Technical One man operation looking for help/sugestions!

You need more than one person to hang around. They'll talk and while you work.

 

Perfect timing on this thread..Rode with a buddy yesterday to pick up his supposedly "finished " car... He had made an appt. to take his car in and it was to be finished yesterday.. We show up and ,,guess what ..,car was not finished ... Duh!! There were 5 time-wasters hanging about the shop ..chatting/B-S ing , and out of 3 employees only one was ignoring them and working on...
Needless to say, my buddy was livid and loudly told the shop owner what he thought of letting these "bandits" clog up his shop time..and not finishing his car on time..
As we left I couldn't help but notice these numbnuts were all chuckling to themselves ,with not a clue of what they had cost the shop owner nor my buddy..Nor did they give a damn...I'll bet they were there again today.....
Some people are just wasting space and air in this world...

 

Fine Line to walk here, All customers are #1 and their project is the most important thing in your shop, You have to make them feel good about doing business with you or you will not have the repeat business and referral's needed to survive and to succeed in any business, IMO. Potential customers, spend the time with them and work earlier and or later , then you can lock the doors to keep your sanity and get something done. Friends and hang around guys should be made to understand, time is money and just because they have nothing to do, make it CLEAR, that you do. They will understand, if they don't, Blow them off, they're not your friends. With more experience, you'll be able to pick out the shoppers, talkers and the real deal buyers. I was in business for 37 years, I can pick out a BS guy in 2 minutes, You WILL learn this pretty quick, I DID, not that hard. Make yourself a list of questions to ask them and teach yourself how to pick your customers, from the shoppers and talkers. You want customers who "get it" Time is money! Good Luck, Too busy is a good thing, somehow you'll get it done, I hope you understand definition of small business, (You get to work all the time, AND you get the rewards from your efforts.) Commitment, Hard Work and a few Smarts equal success. John

 

I find some customers really have no idea or care, and just like the sound of their own voice. Instead of a shrink they will come to you. THey talk in a way where there are no gaps in their sentences. They repeat the same stories over again.

You are in a tricky spot, but the reality is every time you are distracted it probably takes time to get back in the groove and remember where you were. Being a one person show you will have to have people make appointments to speak to you, your time is too valuable. Unless it is a very good customer, you should not make exceptions. Good luck.

 

Does the shop need painted? Floors swept, trash emptied? Tell 'em if they are going to hang around to get busy, that you need to get whatever you are working on finished so you can start on the next customers job. Dennis D

 

For about 14 years I had a shop,
and realized everyone was worth 5 minutes.
In that time,
you can discern what the customer or friend wants,
and then be polite and say "well I got to get back on this project",
unless it's a guy with a big wad of cash.
It's always good to be nice to bring in customers or referrals.

Another trick on a one man operation,
is to have any heavy lifting ready for a potential friend to help with.
Almost daily a retired firefighter would come by at about 230-3,
and it was a ritual that he'd help move a body, frame,
or mount an engine or something that is just easier/safer with two people.
A couple retired guys were like that,
and they kinda knew to expect it,
even look forward to it as it was the most exciting thing in their lives it seemed!
It also gave me a schedule to shoot getting stuff prepped by.
Of course there were days when nobody showed up and expected them to!

Obviously there's a risk/insurance issue,
but you gotta know the gearheads vs the timewasters.
Some guys want to check on a projects progress too,
so if you do good work,
talkers will pass on the information without even knowing they're 'free" advertisement.

TP

 

Yes put them to work (the time burglar's that is) I had a buddy that had a very busy one man machine shop and if you stopped in there you would be helping while you got your questions answered (if he knew you)! He had a few socialites that liked to try and HANG OUT! Well after being asked to run and get some parts or answer the phone help customer's load or unload their parts the socialites's figured it out they were FREE labor and didn't socialize nearly as often! You have to be polite but firm you know make sly comments like I have to get this done while I can afford to have the electric on, if I don't finish this vehicle on time it's going to cost me money and put me so far behind on the next project I'll never catch up.

 

This Is some great advice! I cant thank you guys enough!
A little more info. I have been self employed for 24 years. I am always polite to whomever walks through my door. You never know where your next project might come from!
I don't judge them either. Doesn't matter to me if they have tons of money or have scrimped and saved to do there project! As long as they can pay my bill.
I am liking the ideas of a sign on the door to politely ask them to respect my time,good message on the answering machine(make sure I get back to them),make appointments,politely remind them that I need to get to work.
I short I think I will try most of the ideas suggested!
Thanks again!!

 

I don't run a car shop. My work is welding and fabrication in the aircraft industry as a sub contractor. My distractions come from people needing little welding jobs and stuff requiring the use of shears and brakes. When I get a hang around I just get busy and usually they get the message. You got it right, always be polite. I like a beer as much as anyone but I don't recommend alcohol in the shop even when the tools are put to bed. You never know what some prospective customer will think. If you want to treat a customer to a beer make it outside the shop in the shade at a picnic table or something like that. Just my 2 cents but I've dealt with "hang arounds".

 

Great thread. My shop is more about resale and I hate to blow anyone off because you never know what they might want to sell in the future and you can get a reputation for being a jerk that way. Some really good insight here.

It's tough though.

 

I've been self employed for 27 years with about 4 employees on hand at anytime at my restoration/ custom body shop. We get bombarded daily with people stopping by just because they see all the old cars and such, we are very inviting to car guys and BS-ers, on a very busy road. Speedway Motors down the street from us and one the largest private aircraft reconditioning facility in the world Duncan Aviation down the street the other way, plus a half mile off the airport, I-80 interstate exit. Someday we are like a tourism stop! I My wife and I have to expect anything, from pilots and aviation guys form Norway, to retired car guys from Pennsylvania and every one in between, plus I'm a natural BS er myself, and love to show off our work, and my new rotisserie, the ROLLER HOOP. It is amazing I get anything done ever. So we give people a quick tour of the shop show them things and keep the conversation to the shop work, oh and the shop cat. My wife is real nice to all, all the time and will ask about them as well and so on, So yes if your in business you need a nice person to absorb the stop ins etc. Me I can sense when visiting is a good Idea or not and I just have to make up the time in the evening or 6am.
People usually say thanks for the tour and are very pleased. I usually close with, " sure any time just don't make a habit of it" then laugh a little bit and they might get the hint to keep it in check. As far as the day to day locals I give them a little time then say "well I know your busy so I better let you go". They'll think about that one.

There are some great ideas & solutions in the thread and I wish I could practice some of them, but you are who you are and keep it that way you'll find the right avenue.

 

I don't run a shop but my personal garage suffers from "pop-ins" that interrupt the little time I have to work on my toys and projects. Some guys are regulars and if I let them, they'd talk until the sun goes down and then some. I like these guys (and one recently died) but after the first 20 minutes or so I just pick up something like a 4" grinder and just start grinding something while they're talking and most times they just keep on talking.