It can start at 6 in the morn till 12 at night, Just got one tonight at 10, On a SUNDAY, Hello do you give free bids we need a free bid, What could motivate these people to call on a SUNDAY at these hours?? Or am i living in the stone age where you did not call people on a Sunday???? And not even 9 to 5 on a Sunday. Its not like the POPE and Billy Graham are over having tea for a bible study but its a SUNDAY.
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should only give costomers cell # or have a separate line
Ductape can fix EVERYTHING!!!
Say "Sure, I've got to get my figures together. Let me call you back."
then do that.......at 3AM.........."Dang, I'm sorry. I was so busy I lost track of time."
...The unspoken word is capital. We can invest it or we can squander it. -Mark Twain...Be kind to your children....they will choose your nursing home....aim low boys, they're ridin' shetland ponies !!
you might possibly, just mabey loose that costomer
Ductape can fix EVERYTHING!!!
No school tomorrow (today?), huh? Prez's Day and all that. We're keeping our eyes on ya'. ;)
Andy,
I'd be willing to bet that someone that is flakky enough to call near midnight for a quote isn't going to hire you anyway. Just a guess, I'll admit but, I don't think they are serious. Just trying to get some free info and ideas.
...The unspoken word is capital. We can invest it or we can squander it. -Mark Twain...Be kind to your children....they will choose your nursing home....aim low boys, they're ridin' shetland ponies !!
Edited 2/18/2008 3:01 am by oldbeachbum
nope no school this week. feb. vaca. next is april vaca.
goin' to the aquarium w/ my sister tomarrow. she's in college (BU) and came home today.
Ductape can fix EVERYTHING!!!
Sometimes, when a potential customer calls at ten PM on a sunday night asking for a free bid, it is a good indication that you WANT to loose them
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Something every one needs to keep in mind in this time of belt tightening....a bad customer is still a bad customer. Better to stay at home & not make money than go to work and lose money.
Caller ID is worth every penny..mine even pops up on the TV screen. Don't even have to get the phone and look.
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
"Success is not spontaneous combustion, you have to set yourself on Fire"
laziness is even better ...
I pretty much don't answer the phone at home.
why bother ... it's my wife's sister anyway ...
on the off chance it is for me ... Cath or the machine will tell me.
Jeff Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa
on the off chance it is for me ... Cath or the machine will tell me.
Wife and two teenage daughters here.
Phone rings, I aint gettin' up.
Odds are.....it aint for me.
Two weeks, no Tavern.
I'm gonna be parched!
apparently you, jeff and i are related--which is a scary thought!
stephen
When I had the teenage kids, I wouldn't pick up the phone to answer it if it was within arms reach. The kids would come running down exasperated...and give me the look... Bob's next test date: 12/10/07
yes i have caller ID and i look to see whos calling, perhaps they feel they will get a machine anyway. I feel a little bad things are slow for a lot of you. what happened is we had that big storm so everybodys busy. I picked a heck of a time to do it all myself but regardless many people are calling to get bids for insurance while planning to do it themselfs anyway. Im much to busy to mess with strangers when i have a long list of good paying clients.
Two things.
The first, people get to talking when they're free and together, so Sunday's are not an unusal time for that for most families and when they do get to talking they probably get excited about the project and want to call right away.
Second, and probably less likely, Most people fear the prosepect of remodeling, so if they think they're going to get a machine they may be more likely to call at that time and wait for the phone call back.
Or maybe it's a test to see who will return their calls given all the stories of contractors not returning calls...
Either way, hopefully it's on a dedicated business line and you can turn the machine down so you can't hear it. If it's some sort of major emergency I'll call back otherwise as a rule I don't return calls on Sundays or answer my work cell.
I agree with Neil, they may have found your name and called thinking they would get a machine.
That said, the start of the relationship may very well need to be the end, with the, "We need a free estimate" bit. I don't like wasting my time with folks that I know are going to penny pinch along the way, life's too short and I'm worth what I'm worth.
If you use the house line and don't have caller ID. get a second line and put a machine on it and ignore it on Sundays, or at least let it screen your calls. If you don't have a second line and have high speed internet, vonage can set you up for $15 or $25 bucks depending on the plan.
If you do not really need a second line you can get a second number on the same line with a distinctive ring here. A lot cheaper than a full second line, especially if you call it a business line. I would ask for it for a fax line.
All people live in their own worlds and for many, 10 PM on Sunday is mid afternoon and they're just getting revved up. To you, it might be slowdown time. I've always been amazed when I leave the house at 11pm and see so many cars on the roads.
You control your line into the house and you also control which number you give out for advertising. With all the technology available, you should be able to find a way to properly funnel these leads into a system that qualifies them and turns them into something productive.
I just finished reading the thread where Huck was talking about how dead his business is and I find this thread to be hugely ironic.
Bob's next test date: 12/10/07
Bobby-- i don't think i have answered a ringing telephone in YEARS-with one exception
I actually have 6 phone numbers--one for the home, one for the business and 4 cel numbers---------- I never answer the home phone-the calls are never for me----even my own mother--if she calls and i answer it she says"put janet on"( janet is my wife)--then she proceeds to say" janet--do you think stephen could.............."
business line--- so many calls are junk calls--- in ordinary years--------- the ratio of telemarketers calls to actual customers or prospective customers is 7 /3 or 8/2
the other 4 numbers-the cel numbers are basically split up among members of the household.- I DO andswer my cel phone because only 8 people have that number-- 4 members of my household,2 subs and 2 suppliers--so if THAT phone rings i answer it----it's something that needs solving NOW
the rest of it--- that's what answering machines are for. Remember----your phone is for YOUR convienience----no one elses. Arrange your system to benefit YOU.
Best wishes,
stephen
I'm sorry. They probably thought you would have voicemail. When I was in business, iwuold only answer the phone from 6pm-9pm. Everybody today expects voice mail. The thing is if it is a customer I had a policy to return calls within 24 hours, every call.
If'n you don't want to be bothered on a Sunday, why is ya answerin' the phone on a Sunday.
Folks call my work # at all sorts of times, every day of the week.
If it aint during business hours (MINE), I don't answer it.
Plenty of times I need to get a hold of somebody during what most would consider odd hours. If it can't wait......as in, I won't be available to deal with it tomorrow.....I call then and their. (Business lines that is. I'd never call someones personal number at a time when I wouldn't expect them to be answering the phone.)
Call them back at YOUR convenience and do like I do. Appologize that you weren't able to take thier call on a Sunday....or at such an odd hour. Letr them get a better idea of your schedule, right off the bat. This way they are less likely to do it again.
J. D. Reynolds
Home Improvements
Possibly the people think they're calling an office with an answering machine and just want to leave a message.
Occasionally I get a call on a Sunday. Right now i'd be happy to get a call anytime but it does seem inappropriate (spelled wrong i'm sure) on a Sunday.
I either shut my phone off or leave it on vibrate on Sundays. And I'll only return a call if it's urgent. The business line is always on, but I don't answer it....just check voicemail daily. Until I've got a signed contract with someone, I don't give them my cell phone number either... just the business line which is also on all my paperwork, truck, business cards etc. Don't expect other people to give you your peace....set yourself up to give it to yourself.
I get a lot of calls on Sunday nights. I think people eat dinner, wind down, and then start thinking about the week ahead. So I'm always getting calls from GC's on Sunday nights and 99 times out of 100 it's something that could have waited until Monday morning. So I call them back promptly at 7am on Monday morning.
And in your case, I'd agree with the other guys. The caller probably thought they'd leave a voicemail that would be heard and returned on Monday morning. They probably figured they'd call (Sunday night) while it was on their brain, before they got busy with their own week and didn't get around to it. In the current economic climate... count your blessings and be careful what you wish for... and 20 other cliches.
Until I've got a signed contract with someone, I don't give them my cell phone number either...
My method as well.
So I'm always getting calls from GC's on Sunday nights
I never get calls from GCs on Sundays unless something is really on fire. But, I do get at least one homeowner call every Sunday. Often, they'll call the office #, then call the home #, then call the office again and finally leave a message. I've had to instruct the kids not to answer the phone if they don't recognize the name and number or I'll be on the phone for 30 mins when they say "yeah he's here".
I did have one customer that called me during a rainstorm at 7AM on Sunday morning. I didn't do her project, but had been trying to fix it and apparently hadn't been successful. When I answered she asked me how many waffles I wanted for breakfast.
When I finished nailing the tarp down, I sat down with the family and had one of the best breakfasts I'd had in a while. http://grantlogan.net/
I refuse to accept that there are limitations to what we can accomplish. Pete (I am so in love with myself) Draganic
she asked me how many waffles I wanted for breakfast.That's great customer right there.
TFB (Bill)
Hey.... nobody said anything about waffles..... now that changes everything!View Image
Only when admit you call your supply house or lumber yard at 10 PM on a Sunday night expecting to get voice mail, too leave a message will I believe you actually think a tire kicker was also just calling to leave a message.
Edited 2/18/2008 8:54 pm ET by sledgehammer
I've called people at all hours to leave a message, usually when I'm working on something late or off ours and a thought pops into my head about something I don't want to forget and I'm to lazy to write down.
potential customer is probably thinking "what the hell kind of contractor answers the phone at 10:00 sunday night?"
most businesses put you in voicemail after hours