On 14/03/2014 09:59, GB wrote:
On 14/03/2014 08:33, Stephen wrote:

Yes, born profoundly deaf in bopth sides. I need to lipread as well....

Sadly, shamefully even, this will be a really major problem for someone
starting up a new handyman business. I would strongly expect that most
customers currently ring up and discuss the work that they want done.

While the point is valid, I would contend that the discussion does not
have to be with the person actually doing the work. So long as the
person doing the "interfacing" has a good enough grasp of the basics to
hold an intelligent conversation, and find out the broad outline of the
job etc it should work out ok.

If you go down the email/sms route that will be a new experience for
most of your customers. I think you will have to be very up-front about
this and try and make it a positive selling proposition. There must be
some people for whom it is beneficial to book by email/sms.

You would have to explain why it is necessary, and you will rule out say
90%+ of your potential customer base. After all, TMH reports that he
does jobs like assemble flat-pack furniture. Anyone incapable of that is
probably incapable of booking a handyman by SMS.

For many kids these days SMS is an extension of their arm!

It matters where you are geographically. If you are in London, say, you
can afford to rule out 90% of potential customers. You just make your
catchment area a bit bigger. In some areas, though, ruling out 90% of
the customer base will leave you with too little business to survive or
leave you travelling huge distances.

Its really just a case of working out how to deal with phone calls...
any reasonably conpetent PA should be able to discuss a job, take
details, book appointments, explain charges and rates etc, and then SMS
the spec along to the handyman.

--
Cheers,

John.

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