I cancelled a job today. Never did that before. Booked a customer without really thinking through how long my day would be. When it dawned on me that I would be working till 7:30pm I called and said I would have to reschedule in 3 weeks (earliest opening). She had to have it done soon so I recommended someone else. It just wasn’t worth it to me. Oh well, you do what you gotta do.
Better than not showing up at all!
Humm, if I had booked a service and they called the day of and said they weren’t coming, I’d be pretty pissed. Especially if they tried to push me out 3 weeks after I had already taken the day off to have the service performed. If they called and said a job was taking too long and they weren’t going to be able to make it, then that’s sort of understandable - IF they can get me in the next day. Otherwise, I’m going with someone else and I’d be sure to recommend someone else for my friends, family, etc.
Word of mouth is the best source of referrals. It can also cut the other way.
Wise words.
I agree…if you couldn’t get the job done the next day maybe it would have been worth working until 7:30. Too be honest, that isn’t even a crazy long day. IMO
But I do hope they aren’t mad and it all works out!
You will learn your lesson.
The key is to be able to recognize these types of jobs, and turn down the work from the get go. And don’t let that part of your brain take over that says “hey man, you really need the work”
Like Josh Latimer always says in his podcasts, your business is meant to serve you. You are an entrepreneur and one of the best parts about that is you can pick and choose the type of work you want to do. If you’re working till 8:00 at night and kicking yourself the whole day, you may not be fulfilling the vision you had when you set off doing this.
Makes sense to not want to work that way but if you make a mistake, deal with it and don’t do it again. I feel like keeping every customer happy, every time is key.
…Yep.
As a Vet this irks me to no end.
Get the job done no matter what.
Canceling just because you screwed up- that’s not professional at all and is quite frankly irresponsible and immature.
If i were that customer, I’d blast u all over social media.
If there is a next time, suck it up and do your job.
I’m not sure what being a Vet has to do with anything because you’d probably feel the same way if you weren’t one, but thanks for sharing.
Could be right, but i think where i was coming from was that i know none of my fellow soldiers would do that- leave a job undone especially for the sake of coming home aittle bit late.
When i was a manager as a civilian with 32 employees i could not say the same of my civilian employees. Most of my employees would have done the job, but i know there were a few that would have done what OP did and i would have had to consider them remaining on board.
I agree.
Matthew, I agreed with your original post because at least you recommended someone else. If I couldn’t do the job I would have went out of my way to introduce the disappointed client to the other company. We all make mistakes in time management and scheduling. I admit, I don’t know what your schedule has been like. If you felt you couldn’t safely do the job then it’s time to call the customer. But, if you made a scheduling error and you just didn’t want to work till 7:30pm, well, in my opinion that’s just sloppy business practices and is disrespectful toward your client.
“Your business is meant to serve you” Yes, but, our business is to service the needs of our clients. The problem here is, the choice had already been made to do the work and fulfill the need’s of the client. The client had the rightful expectation that they had an honorable deal with a window cleaning company…
How do you feel when the client calls the day of and cancels? How about, when you do the work and then you have to wait for the payment? How about when you are waiting for someone to deliver something you need and there is a delay?
The mindset of “Mission First” and Honor…your word.
If you’ve served these things usually go without saying, and if you haven’t they just become bumper sticker philosophies.
“The mindset of “Mission First” and Honor…your word.”
And that’s why according to most poles, most ppl trust military and Vets befits anyone else, especially when it comes to work.