kaih36•29d agoProlific Poster

I hit 1,000 service calls without a callback and it felt weird

I hit exactly 1,000 service calls last week without any callback for a mistake on my end. I keep a little notebook where I track every job and note if I had to go back for anything I missed. When I counted up and saw 1,000 straight, I actually had to double check because it didn't seem right. I mean, I've been doing this for about 7 years now and I definitely had my share of screw ups early on. Most of my calls are just routine maintenance on Otis elevators in office buildings downtown, so it's not like I'm doing crazy complex work. But still, 1,000 feels like a good milestone even if nobody else cares. Has anyone else kept track of their numbers like this or am I just weird about it?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_joseph29d ago

Man, that is awesome! I totally get it because I do the same thing with my own tracking. I keep a little spiral notebook in my truck for my HVAC calls, and I hit 750 without a callback last month. It felt crazy when I looked back at the numbers because I remember early on I had a run of bad days where I forgot to tighten a drain line or miswired a thermostat. That milestone made me stop and think, hey, I actually learned something over the years. So no, you are not weird at all. It is nice to have a number that proves you are getting better at what you do.

murphy.abby29d ago

Wait, are we really supposed to be celebrating 750 callbacks with zero failures? lol I mean, I get being proud of hitting a number, but isn't that just proof you're not taking any risks or pushing yourself to handle the really messy jobs? Like, if you're HVAC and you've never had a callback because you misdiagnosed something or took a chance on a tricky system, maybe you're just sticking to the easy stuff. I'd rather have a guy with a 5% callback rate who takes on the nightmare units nobody else will touch than someone with a perfect record who only works on routine maintenance. Sounds more like you're bragging about being safe instead of being good, honestly.

the_sam28d ago

@murphy.abby I get where you're coming from but I think it's more about personal pride than playing it safe. My buddy in electrical had a 0% callback streak going for years until he took a chance on an old panel and it bit him, but nobody held it against him. Speaking of old panels, I had one last month where the owner swore the wiring was updated but I found cloth insulation behind the drywall, different kind of callback waiting to happen.