As you all may be aware of with my previous posts, I have been VERY lenient when it comes to my customers. For over eight years since my business was originally opened (then by the name of Dragon PC Training & Consultant), I have always given away too much. I've given too much of my time, knowledge, and expertise, which is what the business is based on and where 100% of the profit derives from, for nothing. A very good example is shown in my previous blog's three-part series. I was going back and forth to a customer's house, trying to take care of multiple AT&T issues and just waiving my in-home fees multiple times like I was some wealthy man who can afford jackets such as this:
Jerry Seinfeld's New Jacket
(Youtube wouldn't allow me to embed the video you you have to click the link. Sorry!)
(Youtube wouldn't allow me to embed the video you you have to click the link. Sorry!)
After all the AT&T issues were taken care of, I wiped the slate clean and started over, making sure I stand my ground and charge this customer from now on when I have to set foot in the house, even if it's for less than an hour. I was there last week to help her with a quick Comcast thing which was basically unplugging and plugging in the modem per a letter she had received in the mail. Of course, while I was there, I asked her if she had any other questions or issues and helped her with that as well. I then showed her the invoice and she had no problem paying it. She even asked me if that was enough or shall she give me more. I said it was enough and there was no need to give me more. So, she will continue to be my customer for a long time ahead. Unfortunately I can't say that to some of which will be described below.
As all of you must know when owning a business or even working for a company (yes, I have worked for many companies before I decided to take a giant leap and do my own thing. I also took a giant leap back and then forward again. Now, I must focus on the continuous forward leaps without stepping back anymore!), time is money. When you work for a company, they pay you by the hour or a set salary (I won't get into commission-based pay here). When you work on your own, you have to rely on your customer's to pay you for the services they request from you. This can range from computer repair for the computer technician to giving their hair a new look for a beautician to fixing their car for a mechanic. The services you provide are based on the knowledge and expertise you currently posses. You charge the customer either by the hour or on an a la carte basis for said services. So, now we can put this into a quick formula:
Knowledge + Expertise = Time (Services) = Money (Customer)
So, there you go: Time equals Money. YOUR TIME, NOT THERE'S! Had I been aware of this when I was dealing with EVERY customer I had come across, this would not have been an issue with my business back then and it will not be anymore now and in the future. Here is one example which occurred on May of 2012 of which is revealed by reading the below letter to the customers who shall be named M & M (their initials, not the candy! I know, first it was BK and now...).
You can check out the fancier version here with a nice Dragon PC Training & Repair template instead of reading the basic looking one below:
May 8, 2012
M. & M.,
I have given considerable thought to what has occurred this past Saturday. I must forfeit the pleasure of assisting you and M again with future Turbo Lister or any more eBay related tasks for that matter. The reasons for my conclusions are simply as follows:
Firstly, and most importantly, I DO NOT sell and HAVE NOT sold anything on eBay or even ran a store on eBay for that matter. Even though I have used my own time and expenses in creating a store for gaining knowledge and creating a guide to assist you and M in creating a store for yourselves, that should have been the extent of my assistance with eBay. Even though I have been compensated while at your location and getting yourselves set up with eBay, I have not been compensated for my own time and expenses I have put in to gain the knowledge I needed to make the opening of your eBay store a success. I have always made a promise to myself and others to never take on the task of training and/or assisting others with what I do not know ahead of time. For you, I made the rare exception, which went well at first but I should have put a stop to it before I got in way over my head. I train and assist customers with many computer and technology-related tasks. However, these tasks are ones of which I have done before and therefore feel more than comfortable with taking on. Unfortunately, because of the reasons stated above, eBay is not one of them and will not be for now and the foreseeable future.
Secondly, I CAN NOT and WILL NOT use my own time and expenses without any compensation in return and use the knowledge I have gained in training or assisting others, even though I receive compensation for the latter. As you know, this is a one man show and because of that I, unfortunately, can’t tailor to everyone’s needs when it comes to a specific service or software of which, in this case, is both (eBay & Turbo Lister).
I have enjoyed working with you and M for about a year and a half now and would love to continue to do so. However, I will not risk trying to assist you and M with your multi-thousand eBay listings for reasons which have been stated above. I will continue to assist you with any other computer needs you may have which are listed in the brochure included in the envelope with this letter. One thing I can’t recommend and urge you to do enough is to get a new laptop. Even though the one you currently have still works, it is running on an operating system over ten years old with parts inside which may go any day now. A new computer will make uploading and creating your listings that much smoother saving valuable time. This, of course, I can help you with.
Have a wonderful and safe trip to New Jersey and back again,
Justin Rocque
The above letter was mailed out to their address before they left for NJ and, needless to say, I haven't heard back from them.The customer didn't feel he should have paid me for my time being there while I was learning the program as I went along because he had the store and I had no other way to learn how to use the program. From now on, he can just call Ebay's tech support if he wants to "save money" by trying to download all his 1000+ listings, suspend the store, then reopen it when he comes back from his trip. The case is now closed on that one and, unfortunately, that customer unless he PC craps out. We'll see...
Next up is a customer of whom I did a "favor" for and rooted his and his wife's Sprint Evo 4G so he can use the internet on the phone through their Metro PCS. Of course, this required MUCH MORE than rooting. I had to download a phone program the phone stores usually use. After downloading and following the steps to make the internet work on the phone which was designed from Sprint, I was then able to root it. Long story short, I got them both up and running with the internet and root functions. The reason why I did this BIG "favor" was because I have the same phone. I told him to not tell other's I root phone because, even though I can, I CHOOSE NOT to because I don't find it fun, worth my time, and I don't want to risk BRICKING the phone! But, alas, I have received a few calls from his friends after that asking if I can root their Blackberries or Tablets or other phones I don't know about! These calls have stopped for a long while until... I received a call from my customer again from a different number saying he reset the phone and messed up the root on his phone he gave to a friend. I told him when you do a factory reset on the phone, the root stays in tact. I agreed to take a look at it to see what was going on as a "small" favor this time. The following which I sent to him on Facebook on July 12, 2012 are the results of that "small" favor:
Here is the image from my phone I sent as proof:
I have not received a message or call back regarding the above message. However, a couple weeks ago, I received a text from the customer with a minor computer question. I answered then received a call from him while typing another text. I helped him over the the phone then he mentioned the whole thing about the other guy and his phone. Although I did not ask if he had read the message I sent, I told him why I was NOT going to do it. After stating my reasons, he still tried to coerce me to do "one last favor" for his friend. Finally, after saying "No" a few more times, he got the picture. I believe this customer will still be a customer and I think he FINALLY got the picture of me NOT rooting anymore phones at all! So, the case with that one is closed.
Almost last but not quite is another customer. After helping her for over a year and a half with her computer needs, we decided to agree on bartering our services to each other. You can figure out what the bartering entailed by reading the following:
So, as you can see from above, I had to let that customer go. The bartering wasn't enough to sustain having her as a customer or keeping my sanity! :-O
Next up is a customer of whom I did a "favor" for and rooted his and his wife's Sprint Evo 4G so he can use the internet on the phone through their Metro PCS. Of course, this required MUCH MORE than rooting. I had to download a phone program the phone stores usually use. After downloading and following the steps to make the internet work on the phone which was designed from Sprint, I was then able to root it. Long story short, I got them both up and running with the internet and root functions. The reason why I did this BIG "favor" was because I have the same phone. I told him to not tell other's I root phone because, even though I can, I CHOOSE NOT to because I don't find it fun, worth my time, and I don't want to risk BRICKING the phone! But, alas, I have received a few calls from his friends after that asking if I can root their Blackberries or Tablets or other phones I don't know about! These calls have stopped for a long while until... I received a call from my customer again from a different number saying he reset the phone and messed up the root on his phone he gave to a friend. I told him when you do a factory reset on the phone, the root stays in tact. I agreed to take a look at it to see what was going on as a "small" favor this time. The following which I sent to him on Facebook on July 12, 2012 are the results of that "small" favor:
The initial T. is in replacement of the person's actual name.
On Monday morning, I got a call from you saying your phone needs to be rooted again. I then got a call from you from the number of the phone you wanted rooted again. OK. Even though I DO NOT root phones like I have said many times already, I decided to do it for you once more, considering you said you messed it up somehow.
You called back later that night because you haven't heard from me so I called back the next morning and haven't heard back from you.
I get a phone call from the 305 number at around 10:30p last night thinking it was you. It was a man named T. He wanted to know when I can root the phone. Even though I had plans and was busy already most of the next day, I said I'll give a call back in the morning at 10a and pick up it and work on it and bring it back. He said OK.
I called at about 10:15a this morning using the 305 number. There was no answer so I left a message. I get a call back on a different number at 11:10A with a voicemail from T. This number also called me at 9:45a and DID NOT leave a voicemai so I did not return the calll. Because it was an hour passed and too late now, I didn't bother calling back. This, of course, didn't stop T.
11:19
11:21
11:31
11:36
11:37
11:38
11:58
3:17
3:19
10:17
10:20
10:30
12 times in one day, mostly in the morning! You can see some of it with the attached picture. So, because of his rudeness and very bad phone etiquette, I have not and will not bother responding to his call. And, most importantly, I will not respond to his call because I DO NOT root phones. I don't care if it was actually your phone or his now. I don't want to root any phones; that's not what I do. I'm also not going to risk the phone getting "bricked" because the root failed because I'm not buying a new phone for the customer.
I have still been receiving calls from people from you saying you told them I can root their phones. I already told you a long time ago I do not do that so I don't know why I'm still getting calls from people saying I do.
I fix computers, specifically Windows PCs (Not Macs). That's what my business is and that's what I do. That's it.
If you need any computer support, I'll help you. However, even my computer support has limitations and I will tell you what they are up front. If you want your phone rooted or need anything else done with your phone, go to a phone shop. They will most likely not do it either....
Thanks and have a great night,
Dragon
Here is the image from my phone I sent as proof:
I have not received a message or call back regarding the above message. However, a couple weeks ago, I received a text from the customer with a minor computer question. I answered then received a call from him while typing another text. I helped him over the the phone then he mentioned the whole thing about the other guy and his phone. Although I did not ask if he had read the message I sent, I told him why I was NOT going to do it. After stating my reasons, he still tried to coerce me to do "one last favor" for his friend. Finally, after saying "No" a few more times, he got the picture. I believe this customer will still be a customer and I think he FINALLY got the picture of me NOT rooting anymore phones at all! So, the case with that one is closed.
Almost last but not quite is another customer. After helping her for over a year and a half with her computer needs, we decided to agree on bartering our services to each other. You can figure out what the bartering entailed by reading the following:
Her name will be replaced with LG to protect her identity.
7/17/2012
Justin,
I haven't seen you in a while and I was wondering if you intend on coming in soon. Our agreement was that you would receive laser in exchange for teaching me the computer. Please let me know when we can get together for a lesson.
Thank you.
LG
Here is my response to that on the same day:
LG,
That is true, you haven't seen me in a while. Our agreement was I would receive laser in exchange for teaching you the computer. However, instead of just teaching you the computer, I have been...
- Searching for and Replying to business emails for you from work and at home.
- Ordering water and other products online for you
- Talking to your credit card company as well as other companies over the phone for you to take care of your problems.
- Setting up a new computer and printer in your office and cleaning the big clutter of wires you had under the desk.
- Ordering and installing Quickbooks for T to use to take care of your bookkeeping, who is no longer with you. Now, Quickbooks is most likely not being used anymore.
- Posting ads on Craigslist for an office manager job as well as helping you interview and "test" these interviewees on the computer to see if they know the basic skills of the computer. However, even if they knew the basic skills of the computer, you expected them to know much more than the basics and didn't feel they were fit for the job.
- Switching out the phones in the shop with the better phones you had just sitting in the office.
- And more...
Is the above list of things I did in your home and in the shop within the description of "teaching me the computer?" I doesn't look like it. Should I have invoiced you for the other services (of which most of the above don't fall into what my business offers) I did for you on my time which didn't include teaching you the computer? Yes. Should I have typed up an agreement stating what our agreement at first consisted of to prevent any issues in the future? Yes.
I do understand there were a lot of times you didn't want me to go over your house to train you because you were too busy or too tired. Therefore, I did the above in place of the training (even though I feel there was no reason for you to not find at least 1 hour in a week for me to train you). However, I did more than I would normally do for anyone and provide the above as a service of which I would normally be compensated for. Also, every time I did go over your house to train you, you never remembered what I taught you because you DID NOT practice on your own time and you DID NOT read the materials I printed out for you on my printer. Training/teaching on the computer (and many other things) works usually this way to be successful: one person teaches the other using demonstrations and guides, the other person follows along with the demonstrations, does the demonstrations (hands on), and reads the guides. They must also practice when the teacher is not there as well as read the guides so the information soaks in. Also, and most importantly, when the person is there to teach for an allotted amount of time, you must let them do so without any interruptions such as getting off topic by talking about personal things and everything in between and you must not talk on the phone when someone calls for an extended period of time because..... that's how we get off track, wasting valuable time.
Because you rarely did practice anything we went over, you barely remembered anything I have taught you. Therefore, me teaching you has been nothing but a waste of our time and a waste of fuel in my car.
Because of all of the above, I have come to realize going to your shop for laser twice a week, which is a 30 minute drive one way, which is two hours of driving a week, which adds up to about $30 in gas a week, which adds to about $120 a month... is just not worth it anymore.
Also, I have come to realize you have more important things regarding your shop and personal life to worry about besides leaning how to do more on a computer. With these things not being taken care of.... it will make trying to learn how to use a computer that much harder.
It has come to my conclusion, because of the reasons above (and more which need not be discussed here), I am putting a close to our agreement (which has been going on for around 6 months) and our relationship as customers.
Have a great day and I wish you continued success in keeping your shop afloat,
--
[My Business Signature]
So, as you can see from above, I had to let that customer go. The bartering wasn't enough to sustain having her as a customer or keeping my sanity! :-O
So far, I have mentioned giving my services away for nothing, learning how to do customer-requested tasks on my own time for nothing, and bartering my services of which I went over and beyond the agreement!
What more could there be? What else would a customer want to give me in exchange for my services? Well, I'll have you listen to these two audio clips for the answer! His name and number has been silenced to protect his identity.
The above photo was taken by me of Santos pizza located in PSL, Fl. I took it to show them when I go next time how the pizza could use more pepperoni but that's for another blog! However, I may have found another pizza place. :-O
Here is the way a slice should be though...
This above photo was taken at Big Slice Pizza in Palm City, Fl. Those are NY slices at it's finest!
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