100% agree.

While I disagreed with him on just about everything else, one thing I took from a former employer is the concept of "professional distance".

These people are NOT your friends, they do not love you.
They want their project done as cheaply and quickly as possible. Then they want you gone.
The reason they made you lunch, gave you something to drink, etc is either it makes your lunch break shorter or they are buttering you up for a "small favor" at some point during the job.
Most of our clients are very wealthy, successful people. Most of them got that way (in some way) by making people do what they wanted, when they wanted, for the smallest amount of money possible.
The two schools of thought to get that are by being manipulative (ie making somebody think they are their new best friend) or by force, fear or discomfort (we have all had those clients who scream about everything).

Also, I have noticed that clients can smell lack of orginization and will exploit that to their fullest advantage. If I had a nickel for every time I have heard "But the salesguy told me you would do XYZ as part of the job" it is because they can tell you are disorganized as a company.
Or they are trying to take advantage of the disconnect that exists in most businesses betweeen the person who sells the job and the people who do the work.

While I sit here from month to month, struggling to make ends meet, I will be dammed if I am going to have one of my "buddies" who makes more in a week then I do in a year get me to come "do them a favor, off the clock". Also, I never want to be obligated to do so because they fed me lunch one day, offered me use of their box seats at a baseball game or to lend me their beach house for the weekend. Ain't happening.

Get in, do your job, look and act professional, inconvenience the customer as little as possible, do not engage in chit chat, keep your nose and hands out of the client's business, clean up and get out.

I agree with you 100%

Had a tech for a very short time working with us
on sat and custom a/v installs, I got word from the
other guys how he was talking to clients like there
best buds, so I went over to help clean up, and heard
this guy, very un-pro. Told him I would call him if I need
him again, guy did more talking than work.

Chris Stevens of the old Audio Access said the same thing... Keep a professional difference. Befriending the client can be tricky. I generally turn down lunches dinners drinks etc. politely -- I'm not there to make friends and when I was an installer I always wanted to get the hell out of there and restore their privacy as QUICKLY as possible.

Funny deal is, I ran into one of my old clients at dinner a few weeks ago. He asked me what I was doing on Sunday... I said no plans--- well, this guy suckered me into stopping by his house to help him lift his new TV into the alcove over his fireplace (me, thinking it'd be a ten minute deal).

His wife starts offering me food, drinks etc. which I didn't accept, and I ended up spending the whole damn afternoon going through all the set-ups for his AVR, Smart TV, Apple TV ect. etc. --- for free of course! My bad!

Was this the same client that you thought you were going to get paid and ended up not getting anything for your troubles?

Lol....thats what i was thinking

Since we're sharing hair-brained schemes.  I have a theory as well.  Here it is.  

Clients tip you when they feel sorry for you. 

Here's my theory.  (and this has been proven time and time again).  

If a technician is getting substantial tips (more than $20) on over 50% of his installs.  He needs training.

What's happening in the clients house?  They're watching him struggle for 8 hours.  At a point, their sympathy starts to kick in.  End of the day, they throw the dog a bone.  

I've had more rookie technicians bring home massive tips, than technicians who can run circles around them.  

Reason?  A good/great technician makes it look easy nearly everyday.  In a clients eyes, he doesn't deserve a tip.  

It's funny, and I know it sounds crazy.  But it's true. 


Whenever a tech comes back to the office with a big tip, I'll ask...

Why did they feel sorry for you?  What happened?  Was the job harder than you'd thought?  Nearly 100% of the time, the answer is yes.

Moral of the story?  If you want to make an extra $10,000 a year.  Act like tomorrow is your second day on the job.  :)

Interesting theory. I won't say I disagree, but I will say I think it depends on the client. Some are just generous. I've gotten my fair share of decent tips in the past when I worked for another company. The jobs weren't all that difficult and we had the jobs wrapped up in timely manners. They just appreciated our attention to detail and gave us some money.

I always tip repair men when they come, even the (gulp) cable guy. I tipped a gas guy $20 for coming to turn on the pilot in a apartment I had and the man acted like he's never gotten a tip before. Maybe I'm crazy but from being on the opposite side and being in clients homes, I know how nice it feels to get a little something extra and how that little act can make your day just a little bit better.

You're absolutley right.  I do the same. I always try to give a tip.  That's probably because we're in the same boat when we're at work. 

I'm not saying that good techs don't get tips.  But rookies get tips at an alarmingly higher rate.

I tip quite often too. In my case, it is my east coast upbringing (you tip just about everybody) that spurs me to do this.

Interesting theory about tips, techs and competence level, I cannot help but agree with that theory. One of our guys who is very quick, a very talented retro guy but is a little bit too brave and not very tidy seems to get large tips quite often.

While I do get tipped occasionally, it is mostly for making myself available at odd hours and being able to get things done/solve problems quickly. Had one client (Jewish) toss me several hundred bucks for coming by his house on Christmas eve to reset a cable box. Only reason I state his religion is that that day is no big deal to him but he understood that it was to me. It was very nice, very unexpected and very generous.
Also saved my butt as it was slow around the holidays that year, I had some unplanned expenses and I was strapped for cash.

Getting tips is always awkward for me. I usually say thanks and shove it in my pocket. It happens less frequently now that our projects are larger. The in and out projects always ended with a tip and and a thank you. Now that we are there for weeks i think the idea of tipping gets lost somewhere. The last tip i got was in 2008 when a client took me to the apple store and got me a new iPhone. Scratch that...i just remembered the same client got me 2 $50 iTunes cards when i was there a few years later.

The biggest tip i ever got was when i had a client call about his dead "Phast PC" on christmas eve. I had him pick up a computer from best buy in his way home from work and i rushed over there and install software and his file that night. This was a client who bought one of our other clients homes so he and I had just met. We made some changes because the previous client took all his TVs with him leaving behind 5 Pronto TS-1000's.

I asked the client what i should do with the prontos and he said "take them with if you want them" and then handed me $300 for coming over so late.

A few years later my boss drove out during a snow storm to reset a cable box and he tipped us with blueprints for a 7 figure project. I was out of town or i could have bragged about the 7 figure tip for the rest of my life :).

We have a little different take on this. We show them the standard "on, off, volume +/-, source select, pause, play" stuff. But we hide the advanced features "aspect, sound field, DVR, timer, etc" for another visit. We'll schedule a followup for 60 days out (unless they seem "gifted" in the art of technology - then we'll make it even sooner).

That gives them a chance to use the basics for a while. Then at the followup, we'll add those other features. You give them too much info right out of the gate and they'll stop using the system. A successful project is one where the client uses the system(s) on a regular basis with confidence. Other wise YOU (speaking to myself) failed.

You don't allow your clients to access their DVR functions for 60 days after install completion?!?! You're a sadist! That's the whole reason people have cable/sat these days. I know of zero clients that watch real time tv as a primary viewing mode and they ALL require a DVR.