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Garage Doors Service Call Fee


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So, I am putting new garage doors in the shop. I called 6 garage door companies to come down and give me options and opinions on quality and to get estimates (estimates on how much I trust the person or company to do the right job and stand behind the workmanship, what their dependability level is, and professionalism). The one company I called apparently is a national company that was recommended to me from a neighboring shop that has used them. He stated they were not cheap but unbelievably dependable. They wanted a service call fee to come down and give me an estimate. I was pleasantly surprised by that request. The reason I was surprised is because it was the first time ever a garage door company asked me for a service call charge to estimate putting in new garage doors. I need 5 new garage doors, I felt that any company would jump to the opportunity to do the job and would just want to show up to have a chance. But what I realized was that this company valued it's time, all its time!

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That's great to hear.

 

My friend is a residential contractor. Kitchen remodels, bathroom updates, etc. I asked him ... "do you charge for coming to a house and working up an estimate?" He replied that most customers expected you to stop by for a few hours to measure everything out and provide a quote for FREE. Now that his business has grown, he is starting to charge $150 for quotes, which has eliminated all the tire-kickers.

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So, I am putting new garage doors in the shop. I called 6 garage door companies to come down and give me options and opinions on quality and to get estimates (estimates on how much I trust the person or company to do the right job and stand behind the workmanship, what their dependability level is, and professionalism). The one company I called apparently is a national company that was recommended to me from a neighboring shop that has used them. He stated they were not cheap but unbelievably dependable. They wanted a service call fee to come down and give me an estimate. I was pleasantly surprised by that request. The reason I was surprised is because it was the first time ever a garage door company asked me for a service call charge to estimate putting in new garage doors. I need 5 new garage doors, I felt that any company would jump to the opportunity to do the job and would just want to show up to have a chance. But what I realized was that this company valued it's time, all its time!

Another interesting point I noticed about the garage door company that charges. I had to cancel the appointment because I was going to arrive later than expected back to the shop. I did not reschedule, but the guy who is charging me for the estimate has followed up with me 4 times since. While the rest have not even called back once after giving me an estimate! Unbelievable! I guess they gave up. P.S. I did not quibble about price. I accepted pricing as fact, no negotiations, it is what it is. I'm typically an easy sell when I'm LOOKING to be serviced. Oh well.
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Remember that most garage door companies are independent franchises, so trust the guy not the name. I had some doors put in and the workers botched the job. Obviously I called and the owner sent the guys back to fix their mistakes a few days later. Then I got a bill for the service call. He wouldn't budge on the service call bill, even though it was on his new install a week old.

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  • Have you checked out Joe's Latest Blog?

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      I recently spoke with a friend of mine who owns a large general repair shop in the Midwest. His father founded the business in 1975. He was telling me that although he’s busy, he’s also very frustrated. When I probed him more about his frustrations, he said that it’s hard to find qualified technicians. My friend employs four technicians and is looking to hire two more. I then asked him, “How long does a technician last working for you.” He looked puzzled and replied, “I never really thought about that, but I can tell that except for one tech, most technicians don’t last working for me longer than a few years.”
      Judging from personal experience as a shop owner and from what I know about the auto repair industry, I can tell you that other than a few exceptions, the turnover rate for technicians in our industry is too high. This makes me think, do we have a technician shortage or a retention problem? Have we done the best we can over the decades to provide great pay plans, benefits packages, great work environments, and the right culture to ensure that the techs we have stay with us?
      Finding and hiring qualified automotive technicians is not a new phenomenon. This problem has been around for as long as I can remember. While we do need to attract people to our industry and provide the necessary training and mentorship, we also need to focus on retention. Having a revolving door and needing to hire techs every few years or so costs your company money. Big money! And that revolving door may be a sign of an even bigger issue: poor leadership, and poor employee management skills.
      Here’s one more thing to consider, for the most part, technicians don’t leave one job to start a new career, they leave one shop as a technician to become a technician at another shop. The reasons why they leave can be debated, but there is one fact that we cannot deny, people don’t quit the company they work for, they usually leave because of the boss or manager they work for.
      Put yourselves in the shoes of your employees. Do you have a workplace that communicates, “We appreciate you and want you to stay!”
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