What is the most important factor to being a great plumber?

I quite often get asked by customers who have young nephews or a son what do you need to be a plumber?  There are the obvious answers such as: willing to get your hands dirty, work with sewerage and be prepared to do a 4-year apprenticeship.  BUT what I have found throughout my life as a plumber which has served me well is a huge amount of patience!

There are many fiddly little tasks that you can be asked to attempt when you come to someone’s home to fix a plumbing problem.  Tasks like replacing a kitchen mixer tap to an existing sink, you have to get on your back and reach up into the back of the old mixer taps fixing point, in most cases the nut will be corroded and you will endless amounts of in the most awkward positions trying to get the old tap out.

Other things such as fault finding hot water systems, unblocking really stubborn drains, finding gas leaks and chasing roof leaks.  I’m sure other plumbers could create a list much longer than the one I have just talked about but regardless patience is a key point.

I can remember doing my apprenticeship and seeing other tradesman frequently losing their temper and throwing things and of course saying an obscene amount of swear words in the process, this is not the type of behavior you want to display to your customers in their home.

I would like to hear from you about your key skills which you believe are needed to be a good plumber??