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It also ignores easily available solutions that could have been deployed prior to AI For example, even if it shows a boost of $100,000 per month in revenue. It
by conductr 7mo ago
It also ignores easily available solutions that could have been deployed prior to AI
For example, even if it shows a boost of $100,000 per month in revenue. It could likely have been achieved with a shared virtual assistant / receptionist for about $200-1000 per month (depending on exactly call volumes).
So really, the revenue was already lost and going forward you’re just deciding to capture it. You've created a more complicated mouse trap than what was already available to you. The difference is saving a couple hundred dollars of labor less whatever your AI/tech costs are. I’d still go the human route because it’s more future proof and if this is a luxury service, human service is always going to feel more luxurious.
- PunchyHamster 7mo agoGiven the article states > He’s under the hood all day. The phone rings, he can’t answer, the customer hangs up and calls someone else the mechanic is already very busy in the first place so unless he plans on expanding shop the whole thing is a waste of time
- codegeek 7mo agoThis is such an important point. My plumber that we always call is extremely busy and usually doesn't have availability for at least a week. He is a one man shop and prefers it that way. You call his phone, leave a voicemail and he calls you back whenever he is able to. I asked him if he wants to get more business by automating his incoming calls and he said "not really, I am already very busy and have enough business. I don't need these tools". So we cannot always assume that the business owner (especially the solo mom and pops) wants more business. Good ones are already very busy.
- chucksmash 7mo agoThat's wild. Plumbing especially seems like a field where if you need a plumber you need them right now, not a week from now. I guess as a plumber having enough of the type of jobs that can wait a week that you can turn away the urgent calls might be one of those feature-not-a-bug type situations.
- tayo42 7mo agoThere's emergency plumber companies out there you could call
- tren_hard 7mo agoYou can break it down by, new construction, planned renovations/improvements, and emergency repairs. Not everyone works all three or wants to do more than one of these groups. There’s different levels of demand, pay, competition at each.
- aziaziazi 7mo ago> you need them right now You can shut the entire network off, shower/poop at neighbours places or work, laundry at the local self-laundry shop and brush you teeth with a bootle of water. Inconvenient sure, but it would as much problematic to be denied electricity for a long time: lights off, fridge off, no heating, boiler off… there’s alternatives but the usual way for us is to share a long electric cord by an open window… so obligatory work-and-stay-at-home if you’re lucky to have an appropriate activity.
- b112 7mo agoEmerg. solution. Get a 5 gallon bucket with lid. Put garbage bag inside. Put toilet seat from broken toilet on it. Use it, remove refuse if needed, put lid on.
- aziaziazi 7mo agoI love it! My main (and only) device is a dry toilet so a plastic bag shortage would be a bigger problem. I guess we’ll emerge with origami. https://www.kildwick.com/en/fancyloo-divert https://www.kildwick.com/en/fancyloo-divert
- jermaustin1 7mo agoNow that is an expensive poop bucket! I love the design of it though, I'd never even though about diverting flow toilets, but this design is so simple and elegant.
- ryandrake 7mo agoThis seems to be true with every trade shop in my area. HVAC, plumbing, electrical, landscaping, appliance repair, and so on: Nobody picks up the phone, and when you do get someone, they don't seem to be very interested in your job unless it sounds like big money to them. Everyone already apparently has as much work as they want, and if you're a small fish you're out of luck.
- encom 7mo agoElectrician here. I had zero unemployment time between my current job and the last. Sent ~5 applications, had two interviews. Current employer called me in the afternoon offering me a job, after interviewing the same morning. Y'all are in the wrong business :D
- shimman 7mo agoMedian electrician in the USA makes ~$60k: https://www.bls.gov/ooh/construction-and-extraction/electricians.htm https://www.bls.gov/ooh/construction-and-extraction/electric... Median software devs make over double that, ~$130k: https://www.bls.gov/ooh/computer-and-information-technology/software-developers.htm https://www.bls.gov/ooh/computer-and-information-technology/... The only way to make good money in the trades is to own a business, something not everyone can do (let alone be successful at).
- ryandrake 7mo agoYea.. When people say "you can make great money in the trades" what they usually mean is that you can make great money by owning a trade business and/or hiring tradesmen. Which is kind of different than being a tradesman.
- 6510 7mo agoTrue but electricians have a real system without bullshit, we wire something up and it just works, it keeps working too! You press the button, the light goes on, you press it again and it goes off! Except from audio all of the automatons come with the right plugs. You would think after 50 years software devs build something similar but besides the <input type="submit"> button absolutely nothing works like that. Switching on the lights by clicking on a button using the mouse would already be a serious enterprise level undertaking. Then when you think you are done someone in Russia and someone in China are also able to control your lights. There are no labels on our buttons, the dimensions are in exact mm. If you ask a software dev they will tell you mm have something to do with printing. On a screen a button can have any size, no one knows really how big it turns out regardless which of the 50 different units you use. pt rm rem px % vw etc etc Sounds pretty unscientific? Can you at least tell me when it is finished and how much it will cost? Did I say something wrong? Long story short, 130k isn't enough.
- clawfund 7mo ago[flagged]
- karmakaze 7mo agoI tried getting some work quotes not long ago and was surprised by how many local shops still don't have: (1) website that takes info and emails/calls back, (2) voicemail, or (3) having one or both of those and didn't call back all week. I suspected they had all the business they can handle. I did get a call back later in the week from one that said as much.
- mystifyingpoi 7mo agoWhy would a car repair shop need a website for? All I care about is the phone number, with the hope that someone will pick it up. IDK about the world, but in Poland every single mechanic I know has no downtime at all. The better ones have queues measured in weeks or months for simple repairs. They don't care about extra business, the business will find them anyway.
- willwashburn 7mo agoWhy don't the mechanics increase their price?
- conductr 7mo agoThat generates more supply (mechanics) not less demand (volume of broken cars). Sometimes having excess demand is ideal to keep the market balanced in your favor.
- willwashburn 7mo agoIncreasing price would just move up the demand curve (less people willing to spend the increased amount on fixing their broken car) and the mechanic would earn more. ofc overtime it's likely more mechanics enter the market to compete, but that wouldn't be instant. and when it does happen the table stakes would be that everyone's phone call get's answered idk I feel like i'm missing something basic here
- ozim 7mo agoThey do. I paid quite a lot for hauling and fixing alternator. Same with basic house maintenance prices are through the roof.
- willwashburn 7mo agoCould he not just increase the price until the number of calls matches the time he has? I know it's not that simple, but my gut says theres value to at least hearing out the people taking action to call you. Especially if that's automated and low cost to you.
- conductr 7mo agoI think that’s wrong for a couple reasons. I think author doesn’t fully understand the problem or doesn’t explain it well leading to this assumption. He wouldn’t care to get these extra jobs if he’s full, so why do this to begin with. He could however hire another mechanic if he books more jobs and grow his business to one of shop owner instead of mechanic (no idea if this is his motivation or not). It’s likely he’s not actually under the hood all day but If phone rings twice a day and it just happens to be he’s under the hood at those times, he misses the call and it’s like he’s under the hood all day. It doesn’t mean he has no capacity, it just means he’s missing some calls throughout the day.