Ideas to cover sick days

[spruce]

We do front only jobs, i meant if i didnt message customers about gates id be planning a day of full houses but id only end up being able to clean the fronts due to gate being locked. Front only can be a good earner, quick to do and cuts travel time between jobs. Definitely worth doing. I use the front onlys sometimes to cover last minute cancellations due to holiday or building work, as they dont need the text reminder and keeps the days earnings up.

Im starting to wonder wether it would be worthwhile getting another person in for cover, say for holidays, sick or at times when theres an over-generation of work he could manage that. I dont know. I think my brain is going into meltdown thinking too much

This sounds like each van needs a pair of step ladders that can bridge over gates; ie. Little Gaint or equivalent. That would reduce the number of text messages for next day cleans. We only have one gate on the round our step ladders won't bridge and that's due to them having a support beam above the gate attached to both posts. She is normally home anyway. If we do the fronts then we will usually catch her a little later after we have done the rest of the road.

We have one other customer we phone at 7am to unlock her rear gate before they go their various ways. No drama.

I hardly ever send out text message these days.

 

[Deleted member 7446]

Hi All.

Any people on here that have multiple vans, how do you cover a round if member of staff calls in sick? Do you have a way to still cover that round for the day, or do you just reschedule it? 

It's causing me a headache as customers are annoyed when I have to cancel then reschedule them, they get the cancellation message when they've already left for work, then angry cause they've already left back gate locked for the day. Any ideas how to resolve this?

Any suggestion or ideas would be great

If you are having a high rate of sickness then the common sense approach would be like any other sector, recruitment and get someone new onboard who can do the job, turn up and not let yourself or your reputation down. 

I go to work come rain or shine, I've gone to work with colds, flu and broken bones before just to ensure the customers get the service they deserve.

Can you not cover the work load ?

 

[Pjj]

If you are having a high rate of sickness then the common sense approach would be like any other sector, recruitment and get someone new onboard who can do the job, turn up and not let yourself or your reputation down. 

I go to work come rain or shine, I've gone to work with colds, flu and broken bones before just to ensure the customers get the service they deserve.

Can you not cover the work load ?

I agree with what you are saying Austin but in this day and age you cannot get rid of someone for going sick it’s a bit of a nightmare for a small business , 

 

[ched999uk]

Maybe not a short term fix but how about having 2 part time staff that cover the week i.e. 1 who does 2 days the other 3. Then if anyone off sick you could offer extra hrs to either? OK so that does mean extra work for you and having decent staff trained up to carry out good quality work. Having a bank of staff that could be offered more hrs might work but it does revolve round getting more good staff and training.

 

[Stevieboy]

Ok we never have txt customers I won’t take on work that requires that , but I do understand in some areas and types of work it may be nessassary to do so  guess Ime lucky like that I deliberately built my rounds  to avoid this situation . I don’t think there is a simple answer to this situation if you are getting a lot cancel due to this is it possible to replace them with jobs that don’t have locked gates ? We won’t take on any jobs  with access issues unless we are given keys or codes ,simple as that . 

I think everyone likes a txt the night before. It makes planning the working day so more efficient. Takes seconds to do. Over the years I’ve heard a few reasons why customers want to miss a clean. From ‘my husband’s died’ to ‘we have just painted the decking’ , ‘we are having building work done’ etc etc. So much easier getting the excuses by txt the night before. Saves turning up and the customer telling you then. Wasting time money and fuel.  Lots of my customers pay me when they receive there notification txt as well. Something I have never asked for. It also helps with bank holidays etc. The old saying goes ‘ customers don’t know when you are coming but they know when you are late’. 

 

[Pete Thompson]

You don’t say whether these gates are just bolted (usually at the top) or actually padlocked.

About 30% of my domestics have bolted back gates, I have a fold-up step in the van to just reach over and unbolt them, no problem. I also re-lock them when I’m finished.

About 2% of mine have padlocks. I do text them the day before, but I hate doing it. If you get held up on another job it means texting them again, which is annoying to them I’m sure (though never lost any because of that)

A few customers use combination padlocks (the type that lock with a code instead of a key) and they simply give me the code. I use my step to reach over and unlock it.

If you were really desperate you could simply buy a load of them and give them to your customers. They’re about £4.99 at Screwfix. (Cheaper than the cost of replacing a customer perhaps?)

 

[Pjj]

I think everyone likes a txt the night before. It makes planning the working day so more efficient. Takes seconds to do. Over the years I’ve heard a few reasons why customers want to miss a clean. From ‘my husband’s died’ to ‘we have just painted the decking’ , ‘we are having building work done’ etc etc. So much easier getting the excuses by txt the night before. Saves turning up and the customer telling you then. Wasting time money and fuel.  Lots of my customers pay me when they receive there notification txt as well. Something I have never asked for. It also helps with bank holidays etc. The old saying goes ‘ customers don’t know when you are coming but they know when you are late’. 

We never get a leave it when we turn up ,we will sometimes choose not to do the job ,due to building work going on or decorating , or new windows going to be fitted but that’s it , never have txt customers never will , the only jobs we phone beforehand are commercial that are hundreds of pounds per clean , we don’t have a waisted journey as all our work is decided into rounds ware we have dozens of other properties . If I did txt customers and they came up with some feeble excuse to leave it this time they would become an ex customer straight away I have dumped many like this over the years , I find that after 22 years of refining work the rounds are very compact , good payers , and it’s very rare to get any issues .