:17:41.759 --> 00:17:45.720 is how much you need to pay me halfway through the job if that's the 286 00:17:45.720 --> 00:17:48.880 case, and this is how much you'll pay me on the day I finish. 287 00:17:48.200 --> 00:17:52.319 And people generally do do that. There's no excuses. What you could 288 00:17:52.319 --> 00:17:56.160 have a card reader now, or you could It's all online banking. I 289 00:17:56.160 --> 00:18:00.519 mean everyone's got access to online banking. Even my mum who's about seventy eight. 290 00:18:00.559 --> 00:18:03.039 She's a wizard with online banking. So there are no excuses as far 291 00:18:03.079 --> 00:18:07.200 as I'm concerned. Okay, So yes, if you invoice them on the 292 00:18:07.240 --> 00:18:11.359 Monday and by the Friday they haven't paid you, you probably waited too long. 293 00:18:11.599 --> 00:18:12.880 I would say, even on the Tuesday, you should send him a 294 00:18:12.920 --> 00:18:15.160 message saying how are we getting on with the payment? Have you had a 295 00:18:15.279 --> 00:18:18.359 chance to go onto you online banking yet? Or something like that, ask 296 00:18:18.400 --> 00:18:22.160 a question. If they ignore you, go out and knock on the door. 297 00:18:22.480 --> 00:18:26.920 But that's my advice on that one. So this one a customer got 298 00:18:26.920 --> 00:18:30.440 a quote from me, and then I never heard back. Now years later 299 00:18:30.839 --> 00:18:33.200 they want to go ahead with the quote as agreed. I don't know whether 300 00:18:33.279 --> 00:18:37.279 to supply a new quote with adjusted amounts or leave it as they seem like 301 00:18:37.400 --> 00:18:42.960 time wastes anyway. Well, straight away, the term quote means that's a 302 00:18:44.039 --> 00:18:48.039 fixed price. So providing you say on your quotes, this quote is only 303 00:18:48.160 --> 00:18:51.640 valued for an amount of time, if it's thirty days, then I've never 304 00:18:51.640 --> 00:18:53.480 you've got any problem here. But if you don't put that on your quote, 305 00:18:55.400 --> 00:18:56.440 and a customer comes back to you after a few years and said, 306 00:18:56.440 --> 00:19:00.079 you know, you said you do our love conversion for thirty five thousand, 307 00:19:00.119 --> 00:19:02.559 we'd like you to go ahead and do it for thirty five thousand because that's 308 00:19:02.599 --> 00:19:04.039 what you quoted. You do have the right to say, actually, I 309 00:19:04.039 --> 00:19:07.400 don't want to do your job because I can't do it for thirty five thousand. 310 00:19:07.480 --> 00:19:11.200 It's at that point then they've got the option of saying how much can 311 00:19:11.240 --> 00:19:12.960 you do it for? And you can then say, well, actually, 312 00:19:14.000 --> 00:19:18.319 with inflation and material rises, shortage of labor, my times, my rates 313 00:19:18.319 --> 00:19:22.079 have gone up as well because I've got a growing family and lots of commitments 314 00:19:22.240 --> 00:19:26.279 is now fifty five thousand. That's up to them, so yeah forget. 315 00:19:26.400 --> 00:19:29.680 If you think their time wastes as well, then definitely don't do the job. 316 00:19:30.279 --> 00:19:34.200 So that's it for today's carpentry Show. You can hear this show again 317 00:19:34.319 --> 00:19:40.200 from ten pm with more great music here on Fixed Radio. This and all 318 00:19:40.200 --> 00:19:44.319 of my previous shows are available as podcasts from wherever you get them online. 319 00:19:44.640 --> 00:19:48.559 And we are building a community of carpenters at Fixed Radio and we want you 320 00:19:48.640 --> 00:19:51.160 to be a part of it. If you want to have your say, 321 00:19:51.680 --> 00:19:55.480 head over to Fix Radio dot code at UK and sign up for our regular 322 00:19:55.640 --> 00:20:00.839 newsletter every other hour.