The world wide web, or Internet as we all refer to it, has brought the accumulated knowledge of humanity within reach of just about everyone at the click of a mouse or the tap of a computer keyboard. While the jury is out on whether having such power is a good thing or a bad thing or something in between, it’s obvious that the “net” has changed our lives in ways that we are still discovering.
In our country, changing from a manufacturing society to a service society has impacted our social fabric, and our industry. If you follow my column, you know that I am an advocate of “whole trade” training and craftsmanship, and that the current state of our trade/industry, as it relates to the hiring and training of new people, is abysmal… and not getting better at any appreciable rate.
So, what do the internet and the sad state of our labor issues have in common? Transfer of knowledge. The existing old guard are leaving the trade due to age and/or other factors. Because of the lack of new people entering the trades, the “graybeards” are not able to pass their accumulated knowledge on to the next generation of craftsmen, as had been the case for thousands of years prior. The lack of interest in a trade career by the younger generations has created, for lack of a better description, a knowledge vacuum.
While it is true that all the knowledge accumulated by the trades is available via the Internet, the ability, indeed the desirability, to access it and understand it is lacking. YouTube videos can teach only so much and then only for a small fraction of common tasks associated with the trades. The vast storehouse of accumulated trade craft knowledge, hard earned by journeymen over decades, is slowly fading away. Not only are we unable to fill the ranks of the trades with qualified and quality apprentices, but we are surely losing the ability to pass on this vital knowledge and the skills required to use it.
Enter the “Virtual Expert”
Given the foregoing, the cyber world has seen an opportunity to fill a void that many do not even know exists. In times past, advertising in products like the Yellow Pages, local newspapers and other print media were the primary avenue for most service shops to get their names in front of prospective customers. Today it is the Internet that people go to for everything that they need or want.
The introduction and rise of web sites like Angie’s List brought the referral of trades services to people who needed a way to find and vet craftsmen to hire. Of course, the fact that anyone (or almost anyone) who could afford the subscription fee could get on the list meant that not everyone who was referred represented the best and the brightest for a given discipline. Yet the concept was solid enough to spawn a slew of web sites along the same or similar lines. Despite some glaring problems with the quality of referrals, people and businesses had found a new type of marketplace to interact in.
Today, there is a relatively new and growing sector of interactive commerce that is a boon to both the trades and the consumer. Taking the “list” concept a step further, companies as varied as Home Depot and Nationwide have developed or are developing a virtual platform to allow consumers the ability to interact with professionals from the building trades, in real time, on-line, through Zoom-like portals. Bringing seasoned pros face-to-face with customers who have a specific need for their expertise is a win/win for all concerned.
It is also a way for experienced trade craftsmen to share their knowledge with customers, even though they either no longer work in the field or are retired. That knowledge is still germane and would otherwise be lost. More importantly, the consumer is the one who benefits by getting the very best advice available from an experienced pro. The wisdom earned from decades of craft experience is distilled into a single on-line chat.
Full disclosure: for the past year I have been working with Nationwide on their product called ANEW. While the exact details are closely held as development of the platform is perfected, I can tell you that my interactions with customers, through a virtual user interface has been enlightening… and gratifying. People want and need the knowledge and expertise experienced tradesmen can offer, and they are thrilled to speak to a human being who can not only understand their problem but can empathize, help them to solve it or, at the very least, point them in the right direction.
Think of it as having a human encyclopedia (remember those?), a resource where you can ask a question and get the right answer, as if you were standing in the same room. How many times did you wish you had that ability when you were in the field trying to solve a knotty problem and that old master tradesman who you apprenticed under wasn’t there to ask?
It is an advantage to the service shops to have a customer who has visited one of the sites and has spoken with a seasoned pro about their problem. That customer is then in a knowledgeable position about the “what” and “how” of their issue when they hire you. It eliminates a lot of “why?” and “how much???” that we deal with more often than we would like.
As is common with the internet, these companies are sometimes in danger of providing too much information, so be aware of that. The following are some of the more notable sites and their formats:
1- ANEW (www.app.helloanew.com) is a Nationwide product that is still under development at this writing. Their primary focus is plumbing, electrical and HVAC, using virtual experts who are fully vetted, experienced professionals with a minimum of 15 years in the field.
2- Porch (www.porch.com) This site requires a membership and there are no specifics or virtual expertise availability.
3- Home Advisor (www.homeadvisor.com) a subsidiary of Angi (used to be Angie’s List www.angi.com) which are trade specific but do not offer virtual contact for troubleshooting.
4- Houzz (www.houzz.com) Sells subscriptions to the pros but is more or less an advertising clearing house and not trade specific.
5- Consumers Checkbook (www.checkbook.org) Very broad-based information and not trade specific.
6- Service Whale (www.servicewhale.com) Broad based referrals that cover just about everything to do with your home (including things like hiring handy men to clean gutters, etc.). The site picks up your zip code from your IP address and tailors the information and ads to your area.
7- Pro Referral (www.proreferral.com) This is a product of the Home Depot so if you are familiar with their referral options, you know what this is about. Vetting of the pro referrals is very unclear and, if past is prologue, it would be wise to double check them.
8- Fiverr (www.fiverr.com) A clearing house open to any trade or service.
These are just a few of the web sites that cater to the consumer on-line. Some provide interactive services which, in some cases, utilize the knowledge of trade professionals with the experience and expertise not available to most shops today, let alone the consumer. Given the speed at which sites like these are advancing, it would seem to be a good way for brick and mortar shops to get more and better quality business by working with, not for, these platforms. This is where service businesses are headed. You might as well learn as much as you can about this way of prospecting and advertising as you can. Stay ahead of the curve.
The Brooklyn, N.Y.-born author is a retired third generation master plumber. He founded Sunflower Plumbing & Heating in Shirley, N.Y., in 1975 and A Professional Commercial Plumbing Inc. in Phoenix in 1980. He holds residential, commercial, industrial and solar plumbing licenses and is certified in welding, clean rooms, polypropylene gas fusion and medical gas piping. He can be reached at [email protected].