Tradespeople! - What's missing from Job Requests and Leads?

[nick8019]

I’m working on a project to help tradespeople get clearer, more detailed job requests—so you can spend less time chasing vague leads or dealing with poor quality customers. I’d love to hear what info matters most to you when deciding if a job’s worth taking on.

1. What information you’d find most helpful when deciding whether to take on a new job (e.g., budget ranges, location, more photos, work specifications, access etc.).
2. What you like or dislike about how job leads typically come through (are they too vague? too competitive? do you get enough context?)

Have had some tradespeople tell me they'd like to see reviews / references done on customers as well, so it's not just them being reviewed.

 

[fisicx]

Maybe it would help if tradespeople were a bit more detailed in their quotes rather than the usual one line: ‘refit bathroom plus materials).

PS: almost no tradesmen here on UKBF

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

Have had some tradespeople tell me they'd like to see reviews / references done on customers as well, so it's not just them being reviewed.

We have been down this road already on here
You cant review the customers You will get taken to the legals and County Courted

 

[nick8019]

We have been down this road already on here
You cant review the customers You will get taken to the legals and County Courted

Thanks for pointing this out! Definitely an interesting one and important to tread carefully. Uber is a big obvious example of a platform where users get reviewed though, and have an overall score that drivers can see

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

Thanks for pointing this out! Definitely an interesting one and important to tread carefully. Uber is a big obvious example of a platform where users get reviewed though, and have an overall score that drivers can see

Yes but this is much different where the level of work is subjective and your average modern person is to much of a dumb ass to understand the issues and will report a completely inaccurate conclusion

 

[nick8019]

Yes but this is much different where the level of work is subjective and your average modern person is to much of a dumb ass to understand the issues and will report a completely inaccurate conclusion

Wait sorry a bit confused, your comment suggests customers also can't really review tradespeople they've used? I agree it's definitely an area that's harder to determine quality of work delivered

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

Wait sorry a bit confused, your comment suggests customers also can't really review tradespeople they've used? I agree it's definitely an area that's harder to determine quality of work delivered

Sorry yes I stand corrected and should focus on doing one thing at a time

 

[nick8019]

Thank you for all the feedback so far, keep it comin'!

 

[fisicx]

You need a two part quote system. I did this for a company in Sweden and it worked really well.

Part one is a simple callback form on the site. You collect name, telephone and email

This sends an auto responder to the customer that has a link to the part two form.

The part two form is a multi-step form with lots of conditional fields that leads to the full spec.

It's not a complicated thing to code. The bit that takes all the time is defining all the conditional fields. For example: if they want a new bathroom the subsequent questions will be different to those for a loft extension.

I started work on something for a self build in NI and the client gave up as it just got too complicated:

Self Build | Calculator Variants

A multistep form that calculates the results based on the chosen filters. This project was for a company in Ireland financing self-build projects [selfbuildhome]

variants.loanpaymentplugin.com

 

[nick8019]

Oo thanks for sharing! Good idea! Soo many ways to go about this really. Would be great if we could help both customers and tradespeople save time from back and forth etc.

 

[nick8019]

If anyone wants to share more feedback or would be willing to fill in a short survey, I'd greatly appreciate it. Please DM me!

 

[HFE Signs]

I’m working on a project to help tradespeople get clearer, more detailed job requests—so you can spend less time chasing vague leads or dealing with poor quality customers. I’d love to hear what info matters most to you when deciding if a job’s worth taking on.

1. What information you’d find most helpful when deciding whether to take on a new job (e.g., budget ranges, location, more photos, work specifications, access etc.).
2. What you like or dislike about how job leads typically come through (are they too vague? too competitive? do you get enough context?)

Have had some tradespeople tell me they'd like to see reviews / references done on customers as well, so it's not just them being reviewed.

A bad customer platform, that's hilarious, do it

 

[fisicx]

Oo thanks for sharing! Good idea! Soo many ways to go about this really. Would be great if we could help both customers and tradespeople save time from back and forth etc.

There will always be lot of back and forth. The builder came round and quoted for the work but then gave us some alternative ideas. We then made suggestions and eventually ended up with something better than we originally asked for. Took about two weeks from the initial enquiry to getting the final costings. I don't think we could have done it any quicker.

An example. We needed to soundproof a party wall. The builder was going to the the timber frame and insulation thing but we discovered a glue-on soundproofing material. Needed lots of measuring and approval from the buildings inspector before we could continue. This couldn't have been covered in your new platform.

 

[nick8019]

There will always be lot of back and forth. The builder came round and quoted for the work but then gave us some alternative ideas. We then made suggestions and eventually ended up with something better than we originally asked for. Took about two weeks from the initial enquiry to getting the final costings. I don't think we could have done it any quicker.

An example. We needed to soundproof a party wall. The builder was going to the the timber frame and insulation thing but we discovered a glue-on soundproofing material. Needed lots of measuring and approval from the buildings inspector before we could continue. This couldn't have been covered in your new platform.

Hmm yea I definitely see that. I think bigger and more complex jobs like a full on renovation, will always take longer to spec out and require more back and forth than say someone who just needs a leaky tap fixed.

Nice example on soundproofing a party wall! Out of personal curiosity, did the glue-on soundproofing material work well in the end? I imaigne it was a lot cheaper/easier to do

 

[fisicx]

Nice example on soundproofing a party wall! Out of personal curiosity, did the glue-on soundproofing material work well in the end? I imaigne it was a lot cheaper/easier to do

Dead easy to do. Spray on contact adhesive then slap the foam on the walls. Two layers of acoustic plasterboard and job done. It worked out about the same price but a lot faster and easier.

6 – Soundproofing | Bridge House Aldershot

Because of the changes to the flat there are now two party walls. These need soundproofing. Used in the process were: 16 meters of timber…

bridgehousealdershot.co.uk

 

[LeasingEval]

Thanks for pointing this out! Definitely an interesting one and important to tread carefully. Uber is a big obvious example of a platform where users get reviewed though, and have an overall score that drivers can see

What now?
Which part of GDPR allows them to do this?

 

[nick8019]

What now?
Which part of GDPR allows them to do this?

Hmm yea if you have Uber, you can see under your Account you have a rating out of 5 stars.

Not sure if and how this is GDPR compliant though