Home service contracting during a global health crisis can be tough. Customers are calling and canceling those service calls. Your revenues have significantly dropped since all those calls have dried up, and you're left asking that one critical question: what can we do about it?
There are two aspects to the answer. They relate to external and internal business operations. External relates to maintaining revenue, and internal refers to efficiency, as it relates to reducing cost. In this article, we will tackle the first; External business operations.
Dealing with Customers
While conventional wisdom tells everyone to organize to work remotely, that's not possible for the service based contractors. Whether they are in your home or your crawl space, they need to be present to do their jobs. So how do we, in the current climate of isolation, still bring value to customers and maintain our revenue stream while ensuring both the homeowner, business owner, and your techs stay safe? You can do this through safety and communication.
Safety and Communication
The population at large is scared and fearful of the unknown. The media tells them to avoid other people through whats called "Social Distancing." That means avoiding large gatherings and maintain a distance of 6 feet from others when possible.
While you can't avoid this issue, you can mitigate it. You must rethink your approach. Communication with your customers is vital. Help alleviate their fears by being proactive in your strategy to ensure the safety of their household members and that of your techs. Implement a clear and concise Customer Contact Strategy within your business and communicate this proactively to your customers.
What you should be doing
- Implement and train all of your supervisors and techs on your customer contact strategy.
- Include personal hygiene and close contact protocols (such as not shaking hands with customers) in your training.
- Include your customer contact strategy on the landing page of your website.
- Cover this strategy personally with each one of your customers when they call.
- Post your strategy in all of your service vans in plain sight.
Customer Contact Strategy Training
One of the first places to start is the education of supervisors and techs about the implications of the Coronavirus. Regardless of how you train, all front-line employees should have access to the appropriate information regarding company policies, infection control, and know whom to contact at your company regarding possible exposures.
Infection Control
The Coronavirus is thought to spread mostly through respiratory droplets from coughing or sneezing and is spread easily. It is possible to be infected by touching contaminated surfaces and then touching one's face, especially around the eyes, nose, and mouth.
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention advises that employees should:
- Stay home if they have respiratory symptoms (coughing, sneezing, shortness of breath) and a temperature above 38C/ 100.4 F.
- Leave work if they develop these symptoms while at the workplace.
- Shield coughs and sneezes with a tissue, elbow, or shoulder (not the bare hands).
- Wash hands regularly with soap and water for at least 20 seconds or use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.
Ensure all of your Techs understand the purpose and use of the appropriate PPE. Gloves should be worn at all times, and face masks and eye protection should be on at all times when in the presence of a customer. Follow the handwashing protocol every time gloves need to be removed.
Also, include the appropriate cleaning products in the inventories of your service vans and train your techs to clean surfaces they may have come in contact with. Leave the area cleaner than when you found it.
Close Customer Contact
Proactively communicate with your customers the protocol on site. Remind the customer of your contact strategy. Include all interactions starting from your techs arriving on site, carrying out assigned tasks, clean up, and leaving the site.
Help customers prepare their home or business by being clear on all tasks to be fulfilled and the associated timings. This will help the customer avoid your techs and let them get on with it without unnecessary interactions.
Discussion with Customer
- Agree on arrival times with the customer. Narrow down a time to ensure the customer is prepared. Don't give the old classic 'between 9 am and 5 pm'. Narrow the window down to an hour where possible.
- Parking and access to home/ business. By agreeing on what techs can and can't access will ensure a reduction in inadvertent interaction with the customer.
- Who will be the main point of customer contact on-site?
- Remind the customer that by not shaking hands, your techs are not being rude; instead, they are protecting theirs and the customers' health.
- Location and use of on-site bathroom facilities for techs. If unavailable, be prepared to make other arrangements for your techs.
Final Word
Now that we have lined out a protocol on interacting with the customer post this strategy in each of your service vans in an easy to see location. Ensure your Techs understand this protocol fully and can articulate their responsibilities to the customer. Hopefully, this can alleviate those fears around the virus.
You won't be able to avoid all those cancellations. However, we hope this article has helped you think about different ways to proactively deal with the virus and its impact on your business and customer base.
This article is part one of two
Next Article ---> Contracting during COVID-19 - Part 2
Author: Russell Jones | VP or Operations @ Phyxter
