Using Handymen, Service Technicians and Technical Services

Every once in a while you will find that you need the services of a handyman: someone who can perform those pain in the neck jobs we all put off until it is too late or it becomes too big a job, or for whatever reason it is a job we can’t or won’t do ourselves. Handymen are great for fixing broken windows, re-grouting tile, painting or patching things up.

Every once in a while you will find that you need the services of a specialized technician: someone who comes to your home to repair a large appliance – your fridge, range, furnace, air conditioner, or washer and dryer. Usually in these cases you deal with a service company and you do not know which specific service technician will be assigned to attend to your problem.

And every once in a while, you will find that you have to bring a smaller appliance or an electronic component in to a specialized shop for repair – a computer, vacuum cleaner, lawn mower, audio or visual gear, those sorts of things. In this case you may have to choose between a number of available shops.

When one of these scenarios arises:

1: do you find yourself scrambling to recall the name, address and phone number of the:

• previous handyman you may have used?
• specialized service company who last repaired your large appliance?
• shop you brought your small appliance to?

2: Do you remember if the handyman, service shop or service technician you used was:

• good value for your money?
• prompt and efficient?
• polite and courteous?
• professional and thorough?
• someone or a service you would use again in the future?
• someone or a service you would never use again?

3: Do you remember if your problem or job got resolved satisfactorily the first time or was there a need for subsequent visits? If it didn’t, did your dispute:

• get resolved to your satisfaction?
• ever get resolved?
• leave a good or bad taste in your mouth?

4: Are there individuals, services or shops that you would never use again? Do you remember who they were? Conversely, are there individuals, services or shops that would use again in a minute if you had to and do you remember who they were?

Because we do not need these types of services often, we sometimes forget both the experience and the person. Whether your experience was a good or a bad one, keep a record of it so that you can hopefully use (or avoid) the same person or service again. Try using a computer program to help you keep track of these types of occurrences.

It is quite simple and easy to record your experiences. It does not take much time because these types of things do not happen that often. It can save a lot of time and frustration the next time it does happen however. So stop wondering where you put a business card or made a note of someone’s name or business the next time this happens – just look up the experience in your database.

Get organized: Use a computer system to help you keep track of these things:

• note the date and length of time it took to get the service
• record the technicians name and contact information
• store an image of his or her business card
• record some detail about the type of service performed
• rate both the service and the technician
• indicate whether or not you would use the service again in the future
• enter any other information about the experience that you may find useful in the future

There are likely a number of computer applications that can help you, or you can even design a simple one yourself. One called ‘the RecordsKeeper’ is designed specifically for this type of information. It is quite easy to use and it can do a lot more than just keep a record of this type of information for you.

So save yourself both time and frustration the next time you find that you need the services of a handyman, technician or shop by keeping track of your previous experiences and then referring to that information when you need it. It is easy to do and could save you time and money in the future.