How Much Employee Responsibility

[Mikey P]

The office staff issue will be handled by going to tablets.

You really should check out SM Technician before making the plunge to full sized, easily damaged tablets.

Do you provide smart phones for your crew or do they use their own?

 

[steve_64]

Hourly pay plus bonus for upselling. Upselling includes itemized costs. This includes protector so measurements are a must.

The original job should already be measured by the estimator and given a price for requested service. If this is being done by tech you don't know the cost of service before arrival or scope of work.

O/O can get away with this but expecting employees to be consistent and thorough may be asking to much for the average person.

 

[jkowalski]

Brian, everything in your list is exactly what we targeted for ServiceMonster Technician and super easy to do on a smartphone.

 

[clean image]

My thoughts since I run SM, multi crew and tablets.

In SM, capturing room lost and room detail, (aka service items), ex. Size, sq, furniture moving can be listed in service areas. Not sure if Monique and crew is using this feature. I mention this earlier in this thread

OM enters it from estimates sheets, however techs rarely open it to veiw it. ( and the issue with SM, sometime you don’t know where pertinent info is unless you start clicking away at tabs)

When servicing more complex flooring (stone) the statistics are invaluable.

When servicing large homes, it is important to document what you are servicing and what you are not.

Pictures. We use SM 2. you can take pic. With Apple annodote it, upload into images. Just have to make note to look for it.

I also have all iPads synced to cloud. So job pictures can easily be seen by all.

every job we do, tech fill out post job notes (questionair)

 

[Cleanworks]

Here's a pic of my residential invoice which also gets used as an estimate sheet. If your employee fills it in, you have the information you need.

 

[The Great Oz]

You really should check out SM Technician before making the plunge to full sized, easily damaged tablets.

Too late, the custom software is 60 days away, and by using Microsoft tablets the techs will be able to work as if they were sitting at a desk in the office.
We started this project 3-1/2 years ago, sure wish Joe's solution was ready then.

Tablet durability gets markedly better with a rugged case. When used in mobile applications, Surface tablets have a one-year mobile use failure rate of 3% with a case. That's acceptable.

Do you provide smart phones for your crew or do they use their own?

The phone failure rate was too high when we owned them. We pay techs a monthly stipend for using their own.

 

[Spurlington]

That is not the information I cant get from them. They fill out what they cleaned just fine. They won't enter how many square feet they cleaned for each individual area or what size the sofas are and price per sq ft or linear foot. They just want to enter the price total that's all.

Theyve gotta be writing this info down somewhere .. how else do they come up with a price? Are they guessing what the price is .. is that why you see no measurements?

 

[Monique]

Theyve gotta be writing this info down somewhere .. how else do they come up with a price? Are they guessing what the price is .. is that why you see no measurements?

I dont live in the same town as them and if they wont enter it themselves I ask for photos of their invoices. Neither works well.

 

[Spurlington]

I dont live in the same town as them and if they wont enter it themselves I ask for photos of their invoices. Neither works well.

I bet if you dock em for incompletion you may end up with what youre looking for.

Stop asking .. expect it. If they dont comply .. replace em. Gotta wonder what else they are doing or not doing. Youre out of town .. they may be going to town. Running the show their way .. maybe a little side gig going on.

Something is wrong .. time to make some changes.

 

[Lee Stockwell]

Why do you NEED all these details, and what bad things will happen if you don't get them?

 

[Nomad74]

My assistant is a hermit and she has a real issue with communicating. She goes to anxiety therapy twice a week. It's a real issue for me because I'm big on communication. She tells me I'm too needy, but I see it as I'm the captain of the ship and I need confirmation of follow-up that my messages are being processed. I'll send a text and it takes hours for a response. She would not tell me when new jobs were booked. They would just magically pop up on my schedule and surprise me. So now I've made it super easy for her. I told her to just text me a period "." to let me know a job was booked. I need knowing jobs are coming in for my mental health and overall moral and to keep me me from making verbal plans with other customers or my wife. Texting me a simple "." is still proving to be too much for her.

As far as logging jobs, she likes to write everything down on a note pad then enter the information into the CRM when she gets off the phone. I've found this leads to many typos and misinformation. I like to enter the information while on the phone with the customer and have directed her to do the same. That way she can read the notes I've made on the customer, like if I have back-listed them because they are a pain in the ass. Or, if they have moved since the last appointment.

She can be very difficult. It's hard dealing with a person that only sees black and white and is not flexible and has no sense of business. The only thing constant is change and to be successful you need to have the ability to adapt quickly and move fast. She is very entrenched. I drive her nuts, but in the end I know better. I'm the one responsible for every aspect of my business and I can't afford to fail or tip toe around hurt feelings.

So in answer to your question, You can never have too much information. It also needs to be timely. Data, scheduling, and updates need to be entered ASAP. Running a business is like shooting at a moving target. You never know what info you will need next at your fingertips, so it better all be there.

 

[Mikey P]

My assistant is a hermit and she has a real issue with communicating. She goes to anxiety therapy twice a week. It's a real issue for me because I'm big on communication. She tells me I'm too needy, but I see it as I'm the captain of the ship and I need confirmation of follow-up that my messages are being processed. I'll send a text and it takes hours for a response. She would not tell me when new jobs were booked. They would just magically pop up on my schedule and surprise me. So now I've made it super easy for her. I told her to just text me a period "." to let me know a job was booked. I need knowing jobs are coming in for my mental health and overall moral. Texting me a simple "." is still proving to be too much for her.

As far as logging jobs, she likes to write everything down on a note pad then enter the information into the CRM when she gets off the phone. I've found this leads to many typos and misinformation. I like to enter the information while on the phone with the customer and have directed her to do the same. That way she can read the notes I have made on the customer, like if I have back-listed them because they are a pain in the ass. Or, if they have moved since the last appointment.

She can be very difficult. It's hard dealing with a person that only sees black and white and is not flexible and has no sense of business. The only thing constant is change and to be successful you need to have the ability to adapt quickly and move fast. She is very entrenched. I drive her nuts, but in the end I know better. I'm the one responsible for every aspect of my business and I can't afford to fail or tip toe around hurt feelings.

So in answer to your question, You can never have too much information. It also needs to be timely. Data, scheduling, and updates need to be entered ASAP. Running a business is like shooting at a moving target. You never know what info you will need next at your fingertips, so it better all be there.

you could hire Monique to answer your phones...

 

[Nomad74]

you could hire Monique to answer your phones...

I'm so tempted. I hate to say it. I think my girl would go crazy and delete my website.

 

[Mikey P]

boy, she sounds terrific.

 

[Spurlington]

 

[The Great Oz]

Mikey P said: ↑
How about pre filling out work orders with as much line item info as possible.
That is not the information I cant get from them. They fill out what they cleaned just fine. They won't enter how many square feet they cleaned for each individual area or what size the sofas are and price per sq ft or linear foot. They just want to enter the price total that's all.

If the expectations are clear and they won't do 100% of their job correctly, you need to begin the process of replacing them. Every person that skates through some part of their work influences others, until the prevailing attitude is, "Well, I'm better than that guy" or "I'm so good at cleaning I can do what I want" or even worse, "You can't fire all of us." At that point you've lost control of your business.

If the expectations aren't clear, you need to put them in writing, do some coaching to make sure they understand, make them sign the expectations document. Make a big deal out of omissions, give them a few chances to correct mistakes, but be firm and willing to replace those that think they can ignore you and still keep their job.

Hiring and training may be a headache, but is short-term compared to the constant headache of working with people that need "nagging."

 

[Jim Pemberton]

My assistant is a hermit and she has a real issue with communicating. She goes to anxiety therapy twice a week. It's a real issue for me because I'm big on communication. She tells me I'm too needy, but I see it as I'm the captain of the ship and I need confirmation of follow-up that my messages are being processed. I'll send a text and it takes hours for a response. She would not tell me when new jobs were booked. They would just magically pop up on my schedule and surprise me. So now I've made it super easy for her. I told her to just text me a period "." to let me know a job was booked. I need knowing jobs are coming in for my mental health and overall moral and to keep me me from making verbal plans with other customers or my wife. Texting me a simple "." is still proving to be too much for her.
As far as logging jobs, she likes to write everything down on a note pad then enter the information into the CRM when she gets off the phone. I've found this leads to many typos and misinformation. I like to enter the information while on the phone with the customer and have directed her to do the same. That way she can read the notes I've made on the customer, like if I have back-listed them because they are a pain in the ass. Or, if they have moved since the last appointment.
She can be very difficult. It's hard dealing with a person that only sees black and white and is not flexible and has no sense of business. The only thing constant is change and to be successful you need to have the ability to adapt quickly and move fast. She is very entrenched. I drive her nuts, but in the end I know better. I'm the one responsible for every aspect of my business and I can't afford to fail or tip toe around hurt feelings.
So in answer to your question, You can never have too much information. It also needs to be timely. Data, scheduling, and updates need to be entered ASAP. Running a business is like shooting at a moving target. You never know what info you will need next at your fingertips, so it better all be there.

This isn't an employee, its a dysfunctional relationship....

boy, she sounds terrific.

You need to part ways in the gentlest and most careful way....sort of a "Its not you, its me" conversation.

 

[Monique]

Why do you NEED all these details, and what bad things will happen if you don't get them?

We dont go out and pre check every job before doing it, we simply dont have that time. So if we have cleaned for them before there is no reason they shouldn't be able to call in and get a fairly exact quote for any combination of things they have cleaned before. I get these questions often wanting to know what it will cost to clean their son's room, master bedroom, hall, living room and stairs. If the last time we were there we did all that and more and just grouped together the price instead of itemising each area, then all I can tell her as far as a quote is that it will be less than last time. Our customers dont find that answer helpful.
My question to you is why wouldn't you want this detailed information if you are running an actual company. Even in an o/o scenario if you charge by the sq ft and not the room, why would you want to measure every time or give an estimate every time. Just get the proper very detailed notes and measurements the first time and use those for the future.

 

[Lee Stockwell]

Like you, most of our work is recurring. We used sq ft pricing for many years and transitioned to unit pricing 22 years ago. That seriously simplified and standardized operations since then.

 

[Lee Stockwell]

"Free estimates" are 4 times as free as they were in 1972. I may do an on site estimate a few times a year if there seems to be a red flag or potential problem.

 

[Mikey P]

I think we'd have to be at $100 an area up to 140 square ft...


I dont think that would go over so well

 

[Lee Stockwell]

I think we'd have to be at $100 an area up to 140 square ft...


I dont think that would go over so well

Try it, tweak it.

Jason and I would independently measure empties to see how close we were (early 1990's). We were usually pretty close, but it made us think there was a better way. I had detailed records of several thousand jobs dutifully measured to the .1 sq ft and all entered into the computer. A lot of work.

 

[Nomad74]

Sqft pricing is the great equalizer.

 

[Lee Stockwell]

118 first two areas, 29 each extra. It works well. We don't make price the main issue in any conversation. Pleasantly move on to getting it scheduled.

 

[steve_64]

Imo you need to be consistent. If you don't have the ability to train someone thoroughly and get them to be consistent then your numbers will never be accurate. How people measure rooms can vary greatly believe it or not. Room pricing would be way easier for estimating.

If you're operating aS a business you should have a salesman/estimator I would think.

If you could get one guy trained so he understands what you need he may be able to train others. Maybe go on some ride slongs so you can show them what you need. Show them exactly whAt you want And make them do it in front of you so you can see they get it.
I doubt pay incentives will work. The threat if firing won't help if nobody knows exactly what you want. You will just have to hire more people who won't understand.
There has to be one person who gets it to teach others and right now sounds like that's you.

 

[steve_64]

Sounds like they are doing room pricing anyway right? Make it simple. And if you are to busy to go look at a job then measuring is an inconvenience because it takes a lot more time to measure and add it all up. You need a calculator and pad n paper. Or you can just look at it and go ok 5 rooms $250 get to work. Same as when they call to book.

 

[steve_64]

118 first two areas, 29 each extra. It works well. We don't make price the main issue in any conversation. Pleasantly move on to getting it scheduled.

Round up make it easier. That $0.99 stuff makes more work.

 

[Nomad74]

Sounds like they are doing room pricing anyway right? Make it simple. And if you are to busy to go look at a job then measuring is an inconvenience because it takes a lot more time to measure and add it all up. You need a calculator and pad n paper. Or you can just look at it and go ok 5 rooms $250 get to work. Same as when they call to book.

Yeah. I agree with that. I can see the guys slacking on getting you super detailed measurements for each room. I won’t even do this for myself. I just run around with my laser measuring device and get the total number of sqft.. It would take me a lot of extra time to make a separate line item on the invoice for each room and closet. Then to have to add everything up to get a total, ugh, torture.

It sounds nice, but a tech in the real world sees it as a pain in the ass. Yeah, I get the calls from former customers wanting to know how much to just do the living room. I do my best verbal estimate until I can get to the site and measure. I’ve never lost a job because I didn’t know the exact sqft over the phone.

I do see the OP’s point on wanting this info, but getting a tech to take all the time to do this is another story.

 

[hogjowl]

What’s your favorite prespray?

 

[steve_64]

Yeah. I agree with that. I can see the guys slacking on getting you super detailed measurements for each room. I won’t even do this for myself. I just run around with my laser measuring device and get the total number of sqft.. It would take me a lot of extra time to make a separate line item on the invoice for each room and closet. Then to have to add everything up to get a total, ugh, torture.

It sounds nice, but a tech in the real world sees it as a pain in the ass. Yeah, I get the calls from former customers wanting to know how much to just do the living room. I do my best verbal estimate until I can get to the site and measure. I’ve never lost a job because I didn’t know the exact sqft over th phone.

I do see the OP’s point on wanting this info, but getting a tech to take all the time to do this is another story.

Especially multiple techs. An estmator or room pricing would be the easiest fastest solution I can think of but I don't have the experience others here have.