Working as an electrical contractor for over 20 years I have gained a great variety of knowledge and experience in the electrical field. When you're selecting your next electrician or electrical contractor to work with, I'd like to share a few of these tips to help you make your decision. So let's get going. One of the first topics I talked about in the previous paragraph was online reviews. As I hire electricians frequently, I've learned some tips on how to locate an electrician who has the credentials I'm searching for. In the past, it was extremely frustrating when electricians would walk to my office and tell me all I wanted to hear, only to find out that they were completely deceiving me. I considered it, and I realized quickly that the best way to know about an individual's character is to ask a friend or acquaintance. If you're a person with bad character it will likely be difficult to find someone with favorable remarks about you. The same holds true for electricians as well as businesses like electrical contracting firms. Online reviews are a great way to hear what your neighbors are saying about the electricians they're doing business with. I've personally had clients that weren't exactly happy due to us showing up early or because the electrician committed an error. But these clients rarely go online and post a bad review. The reason I am saying this is that when someone leaves posted a negative review on the internet, the reason is that they did something that upset their customer. These are the kinds of people you need to stay clear of.

Phone calls or by email. How does the electrician or electrician you're thinking of hiring sound on the phone? Does their voice sound professional? Are they knowledgeable about the job as well as the items you are requesting? Do they seem as if they've done this 100 times, and had this conversation thousand times? Do they insist that they come out a look at the project first before giving you an estimate of how the cost will be? If no to the question you asked them first, as well as yes for the other, they're probably someone you would rather pass over. People who are irritated by simple questions and are rude to their customers are probably most likely to be people you really don't wish to do business with. First impressions matter a lot. If someone says"hello" instead of "hello," do it the right way and let him assist you. You know this may be an employee working out of the back of a pickup truck. It's even more annoying if someone answers to the phone and asks for information. It's best to hang up. There is no reason to conduct business with someone who cannot even answer their phone with professionalism. If they can't be professional when they answer the phone, it is highly unlikely that they will be able to do the job correctly. I've contacted electricians who have uploaded resumes to my site and they are able to answer the phone but there is some bizarre music playing when the phone rings. While I'm not saying I'll rule them out because of this, it's fascinating to me that once they discover it's the person they called and left a message asking for a job, their manner of speaking changes. This tells me they are written to people in the event that they would like to hear from them. Electric Vehicle Charger

Do they have an extensive budget for advertising? My skin is tingling when I ask this question. I have seen many customers of mine receive estimates of $3000.00 and $4000.00 for jobs. They come to me and inform me that the company is more quoting without telling me the dollar amount that they gave. I am familiar with the big franchise companies with enormous advertising budgets that operate in my area. So , when they tell me the name, I'm already familiar with some rough estimate of what they've been given. We generally do the tasks the franchise firms quote for 50% of what they quote as a general guideline. The reason behind this is advertising is extremely expensive. Advertising on television or radio stations can cost you thousands of dollars a month. Literally. No kidding. Yes, it's that much. Marketers and advertisers are aware the value of what they are offering is far from what they charge. They have zero or little incentive to stay in business, even though they might claim otherwise. However, if you sign a 1-year contract for radio or television station advertising or even a one month contract and it doesn't work for you they will not return a single dime. If you sign up to the Yellow Pages and decide to pay $6000.00 per month for a full-page ad and your phone doesn't sound in a sufficient way to cover this they again do not care and will not refund one cent of your cash. They'll then seek legal action and pursue you for the amount they agreed to pay. If you fail to stay in business , there are thousands of companies that fail every day in the United States. As well there are many people setting up new ventures. Marketers and advertisers shift onto the next one and the cycle continues. Advertising is a fact that the effectiveness is entirely dependent on the business you run as well as the kind of market and style of advertising that you are employing. If you're a large soda pop bottling company , and you're selling sugary water, your profit margin will be extremely impressive. You can afford a plaster your company's name everywhere. Small brick-and-mortar businesses have a only a tiny margin of profit. If they're pouring hundreds of thousands into advertising , you must believe that their customers are paying for it.

Are they licensed to conduct commercial activities in the states and city they're working in. This may sound like an absurd question. After all , who goes through the city where they're not licensed? Perhaps even doing work across the state without a license. We live in a time of economic uncertainty. People are forced to take on tasks that they would not normally do. Many people are able to justify their work without any license as a method to feed their families. It's true that I identify with this. But you, as a consumer are not looking for a desperate person just trying to make a quick money with no licence and no insurance your house doing electrical work. This can lead to catastrophe. Electrical fatalities are much higher for infants and children. Their small bodies cannot handle the shock force generated by electric currents and, often, this leads to deaths. Think first and act later when you are deciding on an electrical contractor for your business or home. The liability and the pain in your heart could be yours in the long run when you attempt to save money in the short term.

That subject leads me to the fifth area. General liability insurance and workers ' compensation insurance. How it works for a business that hires me as an electrical contractor for subcontractors for them is this. They call me up and inform me that they need a certificate that covers general liability as well as workers' compensation insurance. I then contacted my insurance agent , and he issues the certificate that has their name on it. It names them as the insured. In the event of anything goes wrong at work or should one of my employees is injured , the customer has evidence that they are not liable. It is possible to request the certificate as a private homeowner or individual. Electrician

This brings us to the seventh subject: Are they the lowest bidder? If so, you might be thinking... How did they come up with such cost-effective prices? The reason could be that they didn't want to purchase workers compensation insurance or general liability insurance. It's also possible that they're following substandard work practices, not pulling permit for electrical work, or using poor material. I view this in like a look at purchasing plane tickets. Most people aren't willing to pay for the extra cost of flying. They don't want to spend to carry an extra bag. They don't want to purchase any snacks or beverages served on the plane. They search online for the absolute most affordable price. This applies pressure to the airlines to make a profit. If you're under pressure to earn a profit, you'll begin cutting back on expenses for business. One of the biggest expenses for airline is airplane maintenance. I , for one, am not a fan of flying on a plane when the airline is under financial pressure and stress. If you conduct any investigation on plane accidents, you'll find that often the culprit is faulty maintenance and applying the wrong screw and using non-factory parts. Similar is the case when you're looking to hire an electrician or electrical contractor. If they're the lowest bidder , the money you save has to be paid from somewhere. A good idea to think about.