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Debate: do you let customers watch you work or kick em to the waiting room?
Had a guy last Tuesday at my shop in Akron who insisted on standing right behind me the whole time I was sanding down his quarter panel. Kept asking questions every 30 seconds like I was doing a tutorial. Finished the job fine but it drove me nuts. Other side of it is I got a repeat customer once who said watching me fix his old F-150 made him trust me more. He ended up tipping me $100. So which side you on? Let them hover or send them away?
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jana_scott7d ago
Oh man, I am the LAST person who should have an audience. I once dropped a wrench on my own foot while a customer was watching and tried to play it off like I meant to do it. My students at school give me enough side-eye when I mess up, I don't need grown adults doing it too. Plus I talk to myself CONSTANTLY when I'm working on something, and having someone right there makes me want to narrate every move like a bad cooking show. So yeah, I'd probably kick em to the waiting room with a coffee and a magazine.
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robinson.hannah7d ago
Right? The whole narration thing hits close to home. I tried to explain to my wife once that I have to talk through a wiring diagram out loud or I'll lose my place, and she just stared at me like I was speaking gibberish. Do you ever catch yourself doing the running commentary when nobody's even around?
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