Helpers

[Bob Savage]

How many times is your helper not helping enough?

For Example:

You and your helper are in a room and 1 person is moving the wand, and the other is moving, blocking/tabbing the furniture. What if that helper was in another part of the job doing the same thing you are doing? That is our setup and has been for 30 years.

We have no problems with hose management. We worked that one out years ago. We don't need a huge truckmount either, just this one. This truckmount is now almost 40 years old, and our other TM is electric with 2 separate recovery tanks, 2 separate vacuum systems, and a 320,000 BTU propane heater.

 

[Dolly Llama]

seems more of a PITA for the average 2-3 rm 'n hall res job.
would seem most beneficial if doing uph too
(but we just hauled a porty for that)

..L.T.A.

 

[Mr Brightside]

I believe its better to teach guys how to run their own van. I believe it's more productive and with all the toys glides, better chemistry, and a good truckmount two guys isn't needed. I would be interested to see how smooth you guys work together though I definitely could learn from that!

 

[sassyotto]

two people cannot clean (using one TM with one tool) in half the time as one person. In addition, two tools off the same TM do not have the same vacuum as one.

Therefore, one person crew.

And if you take into consideration drive time, the extra expense for the second person is more dramatic.

 

[Mikey P]

What's a helper?

 

[Cleanworks]

What's a helper?

Someone who stands around and gets in the way.

 

[Bob Savage]

two people cannot clean (using one TM with one tool) in half the time as one person. In addition, two tools off the same TM do not have the same vacuum as one.

Therefore, one person crew.

And if you take into consideration drive time, the extra expense for the second person is more dramatic.

We clean with one truckmount and 2 separate glided wands - one wand is a 2" ID Titanium wand, and the other wand is a 1.5" stainless steel wand. Each wand has a #6 flow jet arrangement for a total of #12 flow for both wands. The 2 wands running at the same time have pretty much equal vacuum at the end of each wand for a total of 300' of 2" vacuum hose out. There are 2 runs of 1/4" steam line out, one going to each wand. We also clean carpet and upholstery at the same time, and carpet and tile at the same time! Heat is supplied by a 280,000 BTU LP auto fire heater.

We are able to handle some really big jobs in almost half the time a single wand TM can do. We also get done much quicker going through the job than a single wand unit can! So in the time that it takes us to do a job, we are making almost double per hour what a single wand machine can do, with no sacrifice to job quality.

 

[Bob Savage]

seems more of a PITA for the average 2-3 rm 'n hall res job.
would seem most beneficial if doing uph too
(but we just hauled a porty for that)

..L.T.A.

We carry 2 Kleenrite upholstery tools, 3 wands, a tile spinner, a 100 gallon freshwater tank, a water softener, and repair tools for carpet. We use a Ford E-250 van.

 

[Brian H]

two people cannot clean (using one TM with one tool) in half the time as one person. In addition, two tools off the same TM do not have the same vacuum as one.

Therefore, one person crew.

And if you take into consideration drive time, the extra expense for the second person is more dramatic.

And when that one person crew calls in sick, who is taking the route out?

In my experience a 2 person crew can produce about 50% more work than a one man crew. That one truck now has a 50% improvement in the amount of work it produces. And that additional revenue comes without an extra vehicle expense.

We pay your people commission and the payout is the same for a solo crew vs a 2 man crew (25% total on carpet cleaning) 25% for solo vs 15% and 10% for a 2 man crew. We have also had situations where we have 2 crew leaders work together and they each get 12.5%.

It works well for us and the assistant is a leader in training almost from day 1.

 

[Dolly Llama]

two people cannot clean (using one TM with one tool) in half the time as one person.

Therefore, one person crew.

And if you take into consideration drive time, the extra expense for the second person is more dramatic.

sorta-kinda
Covering hard surfaces, vac, pre-scrub, move, block and tab furniture, spotting and the ever important smoozing with minty fresh breff.

Do all of the above, and an efficient coordinated two-man crew will increase production astronomically.
If just you do half of the above, it increases exponentially.
also helps with fatigue on busy hot days, which is conducive to keeping quality up.

..L.T.A.

 

[Mikey P]

When demand get to the point of four plus jobs a day, 5 or 6 days a week you have two choices, hire a helper or raise your prices enough to scare off 30% of the client base, today's reality.

You could lower the price 30% and get even more work but good f'n luck finding a tech to take on that 2nd truck.

I bet Bryan and Brian haven't hired anyone worth a shit in over a year

 

[Dolly Llama]

When demand get to the point of four plus jobs a day, 5 or 6 days a week you have two choices, hire a helper or raise your prices enough to scare off 30% of the client base, today's reality.

I think most established O/Ops would love to have a second hand.
Problem comes keeping them busy in the slow season.

..L.T.A.

 

[roro]

Problem comes keeping them busy in the slow season.

..L.T.A.

And that's why we continue to focus on commercial work rather than domestic, and in doing depot work such as rugs and curtains which aren't seasonal.

 

[sassyotto]

as I have always said, call 50 cleaners and you will get 50 different prices and 50 different levels of service. It extends to 50 different ways to look at running a business.

Nothing wrong with that tho.

xcept everyone thinks all cleaners are the same.

 

[Kenny Hayes]

The same goes for jani helpers or team cleaning which we use. Faster and more efficient, and thorough.

 

[Lee Stockwell]

I pay even in the "slow" season.

 

[Nomad74]

I think the straw that broke the camel's back was when I told my helper to leave his cell phone in the van. We were doing a large tile job. He was lost without it.

 

[Nate The Great]

I think the straw that broke the camel's back was when I told my helper to leave his cell phone in the van. We were doing a large tile job. He was lost without it.

It's a give and take.. In this day and age, you'll be hard pressed to find someone who doesn't want to keep their phone on them..

I allow listening to music/podcast while working, but at least leave 1 ear open to hearing and being aware of their surroundings.. As for having to always check the phone, I agree I can't stand it.. Unless I'm paying you to post tiky-toky, IG, FB your company, best to just listen to music and be focused on the task at hand.. The younger they are, the more prone to having the FOMO..

 

[Hack Attack]

I think the straw that broke the camel's back was when I told my helper to leave his cell phone in the van. We were doing a large tile job. He was lost without it.

when managing large crews, my guys & girls were told cells unless an emergency were like cigarettes.. on their breaks only

 

[Brian H]

I bet Bryan and Brian haven't hired anyone worth a shit in over a year

I would take that bet a few times over, though the pickings are pretty slim!

 

[The Great Oz]

I bet Bryan and Brian haven't hired anyone worth a shit in over a year

I've been impressed with our newest guys, good attitudes and don't mind working. Choose your reason, but the fact is the labor pool is much smaller than it used to be so it's more work to fill a position.

Around here the going rate for a "delivery driver" that tosses a package from a van is $20-24 an hour, and they pick their own schedule. Use that job's income in your area as a base line and see what you'd have to offer to get someone willing to do more.

 

[D Luke]

How many times is your helper not helping enough?

It doesn't bother me one bit. In fact, I tell people that help not to worry if it feels like you're standing around a lot.

As long as they keep hoses pulled and organized, work ahead getting stuff picked up and ready to go, deal with blocking and padding and handle a lot of the set-up and pack up, it is more than worth the wage expense.

 

[Mikey P]

I stand corrected.

Shocked but corrected.



(poor glideless bastards that they are)

 

[Kenny Hayes]

Th

It doesn't bother me one bit. In fact, I tell people that help not to worry if it feels like you're standing around a lot.

As long as they keep hoses pulled and organized, work ahead getting stuff picked up and ready to go, deal with blocking and padding and handle a lot of the set-up and pack up, it is more than worth the wage expense.

There you go, that’s the ticket!!