Tradesmen, what should your customers do while you’re working?

24 comments

1. I’ve always gone for stay out of the way with occasional queries for tea

2. I’m a painter and I prefer my customers to leave me alone to get on with it. Maybe check in twice a day to offer a cup of tea or coffee and see how it’s progressing but I just want to be left alone to do my job with my earphones in

3. Pray to their deity and sacrifice some animals in the hope that I will actually grace them with my presence today, despite my repeated assurance of “yeah no worries mate, I’ll be there at 10!” or “I’ve just got a job to finish and we’ll be round after that”

4. You should suggestively hit on them.

5. Stand over them, watching and occasionally saying “oo, I wouldn’t have done it that way”

   That sort of thing. Always goes down well

6. Supply tea/coffee and a few biscuits and let them get on with it.

7. You should make them tea and leave them alone , repeat.

8. I wfh so leave ‘em to it, when I go to make my self a coffee they get a shout to see if they want one.

   I’ll greet them when they turn up and as they leave but unless I’ve got any pressing questions, the only words spoken throughout the day are normally.
   “Coffee?”
   And
   “On the side”.

9. Staying out of the way. It’s incredibly distracting trying to work when someone is watching over you. Don’t watch, don’t ask to help, don’t stand around asking for adjustments or changes on the fly.

10. Get out of the way and let them crack on. Offer tea and coffee.

11. Last time I had tradesmen round I made them a round of tea and let them crack on.

    About an hour or so later I popped back downstairs and asked if they wanted another round, we also had some biscuits lying around so put them out and told them to help themselves.

12. My friends mother is a proper Hyacinth Bucket character.

    She had a carpenter come around and build her some custom build shelving/storage in her lounge.

    She not only made him take his shoes off but she also bought some blue plastic covers that she insisted he wear over his socks and wash his hands.

    The whole time he was working she stood behind him with a hoover, immediately switching it on and picking up any speck of sawdust whilst constantly telling him he was making too much mess.

    He actually walked off the job after about 5 hours and refused to come back.

    He must be quite well known in the area as 3 months later she still hasn’t found anyone to finish it for her.

13. If I ever have workmen in I just offer them a tea or coffee, have a brief chat to be friendly then say, “right, I’ll leave you to it, let me know if you need anything.” when they’re done I thank them for their work and immediately* pay them.

    Having worked on site this is all you want from a customer.

14. Offer to write a theme for them while they’re carpenting.

15. Offer them a cuppa, have a bit of a chat, then leave them to get on with it. Friendly, without being overbearing.

    I used to hate when customers would basically stand and watch me for the duration of a whole job. It’s very distracting.

16. I always put on a show for them when they have their lunch. My interpretation of River Dance always goes down well, and far better than my yodelling set. I really need to find a yodelling teacher.

17. Ive had 5 people take chairs and sit around me in a semi circle while i fixed their boiler, avoid doing this at all costs and youre golden.

18. Sit there with my dick out staring at them. Assert dominance so they don’t rip you off.

19. Just let me get on with it, I don’t even expect a brew or sandwich I bring my own flask and dinner.
    My biggest pet peeve is the client trying to fault find when the work isn’t finished

20. Nothing worse than a customer chatting to you whilst you’re trying to do your work.

    Just leave us alone and we’ll get it done quicker and every couple of hours ask us if we’d like a cup of tea.

21. offer tea, leave them to work, wait for them to shout that they are done, say thanks and bye

22. Make tea, not 7 cups a day, 3 or 4 is plenty. One when they arrive, one mid morning, one lunchtime, one mid afternoon. Make the offer for tea, don’t say ‘let me know when you want one’ or ‘help yourself to tea’ unless you’re going out.

    Mostly keep out of the way, but a little chat here and there is fine, usually when we’re having the tea.

23. >But I’m aware that could come across as being rude.

    Please…. believe me… we absolutely do not find it rude.

    A quick few minutes of chat on arrival is fine, and when you offer us drinks during the day, but just leave us be. 🙂

24. Hi, I’m a tradesman – personally, I like being kept on task and asked to explain what I’m doing at all times, because I enjoy not taking the piss out of people.

    Some people are funny about the prospect of being video/audio recorded to ensure time efficiency and the quality of workmanship; this is understandable, as the dearth of apprenticeship schemes has certainly led to a cowboy economy in recent years, and that’s why my personal brand includes effective, personal accountability.

    A lot of us do shoddy jobs to ensure future profitability in our sector. Not me! I hold my colleagues to account, and actively dissuede from the toxic masculinity that can emerge in the industry.

    I fully expect people to have hidden recording devices in their homes, act accordingly, and also keep responsible accounts so as to demonstrate where people’s money is going and why.

    👍🏼