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I’m totally swamped with work at the moment and have been all summer. This week we will have attended 170 service calls which with 3 1/2 engineers (i’m the 1/2 cause I’ve the business to run too) is fair going. Trouble is I have turned away all private calls this week (and last) and probably will next week too. As I have to service my contract work and stick to my agreements.
I have an engineer training up at the moment and he”ll be ready after xmas, but even then he be on a learning curve. In a nutshell early in the new year I will see an increase in my contract work and my new engineer will be fully occupied, so I will still be required as the 1/2.I reckon I will need another engineer by June 2005….Where will it stop.
Just over a year ago Connect branched out on their own, bringing in a long awaited breath of fresh air to the market. They are establishing themselves with a reputation for delivering the goods not only to their agents but to the whitegoods industry as a whole. The position they now command is attracting work to them, to the benefit of their network. Some manufacturers are ahead of the game, already signed up and paying good rates via connect to the network.So when we read Hotpoint are struggling, Hoover service is too slow and electrolux are making friends with Dasa it makes you wonder a bit. Whirlpool are also making friends with dasa and they also have a network of agents. So the question is WHY?
If these long established business are all having problems, are they not too slow in seeking our help…..have they already not Missed the boat?
I expect to be at near full capacitity for my contract work for the next 12 months and that is at a minimum of £37.14(D&G) a call. This is a level of renumeration that the “big boys ” don’t want to pay(a full £10.00 more than a whirlpool in guarantee service call) so where will they end up?
My two closest big Dasa agents are also busy….both have been offered my overspill and both can’t cope with any…..what does that tell you. If we are all busy, so busy we can’t do much more, where the hell do the “big boys “go, especially with the low rates they have on offer.
With luck I’ll be able to switch on the private work week after next..in time for xmas. I will be working very hard on brand loyalty to the contract work I have now, as they have been supportive in paying good rates from the start and are keen to have continuity in the field repairs.So, how about all of you out there. Have you not slowed through the summer, are you busy now, do you agree on brand loyalty, how do you see the next 12 months….?
I certainly see for the independent repairer who is prepared to invest in himself, network through these pages, share tech info and make himself available to help others in the trade….a bright 12 months ahead.
UKW will play its part…we will provide E jobs to you and continue the behind the scenes work.Kevin
Re: busy,busy,busy..how about you?
must be doing something wrong as very slow round ere at mo,must sort out sometime for this e-sevice and mite look into joining dasa if worth it and get more work sent through,even connect is slow in this area 🙁 but getting few calls from cda 🙂 wish was busy and hopefully soon pick up 😀
Re: busy,busy,busy..how about you?
This is the second thread I have read tonight where “private” (I call it chargeable) work is being dissmissed in favor of contract work. Some how I feel the priorities are wrong here for this work is paid for straight away at rates higher than any contract work, no rejected invoices for pedantic reasons, carries a good profit on spares, gives a good chance to get more work from customers in the future and a chance to impress the customer themselves with your good service. (how many contract customers ring up the wp to complement them on your service? Not many I bet) and you wont be dropped in muck at a moments notice.
Whats more, I rekon most of our business’s were built on this sort of work and I will never let a customer down in favor of any contract work and will not collect contract work if it means we cannot cope with our core business of chargeable work.
Yes we are Busy too but we come back to base with a handful of cheques/cash/ card numbers rather than a handful of job sheets. What did I read the other day? out of 400 invoices only 340 will actually be paid? stuff that.Re: busy,busy,busy..how about you?
We too have been very busy of late, far busier than usual although I did manage to give the guys a lighter day tomorrow thankfully.
I have to say though that I agree with Mark, I won’t turn away chargeable calls. I tend to prioritise on a per rate basis but also take into account the nature of the work as well, i.e. if it’s an almost certain “double-visit” I try to pre-order more than I usually would, especially on the lower paid stuff, as that double visit is holding up another call that is producing income, not eating it. This is where what the client pays dictates the level of service that they recieve IMO.
Interesting point about customers not telling WP’s et all when you get it right as they’re fast enough at telling them when you get it wrong, or think you have! 😕
But I tend to agree with Mark, sticking the loot in the bank without the hassles of having to do invoices, sort out rejections, pander to unreasonable demands, take flak for a crap product etc etc is far, far more satisfying.
That said I can understand why you’re taking the line you are Kev and I fully understand the implications of what you’re saying as I’ve only been banging on about it for the last three years or so! Maybe sometime soon the people that need to pay attention will actually start to do so.
K.
K.Re: busy,busy,busy..how about you?
I’m currently booking work for next Tuesday……. And I’m working Saturday. We do about 40{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} private, 60{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} property maintenance and we prioritise the private work first, ‘cos we get paid on the spot. Mercenary, but Hey, I’ve got to earn a living!
Sorry, I don’t want contract work – unless I can take on an engineer, which I’d rather not do. Regrettably, we are turning away new clients at present – to another reputable local engineer whom I’ve known for years. Complete dinosaur – no computer – but reliable and honest.
Good luck to all if it keeps going this way.
Chris.
Re: busy,busy,busy..how about you?
I’m not dismissing private work, but for a four week period it has taken a back seat, here in Rotherham with 12 other washer repairers it was never a large percentage. When you reach the £50.00 mark for labour in this town you are limiting your market.
The get paid on the spot chargeable stuff is fine and banking the monies immediately is ok. However why are you so negative about contract work, I work for D&G, Connect, MFI, CDA, and Maple without hassel from client or their customers, I have no payment issues and the profit margin is excellent.But the real point is, as the sales of new appliances increases and the new waste directive bites (August 2005)and forces more repairs as a cheaper alternative to exchanging, who is going to do the extra work. Especially when some of you don’t want the contract work.
Is this the reason for Manufacturers making friends with Dasa? If so two of you already don’t want the work!We might even see “refurbished exchanges” replacing exchanges and the same appliance being recycled to different customers.
kevin
KevinRe: busy,busy,busy..how about you?
We are flat out as well. I desperately need 2 engineers just to keep life sweeter.
Despite the pressures we try & hold as much chargeable work as possible, only if it is something obscure, or we can foresee a double call do we pass the work by. These are the calls that pay our day to day bills. We are running at 28{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} on chargeable at present, which aint bad considering we hold large agencies.
We may not be the cheapest around here, but we usually score on a quick turn-around.
Alex
Re: busy,busy,busy..how about you?
It’s not that I don’t wish to do more Kev, It’s that I can’t due to circumstance, even if I wanted to do so.
To take on more work I would need another engineer, which everyone knows is nigh on impossible to get as they are like rocking horse manure! So, the only option is then to train one and, frankly, I can’t afford to train an engineer, we simply could not carry the dead weight for long enough as well as fork out for CORGI training an all that malarkey. Especially if they just get pinched a few months later by one of the big boys bribe as they can afford to “buy” engineers as we’ve seen over the past year or so.
Were I earning enough to be able to pay the guys circa £25K I’d take the risk on on it, but I’m not. So why should I take the chance on investing my time, my money and my skills in training an engineer for Merloni, British Gas or whoever else can offer the most cash?
Sadly, that’s the reality of the situation.
K.
Re: busy,busy,busy..how about you?
🙁 Well i wish i was as busy as you guys we advertise in merseyside and warrington and south mancheter yellow pages and all the local bt phone books,we repair everything except gas appliances. we have no contract work.Yet we have watched trade slow down over the last 2 years to what is just a trickle 15 completed jobs in the last 3 weeks. I often find myself checking my telephone lines to see if there still working, so as you can imagine we are desperate.If you boys have any tips advice or contacts i would only be to pleased.
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