Lets Talk Business-Scheduling

[XTREME1]

Now my company is busy from march 15-jan 15th but this year it is overwhelming(my guess is each year in business you acquire new people and it keeps growing). We are extending hours and cutting back on rugs but my question is about scheduling because I see a lot of money headed down the shoot because we have to get to the next job.

What do you do?

 

[Lee Stockwell]

Just roll with it.

I fill the 10am and 1pm slots with big jobs as they come in. Empties go in the middle usually.

Very busy times, like the next two weeks, start as early as 6am and work until caught up.

Vacation in FEBRUARY.

 

[renegade_cowboy]

lol.. funny post Greg. If you are so busy maybe you should raise your prices cause you're to cheeeep. J/K

 

[XTREME1]

i'll worry about my pricing. It was a scheduling questioning

 

[renegade_cowboy]

You remember that joke.. what did the bird say when he flew over K-Mart? cheep cheep cheep cheep..

Your prices are WHY you are having scheduling issues.. you should challenge yourself harder and jack up your prices.

 

[Ken Snow]

Certainly you could work longer hours, or alternatively, if you feel it will continue then it may be time to add another truck.

 

[XTREME1]

It isn't me working the hours It was a scheduling issue

 

[renegade_cowboy]

It isn't me working the hours It was a scheduling issue

Whats your business model like?

 

[XTREME1]

thanks for the scheduling help..............not

 

[renegade_cowboy]

thanks for the scheduling help..............not

Lets be honest you want to let us know how successful you are doing right now. Kinda pulling an AbSurdi.. Let me be the first to say congratulations....

Your a smart guy Greg.. if you have more working coming than you can handle and its causing conflict within your business you either raise your prices or add more people.

 

[Ken Snow]

Re: Re: Lets Talk Business-Scheduling

thanks for the scheduling help..............not

Greg, I'm confused. What exactly is your question?

 

[Lee Stockwell]

His question: "what do you do?"

 

[Desk Jockey]

Dump the rugs.

It's doesn't fit your model and it's eating into more profitable time not to mention the risk. You can always come back to rugs later when you have a larger staff. Just tell them "I sorry mama, we are backlogged on rugs and not not taking any more until next month". ???

As far as scheduling not much you can do, start early, work late, weekends when needed. We flex according to work load, schedule around or push off the less profitable work to a slower time. We try not to turn anything away that is worth doing.

 

[Ken Snow]

What confused me Lee is he seemed to get multiple answers that may have merit and then his last response imdicated he wasn't getting answers to his question.

 

[Dolly Llama]

but my question is about scheduling because I see a lot of money headed down the shoot because we have to get to the next job.

What do you do?

longer scheduling windows

are you running two man crews??
Cause with all steps you claim to do on every job, it would seem a challenge in it's self to do many jobs in a day with 1 man crew


..L.T.A.

 

[XTREME1]

each truck does 3 jobs a day so we have the big first,mid to small second and big last. we are increasling being late on second job. so help me

1 man

 

[Dolly Llama]

the way i see it, you really only have a couple choices ..

increase the scheduling window
eg..if a one or two hour window, increase it to 3 hour window

or add another crewman to boost productivity


..L.T.A.

 

[XTREME1]

I guess I phrased the question wrong. Instead of me guessing I was trying to steal how you guys schedule. We have been giving an exact time but because I never worked for anyone else I do not know what others do so please tell me what you do so I can train myself and Karie on the phone script. Interesting is most without a first appt expect us to be late

 

[ACE]

You could seat trying to schedule half hour or one hour arrival timeframes. Like this:

Mrs. Smith, would with an arrival time between 1 and 1:30 be covenant for you on Friday?

If the jobs are stacked and packed, focus on upsells that don’t take allot of extra time (protectors, deo, selling spotters).

 

[Dolly Llama]

I guess I phrased the question wrong. Instead of me guessing I was trying to steal how you guys schedule. We have been giving an exact time

I used to do that in the early years .
Ran into the troubles you're having now ...might be able to add a bed room or two traffic ln cleaning if they wanted , but the time schedule would go right out the window if they wanted upl done ...I turned down too many sofas due to time involved of doing them "right" ....cause it was anathema for me to be late to the next appointment

The only appointment that gets an exact time now is the first of the day.
all others are a 2 hour window ..and empties (unless they're a first time custy) don't even get a time ..just the day.

Most folks understand and accept that...cause all other service contractors do the same

The two hour window start time is the time we expect to be there...eg if I expect we'll be there at 11 am, I tell them to expect us between 11 and 1pm


You have enough experience now to know general size and work scope of homes in your market .
And only you know your average production times, so you'll have to help Karie with scheduling two hour windows accordingly

..L.T.A.

 

[Lee Stockwell]

I also offer to call them 20 - 30 minutes before we arrive as we are wrapping up the preceding job.

Oh, and TWO man crews rock!! I was a diehard holdout for 1 person efficiency for toooo long. I was dead wrong.

 

[Jim Martin]

We have given 1/2 hour arrival times since day one...in 9 years I have missed 4..( 2 were my fault )...its not as hard as it sounds....got to know how long a job will take....how long it will take to drive to next job..and always leave a bit of time in case something happens...at the same time...when you schedule the next job and you give them there 1/2 hour arrival time...always make sure that they understand that you may be a bit early...

call the night before and confirm the jobs for the next day......and call when you are on the way to the next one.....

People are more happy with the 1/2 hour times then 2 to 3 hours...there time is just as important to them as yours is to you....nothing worse then sitting around 1/2 a day waiting for someone to get there.....

 

[joe harper]

If we were ever booked a week in advance...I WOULD HAVE FREAKED OUT... KMA!

I can't imagine how many clients you would be losing. What a waste of advertising dollars.
The #1 key to getting clients is to accommodate THEIR schedule..! While we have clients
who schedule on a regular basis....90% of all clients are IMPULSE buyers.. :idea:

I don't care how good your equipment,techs,reputation, or prices are... :!: If you can't get there on the clients timetable...THEY ARE GOING SOMEWHERE ELSE.. -sniff Many clients will
STAY with that cleaner...even if the quality of work is INFERIOR to yours...because they
feel the SERVICE was better... oh my...

Here is the most likely natural progression of the CC business..:

1. portable
2. portable & part time helper
3. Entry level TM
4. Bigger TM & full time helper
5. 2 man crew & owner takes overage or emergency calls
6. 3rd TM 1 operator
7. ECT,ECT,ECT,....until you realize..you should have finished Jr.High school.... J/K

Crowley..
The simplest answer to your issue is this... :idea:

Seek out and find..another cleaner in your area that operated basically the same business modle.
Get him to SUB the jobs you cannot get to...Pay him between 60% to 70% of the Gross ticket.
Every job goes on YOUR INVOICE...so you can have the job next go round... :idea:
If he steals your client...get rid of him.. mam, thats for the basic steam clean only..
If you do your job right in hiring this guy..? Both of you can do VERY well..IT IS NICE TO HAVE BACK-UP from a COMPEDITOR in a pinch... eat shit!

 

[Ken Snow]

I guess I phrased the question wrong. Instead of me guessing I was trying to steal how you guys schedule. We have been giving an exact time but because I never worked for anyone else I do not know what others do so please tell me what you do so I can train myself and Karie on the phone script. Interesting is most without a first appt expect us to be late

1st stop 8:00-9:00 arrival
2nd stop 9-11
3rd stop 11-1
etc.,

These times will depend on a couple factors; when you like to start, how far your service area is, how large the jobs are. Tweak to fit and move on. Our dispatchers time 20 some routes a day like this.

 

[Ron Werner]

I give a window time of arrival, and or, I tell them I may be running late from my first job so I will call them with a more precise time so that they aren't waiting around for me all day. Cell phones work great for this.
Just need to give your guys an extra 15min or so and they can clean that additional sofa sectional and chair J/K

 

[XTREME1]

Ken, any complaints on that?

 

[Mikey P]

You should be able to look at the items thay asked for and judge by the average house size in that hood as to how long a job takes.


You call the first job ask the right question and narrow down the time for the next and so on and so forth...


and don't forget to allow time to stop and get a vacuum tattoo.

 

[Ken Snow]

Not really Greg, we also offer to call 1/2 before so if someone is leaving work to come meet us at home it is more convenient.