How Much Employee Responsibility

[Nomad74]

What’s your favorite prespray?

Marty Scrub

 

[Nomad74]

@Monique , don’t get me wrong, if your company demands this info, then the field personel should be doing it. End of story.

 

[steve_64]

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

I'm a hack in poor section of the country and I get $100 a room at times. It's also my minimum now so it happens even more now.

 

[steve_64]

@Monique , don’t get me wrong, if your company demands this info, then the field personel should be doing it. End of story.

But they need time to do it and training. Just demanding it doesn't work.

 

[Nomad74]

@hogjowl , you see what I deal with on my FB timeline? That is my assistant. She is a super liberal. Totally out there.

 

[hogjowl]

If I’d played my “in the kitchen” hole card, she would have exploded

 

[Nomad74]

If I’d played my “in the kitchen” hole card, she would have exploded

Oh lordy, Thank you so much for not throwing that down. The hellfire I would have to deal with would have been biblical.

 

[Monique]

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.

I have seen job requirements in quite a few fields and carpet cleaning is the only one I've seen that lets the issue of details taking time overrule the importance of getting them. I dont think most carpet cleaners could cut it and even most fast food joints since they would have to use an actual timecard or follow strict procedure. But carpet cleaners still want to be paid doctors wages. As managers it is a real head scratching headache.

 

[Russ T.]

I started carrying an iPad into every residential almost 5 years ago, when we started with Service Monster. In the beginning I attempted to itemize each area, anticipating that the information may come in handy down the road when they call to schedule again.

It didn't work for long. The mobile experience in SM forced me to lump things together in the interest of time. I want to be sensitive to my customers and not take forever talking to them and entering each area with square footage. I'm alone a lot of the time and don't have a lot of extra time to waste.

I understand things may be finally changing with Technician. I haven't played with it yet but am hopeful they have turned their attention to this extremely important part of their software in the field.

My wife will normally break it up into different services from the time of scheduling. That does save me time. We have a pretty generic "Carpet steam cleaning and deodorizer" item that she usually puts on the first line. I just fill out the details of what rooms and how much total square footage.

Stairs are another item that is often already on the work order when I get to the job. I just count them and put it in the amount line.

Maxim FiberGuard is another line item where I just lump together the square footage.

We've made it so I can get the measuring and entering in of TOTAL square footage into SM within 5-10 minutes.

It really hasn't been a huge deal for us to not have every room or area itemized on the invoice.

 

[Mikey P]

Monique have the guys been using Technician properly?

 

[Monique]

Monique have the guys been using Technician properly?

Some are trying, but when they complete the work order it doesnt turn to invoice or show paid even after they have entered it. So I go back and correct each one. But they dont put in as much detail as I like. It was hard enough to get the information from them when I was asking them to send it directly to me to hold them accountable. Now they enter it how they like or how it makes most sense to them, and unless I go back and ask 20 questions about each job to see what they remember I get what I get. But our biggest problem is no one on site policing the crew. With Mike and I in other areas and Davis not interested in a leadership role I feel our hands our tied.

 

[Lee Stockwell]

"The bottle neck is at the top."

 

[Cleanworks]

Maybe instead of having them itemize all the rooms and measurements and totals, it would be enough to list total the total sqft. And which rooms were cleaned. That way, when you do a return call and you're not cleaning all the rooms that you did last time, you have the techs measure the rooms not being done and subtract them from the total sqft. Example: first call, cleaned LR,dr,hall,stairs,MBR,2-sm brs. total 1500 sqft. 2nd call, cleaned LR,dr,hall,stairs,MBR. Total 1200 sqft.

 

[Lee Stockwell]

1st time 7 areas 263
2nd time 6 areas 234

 

[Monique]

Maybe instead of having them itemize all the rooms and measurements and totals, it would be enough to list total the total sqft. And which rooms were cleaned. That way, when you do a return call and you're not cleaning all the rooms that you did last time, you have the techs measure the rooms not being done and subtract them from the total sqft. Example: first call, cleaned LR,dr,hall,stairs,MBR,2-sm brs. total 1500 sqft. 2nd call, cleaned LR,dr,hall,stairs,MBR. Total 1200 sqft.

That's more math they won't do. As well as that doesn't give me an answer for the customer when they call in other than the same "well it will be less or more than last time"

 

[Russ T.]

Maybe instead of having them itemize all the rooms and measurements and totals, it would be enough to list total the total sqft. And which rooms were cleaned. That way, when you do a return call and you're not cleaning all the rooms that you did last time, you have the techs measure the rooms not being done and subtract them from the total sqft. Example: first call, cleaned LR,dr,hall,stairs,MBR,2-sm brs. total 1500 sqft. 2nd call, cleaned LR,dr,hall,stairs,MBR. Total 1200 sqft.

That’s exactly the way we do it. It’s not perfect but it was the best I could come up with to be efficient in the home while using SM Mobile on a tablet.

 

[Russ T.]

Also, there have only been a few times that I really wished I had the itemized list. It hasn’t been the big deal that I imagined it would become.

It really does save some time and extra math. It also keeps the customer from going back after you and finding the one room that you over charged on by 5 ft.²

 

[Cleanworks]

That's when you tell them, "oh right, I forgot to charge you for the closets".

 

[Spurlington]

Be nice to have a database with all room sizes of all homes in your area .. get a call .. enter the address .. then a blueprint of the house shows up.

 

[steve_64]

I've yet to see how any of this helps you make more money. You put in twice as much time to save someone a few seconds on the phone "IF" they ever call again.

 

[The Great Oz]

Every tech would prefer to do a job that had accurate previous notes attached. A tech complaining that it takes too much time to take measurements? BS. They don't take notes because they're lazy, and because you let them get away with it using that cheap excuse. That's like guys saying they don't mention stain protectant because it takes too much time to apply.

A laser tape that does area calculations runs between $25 and $65 and can help even the most inept tech get with the program. I'd suggest giving one to any tech that can do their paperwork correctly for two weeks. That should be enough time to make doing things correctly the new habit.

 

[Newman]

I've yet to see how any of this helps you make more money. You put in twice as much time to save someone a few seconds on the phone "IF" they ever call again.

It helps my OCD.

 

[Russ T.]

Every tech would prefer to do a job that had accurate previous notes attached. A tech complaining that it takes too much time to take measurements? BS. They don't take notes because they're lazy, and because you let them get away with it using that cheap excuse. That's like guys saying they don't mention stain protectant because it takes too much time to apply.

A laser tape that does area calculations runs between $25 and $65 and can help even the most inept tech get with the program. I'd suggest giving one to any tech that can do their paperwork correctly for two weeks. That should be enough time to make doing things correctly the new habit.

I’m not sure the bottleneck is at the measurement step.

It’s the data entry that’s the problem, on SM Mobile anyway.

I can MEASURE most homes we clean in 5 minutes with a laser measuring tool.

It’s getting those measurements in the software and having it look pro and be meaningful for the customer that has been the challenge.

SM Mobile is really cumbersome on a tablet in a customers home. This is the problem I’ve experienced for years now.

I believe it’s being dealt with in Technician.

I really hope so.

Be careful calling a tech lazy when they may be wrestling with a bottleneck that we’re not familiar with.

 

[Cleanworks]

Every tech would prefer to do a job that had accurate previous notes attached. A tech complaining that it takes too much time to take measurements? BS. They don't take notes because they're lazy, and because you let them get away with it using that cheap excuse. That's like guys saying they don't mention stain protectant because it takes too much time to apply.

A laser tape that does area calculations runs between $25 and $65 and can help even the most inept tech get with the program. I'd suggest giving one to any tech that can do their paperwork correctly for two weeks. That should be enough time to make doing things correctly the new habit.

Bryan, do you have a laser measurer that you recommend? I have a Bosch digital device but no calculator. Usually, I use a rollatape and a calculator. Average 2000 sqft job takes about 15 minutes to measure and calculate. By then, the customer has the coffee on.

 

[Lee Stockwell]

Roll a tapes are notoriously inaccurate(short). I've had dozens of them and I sure don't miss the dog and pony show.

 

[Newman]

I’m not sure the bottleneck is at the measurement step.

It’s the data entry that’s the problem, on SM Mobile anyway.

I can MEASURE most homes we clean in 5 minutes with a laser measuring tool.

It’s getting those measurements in the software and having it look pro and be meaningful for the customer that has been the challenge.

SM Mobile is really cumbersome on a tablet in a customers home. This is the problem I’ve experienced for years now.

I believe it’s being dealt with in Technician.

I really hope so.

Be careful calling a tech lazy when they may be wrestling with a bottleneck that we’re not familiar with.

Yes, the work order data entry is slow in SM mobile, we do not do that with the customer present.

In the field we have a 2 man team. When measuring / quoting, one guy measures and the other enters the room dimension data on a notepad on the cell phone and calculates the total. The techs then build the work order in SM mobile whilst the job is being done.

 

[Cleanworks]

Roll a tapes are notoriously inaccurate(short). I've had dozens of them and I sure don't miss the dog and pony show.

I have compared my newest roll a tape (the dual wheel one) to my bosch digital laser. It's accurate to within a few inches. I'll recheck it when it gets a little more use. I usually rough the estimate up or down a little depending on what I am doing. Pin point accuracy is not always necessary.

 

[Lee Stockwell]

Measuring 300' long hallways I've had 30' difference each direction depending on the bias of the carpet.

 

[Cleanworks]

Measuring 300' long hallways I've had 30' difference each direction depending on the bias of the carpet.

That's a lot. I don't recall having that kind of difference on mine. I don't do a lot of 300 ft halls, more like 150-200. I have had a difference of 3-4 feet, measuring in different directions. I think the 2 wheeled one may be a little more accurate because of its weight. The only downfall to it is they built in a kickstand that gets in the way when you want to start from the wall out.

 

[Russ T.]

I used the wheel kind for years and it’s pretty accurate for residential but the laser is faster, more accurate, and more professional.

I have 2 different kinds from Bosch. There’s the small entry level one that only measures up to 35 feet. The screen is not backlit and it doesn’t do the calculations for me but it’s great for most residential.

I’ve got the bigger Bosch too. I think it will measure out past 100 ft., the screen is backlit (somewhat important feature to me), and it will do area calculations for you.

Either is a great choice for the residential carpet cleaner.