Two days ago, our electrician knocked on a customers door, stood back and waited for the customer to open up and greet him. First impressions are very important and a relationship can be made or broken in those first 3-4 seconds.
Upon opening the door to him, the customer snapped “Why are there two of you here? – my job is very small” .
And it reminded me of a piece of negative feedback posted to one of our social media channels a couple months back, where I left a lengthy reply.
My electrician responded that the other man with him is an apprentice and not to worry – “you aren’t being charged for two men, we’re here to help”.
I understand. It can be overwhelming having two extremely handsome tradies on your doorstep 😉
In all seriousness it can be. Especially if you haven’t used our service before, don’t know what to expect and have seen all the current affair episodes about getting ripped off by tradies.
However, apprentices play a really important role in keeping trades alive and educating the next generation of plumbers, electricians, carpenters, bricklayers etc
On the job training, not only for apprentices but for all staff, is imperative for constant improvement, developing skill sets and learning from peers.
“Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning”. – Benjamin Franklin
We also use the opportunity to quality control on the job. Having the responsibility of staff entering customers homes, we need to ensure that they uphold the standards both in technical quality and customer service experience.
Our team take many many photos whilst onsite to allow us to quality control technical ability and also for future assistance. But nothing comes close to having a teammate coaching and training on the job.
Safety is also another reason there may be more than one tradesperson turning up for your job. We take safety seriously and always ensure we do things the right way – the safe way. Sometimes jobs require two, three or four staff on site. We do whatever it takes to ensure our staff and your family are safe.
Finally, onboarding new staff is also a great opportunity to teach the “how we do it our way” because part of our difference is how we do what we do…..and let’s be honest – there are many out there who have the attitude “chuck it in and she’ll be right”.
Every industry has them. It’s just not our way.
