The affect of Nationals on The Locksmith in Dereham
Martin Pink of Rapid Locksmiths gets his teeth into the subject of the national locksmith chains. Are they a good thing or a bad thing for the industry? One thing’s for sure – he doesn’t sit on the fence!
This is a subject that affects each and every one of us, from new set ups to established
locksmith in Dereham. It affects us in different ways, but nevertheless affects us all in one way or another.
With national internet sites setting up almost daily and the number of call centres increasing each year, every
locksmith in Dereham share of call out work is being affected.
Most new set up
Locksmith in Dereham end up on the books of one or more of the nationals. This is due mainly to their trainers sending them down this route. It is also a consequence of a lack of work generated from their advertising.
Many realise that this is not a good thing, but in the absence of any other work they justify this work as a necessary evil, without maybe looking at the bigger picture and how it may affect them long term.
What are the Alternatives to Locksmith in Dereham
At present that three types of nationals exist,
[ 1 ] The call centres
[ 2 ] The internet sites
[ 3 ] The contract holders
The first two are much the same and not to be confused with the contract holders. In my opinion call centres and internet sites do more harm than good. The contract holders are mostly good for those in the trade. Let`s look at these in turn.
1 ] The call centres & 2 ] The internet sites
Over the years the majority of these have built up a bad name in the industry for both quality and service. Despite many of their claims, they operate largely on the emergency one–off market, rarely gaining repeat custom.
The general impression of the majority of these is that they are over–priced and offer a poor standard of service to the customer. Engineers are encouraged [off the record] to drill and change as often as possible so as to bump up the price and to earn more money for the company and for themselves.
These companies tend to offer payment to the
locksmith in Dereham on a percentage basis, offering the
locksmith in Dereham between 40% and 60% of each job`s value, which on the whole is very poor indeed.
The
locksmith in Dereham is responsible for holding the stock and bearing the travelling and running costs relating to each job. He is also responsible for each job. He guarantees the product and workmanship and if required must go back at his own cost and put right defective products or workmanship. Therefore, is it right that the
locksmith in Dereham bears the majority of costs involved in completing the job as well as the responsibility for any problems, yet receives the minority share of the payment?
Many of these call centres thrive on the new set up who they know is desperate for work. With an abundance of willing labour, they have experienced dramatic growth over the years. Some only pass work to their top earners, ie those that return the higher invoice values, encouraging their subbies to change locks and charge top rates for them. Otherwise they would barely cover their own costs.
The argument of ‘I need the work to build up my business’ is an old one. Long term it does the new set up as much harm as good and affects them in three main ways,
[1] If the
locksmith in Dereham overcharges customers in order to try and make a living wage, he risks ruining his own local reputation before he even gets his business up and running. Remember, it’s only you the
locksmith in Dereham that the customer sees overcharging and not the national they first called. It`s your face and your van they recognise and remember.
Of course you can choose non destructive entry and not over inflate prices but although admirable, this will inevitably result in you making little or no money and getting less and less work from them.
[2] The more jobs the nationals get covered, the more advertising they do. They grow each year thus knocking the independent
locksmith in Dereham off of the 118 directory services and phone books with their multiple adverts. The more work you cover for them, the stronger they become in your area. In turn, any advertising you might do becomes less effective as the local advertising mediums become swamped by advertisements for the nationals. Without effective advertising it`s virtually impossible to build your business.
[3] Many independent
locksmith in Dereham still see working for a national as viable and continue to work for them. But many of these nationals have an end game in mind: build up an area using a subbie and pay as little as possible to keep them in line.
They then swamp the area with ads, making it harder for the new set up to get a foot hold. Then, just as the new set up feels at least some security in earning their pittance, they sell the area as a franchise or put in a full time employee and the subbie loses the work anyway. When this happens the poor
locksmith in Dereham is in a worse position than when they started because advertising will cost more to get noticed, their own local reputation will be tarnished and their long term prospects become severely dented.
So although tempting for the new
locksmith in Dereham, these nationals are rarely a viable option because every job you take from them helps build their business at the cost of your own.
I could name names and even put up copies of invoices showing the unnecessary damage and extremely high prices some have charged. One example is of a failed upvc mechanism taking seven hours to open and secured with sash jammers. The final bill was in excess of £700. The customer was quoted the same amount again for repair and replacement.
I know of Upvc cylinders drilled and changed with bills up to £250. We will all have stories like this. Many
locksmith in Dereham forums are filled with such tales and accompanied by photographic evidence.
On the few occasions customers have complained to trading standards or ‘Rogue Traders’ expose these firms, its always the
locksmith in Dereham that`s named and shamed. The same answer is always given by the national, it`s not their fault but the fault of the
locksmith in Dereham who has now been sacked and they advise seeking compensation from him. They always insist that their own standards are high and unless customers complain, it is hard for them to weed out the rogues. Yet the poor
locksmith in Dereham was only doing as instructed in order to keep the work via high invoice values.
In my opinion, most of these nationals are no more than parasites, over charging the unsuspecting public with impunity. At the end of the day, you take the risk and they make the money. Every job you do strengthens their position and weakens your own. Despite what they say to the contrary, many nationals will franchise or put an employee into the area once it can sustain it. Then they`ll drop you, the independent
locksmith in Dereham, and leave you in a worse position than when you started. In short, every job you do for these is another nail in your own businesses coffin.
This is by no means typical of every national, but in my own opinion and experience, it is typical of the vast majority.
This just leaves the 3rd type, the national contractors.
The main difference with these is that they don`t harm individual businesses. Instead they compliment what you already do. They pay proper rates and provide good quality work servicing large blue chip companies and major chains. They don`t advertise against you in your area and don`t swamp your area with advertising. They do, however, insist on experience and ability, unlike many of the nationals and they generally pay proper rates.
I believe that the majority of call centres and internet sites are no more than a rip–off. They rip–off customers and
locksmith in Dereham alike and should be stopped. Sadly the only way to stop them is for
locksmith in Dereham to stick together and refuse their work. If they cannot cover the work they will soon pull out of certain areas and stop advertising. Leaving genuine locksmith in Dereham to prosper.
Use Local Locksmith in Dereham
Article by Martin Pink of Rapid Locksmiths. Appeared in “The Locksmith” Magazine, Issue 3, July 2009.
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