In Your Opinion...

[ITO]

Argue all you want but it is a fact that people judge people based on appearance.

Spin it all you want but we were not talking about how he was dressed or presented himself, we WERE talking about a shiny new truck.

Granted people are first judged on appearance but a work uniform or presentable work clothes come cheap and a good attitude is free.

Ultimately we in the service industry are judged on performance and price, not on flash.

 

[stevenj76]

Ultimately we in the service industry are judged on performance and price, not on flash.

When I see those shiny new vans with wrap-around-graphics or scan the phone book and see a half-page ad, all I can think is YIKES! that overhead has to come from somewhere!!

My wife has an unrelated business to electrical contracting, but she does not advertise and is skeptical of anyone who does not come from 'inside' referral. Granted she is very charming and can make anyone feel like the most important person in the world, that aside, once her reputation got out a local country club, business has been good, and its all people who don't think about the cost.

 

[electricmanscott]

Spin it all you want but we were not talking about how he was dressed or presented himself, we WERE talking about a shiny new truck.

Granted people are first judged on appearance but a work uniform or presentable work clothes come cheap and a good attitude is free.

Ultimately we in the service industry are judged on performance and price, not on flash.

So then you agree.

 

[peter d]

When I see those shiny new vans with wrap-around-graphics or scan the phone book and see a half-page ad, all I can think is YIKES! that overhead has to come from somewhere!!

Yeah, you're right. Advertising is such a waste of money. :roll:

When you shop at WalFart or your local supermarket chain, you're paying for their advertising too. I guess you readjust your standards for contractors, huh?

 

[ITO]

So then you agree.

I do not agree that a shiny new truck means anything, read the rest of the sentence.

 

[growler]

There is a whole phone book full of guys in shinny new trucks that don't perform, that is why most people go by word of mouth.

I wouldn't say that most people go by word of mouth. Some people do use word of mouth advertising and that's great once a company is established but to get a new company kick started and start to build a customer base in a residential market then advertising is important.

At least 50% of the customers will use some form of advertising to select a service company and that's the one's you have to go after because the rest are commited to someone. They already have a contractor and are not so quick to change. It's much like a politician looking for swing voters.

 

[ITO]

When a customer (or anyone really) is looking for a service, the very first thought process is a mental catalog of "who do I know?". Business is about PEOPLE. Yes advertising has its place, and helps people fill those gaps for when we don't know anyone, and presentation fills a gap for when somebody you don't know is getting their first impression.

However ultimately you will be judged on your price, quality of work and people skills more than anything else.

 

[ITO]

Before anyone takes issue with my opinions let me say this:

Sales is s funny animal and some people have it while others don?t, there are many levels in between too and many levels of right answers. If you think a new truck is part of your sales formula then wax on. There is more than one right way to do it.

For me and my business philosophy, I focus on people and results. I can sell that, but I am not so good at marketing myself with what I am driving. Maybe you can market that, but IMHO as a start up and all the hard lessons ahead, save the money and skip the paint job, both of yall are going to need every penny and probably more in just the first year. It takes money to make money and you are going to need that liquid cash.

Oh and one more thing, when you are really ready to buy a new truck, don't buy that diesel dually, 4x4, LWB, crew cab, HD; it will mark you as a new contractor and we will be laughing at you behind your back. When you are ready be smart and frugal, you will need your cash then too.

 

[bradleyelectric]

However ultimately you will be judged on your price, quality of work and people skills more than anything else.

In a business doing service work as opposed to a service business doing construction work it is much more about people skills than quality of work or price. An average person wouldn't know a quality job if they tripped over it. They will know if you cleaned up after yourself and if they tracked dirt on the carpet, but they don't know anything about electric work other than it works or it doesn't.

I had a customer tell me that when you turned the light off it tripped the breaker. Truth was some clown had tore down a wall and rewired a switch with both hots to 1 side of the switch and both grounded conductors to the other side of the switch. The light was on, but the switch was off. When you turned the switch on, not off it tripped the breaker.

People skills will sell the service change for over $2k without the customer getting a competitive bid, while other people will present a proposal for $1200 and expect the customer to get bids. It is in the presentation. The average customer doesn't know about generator interlocks and surge suppressors. They don't have a clue about different manufacturers of service equipment.

Marketing will cause the phone to ring for a service company. A construction company needs to ring other peoples phones till they develope a relationship and the marketing strategy is totally different. If you are a purple elephant people will remember you though. You may think it is ridiculous, but they will remember you. Hey, I know them, let me give them a call. You did say they will call who they knew first didn't you.

 

[growler]

In a business doing service work as opposed to a service business doing construction work it is much more about people skills than quality of work or price. An average person wouldn't know a quality job if they tripped over it. They will know if you cleaned up after yourself and if they tracked dirt on the carpet, but they don't know anything about electric work other than it works or it doesn't.

Yes and they do notice the type of vehicle that's being used for service. It doesn't have to be shiny and new but it does have to be presentable.
I have had customers complain because the carpenters were driving old rust buckets to the job. I explained that they used to have better trucks but things haven't been going so well for them the last few years with all the imported competition.

As you say people don't know much about electrical work so they can only judge by what they see. Clean professional equipment makes them at least think that you know what you are doing. Even keeping the job site clean will get you a lot of points with a homeowner. And treat all of their possessions as if the were made of gold. Make them think that their house is very important to you and that you will use the utmost care when doing repairs.

On the other hand many GCs love to see someone pull up in an 85 model rusted out pick-up. He's been screwed before so he can be screwed again. The GC may be driving a new truck but he doesn't care what the subs use, the cheaper the better. :grin::grin: I'm not really joking, that's how many see it.

 

[bradleyelectric]

I had better qualify that we only do the highest quality work when working in someones home. We present ourselves that way and charge for it. The homeowner wouldn't know, but when presented with what we do, how we did it, why we did it that way, we want them to know why they need to call us the next time someone needs electric work done.

 

[electricmanscott]

Oh and one more thing, when you are really ready to buy a new truck, don't buy that diesel dually, 4x4, LWB, crew cab, HD; it will mark you as a new contractor and we will be laughing at you behind your back.

Another absurd statement.

You mean you are going to judge this person by the appearance of their truck???

 

[electricmanscott]

.

However ultimately you will be judged on your price, quality of work and people skills more than anything else.

Sure this is true. But you have to get to this point first.

Like it or not driving up in a rust bucket will have an effect on getting the work or not in many cases. Unless of course you are diving up to a trailer park.

 

[ITO]

Another absurd statement.

You mean you are going to judge this person by the appearance of their truck???

Absolutely! Every time I see a new contractor driving a brand new truck bigger than Texas, I just shake my head and wonder how long they will last before I get called in to clean up their low ball messes. It is something I have seen over and over.

What's absurd is thinking you need a new truck to do electric work. You are starting to sound like my oldest boy who thinks he has to have a car before he can get a job...

What is that old saying? Oh yeah don't put your cart before the your horse.

Just for clarity where in this statement does the OP say "rust bucket"?

...That being said, I have a '93GMC half ton, mechanically sound, with a utility bed, ladder rack, and ready to roll. It will cost around $1200 to get a fresh coat of paint and company info painted on....

 

[peter d]

What's absurd is thinking you need a new truck to do electric work.

Yeah, you're right. If you wire WalMarts and Home Depots all the time, then a '92 Chevy p/u with 200,000K miles to haul the material around at the job site is just fine.

For those that do service work in people's homes every day, a clean, well kept and fairly new work vehicle is an absolute must and an essential part of the presentation.

 

[Rewire]

Your vans dont have to be new.The two vans we are standing by in my avatar were 3500.00 and 2700.00 0ne is a 2000 and one is a 98 it cost 800.00 to have them both lettered.

 

[ITO]

...For those that do service work in people's homes every day, a clean, well kept and fairly new work vehicle is an absolute must and an essential part of the presentation...

If you say so, but if I only had $25K in the bank and was trying to start a new contracting or service business (especially in our current market) I think I would just wash the truck, stencil on the my TCL number and name and get busy put'n some more cash in the bank.

I do appreciate your opinions and if I got anything out of this exchange it is I will have my service trucks washed a little more frequently. (even though my service business is 99% commercial)

 

[wawireguy]

I quit reading at page 5.. Here's the deal. What kinda business are you going after? If you are going after new commercial construction I wouldn't paint your van or worry much about it's appearance. No one cares. It's about dollars and performance. If you are targetting the service industry then yes it does matter much more if you're van is old. If this thing is going to haul materials to a job site once a week then it's probably fine. If it's going to be going to 3-4 jobsites a day as a service vehicle then you need to consider a better van if for nothing else reliability and comfort : )

 

[stevenj76]

Like it or not driving up in a rust bucket will have an effect on getting the work or not in many cases. Unless of course you are diving up to a trailer park.

When are you going to buy the greenhorn apprentice a new car so he can quit driving up to the job in his 88 Civic hatchback with the running rust and 300k miles on it??

Surely your apprentice is costing you jobs driving that turd out to the job!

 

[G & G Electric]

Just for clarity where in this statement does the OP say "rust bucket"?

I should clarify the appearance of my truck. It's not a "rust bucket" by any means, but it's not customized, either. Image a burgundy extended cab GMC half-ton, utility tool box bed (several lockable compartments on both sides), tinted windows, no dent or dings whatsoever, but the paint is faded - typical of GMC's of that era. Oh, and tip-top mechanical condition. I was thinking a white paint job with logos and a phone number on the sides and on the tailgate. Bad first impressions are hard to overcome, and often those first impressions are made from a distance. I just feel as though getting a new paint job on the truck, and not some Earl Sheib $199 special, would be a better choice than dropping $13,000 of capital that we may need in the beginning. Would a new van have a better appearance then a 1993 GMC? I've never been complimented on any service truck I've ever driven, and I've driven some nice trucks. But I know a lot of ya'll have been in the trade for longer than I have, and would like to know if it is a poor decision to drop the money, or if it would be good to have the new vehicle.