Page 165 - Paulisms: Gold Nuggets for Small Business

Paulism: If you come to me asking for a pay rise, either you are not doing your job right or I’m not.
6.4 Tradespeople, standards, respect and the ‘Curse of Assumption’
Tradespeople: think of yourself as a business person, not just another tradesperson. Have respect for your own profession.
I will try not to generalise here, but many tradespeople have poor reputations when they wouldn’t if they were aware of their reputation and service levels. Unfortunately, there is generally a casualness and lack of respect for the customer that gives tradespeople a bad name.
Over the years, I’ve have had a lot to do with these tradespeople; training and reprogramming them. Tradespeople are sometimes a little rough around the edges: they are often late for appointments, untidy, poor communicators and with a lot of ‘Curse of Assumption’ (for example, ‘Who cares if I turn up late?’; see Part 3: Chapter 1). This is not all but many! I turned tradespeople into licensees and taught them some service discipline and customer respect. I sometimes found it frustrating dealing with tradespeople, but when I got a good one, they were worth their weight in gold and I hung on to them. Of course, you should be prepared to pay more as a result, or, you might not get a quote or query the bill, as trust has been built!