Over promising. Not that I dont accomplish the job Ive set out to do but having been taught to always be willing to give the customer what they are willing to pay for is not a good belief that will make a company succeed but most likely fail. I struggle mostly with my timing. Im not the soet of person that is late to anything except my own jobs. I install and repair sprinkler systems.and frankly I can not predict what sort of problem or challenges I will face when digging into the surface of our planet. So If I was to show up at say 11am but I send word Ill ne late by roughly an hour or two or what ever I tell them... sometimes Im late again and maybe even for a third time because I wasn't expecting to be delayed die to lets say tree roots.
Its rough sometimes.
MrNutting:
I get it. The problem is you're apologizing for being late, which makes you sound like a guy who can't manage his schedule.
Change the script: Don't call it a delay; call it a 'technical complication.'
Next time, tell them:
'I’ve hit an unexpected issue on-site that requires extra care to do correctly. I’d rather take the time to do it right than rush and create a headache for you later. I’ll be there by X.'
When you frame it as a commitment to quality instead of a failure of time, you stop being the guy who's late and start being the pro who refuses to cut corners. That’s how you turn a 3-star review into a 5-star one. We are only humans dealing with humans and that's never gonna change. We just got to change everything to be in our favor if possible!!!
How does that look to you?
