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How important is your presentation to you ?

View the thread, titled "How important is your presentation to you ?" which is posted in UK Plumbers Forums on UK Plumbers Forums.

I wear overshoes ifim only going to be ther a short while. Otherwise I just make sure i've got clean shoes.
Company logo on my polo shirts, jumpers,coat and trousers. I try to keep the silicone free!
I also bought some blue oxford shirts about 6 months ago from Primark for about £6 and got my logo on them for pricing but Ive not worn them yet.
Van is sigwritten although I wonder whether its worth it.....
 
Mickyplumb said:
Exactly.

I went on a sales course once as a Worcester approved installer, probably 15 years ago now. It was more geared around being able to offer finance to customers (long before strict FSA rules).

We were given a list as to pick out the most likely reason that a possible client may choose you over another htg eng.

In the list were cheapest quote, puntuality, etc, etc.

2nd top answer was you would be chosen because of your presentation.

Top answer was surprising......you would have more chance of wining the job if you were a 'normal' person and was able to converse with client about everyday things as opposed to just plumbing and boilers !

Being chosen for being the cheapest was right down the list, mind you, people had a bit more money back then.
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My experience is that this hasn't changed at all. I always spend a bit of time chatting to my customers during the quote and getting to know them. I'm not always tidy when I turn up, especially if I have been tiling, but I am always in our branded workwear. At the very least I put on a clean t-shirt before quoting!
 
BOD said:
spare set of clean clothes behind seat in van for if im doing a quote stright from tools , van is ALWAYS clean and tidy as some come out to greet you or wave off. if they come to wave off i make a point of opening side doors so they can see inside is clean and tiday too.
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That rules me out.
Whenever I am on a job and custard insists on helping me get stuff from van into house, I practically beg them to stay put. Infact, my van is so crowded I know I have a fitting, but can't find it? So I make my excuses and go to get one. Two weeks later, I find two of same in the van. WTF. Disgraceful, absolutely disgraceful.
 
kirkgas said:
That's not exclusive to BG, think about it, you are told you must wear company workwear and safety shoes/boots so how can you take them off cause the customer has a nice clean carpet, blue paper shoes on at the door every time, even if the customer says don't bother, I always say it's no prob, I would rather put them on, TBH in some houses it helps keep my shoes clean, and in the clean ones it just removes and doubt that you left a mark on the carpet
I would never take my shoes off in someone's house, you could injure your foot, then who pays the wage while you recover, and anyway I'm not walking about people's houses in my socks, I mean they need to last me all week
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My reply was a little vague, I meant only take shoes off when turning up to do the estimate or prior to putting dust sheets down before actually commencing any work.

We all know it's a bit of flannel really as it's probably very, very rare that we would have mucky trainers or boots anyway.

I remember how I felt when I had sky tv installed many years ago, 2 blokes going in and out for 4 hours, needed the carpet cleaning afterwards.

Now, if these guys were plumbers and this was their first job for me, do you think I would ever use them again.

You have to respect or at least be seen to respect your customers home.

It's similar, if ever I drill a hole in an internal wall, I will always either hold the nozzle under the dill bit or Hoover up afterwards.

We all know that goes a long way.
 
The first thing I do when I walk into a house is take off my shoes or pretend to take them off. In most cases, the customers will beg you to leave them on. If I think my boots are 'cleaner' than the carpets, I'll leave them on. If carpets are clean or perceived to be, and you can see that next to the door or steps are loads of shoes and everyone indoors is got no shoes on, then what reason do you have to have yours on?
When I come to do the job, then dust sheets go down. I've been told dust sheets will soon be banned?
 
village idiot said:
The first thing I do when I walk into a house is take off my shoes or pretend to take them off. In most cases, the customers will beg you to leave them on. If I think my boots are 'cleaner' than the carpets, I'll leave them on. If carpets are clean or perceived to be, and you can see that next to the door or steps are loads of shoes and everyone indoors is got no shoes on, then what reason do you have to have yours on?
When I come to do the job, then dust sheets go down. I've been told dust sheets will soon be banned?
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Seriously, banning dust sheets?????

I suppose though, they are the ultimate trip hazard.
 
village idiot said:
Yep. Apparently, in the not too far away time, tradesmen/women will have to ''batten'' them down or something to that effect. It will happen, me thinks
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I agree, it probably will at some point.

Our work lives are difficult enough as it is though.
 
village idiot said:
Yep. Apparently, in the not too far away time, tradesmen/women will have to ''batten'' them down or something to that effect. It will happen, me thinks
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Yep - like this

dustsheetstairs.jpg
 
The last job I estimated for new shower room, £5500 was asked to go and see them & measure up ect that day, no shave, shorts & t shirt pretty much waterproof thanks to dow corning and yes, I was embarrassed! Happy to say, I got the job, no questions and have nearly finished. Old lady, her son, a BA pilot, quite serious & very professional, but they appreciate my caring attitude towards her, not bothered about my clothing!
 
Mickyplumb said:
Are we talking about dust sheets on a flat floor as well though ?
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As far as I know, there is no specific legislation coming in with relation to dust sheets.

However, as we all know, the HSE have "flavour of the month" in their enforcement procedures, and I suspect that dust sheets will be one of those hot topics for a while.

Just do and document the risk assessment. If you have the stair battens, there is less likelihood some asswipe will get uptight about flat-floor sheets.
 
I'm gutted because I just splashed tanking paint all over the shins on my work trousers. (Snickers).

Normally for anything messy like that, I'll either preempt that I have that job and put on an old pair of trousers, or I'll stick on a paper suit (I know everyone looks like a class A tosser in those suits) but I hate turning up to a customers in trousers that are covered in paint, silicon etc.

I wear branded plain white t-shirts with the logo, phone number and gas safe on the arm. I did have branded hoodies, but they're knackered so now I just wear a plain black hoody.

I know hoodys are a bit yobo in some peoples eyes, but I love em. Wack the hood over your head when you dash out in the rain to the van. For us skin heads, it's a must!
 
Dannypipe said:
Ray, can your company sell a few of these shoe covers? I reckon the'd shift em! Size 9 for me mate!
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Killy Bing said:
Fortress distributions import them, ray already gets his black mamba gloves off him 😛
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Yes, Alan from Fortress tried to flog us two different shoe covers.

The first was the big heavy job that hirstgas showed. We concluded that few of our customers would buy them, as they were very clumpy.

He also showed us a "waterproof" shoe cover. Unfortunately, it failed the basic test, and water p1ssed through it, all over my desk.

End of presentation.
 
Ray Stafford said:
Yes, Alan from Fortress tried to flog us two different shoe covers.

The first was the big heavy job that hirstgas showed. We concluded that few of our customers would buy them, as they were very clumpy.

He also showed us a "waterproof" shoe cover. Unfortunately, it failed the basic test, and water p1ssed through it, all over my desk.

End of presentation.
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Ha! Oh dear.
 
Don't put yourself out for me mate, but if it's an easy thing to do I would appreciate it. I'm in your Tunbridge Wells branch regularly so I could collect them from there. Any idea on the cost?
 
Dannypipe said:
Don't put yourself out for me mate, but if it's an easy thing to do I would appreciate it. I'm in your Tunbridge Wells branch regularly so I could collect them from there. Any idea on the cost?
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Check your email inbox.

Ray
 
They sell them on here. I havnt got any so not sure what there like just saw them in a magazine in plumb centre the other day

Not cheap either but I suppose they'll last
 
You never get a second chance to make a first impression!

Unfortunately customers can be very judgemental & I feel that I need to make a good first impression. Regularly buy new trousers & polos if they are too mucky & always keep a spare change of clothes in the van for the quote on the way home!

Just my opinion for what it's worth.
 

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