Letting Us Into Your Home Can Be Nerve-racking

As the owner of a small plumbing service company, I always pay attention to how I am treated when I use the services of another company, whether it be a restaurant, hotel, grocery store, dry cleaners or any company providing customer service.

This time I was getting my truck repaired. My regular mechanic said I had to return to the Dealer for this repair. So, I made an appointment. I was told to wait until the mechanic had evaluated the problem and he or she would come out to the waiting room and explain what was wrong and how much it would cost to move forward. I asked if I could be present during this process and was boldly told NO. For insurance reasons, nobody is allowed past this door!!!

So, I waited for an hour to receive a printed off service ticket stating my problem and the cost for the repair. The attendant at the front desk asked me to return the next day and leave the car all day and he would call me after the repair was made. It is a minor repair as the service ticket states with 1 1/2 hours of labor. I asked to speak to the person who schedules the mechanics and was told they don’t make the schedule until the morning depending on the work load and who comes into work.

I started thinking about how we at J. R. Snider treat our customers and how we respect their time.

• Do we take our customers for granted?
• Do we leave them wondering how much of their day is going to be effected by our service call?
• Do we keep them “in the dark” throughout the process?
• Do we tell them they can’t watch us diagnose the problem much less make the repair?

The revelation I came away with is this; To be an excellent “in home” service provider we must have not only the skill set necessary but most importantly we must be able to build trust and credibility in a very short time. We can’t tell you to leave your house and we will call you when we are done. We are working in your personal space, not behind closed doors where we are in our comfort zone. We are performing our job right in front of you. Communicating directly with you, we are the “front desk”. We call you 20 minutes before our pre-scheduled arrival time.

I wrote this scenario many years ago. I share this with you because as the CEO of a small plumbing service company I understand the difficulties and anxieties that an excellent service plumber must overcome. We must make you feel comfortable in your own home while performing our job. We train and work hard to be at the cutting edge of new technology, but most of all, we want our clients to feel comfortable and at ease knowing they are getting a trusted service provider. We personally train and role play many awkward situations to expand our “comfort zones”. Many company owners put handcuffs on their employees. Here at J. R. Snider we teach all our team members how to make decisions and take ownership of their actions as well as their work.

We know you have many choices when it comes to your general plumbing repairs, your water treatment needs as well as your sewer, septic and drain cleaning needs. We are working hard to maintain and constantly provide the highest level of “in home” customer service.

Thank you for your business.

~ Joey Snider