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Question:
I have a customer with several units in our service area. They called yesterday and want to put two units in a location 20 miles one-way off our normal route. What would you do?
Answers:
What we used to do and what we do now are two different things. We used to trade work back and forth with “friendly competitors” who we knew did good work. We knew they wouldn’t try to steal our customers and we wouldn’t theirs.
Our marketplace is changing fast and it seems like everyone is traveling farther and following good customers to keep them happy. We have actually developed some pretty good markets this way, so it’s not always a bad thing to drive the extra miles.
Look at the area where they are working. Can you pick up more work there? How long would it take to make it a paying route? How good is the customer? Do you have a friendly competitor in the area?
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I explained to my customer that I appreciated his business, but I thought he could get someone local to that area and at a better price than I would have to charge. I didn’t want him to get down there, pay my price, then find a local guy who could do it cheaper and think I was gouging. He seemed to appreciate that. I also told him that if he couldn’t find someone or didn’t like the service he received, I was only a phone call away.
Question:
I just got a call from a portable restroom customer 35 miles away whose unit was tipped over last night. Is it proper to charge for going out there to clean up or is that just part of the service?
Answers:
If it’s not a scheduled day for service, I would let them know there is a fee for cleaning it up. Accidents and vandalism happen. Our contracts say that the customer is responsible for these types of incidents.
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Any time we are called out for an extra service, or if a unit has been tipped, we charge the customer.
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Just remember the golden rule: You are in business to make money.
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