What in the heck does Surdi have going on up there?

[bensurdi]

Hiring people with experience is something I fluctuate on. Often times it is challenging as you say, but with the right leadership, management and attention they're able to be molded into a new process and system quite easily. Fresh techs are good too, they just take a lot longer to get road ready so i'll usually hire a few newbies and a few guys with experience at the same time, train them all and let them get to their 90 day review and decide who to dump and keep.

 

[Mikey P]

Ben are you sending the trainee with a one man or a two man crew?

How many trucks are you currently running?

 

[Dmreed4311]

Love the website Ben! One question, who is Vince Surdi? your Dad? Older brother? life partner?

 

[Mikey P]

Dad...

 

[Shane Deubell]

Life partner
He lives in Seattle not San Francisco ....

 

[PrimaDonna]

@Mikey P Looks like we need a Hot Seat with Ben! Lots of great questions you had for him that I'd be interested in the answers to as well.

 

[bensurdi]

Ben are you sending the trainee with a one man or a two man crew?

How many trucks are you currently running?

He gets sent out with a 1 man crew. We run 1 man crew at our company. Actually today I am picking up our 8th truck. But we're not running 7 routes fulltime yet, we're still running 6 routes but will be putting the 7th route into full flow with a 8th truck for overflow and backup.

 

[Mikey P]

1 man doing how many jobs or looking to average how much income per day?

 

[Mikey P]

and I hate to ask, but are all 8 trucks different?

 

[Mikey P]

btw, your signature links go to a godaddy page...

 

[Ray Burnfield]

Life partner
He lives in Seattle not San Francisco ....

There's not much difference between the 2 cities as far as the gay population.

 

[bensurdi]

I have 3 Aerotechs, 2 slide-ins and 2 brand new Pro1200's. I think we will probably move to all Pro1200's but you never know.

How do I change my signature and links etc Mikey?

 

[Mikey P]

I fixed your link for you..


let's back up, you run one tech in each Aerotech?

I think you need to join Saiger and I tonight for our live Dual Wanding discussion....lol

 

[Russ T.]

Don't underestimate the real advantages of running solo.

Not sure if they remain with an AT?

 

[Mikey P]

Don't underestimate the real advantages of running solo.

Can you give me five reasons why solo is better other then saving money on small or undersized jobs that would not financially support a helper?

 

[Russ T.]

Can you give me five reasons why solo is better other then saving money on small or undersized jobs that would not financially support a helper?

Not saying solo is better always, just that it has some advantages sometimes.

Definitely a good question. I'll try to jump on it when I have more time.

 

[bensurdi]

Yeah we could dual wand but for that business model i think its better to have someone going out pre-bidding these type of jobs rather than assume that you need 2 wands moving on a job because sometimes it can just be to much hose for one house

 

[jcooper]

Russ T. said: ↑
Don't underestimate the real advantages of running solo.
Can you give me five reasons why solo is better other then saving money on small or undersized jobs that would not financially support a helper?

1. Not having someone bug me all day blabbing about stupid shat.
2. Not having to smell them.
3. I'd have to find another spot for the multi sprayer, it likes to sit up front.
4. Not having to watch some bonehead check the facebook every ten seconds.
5. Save on gas, not having to carry his ass around.


Obviously, I'm joking to a point. I actually really need a helper, the level of service I provide, two large jobs and that's my whole day. Need to get more done.

 

[Jim Pemberton]

1, 2, and 4 are surely challenges.

4 is the biggest hardest one to overcome

 

[jcooper]

4 is the biggest hardest one to overcome

Drives me nuts, Jim!

My wife can be at a family party with ALL her friends(everyone she facebooks) and she still is checking it every few minutes... Everyone is here!!!

 

[Joe Appleby]

Ben
what % of your on location gross revenue is direct labor not including tax/work comp?

 

[bensurdi]

I'm at 24% labor across the board, not sure without taxes and comp?

 

[Mikey P]

24% includes taxes and comp?

 

[Doug Cox]

Can you give me five reasons why solo is better other then saving money on small or undersized jobs that would not financially support a helper?

I can give you one reason- You don't have an A-hole walking in front of your wand while you're trying to work. Most helpers are worthless unless they want to work.

 

[Mikey P]

Hmmm...


not my guys.




They're so damn good I've only been on the truck three weeks this year and so far our numbers are at a record high.




Don't hire tards.

 

[Doug Cox]

I only work with my wife or my son, otherwise I would probably shoot myself in the head trying to teach someone to stay out of my way. Very frustrating to me.

 

[Mike Draper]

my guy rocks as well. We work great in conjunction and make lots of dough. much more than i could by myself.

 

[bensurdi]

The best thing you can do is become the best at your trade, and teach your techs how to follow a system to become successful and remove room for error. At my company our pay structure is setup in a way that they are paid percentage points for following certain guidelines and procedures. If they don't follow these procedures they wind up docking their own pay - which quickly teaches them that doing it the way that I've created is the way it will be done. I have weekly 1 on 1 meetings with each technician to review their #'s, review their bonus tiers and make sure they have everything they need to be successful. We set goals for the next week - so that once we get to the next week we have a pattern we're following for steady improvement. (Reducing call backs, increasing a certain sale, earning more raving reviews etc).

I've done it both ways, working my ass off out in the field cleaning carpets - and working my ass off in the office. Both are challenging, but I would rather be in the office leading and coaching then be stuck out in the field where I'm only able to work on one element of the business.

 

[Russ T.]

Last week was apartment turnover week. I did break down and hire a friend to help me get through almost 50 college apartments in 6 days. It has reinforced some things I already believed to be true. There are really only 2 instances where I consider myself a fool for not having a helper and yes, these instances DO happen with some frequency...

1. LOTS of set ups/tear downs.
2. LOTS of furniture to move.

The rest of the time, a helper stands around a lot with me.

 

[Brian H]

Having a helper helps to grow your company.

A significant increase in productivity without any more equipment costs. It also allows you the opportunity to have a day off here and there with out totally shutting down.

Getting a helper is the first step towards getting off the truck, just like Ben has done!! Get a helper, train him the way that you want he to clean/act. Eventually trust him enough to let him out on his own and hire two more helpers. One for him and another one for you... Now you have two productive trucks and 2 more leaders in training!!

One of the real keys to hiring is actually firing. Don't be afraid to cut your loses early when you know an employees isn't working out. There are plenty of VERY good people out there, sometimes you just have to weed through a few to get the right one!!