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Speaking of Commercial

B

Bob La Londe

Jan 1, 1970
0
You know, of late I have been doing as much machine work (making big pieces
of metal into smaller pieces of metal) as I have communication installing,
but I got a call from a good customer last week who needed some cabling done
for a bunch of new APs to integrate with an inventory management system. I
was originally working for the plant management company (my current client)
on behalf of a company I had never worked for before, but is a plant use
client of theirs.

It didn't seem particularly challenging technically, but after the first day
when I worked until the batteries died on my scissor lift I was actually
looking forward to going to work. I normally get the kids off to school and
go back to bed for an hour or two. The last couple days I have had my first
cup of coffee before its time to wake them up, and I've been out the door
right behind them.

Along the course of the job I coordinated with the IT guy for the company
requesting the work. Basically he was going to wait for me to run the cable
and install a new J-box to hold the new equipment to accommodate the
additional APs. Then he was going to hop on the corporate jet and fly down
to tie everything down and install the new hardware.

I asked him a few questions and each time he had an issue I had an answer.
The cost of the job nearly doubled, but they will save that just in jet
fuel. Their guy is no longer coming down at all. As soon as the new
switching equipment arrives, I'll be tying it all in for them.

The work itself is enjoyable, but there are several things that made it
really a positive job for me. Every time they had a concern or a problem I
had an answer. They didn't expect me to provide all the answers at the
original price estimate. (Residential is notorious for that.)

I have had some pain is the keester customers with both residential and
commercial, but I have to say the most fun and profitable individual jobs
tend to be commercial. This isn't really a big job for me, but it's the
most fun I've had with a screwdriver in a while.
 
B

Bob La Londe

Jan 1, 1970
0
nick markowitz said:
I am same way involved in all kinds of work other than alarms doing
voice/data , Industrial / commercial electrical work building
industrial controls being an engineer for a radio station. It makes
the day interesting. was working on a River Towboat the other day
fixing a Fire Alarm and other things.

You know its funny. I routinely tell my customers I am NOT a computer guy,
and refer them to some of the "computer" guys I know for pc repairs, network
configuration etc. Its amazing how many of them ask me point blank if I can
do what they need anyway, and they pay my field service rate to do it even
though I charge more than the computer guys I normally send them to. Got a
call Friday from one of my commercial customers asking me to fix a computer
networking problem at his house, because his daughter was freaking out about
not being able to connect to the on-line classes she was taking to augment
her regular high school classes. Turns out that Qworst ... or is it
Penitentiary Link now... had set up a wireless router/modem/hub all in one
unit on one computer for them, and never given them any of the logon
information, wireless ID, etc. Sigh. I really hate
Qworst/PenitentiaryLink. I got into the router, found the information they
needed (which was different than info on a label on the bottom of the
router) and got them all working properly. I also fixed several "while you
are here" problems with PCs printers, etc. The customer was thrilled and
told me upfront he would pay my over time rate. (120/hr) He's a good
customer and I just invoiced him for regular time, but its nice to have
customers that appreciate the fact you can take care of them.
 
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