Communicate clearly and firmly
John also brings his car to Otieno's garage who goes over the car and gives him a quote for fixing it. John immediately disagrees with the figure and starts claiming that he has had similar work done before at half the price. A negotiation that sounds more of a tussle ensues until John is satisfied with a lower price. He then requests a deadline for the work to be finished; Otieno estimates that it will take 2 weeks. John is horrified and quickly starts explaining that he needs the car ready in 4 days as he will be travelling for work. The tussle resumes and they agree on 6 days. John pays only half of the deposit required and tells Otieno that he will call him in 4 days to check on progress.
After non-stop calls and requests for progress photos on Whatsapp, John goes to pick up his car on day 6. He is not happy; the spare parts used are poor and the body work is terrible. He is angry and hurls insults at Otieno as he swears he will not pay for such work. We will not go into details on what happens next.
Otieno calls James after 12 days and tells him that his car is ready for collection. James is amazed at what he sees, the car looks brand new: the body work and paint job are both immaculately done. He gets in, revs the engine and smiles as Otieno explains the different spare parts he replaced and tips for better use. He quickly pays the balance and drives off grinning. Same mechanic different results: why is that? Otieno is definitely a great mechanic: he did a great job for James. John on the other hand, paid less and lacked patience to which Otieno responded by using sub-standard parts and delivering a shoddy job. James needs to understand that you get the value that you pay for and that patience is key.
Ultimately, the business is owned by Otieno who should have been clear about the costs and timelines required for a good job. The incident with John could have been avoided if he stood his ground on what he charges for his job and the time he needed to do it. You may not be a mechanic but you have similar experiences with your clients. There are minimum requirements for work to be done by every business and this should be communicated explicitly to clients. Clients come in all shapes and sizes with all kinds of temperaments but you have to deal with all of them the same. You save yourself a lot of losses and more importantly your business reputation. It is up to you to communicate your requirements to all your clients clearly and firmly.
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In Kenya, when you talk about a mechanic, the first things that come to mind are unprofessional conduct, dishonesty, poor work quality and unmet deadlines. Granted, there are a number of very professional mechs out there and even I have met them. Let me share a story I was told by a friend this weekend that is the basis of today's article.
Otieno is a mechanic in Nairobi and we will look at two of his clients: James and John. James brings the car to Otieno's garage who goes over the car and gives him a quote for fixing it. James requests a deadline for the work to be finished; Otieno estimates that it will take 2 weeks. James pays the deposit as requested and asks to be notified once the car is ready.