Manners

[Flintstone]

Since doing my website and putting a bit of time into creating an online presence, I'm getting calls every week from people that have found me on line, I don't get hardly any of the jobs, I'm getting sick of quoting and not hearing anything back, it's bad manners concidering the time you take to visit some ones home and give them advice and whatever, a phone all to say I'm too expensive or they don't like my face, anything, would be nice! I find myself almost putting a few obstacles in place on the phone before going out to look at a job just to try and judge how serious they are or how tight!

 

[Andy Allen]

Get used to it the world's full of time wasters.!!
Your right in what your doing though , ask questions before you waste your time. Anyone who contacts me gose through a mini interview to try and separate the wheat from the chaff.
Oh....and don't take it personally ...jobs are like busses you miss one then 2 will come along at once..

 

[Aston]

There's no such thing as a time waster.

If a person has rang you, then there's a reason? It's called subconscious behaviour?
If they don't use you it's because..

1. You didn't sell your services well enough - poor sales delivery and technique
2. You could'nt justify the benefits of your price - no such thing as too expensive.
3. They didn't like your tracky bottoms - image issue
4. They are not ready now - so leave a good impression, so when they are ready, they'll use you
5. They did'nt like you - could be your attitude or lack of enthsiasm
6. They didnt connect with you - thinking of your outcome, rather than theirs
7. They picked up on the fact you resented being there - I'll let you fill that bit in ;0)

And the list goes on....
If you want to be in business, then you HAVE to learn to
1. sell correctly
2. Be very motivated
3. Be very resilient
4. Be unaffected by rejection
5. Aim to be better than your competition

I am honestly not having a go, I am just trying to show you the other side of what having a business is all about that's all....You could be the best tiler on the planet but if you don't get the sales skills right, you won't reach your potential.

 

[Andy Allen]

Just to add....what I mean by 'timewaster'
It's the person fishing for a price before you have even seen the job.
asking will it be cheaper for cash.
can you still come and quote the job even though you told them your booked for 2 months and they want it doing next week.
Or my budgets £100 will that be enough to tile my 20m2 kitchen floor...
Some jobs just ain't worth looking at if you got plenty on....imo

 

[Flintstone]

I am very good with people and know how to converse with all types of people, I have no doubt in my self or my ability to make a good impression. Andy is right.
Some times you can tell straight away, other times, not so easy. if they make a point of needing it done straight away, or have been let down by another tiler, or ask about money on the phone then it's a no go. I can often tell when some one is having loads of quotes off everyone in the area by the un personal mannor that they speak to you, that's a no go!
It's just the ones that seem fine and 'aren't in a rush' they you do all the leg work and here nothing more from it

 

[widler]

Ofcoarse theres timewasters , but you should be able to sniff them out within seconds .
Worlds full of ijeets wanting
A a job doing for nowt
B advice on a job to diy it
C just a knob thinking he/she wants a job doing but can't afford it but get someone round just for the craic

If someone wants my advice, they need only ask , the other two can lick my dogs sack .
Ps i can post said sack as they are being chopped off tomorrow (its my daughters dog, but as they have moved back in it feels like my bloody dog )

 

[Andy Allen]

Ofcoarse theres timewasters , but you should be able to sniff them out within seconds .
Worlds full of ijeets wanting
A a job doing for nowt
B advice on a job to diy it
C just a knob thinking he/she wants a job doing but can't afford it but get someone round just for the craic

If someone wants my advice, they need only ask , the other two can lick my dogs sack .
Ps i can post said sack as they are being chopped off tomorrow (its my daughters dog, but as they have moved back in it feels like my bloody dog )

You definitely have a way with words !!
And agree with what your saying.

However once you have agreed to look at a job then that's when Aston tilings sale technique comes into play....

 

[Kyle Knowles]

I had a customer ring me last week found my number online he was a retired joiner and had a bash at doin it him self then 2 courses in to the job stopped and cleaned the walls and tiles off and gave me a call but soon as I got there there he stated the ol "if the price is right the jobs yours" I went in took my measurements had a chat and found that he had used pva to print the surface which was skim plaster over s&c render and the skim was very patchy and not stuck very well at all and the render was very bumpy so I intended to use my concrete grinder to waz the the remaining skim off the wall and clean the pva off and flatten the bumps before I started it and he clearly thought I was having him over he said "it will be fine I've used pva for years with no trouble" and was kind of instant I "cracked on and just use more adhesive to build out" needless to say I worked out a price with a breakdown of what I was goin to be doin and time scale and didn't even text me or email saying thanks for ur time or quote

 

[Flintstone]

You definitely have a way with words !!
And agree with what your saying.

However once you have agreed to look at a job then that's when Aston tilings sale technique comes into play....

Give us some of your Patter Andy..

 

[Aston]

you can never tell by a quick phone call....
you think you can but you can't be 100% sure...
all as you have done is spent a couple of minutes quickly assessing them and formed a judgment without any real exploration...Sales companies get rid of people like that in a heart beat and whether you like it or not, sales is part of your job.

when a person asks for a cheap quote, it doesn't always mean, that's all ive got to spend, it can also translate to please don't rip me off.

if a person says, ''i want it doing next week'' and you are busy, maybe they will wait for you?? maybe the guy they used instead of you makes a right mess and then they call you back and say they'll wait for you and pay you what ever it takes.

If you took the extra time and effort to go to every job and give them the reassurance or whatever it is they are looking for, you would be surprised at how many much more money you would make..You could even think about expanding (God for bid

its all about a certain attitude. i bet you any money you like, if it was january and we had another recession like 2008, you'd be round to every call you got??

the answer is complacency or your maxed out
I have been there too and I know the difference between when i'm really on top of my game and when I think I am??

 

[Flintstone]

I had one 2 weeks ago, it riled me up as I went out of my way to get there, I had to wait about an hour when i would have normally been on my way home.
Full bathroom all in plaster, all be it badly done. Floor plyd in 6mm
Another small room, he had already tiled floor onto chipboard, no primer or flexi adhesive or anything like that. Gave him the quote for tiling and boarding the floor, which was about 1000 in total, he took a deep breathe, and said, 'thousand pound just for tiling' that sounds a lot.
Needles to say I didn't hear back. Probably get some crank multi trader to finish his bathrooms and tile on his 6mm nailed ply.
I knew when I pulled up, could tell from the house, and he had about 3 different jobs.
But you can't always judge a book by its cover, some common looking and sounding chap accosted me outside my house saying he wants his bathroom floor doing. I went with it, pulled up at his house later that week in a rough area, I almost just drove off but I went with it, quoted him, pretty high as I wasn't bothered, and he said yep straight away, did the job, paid the same day, nice chap.

 

[Flintstone]

Sometimes Aston, you can go to look at a job and your talking through it like it's all nailed on and they are happy as owt, all good. You give the quote, that seems ok, then you don't here another word.

 

[Aston]

Sometimes Aston, you can go to look at a job and your talking through it like it's all nailed on and they are happy as owt, all good. You give the quote, that seems ok, then you don't here another word.

I know you do mate, we've all been there, i'm just trying to give you some other angles that I know will work that's all mate ;0)

 

[Flintstone]

I've spent years of being very very obliging

 

[hmtiling]

I don't have the time or inclination to convince anyone that my price is fair or their prep is wrong. I've been busy for as long as I've been self employed and doing it right for what I consider to be the right price is all that matters. I've tried expanding, but I found all I was doing was holding peoples hands and worrying about the **** ups they could make and ruin my hard earned reputation.

 

[Aston]

I don't have the time or inclination to convince anyone that my price is fair or their prep is wrong. I've been busy for as long as I've been self employed and doing it right for what I consider to be the right price is all that matters. I've tried expanding, but I found all I was doing was holding peoples hands and worrying about the **** ups they could make and ruin my hard earned reputation.

So let me ask you this
if you did have the time, would you have the inclination??

Lets say you got very ill and were off work for a year. All your work dried up and your local builders had to use another tiler, would you then start going after the work? or just sit back and wait for everybody to remember how good you used to be and start begging you to do their tiling again..

 

[widler]

you can never tell by a quick phone call....
you think you can but you can't be 100% sure...
all as you have done is spent a couple of minutes quickly assessing them and formed a judgment without any real exploration...Sales companies get rid of people like that in a heart beat and whether you like it or not, sales is part of your job.

when a person asks for a cheap quote, it doesn't always mean, that's all ive got to spend, it can also translate to please don't rip me off.

if a person says, ''i want it doing next week'' and you are busy, maybe they will wait for you?? maybe the guy they used instead of you makes a right mess and then they call you back and say they'll wait for you and pay you what ever it takes.

If you took the extra time and effort to go to every job and give them the reassurance or whatever it is they are looking for, you would be surprised at how many much more money you would make..You could even think about expanding (God for bid

its all about a certain attitude. i bet you any money you like, if it was january and we had another recession like 2008, you'd be round to every call you got??

the answer is complacency or your maxed out
I have been there too and I know the difference between when i'm really on top of my game and when I think I am??

I'm on about face to face you can sniff them out Aston, not by the phone mate
And I agree , we have to be friendly , I'm the friendliest bloke in the world , I will talk to anyone anywhere and usually like most people and visa versa
BUT ,there is a lot of utter poss tots in this world , and we can be as friendly as a prostitute on ecstasy with them but we will never hear from them again

 

[Aston]

I'm on about face to face you can sniff them out Aston, not by the phone mate
And I agree , we have to be friendly , I'm the friendliest bloke in the world , I will talk to anyone anywhere and usually like most people and visa versa
BUT ,there is a lot of utter poss tots in this world , and we can be as friendly as a prostitute on ecstasy with them but we will never hear from them again

bloody hell your on form tonight craig, bernard manning would be proud of you with some of these 1 liners lol
are you looking forward to kell brook v ggg

 

[widler]

Ha ha ,
Yes mate, even contemplated going , but my mates fighting for the welter British title in Cardiff, against Bradley skeete in October so we are going there

 

[hmtiling]

So let me ask you this
if you did have the time, would you have the inclination??

Lets say you got very ill and were off work for a year. All your work dried up and your local builders had to use another tiler, would you then start going after the work? or just sit back and wait for everybody to remember how good you used to be and start begging you to do their tiling again..

Tbh no. Not when I'm knocking work back every week.
We could talk hypothetically all night but if that did happen of course my attitude would change. Wouldn't anyone's?

 

[Flintstone]

When you go to look at a job, do you tell them everything if they start asking about how to do things?

 

[hmtiling]

And how would competing for work before that change anything?

 

[hmtiling]

When you go to look at a job, do you tell them everything if they start asking about how to do things?

Absolutely not, if they've got me there on the pretext of pricing the job

 

[Spare Tool]

I had some guy ring me on Sunday teatime that had found me on google, wittering on about a kitchen Splashback while I'm trying to BBQ kids tea, I only live 5 minutes from the job so said id pop round on my way home last night between 5 and 6, quarter to six I'm leaving work about twenty minutes away, so out of courtesy text to say I wouldn't be long, was literally a minute from his house when I gets reply..
I'm not in Andy, ill send some pics when I get home...no sorry or nothing, I text back I need to see it before I can give you an idea on price, I can come round Fri teatime or Saturday afternoon, come round Friday at 7 was the reply no please, two seconds later...make that 8 still no please. By this time I'm starting to boil up but managed to keep my calm and text back, sorry too late for me on a Friday.. That was that, end of conversation end of rude customer and end of kitchen splashy, played a blinder there I think

 

[Rizzle from the Portizzle]

its all about the errs so how many quotes have you had err not going to tell you the truth
the more errs to question you ask should tell you in 1 second you will be wasting your time
so how should it sound how many quotes have you had. two so far straight answer .
what did they price you £300 straight answer .what did that include .adhesive and grout straight answer .
you now talking to some one with out errs its your choice now weather its worth a look .if clients wont
give you straight answers walk away .all ways keep yours open to the errs .its just giving them a moment
to lie to you while they think about an answer

 

[Aston]

I had some guy ring me on Sunday teatime that had found me on google, wittering on about a kitchen Splashback while I'm trying to BBQ kids tea, I only live 5 minutes from the job so said id pop round on my way home last night between 5 and 6, quarter to six I'm leaving work about twenty minutes away, so out of courtesy text to say I wouldn't be long, was literally a minute from his house when I gets reply..
I'm not in Andy, ill send some pics when I get home...no sorry or nothing, I text back I need to see it before I can give you an idea on price, I can come round Fri teatime or Saturday afternoon, come round Friday at 7 was the reply no please, two seconds later...make that 8 still no please. By this time I'm starting to boil up but managed to keep my calm and text back, sorry too late for me on a Friday.. That was that, end of conversation end of rude customer and end of kitchen splashy, played a blinder there I think

at least you were prepared to go round on a couple of occasions andy, you cant do any more than that ;0)

anyway, everybody has different attitudes and different ways of conducting their business so i'm not here to convince anybody, i'm just throwing up a few suggestions on ways to get work and maintain a good attitude towards getting it (whether you are doing well or not)

 

[Martyn Leeds]

My Tip:
When doing jobs, at least halfway through, when customers are comfortable, I always ask why they chose me and not the other blokes who quoted.

Some of the info they give is priceless, and usually they're not shy in going into detail about what really nagged them or annoyed them. Obviously they then describe how good you were at the quote and how comfortable they were when you visited etc..

It then helps on future quotes I reckon..

 

[Flintstone]

My usual first question when some one calls saying hi, got a bathroom that we want tiling. Is, it is something you need doing straight away or can you wait a bit? They usually say yes next week and that's the end of that!

 

[Andy Allen]

Fact is the more busy you are the more you pick and choose your work...
And why not? If I looked at every job that came in at the moment I wouldn't have any time to work.
This is a copy of an email I got a couple of weeks ago.

Why would I want to take something like this on when I got 20 other better jobs to be getting on with..?
I always reply to all my customers, never rude or anything like that, just can't see the piont in looking at a job that's going to be a nightmare and you don't want to do.

 

[Spare Tool]

Fact is the more busy you are the more you pick and choose your work...
And why not? If I looked at every job that came in at the moment I wouldn't have any time to work.
This is a copy of an email I got a couple of weeks ago.

View attachment 84042

Why would I want to take something like this on when I got 20 other better jobs to be getting on with..?
I always reply to all my customers, never rude or anything like that, just can't see the piont in looking at a job that's going to be a nightmare and you don't want to do.

And all it'll take is one little scratch when your taking tiles off in her 'high spec' shiny new kitchen and it'll be you hung out to dry...least she had some manners in her email though