hay i was curious as to what you guys say to somebody who keeps asking for an update on their survey. i guess this would be a q for the ones that are solo or just a couple people team. if you have a list of jobs you need to do and each one may take a day to finish...what do you tell somebody who asks when you havent even been to the job yet? like...somebody calls on the first and you tell them it will be the 15th when it should be completed. they call on the 5th and ask...."can i please have an update on the survey?". what do you tell that person?
they call again on the 10....you still havent been to the location but are still on schedule for the 15th. what do you tell them this time? by this time, they probably think you have a whole team of technicians working on their project. but you havent' had time to do anything because you have 15 other people asking the same thing on the other jobs you have.
anybody else relate to this? what do you tell them?
Thanks for calling! Your job is right on schedule. We've completed the preliminary research and prepared information to send with our field technicians. The field work for your job is scheduled to take place on the 11th and 12th, but we may send a crew earlier if we have a cancellation.
rplsntx, post: 433045, member: 8904 wrote: hay i was curious as to what you guys say to somebody who keeps asking for an update on their survey. i guess this would be a q for the ones that are solo or just a couple people team. if you have a list of jobs you need to do and each one may take a day to finish...what do you tell somebody who asks when you havent even been to the job yet? like...somebody calls on the first and you tell them it will be the 15th when it should be completed. they call on the 5th and ask...."can i please have an update on the survey?". what do you tell that person?
they call again on the 10....you still havent been to the location but are still on schedule for the 15th. what do you tell them this time? by this time, they probably think you have a whole team of technicians working on their project. but you havent' had time to do anything because you have 15 other people asking the same thing on the other jobs you have.
anybody else relate to this? what do you tell them?
Well, to begin with, if someone calls wanting to have me do a day's worth of work on some project, I tell them something along the lines of :
"That sounds like a fairly straightforward survey that you're describing. It may not be, but it sounds as if it ought to be. Right now, I'm so booked up that I don't think I'd be able to get to it as quickly as I think you probably want to have the work done, but I can suggest a couple of other surveyors you might want to contact. There's rplsntx, for example. I don't have his number handy, but I'll bet if you google him, it will pop right up."
You tell them the truth.
FrozenNorth's answer is perfect if you're on schedule.
I like Kent's response - he's in a great position. There's a lot of value in openly referring potential clients to other surveyors - the response I often get is that the client would prefer to work with us. Otherwise, I get good will from the other surveyor.
Otherwise...
On the 5th you look at your schedule and if it's changed you tell them that it's scheduled for the 15th but it's currently looking like it won't be done until the 17th (or whatever).
As much as it hurts, you do that each time - folks are depending on your survey for something and they need to be able to plan according to the completion date. If they need to make other arrangements - they need the most lead time to do that. While a client may not like that, it's way better than being dishonest.
In a perfect world, you'll estimate completion dates with more room in your schedule to absorb changes and people will be pleasantly surprised when things are done early.
I tell them I haven't forgotten about them and I will get to it as soon as possible but probably no sooner than what I already told them X days ago. Some people have absolutely nothing else to do in this world but sit around and fret about things outside of their control. As long as they have money, I will give them a bit more time (and a related charge for that time).
JKinAK, post: 433051, member: 7219 wrote: There's a lot of value in openly referring potential clients to other surveyors - the response I often get is that the client would prefer to work with us. Otherwise, I get good will from the other surveyor.
Absolutely. The key, obviously, is to refer the client to some surveyor who you have reason to believe will provide a good quality service, unless the client/project has all the ear marks of being a problematic one that promises to be a liability of a magnitude yet to be announced. I don't knowingly send those to colleague, but leave the client to their own devices to find the cheap and quick level of licensee that they were apparently calling in search of.
Maintaining collegial relations is particularly important in a state such as Texas where vast amounts of valuable survey data are in private holdings, outside of the public record. So, it's a win-win to steer a client toward a good choice while also making sure that a colleague will reciprocate appropriately, and records access is always appropriate.
rplsntx, post: 433045, member: 8904 wrote: hay i was curious as to what you guys say to somebody who keeps asking for an update on their survey. i guess this would be a q for the ones that are solo or just a couple people team. if you have a list of jobs you need to do and each one may take a day to finish...what do you tell somebody who asks when you havent even been to the job yet? like...somebody calls on the first and you tell them it will be the 15th when it should be completed. they call on the 5th and ask...."can i please have an update on the survey?". what do you tell that person?
they call again on the 10....you still havent been to the location but are still on schedule for the 15th. what do you tell them this time? by this time, they probably think you have a whole team of technicians working on their project. but you havent' had time to do anything because you have 15 other people asking the same thing on the other jobs you have.
anybody else relate to this? what do you tell them?
I typically respond that I appreciate their concern and this where I'm at on the project. I rarely mis deadlines and if I'm going to you will be notified in advance not the day of.
A lot of these questions are due to the guys that never or rarely do what they say they will do or just don't communicate with their clients. My opinion is that you should never treat someone in the manner that they should feel like that it will cost what cost and it will take whatever time it takes.
A microwave society and lack of of customer relations have created the lack of understanding what it takes to complete a "typical" survey
Kent McMillan, post: 433048, member: 3 wrote: Well, to begin with, if someone calls wanting to have me do a day's worth of work on some project, I tell them something along the lines of :
"That sounds like a fairly straightforward survey that you're describing. It may not be, but it sounds as if it ought to be. Right now, I'm so booked up that I don't think I'd be able to get to it as quickly as I think you probably want to have the work done, but I can suggest a couple of other surveyors you might want to contact. There's rplsntx, for example. I don't have his number handy, but I'll bet if you google him, it will pop right up."
Nice jab at people who can be googled. Uncalled for but nice jab at folks with a different business model. You have a niche which I'm sure you are good at but no need to poke fun at the folks without a niche of resolving screwed up boundaries. All too often you equate fast with crappy work. As I sometimes equate cheap with crappy work.... Sometimes I'm right sometimes I'm wrong
TXSurveyor, post: 433068, member: 6719 wrote: Nice jab at people who can be googled. Uncalled for but nice jab at folks with a different business model. You have a niche which I'm sure you are good at but no need to poke fun at the folks without a niche of resolving screwed up boundaries. All too often you equate fast with crappy work. As I sometimes equate cheap with crappy work.... Sometimes I'm right sometimes I'm wrong
Not really. most of the folks who call me know how to use Google. So mentioning that while I don't have so-and-so's telephone number handy, but here are the search terms on Google that will pull it up is about as good as it gets.
As for whether cheap and fast = crappy, that is one of the fundamental equations that experience shows is always correct. It's true that the folks who work cheap and fast want to believe that they aren't doing crappy work, but they are never on my referral list because they're delusional.
Kent McMillan, post: 433070, member: 3 wrote: Not really. most of the folks who call me know how to use Google. So mentioning that while I don't have so-and-so's telephone number handy, but here are the search terms on Google that will pull it up is about as good as it gets.
As for whether cheap and fast = crappy, that is one of the fundamental equations that experience shows is always correct. It's true that the folks who work cheap and fast want to believe that they aren't doing crappy work, but they are never on my referral list because they're delusional.
Most times you are right regarding this but not always.
TXSurveyor, post: 433071, member: 6719 wrote: Most times you are right regarding this but not always.
It's just the Voice of Experience & Observation. Cheap + Fast = Crappy, pretty much always.
thanks for the replies...here is my last response to that question....
"it's in the process. i got to go back out one more time but should be done this coming week with everything. tolerances were within acceptable ranges and i got pretty good reception with the gps. pdop was acceptable as well. had to chop a few limbs to get a couple shots but it went ok.
thank you"
i hope that didn't sound too rude.
Kent McMillan, post: 433073, member: 3 wrote: It's just the Voice of Experience & Observation. Cheap + Fast = Crappy, pretty much always.
.... the real estate agents and closers just want that piece of paper with a stamp and seal... they really don't care if it's right or wrong.
....only person who cares about the job (REALLY)..is ME.
i could go in and say "yea that fence post is the corner."... but instead go around the world to see that it's NOT the fence post.
Or you could give them the tried and true version of: "Did you happen to catch a look at Noah as he floated over the project site a couple of days ago? We had scheduled to be onsite the very next morning but it was going to be pretty expensive for you if we had to use a combination of sonar and scuba gear to find the controlling monuments."
