Like the song says: ...Woke up... got out of bed… Like most of you I am an early riser
Early risers have a sort of cult, and they try and outdo each other for who gets up earlier. When I was younger I used to be at the Dunkin Donuts store before they opened at 5:00 am. Of course, then there is the cult of black coffee drinkers (but we can talk about that another time). Now that I am older I get up about 5:30 and get to the new shop at 6:00 am. I bought a Keurig machine that works great for one cup and my piece of toast. Getting to the shop before anyone else allows me 45 minutes or so to have a little quiet time. Two of the crew likes to get there early also, just to give themselves time to settle in. For me, it competes half of the tenant that says the boss should be the first one at the shop in the morning and the last one to leave at the end of the day. It sets a good tone for the crew. When they arrive the lights are on and we are ready for business. It also allows us time to talk about jobs that we need to follow up on. We a have a conference table for the team to sit around and it helps with getting everyone’s opinion on problems. The more minds the better (sometimes).
When I started in business years ago (too many years) like everyone I had a tape-driven answering machine. I can remember rewinding the tape back and forth to figure out what a telephone number was. What is it with people who feel it necessary to rattle off their telephone number quicker that you can write it down? I also had a pager (ha-ha!). I was one a plane one time and a girl asked me if I was a doctor … well….
Now we have an answering service that takes all the calls and contact us if it’s an emergency. We receive a text with all the information to call. What I really like is every morning we receive an email and a fax (yes we still have one) that gives a list of all the calls from the previous day. We can check off each call and have a backup from the fax to double check.
About 8:00 am the phone starts to ring and we are off and running. We do a lot of service work and some of our customers know we are at the shop early and will call at 7:00 am, but for the most part its 8:00 am the calls start. It’s funny and difficult that some days are light days and others the phone doesn’t stop ringing. We have three lines and some days all the line are lit up... Those are the crazy days… the phones are ringing and the guys are getting out the door and on the worse days one of the crews will call and say the trench isn’t dug for us and the equipment that was promised to be on site is nowhere to be seen. Now we have to hustle and find another job to keep the crew busy. Service work is profitable, but the scheduling can be tough.
Then we have emergencies, water pouring out a ceiling or a hot water heater has failed (I consider no hot water the same as no heat). We need to drop everything and respond and our customers really appreciate it. We have six trucks on the road and we can usually get one of the crews over to a job.
We have a deal with one of our suppliers where we keep a 40-gallon gas and a 50-gallon electric— that’s the two most common tanks—at the shop on commission. They charge us when we order another tank for the shop. It allows us to respond quicker to not hit water calls. These days if you don’t respond right away customers will get fussy. It’s funny, I remember when I was an apprentice the company had a clip board and when a customer called their name went on the list and they called when they had a plumber available. That could be a day or two later, and customers were fine with that. With computers and smart phones now everyone expects immediate response. Nowadays it’s rare to have a customer say “No worry, when you have the time.” Usually it’s a sweet little old lady who says that.
And so the day goes. Scheduling work and responding to calls as needed. At times it can be quite hectic. I refer to it as Triage in a hospital. Who is bleeding the most? Who can wait? Who do I need to call and give the bad news that the patient (house) is not going to make it without massive work/repairs?
The hectic days can be soul crushing when a customer just doesn’t want to hear the news you have. I’ve had a customer tell me that they don’t want to make the repair I have suggested. “It’s not your decision it’s the house’s decision, we have to cur the wall open to make the repair.”
Eventually the day ends and all the techs have gone home with a sincere, “Thank You.” I think it means a lot to tell your crew thanks. It’s a little thing but it means a lot.
And now it’s time for me to sit down and finish some estimates and make a few phone calls so the jobs are ready tomorrow. Its 5:00 pm or, as its sometimes called, Beer Thirty. 12:00 hours are a good day. NO emergency’s in the middle of the night and I might actually have a normal day. A so goes the day in the life of a plumber.
Scott Milne is the owner of Milne Plumbing and Heating. He and his company have been serving the greater Boston area for nearly 30 years. He specializes in high-efficiency heating systems for custom homes.