Author Archive

Transcript:
0:00
Callahan’s Corner where you ask
0:02
the questions we answer them
0:03
live right here on Facebook.
0:04
Got a doozy this morning.
0:06
Wanted to jump right in,
0:07
submitted here via Facebook
0:09
Messenger here. I’m going to
0:11
read out parts of the question
0:12
and actually dive in and answer
0:14
this question live but kind of
0:16
some background on this is well
0:19
actually I’ll dive right into
0:20
the question. Um Mike, we’re in
0:22
the middle of doing our audits
0:23
on the job like you were
0:24
talking about on a recent video
0:27
and looked at this client’s
0:28
account over the last 90 days.
0:30
Once again, remember, I’m
0:32
going to open up the screen and
0:33
show you kind of what we’re
0:34
talking about here but when we
0:35
go in, we do not want to
0:37
continue to service jobs that
0:38
aren’t profitable. So, congrats
0:40
to this contractor. They’re
0:42
going out and executing some of
0:43
the the tangibles we’re
0:45
throwing out here on Callahan’s
0:46
Corner. So, they’re doing a
0:47
90-day audit on every
0:48
maintenance account among some
0:50
other accounts I’m sure but
0:52
particularly in a maintenance
0:53
account here over the last 90
0:54
days. So, they’ve done this, I
0:56
believe they’re down in the
0:57
south, possibly Florida and The
1:00
long and short of it is he he
1:02
wants no non-selective
1:04
herbicides played applied to
1:06
his landscape beds so they’re
1:08
having to actually go out and
1:10
manually weed it. So I believe
1:11
if I’m reading through this
1:12
that they haven’t been able to
1:15
keep pace because it is the
1:16
rainy season starting down
1:17
there with the heat the heat
1:18
and humidity. Um and they’re
1:20
weeding 95 95 percent of the
1:22
property manually. But
1:24
traditionally it’s a
1:25
non-selective herbicide sludge
1:26
is round up where they’re
1:28
actually spraying it and be
1:29
able to maintain that with a
1:31
significantly less effect. Uh
1:32
but time. So, it doesn’t look
1:36
like they’ve actually raised
1:37
the price in this property but
1:38
to accommodate his needs from
1:40
what they normally do of doing
1:42
a spraying or spot spraying,
1:44
they’re actually manually
1:45
weeding the property to get as
1:47
close as they can near the
1:49
allotted time. Um they are at
1:52
about $33 an hour on this
1:55
account and it’s actually
1:56
costing them $45 break even.
1:58
So, they’re actually losing the
2:00
difference between the 33 and
2:01
the $45 an hour. Um profit or
2:04
basically their revenue goal
2:06
per man hour is actually fifty.
2:08
So, they’re about 20 or $17
2:14
off. They’re they’re goal. So,
2:16
they’re actually losing money
2:17
on this account. Um they’re
2:19
getting thirty-three. They want
2:20
fifty but it’s costing them
2:22
forty-five. So, it’s about a
2:23
$17 per man hour gap here. So,
2:25
their question is the
2:27
individual is demanding an
2:30
on-site visit with a
2:31
supervisor. Um they also have a
2:33
very large backlog of landscape
2:37
installation jobs well over a
2:38
month by the looks of it and
2:40
their revenue per hour on their
2:42
landscape maintenance or the
2:43
landscape installs is obviously
2:45
significantly higher and more
2:47
profitable their question is
2:49
should they cut them loose we
2:51
should bill billing him 185 to
2:53
200 a month to break even small
2:56
profit and they’re currently
2:59
billing 1 30 so they’re at one
3:00
thirty they’re saying they
3:02
should be somewhere between a
3:04
hundred and eightyfive and two
3:04
hundred a month so let me dive
3:05
in and kind of put some concept
3:06
or context to how we kind of
3:08
should track this I’m going to
3:10
answer these questions directly
3:11
and I’ve got a couple different
3:12
options here because we have
3:13
been through this in my
3:14
company, the same exact issue
3:16
here. So, basically, your
3:19
client has demanded the
3:23
contractor to go out and kind
3:24
of go out outside of the normal
3:25
standard rating operating
3:27
procedure for landscape
3:29
maintenance. They do not want
3:30
pesticides or non-selective
3:32
herbicide. So, we’ve gone and
3:33
done some manual weeding. So,
3:34
with all the changes, in New
3:36
York State, this is something
3:37
we have actually encountered so
3:39
I’ll tell you how we tackle it
3:41
or a couple different ways
3:41
we’ve actually tried to tackle
3:43
it here. So I’m going to open
3:43
up the screen here and just put
3:45
some context to how did this
3:47
contractor go out and look at
3:49
how what they should be making
3:52
versus what they’re actually
3:53
making to make that decision
3:54
and if they have any questions,
3:56
they should clarify that and
3:57
then I’ll I’ll actually jump in
3:59
and talk about how do we
4:01
address this frustrated
4:02
customer that has basically
4:05
been able to get some services
4:06
to make them more happy but
4:07
it’s been outside standardized
4:09
operating procedure or scope.
4:11
Um so no judgement here. Trust
4:12
me. I have done this myself. Um
4:15
So, the first thing we’re
4:16
looking at is a contractor is a
4:19
simple growth client. He’s been
4:20
watching these videos and
4:23
they’re going in and doing the
4:23
right thing. So, that is huge
4:25
step number one. Now, if you
4:27
haven’t seen the video that
4:28
they’re talking about, I
4:29
want to show you this. So, what
4:30
we should be doing up here up
4:32
top, we’ve got crew number one.
4:34
Let’s imagine this is our
4:35
maintenance crew. So, we should
4:38
have budgeted times including
4:39
drive time for all the jobs.
4:40
So, this crew here fictitiously
4:42
is budgeted for 20 hours and We
4:46
started at 7 AM, went to 5 PM,
4:48
that’s a 10-hour day. I’m
4:49
assuming they’d be running four
4:51
tens based in this scenario and
4:52
we got a half-hour lunch for
4:53
two individuals on that crew.
4:55
So, we got 20 hours an hour
4:58
subtracted for lunch, non-paid.
4:59
So, our payroll liability is 19
5:02
hours and we budgeted 20 here.
5:03
So, they’re actually one hour
5:05
under budget. So, if this
5:07
contractor is fully
5:08
implementing this, these are
5:09
the things that would go on the
5:11
shop wall and then we’re
5:11
actually going to dial into
5:12
that specific job where
5:15
thirty-3 an hour but they
5:16
really need to be at about
5:18
forty-five. Um but this is the
5:19
first thing that usually will
5:21
raise a red flag if this
5:23
property’s in here and hurting
5:25
us so much even on a daily
5:26
basis throughout the week. So
5:28
we’ve got 1 0and5 percent. So
5:30
that is how we’re putting that
5:31
on the shop wall or shop TV. 0
5:34
and 5%. Anything from 100
5:35
andabove is really good.
5:37
They’re they’re beating their
5:38
budgeted times. You can tell
5:39
the the crew. Hey you gave 105%
5:42
today with a quality standard.
5:42
You did a great job Conversely,
5:46
if I went in and said, hey,
5:47
we’re going to give these guys
5:49
19 hours and they did it
5:50
nineteen. That’s 100% once this
5:52
update. So, they’d understand
5:53
that with the quality standard
5:54
and then, finally, what we
5:57
would want to do is say, okay,
5:58
if we gave them 17 hours and it
6:01
took them nineteen, this could
6:02
be the direct effect. Now, this
6:05
is a probably a smaller
6:06
residential property but if you
6:07
had a large large HOA and
6:09
you’re only doing one or two a
6:10
day, this could actually pop up
6:13
and be a red flag. There’s a
6:14
massive issue on this day
6:15
because we’re going outside of
6:17
scope. We’re not spraying the
6:18
non-selective herbicide. We’re
6:20
in Emmanuel leading at the
6:22
customer’s request with no
6:22
additional increase in price.
6:25
So, you could go to the crew
6:26
and say, hey, you gave 89%
6:27
today with a quality standard.
6:29
So, this is a public
6:30
accountability piece that we
6:32
should be doing daily and
6:34
reviewing weekly over here with
6:36
the company as a whole
6:37
throughout all our crews. Now,
6:40
going to the question at hand,
6:41
they’re losing money on one
6:42
specific account but before we
6:43
go in and do that audit, we
6:46
should be tracking on a daily
6:47
and weekly basis every crew as
6:48
a whole. Now, the question at
6:50
hand is they’ve got lawn mowing
6:54
and landscape maintenance being
6:56
the Southern States most lawn
6:57
care companies will do the bed
6:59
maintenance, some of the
7:00
pruning, and the mowing all at
7:01
the same time in one visit. Uh
7:03
if you’re in the north or mid
7:05
west, it’s a little bit
7:06
different. Uh we work with
7:08
hundreds and hundreds of
7:09
companies across the US. This
7:10
is very normal in the southern
7:12
state that this contractors at.
7:14
So, let’s let’s assume that
7:16
this is just the bed
7:16
maintenance portion and what
7:17
we’re looking at is based on
7:21
the start and top times in a
7:22
mobile, this fictitious
7:25
example, not the exact example
7:26
it was submitted, but
7:28
basically, they’re generating
7:29
$57 and 30 cents. So, in this
7:33
example, if we had bumped this
7:35
up to about sixty-seven,
7:37
actually about sixty-nine
7:37
bucks, that’s the difference.
7:39
They’re desiring, say $69 an
7:41
hour, they’re only getting 57
7:44
and maybe it’s costing them $60
7:46
and operate before there’s a
7:47
profit. So, we’re losing money
7:50
on this. So, we need to go in
7:51
and figure out, okay, based on
7:53
that, what should we actually
7:55
be charging? So, the current
7:56
price is fifty-four but based
7:58
on the revenue goal and the
8:01
historical data of the last 90
8:03
days in the question, they
8:05
should be going out
8:06
fictitiously. In this example,
8:07
charging the one sixty-five.
8:09
So, I believe in the question,
8:12
they came up with a billing
8:13
rate of somewhere on average to
8:15
185 and 200. So, you want to
8:17
take the average of those. I’m
8:18
guess that’s going to come out
8:20
to about one one ninety1 95 is
8:22
what they should be charging.
8:24
So, to answer the question
8:26
directly, there’s there’s
8:27
there’s a couple pieces to
8:28
this. Um first is the the
8:30
customer’s upset because we’ve
8:32
kind of basically gone out of
8:33
scope to satisfy them but we
8:35
haven’t been able to actually
8:36
maintain the property in the
8:37
same way we would with a with a
8:39
a round up or a non-selective
8:41
herbicide. So, what I would say
8:42
is we need to just have a
8:44
communication with them. Um via
8:46
the phone with the manager. If
8:47
we decide to the client and
8:49
even if we don’t decide to keep
8:50
the client, let’s have that
8:51
conversation with them. I don’t
8:52
know if it necessarily requires
8:54
an on-site visit because if
8:57
they’re not going to pay the
8:58
higher amount, why waste the
9:00
revenue pulling a manager off
9:01
your hardscape division when
9:03
they’re generating some
9:04
revenue, making sure that
9:04
profit center’s going. So,
9:06
first thing is, I would call,
9:08
have a conversation, explain,
9:08
hey, we made the exception of
9:10
doing manual weeding. If you
9:12
want to continue the manual
9:14
weeding with no non-selective
9:16
herbicide, it’s going to be at
9:17
that 195 or 200. I would take
9:18
the high end of that at 200
9:20
because the expectation
9:21
especially in the season is
9:23
going to be pretty tough. So,
9:23
we want to make sure recovered.
9:25
We got some extra time. The
9:26
crew could do a good job. So,
9:27
they’re happy. Um the second
9:30
option there is if you
9:32
continually want to do it, we
9:34
charge them hourly. Now, this
9:36
would probably be the way to
9:38
tackle this in my opinion
9:39
because we’re going to take the
9:40
risk out of it for us and then
9:42
that gentleman who owns the
9:43
house can set a threshold to
9:44
how much he wants to pay. So,
9:46
we we basically alleviated a
9:49
billing situation there because
9:52
you know, if it’s hourly and it
9:54
takes three hours, one week,
9:56
and two hours the next week, we
9:57
want to make sure we’re
9:58
covered. So, either we raise
9:59
the price to that 195 or 200 a
10:04
week. We build them hourly with
10:05
a set cap of desired amount
10:08
that we can go up to each month
10:10
and those two options, we would
10:11
require a credit card on file
10:13
and a signed electronic
10:15
contract. So, we are covered
10:16
and we’re not going to get a
10:17
charge back because a lot of
10:19
times, you’ll see that instance
10:20
in the spring cleanup with a
10:21
contractor do the work. It’s an
10:23
hourly set amount and then it
10:24
gets disputed and who’s left to
10:26
hang the dry, the contractor.
10:27
So, you want to make sure we’re
10:28
covered there. Now, the third
10:29
option
10:32
is basically have a have a
10:34
candid conversation and say,
10:36
hey, listen, you know, we’re
10:38
sorry that you’re upset. Let’s
10:39
count them maybe a visit so we
10:40
don’t get a bad review on
10:41
Google for the inconvenience
10:43
but wash our hands but let’s
10:44
walk away. Let’s be honest.
10:45
Say, hey, we made the
10:46
exception. You’re a great
10:47
client. We’re going to manually
10:48
read this prop. We tried to
10:49
manually weed your property but
10:51
really what we do is we spray
10:53
non-selective herbicides,
10:55
Roundup and in order to get the
10:56
best quality and predictability
10:57
like we do on our other
10:59
hundreds of accounts, this is
11:00
our process we deviated the
11:02
process, try to make you happy,
11:03
and continue to have you as a
11:05
customer but unfortunately, if
11:06
you want to have these beds
11:07
maintained, it needs to be a
11:09
non-selective herbicide such as
11:11
a roundup. At this point, the
11:12
gentleman has the ability to
11:14
stay with you with the
11:15
standardized operating service
11:17
or leave you and that would
11:19
probably be my my top advice
11:23
because the problem is is when
11:24
we start to deviate our
11:26
services that are standard
11:27
across the whole entire company
11:29
for one or two individuals, It
11:30
creates inconsistency and what
11:33
people want really is only 80%.
11:35
Now, not that we shouldn’t give
11:37
them 100% but if you can give
11:38
’em 80% solid in its
11:41
predictable each and every week
11:42
and it’s a predictable process
11:44
and it’s a predictable quality,
11:46
they’re going to be happy. When
11:48
we go out, especially myself in
11:50
the early days, we go out and
11:51
try to be everything to
11:52
everybody. That’s where we get
11:53
into trouble. So, we want to
11:54
make sure that we kind of put
11:57
it back in the consumer’s hands
11:58
and say, hey, listen, we we try
11:58
to make the exception.
12:01
Unfortunately, we we can’t
12:02
continue this exception because
12:04
it’s not meeting your needs and
12:06
it’s out of scope of what we
12:06
normally do and do well that
12:08
you love. So, either you go
12:10
with an unselected herbicide
12:12
for the weed control in the
12:12
beds or we kind of part ways
12:15
and we copy maybe a mowing for
12:16
free and send some goodwill. If
12:18
we are going to keep the
12:20
customer, the two options here
12:21
is an hourly charge with the
12:24
consumer sending a cap of how
12:26
many hours, credit card on file
12:28
with signed capture or the
12:30
third option which I like the
12:31
least especially around bed
12:32
maintenance and weeding as we
12:34
that price that 195 to 200 that
12:37
we’ve seen here that we need
12:39
based on your numbers and we
12:41
move forward and continue it.
12:42
The thing you need to be
12:43
careful is job notes and
12:45
probably before and after
12:46
pictures through your mobile
12:47
app to document the process but
12:50
you are getting yourself, I
12:50
think in my opinion and I’ve
12:52
done this before is when we get
12:54
out of the scope of what we do
12:55
well and what we can train and
12:58
standardize when we get out of
12:58
that, that’s where we get into
13:00
trouble. We start losing money
13:01
and we start upsetting clients
13:02
and the quality is as good
13:04
because we’re not training to
13:06
that exact process procedure
13:07
across all say five or 600
13:10
accounts you’re servicing. So,
13:12
that is my take on it. Great
13:14
question. Um but I I gotta give
13:17
this contractor credit. If
13:18
you’re not tracking your daily
13:19
and weekly budget versus actual
13:21
hours and running that audit on
13:23
those clients in the middle of
13:25
July and November, December in
13:27
most areas and be able to raise
13:30
your dollar per man hour
13:31
revenue to the penny and make
13:33
those services apply to it. Um
13:34
you’re kind of flying lines.
13:36
So, this contractor, huge
13:39
kudos. Way to follow the
13:40
system. I would say have the
13:41
candid conversation, either
13:43
have them accept the
13:44
standardized service or they
13:45
don’t and we compliment maybe a
13:47
mowing to make sure they’re at
13:49
least kind of satisfied and
13:51
they’re not going out on social
13:51
to kill you but if you are
13:52
going to do it, do an hourly
13:54
with a minimum, signed
13:55
contract, card on file, we bill
13:56
it right afterwards, before and
13:58
after pictures in your mobile,
14:00
or the least favorite is raised
14:02
it’s the one95 to 300 or 195 to
14:04
200a visit. Same thing, have
14:07
them sign off, credit card on
14:08
file before and after pictures
14:09
and protect yourself.
14:11
Callahan’s Corner, you ask the
14:12
questions, we answer them live
14:13
right here on Facebook. We’ll
14:14
see you again later this week.

Transcript:

Corner where you ask the
0:02
questions we answer them live
0:03
right here on Facebook. Got a
0:05
doozy submitted in one of the
0:07
private Facebook groups. Um so
0:08
I thought I’d answer this
0:10
question here via video. Um
0:11
says an HOA snow ice client,
0:13
snow removal, almost four
0:15
months is seeing our four
0:16
months afterwards is seeing our
0:18
plows damaged their speed bombs
0:19
and we need to pay the repairs
0:21
estimated between five and
0:23
6thousand dollars. Our winter
0:24
contract does not say anything
0:26
about not being liable for the
0:28
curbs and the speed bump The
0:31
HOL HOA also let this
0:34
contractor go sometime in March
0:36
because they felt that
0:38
potentially their prices are
0:38
too expensive. They did in fact
0:41
pay the invoices in full for
0:42
the contractor which is a win.
0:44
What would you do about the
0:46
speed bumps? Uh several
0:47
comments in here. Uh they have
0:49
no proof and if they are no
0:51
longer a client, shouldn’t
0:52
Roane damage be covered by the
0:54
city. In fact, most HOA roads,
0:56
if you’re plowing them, you
0:57
know, are private roads and
0:58
owned and maintain by the HOA.
1:02
Reason being you have to have a
1:02
contractor Um go in there and
1:05
some other people commented
1:06
that they are worried about a
1:08
lawsuit. Um it could leave
1:10
damaging reviews. So, after
1:12
about twenty-six, 27 years in
1:14
snow and ice removal in Upstate
1:15
New York, Rochester, New York
1:17
to be particularly the third
1:18
largest snowfall market in the
1:20
whole United States averaging
1:21
about a hundred and 30 to about
1:23
125 inches of snow. Lakeside,
1:26
this is near and dear to my
1:27
heart. So, the contractor
1:30
unknowingly probably should
1:31
have reached out to a legal
1:34
entity such as a lawyer to
1:36
actually have some hold
1:37
harmless information in there.
1:39
So, my take on this is you’ve
1:41
got a bit of a gray area.
1:42
Technically, you are liable for
1:44
the damages caused to road, the
1:46
speed bumps, and potentially
1:48
the curves if it’s not in your
1:49
contract. Now, the contract is
1:53
ended. They’ve paid you in
1:54
full. So, I would suggest
1:56
sitting down and actually
1:57
having a conversation with the
1:58
HOA if reasonable to see if you
2:01
can actually meet somewhere in
2:01
the middle. You are correct.
2:03
Yes, damaging reviews from not
2:05
only just the HOA but all the
2:06
people in the HOA so you can
2:08
have multiple Facebook, Google,
2:09
Yelp reviews. It could spiral
2:11
into a really downward, ugly
2:13
situation for you. Now,
2:15
hopefully, we do have an
2:17
insurance coverage and that
2:19
will be covered. So, maybe a
2:22
payment four to 500 or a
2:24
thousand as a deductible. We’ll
2:25
cover you. That’s probably the
2:27
road I would go through and let
2:29
your insurance company handle
2:29
it after at least having a
2:31
conversation. Don’t emit any
2:33
fault or guilt because you
2:34
could get yourself trouble
2:35
right off the bat. Um but
2:37
technically my my opinion on
2:39
this one and we’ve been there
2:41
is that you are probably on the
2:42
hook. That’s why we have
2:43
insurance. But the lesson to be
2:45
learned here is we really need
2:46
to go out and protect ourselves
2:49
as contractors. And be upfront
2:51
with our bidding process. So
2:53
I’m going to show an example of
2:53
a residential contract that we
2:56
use in our company. Some of the
2:58
verbiage was pretty much
2:59
identical for commercial snow
3:01
removal. It was actually a
3:01
little more lengthy. I
3:02
literally just read this and
3:03
I’ve gotta hop on, believe it
3:04
or not my lawyer in five or 6
3:06
minutes to update some
3:07
contracts. So, I was like, let
3:08
me answer this in the next five
3:09
or 6 minutes but if you can’t
3:11
see this here, the area that I
3:13
highlighted is, well, actually,
3:15
I’m going to read through all
3:16
of it ‘cuz it actually, you
3:17
need to go in whether it’s
3:19
residential or commercial. Like
3:20
I said, the commercial contract
3:20
is a little more lengthy and
3:22
more detailed but these are the
3:23
main things you need in any
3:25
snow removal contract in my
3:26
opinion. The driveway will be
3:28
plowed. When the snow falls and
3:29
accumulates from the sky on the
3:31
driveway with a total
3:32
accumulation of three inches in
3:35
non-obstructed areas. Sounds
3:36
obvious to us but we are not
3:38
plowing under cars. We are not
3:40
coming back after the cars are
3:41
moved. Unobstructed areas. Now,
3:43
in a commercial situation, we
3:44
need to define, are we coming
3:46
back to plow the parking lots
3:47
that have cars in them? What is
3:49
the time span that we’re
3:50
actually doing this in and what
3:52
is the length of time we’re
3:53
willing to wait? If any, to
3:55
hurt people to move their cars
3:57
because you could have a 15 to
3:58
20-minute cleanup run for some
4:00
parking spots in an HOA or
4:01
general parking area that could
4:02
turn into a to five-hour
4:04
ordeal. Complete with honking
4:06
and people running into your
4:07
truck or each other. So, those
4:09
are things I would recommend in
4:10
the commercial end that we add
4:11
into that. In addition,
4:14
highlighted area, the company,
4:16
Callahan’s Lawn Care is not
4:17
responsible and will be held
4:19
harmless for any previous
4:21
driveway damage and or any that
4:23
may occur since all driveways
4:26
or pavement conditions are not
4:27
the same. And we also included
4:30
inside that contract in the
4:31
commercial end that to the fact
4:33
that we couldn’t see the
4:35
conditions on a nightly basis
4:36
or daily basis underneath the
4:38
snow. We were not able to
4:39
actually monitor some of the
4:41
conditions throughout the snow
4:43
event. So if damage happened,
4:43
we were not taking
4:47
responsibility that. Callahan’s
4:49
will also be held harmless for
4:50
any slip and fall on your
4:51
property or damages to siding
4:54
or fences directly next to the
4:57
plow area. All equipment is new
4:59
and properly maintained to
5:00
avoid damage. So we’ve held
5:01
ourselves harmless. So, we if
5:03
we went and got sued, this
5:06
alleviated is from slip and
5:07
fall liabilities, any damage to
5:08
the property. Now, the big
5:09
thing you’re going to see with
5:10
property management companies
5:11
is they’re going to try to
5:12
force you to sign their
5:14
contract which eliminates any
5:15
of the rights you may have. I’m
5:17
going to highly recommend it.
5:19
All costs and you do not sign
5:21
it and if you do have to sign
5:23
it, have your lawyer review it
5:24
and add amendments to it that
5:26
are attached and signed to it
5:27
to get you off the hook for
5:29
some of these things. Uh we got
5:30
sued for an HOA where gentleman
5:32
from a garbage this company
5:35
slipped and fell on the
5:36
driveway of one of the homes in
5:37
the HOA are only responsible
5:40
for salting the main roadways.
5:42
So, we add an addendment to
5:44
that particular contract that
5:45
we were not responsible to any
5:49
of the non-salted areas for
5:50
slip and fall liabilities such
5:51
as the sidewalks and driveways
5:53
that we did not maintain. In
5:55
addition to actually still
5:57
being held harmless for the
5:58
main driveways. We will not
5:59
guarantee an exact time the
6:01
driveways plowed you the way
6:02
the snow may accumulate. You
6:03
may be locked into some really
6:05
stringent timelines but if it
6:06
starts snowing at three, four
6:07
in the morning, Um it doesn’t
6:09
hit the trigger till six and
6:10
everybody rolls out at 6thirty.
6:12
You can’t be there on that
6:14
timeline. Just impossible. So
6:15
set the cadence and
6:17
expectations upfront. Also not
6:19
responsible for snow drifts.
6:20
Snow plowed by the town part
6:23
trucks on sidewalk or apron if
6:25
snow prevents entrance into the
6:26
driveway or maybe damaging the
6:28
vehicle. It may be plowed out
6:29
at your request which we charge
6:30
an additional fee. In addition,
6:33
down here at the bottom, I
6:34
want to bring kind of to this
6:36
because this is going to happen
6:38
snow market eventually if it
6:39
hasn’t. So, in 2014, Upstate
6:42
New York, Buffalo. Buffalo had
6:43
snow, no joke, literally up to
6:45
the gutters of the first-story
6:46
homes. Uh City went into a
6:47
state of emergency for probably
6:50
about a week but we wanted to
6:52
put a contingency in there. In
6:53
the event of a snow emergency
6:55
where a one-ton truck cannot
6:56
plow the driveway, load of
6:58
services available at an
7:00
additional charge at market
7:02
rate, several feet of snow in a
7:04
24-hour period similar to the
7:05
2014 snow storm in Buffalo, New
7:06
York that was absolutely
7:09
paramount and it did save us
7:11
because we did have a couple
7:12
massive storms where it at
7:14
least bought us some more time.
7:16
We didn’t need to bring the
7:17
loader but if we did, we were
7:18
able to charge for it legally.
7:20
So, my suggestion here is talk
7:23
to the HOA, see if they’re
7:25
reasonable, don’t necessarily
7:27
commit to anything. If you can
7:28
have a somewhere in the middle
7:30
agreement that’s amicable, that
7:31
saves you some insurance,
7:33
great. If not, have your
7:33
insurance come in, pay for it
7:35
but by all means add these
7:37
things into your contract, talk
7:38
to a lawyer each year, put them
7:40
on a retainer for a couple
7:41
hundred dollars, a 000 a year,
7:43
and have them review this as
7:44
the laws change. So, those are
7:47
the things, unfortunately, I
7:48
think you probably are on the
7:49
hook for this, you know, but
7:51
that’s why we have insurance
7:52
but do your due diligence and
7:54
make sure that we’ve got these
7:55
and if you are forced to sign
7:56
the HOA contract, have your
7:57
lawyer review it and add some
7:59
amendments that are attached to
8:00
it. So, hopefully, protect you
8:01
as the contractor and
8:03
potentially protect your client
8:04
as well from different slip and
8:06
fall liabilities because if
8:08
somebody goes down in that HOA,
8:09
they’re not only suing the
8:11
contractor but they’re suing
8:12
the HOA and probably whoever
8:14
owns the unit if they go down
8:15
to that unit. So, by doing
8:16
this, you can protect yourself,
8:17
the HOA, and the management
8:19
group because they’re going to
8:20
get wrapped up into that
8:21
lawsuit as well. So, Callahan’s
8:23
Corner s, you ask the
8:24
questions, we answer them live
8:25
right here on Facebook.

Transcript:
0:02
Corner. Were you asked a
0:02
question? We had some live
0:03
right here on Facebook. Had
0:04
another great messenger
0:06
question submitted last week.
0:08
Um I’ll paraphrase it here but
0:10
basically, a gentleman is
0:11
saying that Mike, I hardly ever
0:13
get time to have one-on-one
0:14
meetings with my office staff,
0:15
my crew leaders, and some of my
0:17
managers and what I do have
0:19
these meetings, I’m not really
0:21
sure what to talk about and
0:23
they seem to, if I’m
0:24
paraphrasing here, be all over
0:26
the place with no organization
0:27
and if I’m reading between the
0:29
lines here, probably don’t have
0:29
a of value in the managers, the
0:33
crew leaders, and the office
0:34
staff really don’t enjoy them
0:36
and there’s really no need to
0:38
have these unless they’re
0:38
organized. So, this is
0:40
something actually we’ve been
0:41
working with and going to be
0:42
instituting in the Simba Girl
0:44
Scout Group where we have
0:45
one-to-one coaching with
0:48
business owners under a million
0:50
dollars in our over a million
0:51
dollar basically consulting
0:53
group is our masterminds group
0:55
but I’m going to open up the
0:56
screen here. So, if somebody
0:57
owns a service business, this
0:58
is pretty much what we in my
1:01
service business as well. Um
1:02
and feel free to take a look at
1:04
it and you know institute this
1:06
in your own business here. So,
1:07
let me flip the screen over
1:08
here and pop this open. So,
1:10
this is something if you’re in
1:11
the scout group with Simple
1:12
Growth with the one-on-one
1:14
consulting two and a half hours
1:15
with our seven-figure business
1:16
experts. Uh you’re going to be
1:18
seeing here shortly but this is
1:19
something we used in my
1:21
business here and this is what
1:22
we’ve been looking at on a
1:24
weekly basis. So, on the far
1:26
left here, we’re going to be
1:27
walking through and this is a
1:28
10 to 15-minute exercise with
1:30
some things off to the right
1:32
that need to be prepared before
1:33
the meeting. Uh top of mind,
1:34
things we should talk about.
1:35
So, you’re actually engaging
1:37
this and the employee, not the
1:40
managers filling this out to
1:41
have ownership. Uh priority
1:43
since we last met, what have
1:44
you been working on? Uh
1:45
priorities until we meet again.
1:47
Top things you’re going to be
1:49
focusing on from now until the
1:50
next time we meet. Positive
1:52
things that went well this
1:53
week. Recent wins and positive
1:54
news. We’re going to frame it
1:56
with positivity and see what’s
1:57
going on. Uh next thing is our
1:59
Challenges. Roadblocks and
2:01
concerns that we can work we
2:02
can work out. And last thing is
2:05
feedback, recognition, and
2:07
suggestions for improvement. So
2:09
whether it’s a crew leader for
2:09
a landscape maintenance
2:11
company, a cleaning tech with a
2:13
multi-person crew, a manager,
2:15
or the office. This all
2:17
basically on the left hand side
2:18
fits in perfectly. Now, what
2:21
we’re looking at here on the
2:21
far right is probably going to
2:23
be more for a manager or
2:25
business owner. But this is the
2:26
things that we should be doing
2:27
on a weekly basis. The things
2:29
on the left here even as the
2:30
business owner, I have a
2:32
personal coach that I meet with
2:33
every Friday for an hour, not
2:34
cheap but we have these types
2:36
of accountability. So, these
2:37
are some of the things that I
2:39
actually do in my current
2:39
business as well as the lawn
2:40
care business. So, on the left
2:43
here, or in the middle, we’re
2:45
looking at employment
2:47
recruitment in virtual bench.
2:48
If you ever heard me talk about
2:49
stacking the virtual bench, we
2:50
should always be interviewing
2:52
at least twice a week.
2:53
Traditionally, Monday,
2:54
Wednesday, and sometimes
2:55
Friday. We’re stacking the
2:56
virtual bench. So, when we meet
2:57
an employee and we we don’t
3:00
have a basically a virtual
3:02
bench set almost like a farm
3:04
team for a sports club. It’s
3:05
too late. So, we need to have
3:07
those people already readily
3:08
available on screen before we
3:10
go out and hire. So, what I’m
3:11
going to recommend is go out
3:12
and interview two to three
3:13
times a week and we should be
3:15
tracking this for our cadence
3:16
to see where these interview
3:17
people coming from or
3:19
applicants are coming from. So,
3:20
this Thursday for the scale
3:21
group, we’ve got a whole hour
3:22
about going out and doing paid
3:25
advertisements for in in a in a
3:28
recruiting process to go out
3:30
and get employees when you need
3:31
them but also to stack that
3:33
virtual bench. So, we’re
3:34
going to put the date of the
3:35
week in here. How many
3:36
interviews were booked? How
3:38
many showed? How many were
3:39
hired? And then how many were
3:40
qualified to go on that virtual
3:42
event? So, what we’re doing is
3:43
creating a cadence of
3:43
accountability throughout each
3:46
week tracking your employment
3:48
process. I’ll tell you folks,
3:50
including myself in the early
3:51
days, we did not do this and
3:53
man, when we we stopped doing
3:55
this, we got in trouble. So,
3:56
really need to go out right in
3:58
my opinion, several times a
3:59
week and go out and recruit
4:00
even if we don’t need anybody
4:01
because you’re going to find
4:03
these applicants that you may
4:05
be able to use. So, the
4:06
gentleman who ran my company, I
4:07
found him about a year and a
4:08
half, two years earlier than I
4:09
needed him but it was a perfect
4:11
applicant. So, we moved some
4:11
money around and made it happen
4:13
but like I said, when you’re
4:14
going out to find that person
4:15
when you need them right in
4:16
that time and then, BDC, you’re
4:18
not going to find it. So, we
4:19
need to go out and recruit
4:19
beforehand. So, I’m suggesting
4:21
that our weekly meeting summary
4:23
from the following week for the
4:25
previous week, we go in
4:25
interviews interview showed,
4:27
hired, added to the virtual
4:29
bench. And then the final thing
4:30
based on the position, this
4:32
would be great for crew leaders
4:34
as well. Uh, in the field and
4:36
managers is the week of the
4:38
total budgeted hours for either
4:40
that crew that they’re in
4:42
charge of or the whole entire
4:43
division or company if they’re
4:45
managing that whole entire
4:46
company depending on the size
4:47
of it. But we want to know the
4:48
total budgeted hours, total man
4:49
hours work, and over and under
4:51
man hours. Now I would also
4:53
suggest here in the space
4:54
below, we have something about
4:56
quality because production that
4:58
is not aligned with quality
4:59
work is not going to be a
5:01
benefit. So, I would go in and
5:02
probably put some kind of
5:04
internal ranking like we did.
5:06
We did internal QC test and
5:08
then, we also had a portion
5:10
that based on the clients
5:11
calling in compliments or
5:13
complaints. So, those are the
5:14
things I I’d suggest you be
5:16
looking at but a quick summary
5:17
here, top of mind, things we
5:18
should talk about here.
5:20
Priority since we last met,
5:21
what have we been working on?
5:22
Priorities until we meet again.
5:24
Top things you’re focusing on
5:24
from until the next time we
5:27
meet, things that went well
5:28
this week, recent winds and
5:29
positive news and then we’re
5:31
looking at our challenges,
5:32
roadblocks, concerns, and ways
5:33
we can work them out and then
5:35
feedback, recognition, and
5:38
things for improvement. So,
5:39
these are the things that I
5:40
would suggest on your weekly
5:41
meetings with crew leaders,
5:43
managers, and office personnel,
5:46
a version of this is going to
5:47
be in, and then whoever’s
5:48
responsible for your
5:49
recruiting, right here, weekly,
5:52
how many interviews you were
5:52
booked, how many showed up, how
5:53
many hired, how many stuck
5:54
filtered to bench that were
5:56
qualified and then production
5:58
wise, budget, total hours work
6:01
over and under budget and I
6:01
would have a quality thing in
6:03
here and the final thing that
6:05
I’d be looking at off to the to
6:06
right here that is not on here
6:08
yet is I’d be also looking at
6:09
total client count, total
6:12
cancelled clients, new clients,
6:14
and net new and those are
6:16
going to be metrics across a
6:18
service business. I’m going to
6:19
recommend you look at on a
6:21
summarized weekly basis. So, if
6:22
you’re wondering how to go out
6:23
and tackle weekly one-on-one
6:28
meetings, this is what we do.
6:29
Every every week at Simple
6:31
Growth, every Tuesday, the
6:32
second half of the day, I’m
6:32
doing one-on-one meetings,
6:34
creates clarity, and we can go
6:35
in and better support the team
6:36
members and in a turn, better
6:38
support our customers. So,
6:40
comments, questions, drop
6:41
below. Callahan’s Corner. You
6:43
ask the questions. We answer
6:44
them

Transcript:
0:00 Make a quick video. I had a
0:02
question submitted right now
0:04
with the crazy gas prices and
0:07
needing to cover drive time.
0:08
How do we actually go out for
0:09
best practice and institute
0:11
this into a software program to
0:13
make sure that each and every
0:15
job moving forward that is
0:17
estimated includes travel time
0:19
and approximate cost to cover
0:22
the labor, overhead, and the
0:24
gas. As well as if you’re doing
0:27
design, build, or landscape
0:28
maintenance far as like mulch
0:29
installation shrub pruning,
0:31
things like that. How do we
0:33
account for the travel time and
0:34
the gas cost that’s passed on
0:37
to the client but it’s not
0:38
shown upfront as an extra line
0:40
item itself. So, what I’m
0:42
going to do is open up a
0:43
software that we work with,
0:44
Service Autopilot and show you
0:45
how this is done. Uh the final
0:47
product that I’m going to
0:48
reverse engineer it over the
0:49
next 10 to 15 minutes but this
0:50
is going to be applicable to
0:52
any software that you’re using.
0:53
If you’re not using a software,
0:54
this is a great option to go
0:57
out and build this into your
0:57
system. This is something we’ve
0:58
done in my company since about
1:00
two thousand8 when gas prices
1:04
skyrocketed and we hit a
1:05
recession. So, this is tried
1:06
and tested and we’ve done this
1:08
for hundreds and hundreds of
1:09
companies over the years. I’m
1:10
going to show you actually how
1:11
to build this out yourself
1:12
here. So, comment your
1:13
questions, drop em below but
1:15
that’s how we’re going to do
1:16
it. So, right now, I’m going to
1:17
go in and this is the workflow
1:18
of how it’s going to happen in
1:19
your office and I’ll actually
1:20
show you how to set this up.
1:22
So, first thing I want to do is
1:23
go in. Uh this product here
1:25
service autopilot. This can be
1:26
done. Um even with an excel
1:28
sheet but if you’re not doing
1:29
you should be doing this in a
1:31
software. If not, at least a
1:32
Google sheeter sells sheet. So,
1:34
what I’m going to do is put in
1:34
the first blame and last name
1:37
of our lead. So, they’re
1:38
calling your office imagine and
1:40
we’re going in now and just
1:41
having a conversation asking
1:44
them where their property is.
1:46
Now, this could be commercial
1:47
or residential, really doesn’t
1:49
matter. and we put in the
1:54
postal code and then the system
1:55
if it’s in question is going to
1:56
ask us what city and state that
1:58
is. Now, we’ve got information.
2:00
You notice the service address
2:01
is automatically going into the
2:02
billing address and we’re
2:03
going to want to put in an
2:04
Email address so we can
2:06
actually send them out a
2:08
estimate with the gas prices
2:11
and overhead included in it and
2:13
we would put their cellphone
2:14
number in there so we could
2:15
follow up with an automated
2:16
system to text them and make
2:17
sure they got this estimate.
2:19
Final couple things I recommend
2:21
that you’re doing before we get
2:21
to this. Uh things you should
2:23
be tracking is the account type
2:24
commercial and residential and
2:26
finally the sales. Uh how’d you
2:28
how’d you hear about it? So, I
2:28
heard about you from your nine
2:29
around direct mailing. Or the
2:32
every direct door. EDM, every
2:34
direct door mailing with the
2:35
long copy of the picture. So
2:37
we’ve got them into the
2:37
software. We’re going to pull
2:40
him up. Now, we’re working this
2:41
lead over the phone and this is
2:42
where we actually kind of are
2:43
tackling the question at hand.
2:45
How do we go out and build for
2:46
these things and not raise a
2:49
red flag with the future
2:50
client? So, what we’re going to
2:51
do is go into the more tab and
2:53
I’m going to go into property
2:54
measurement and actually
2:55
measure out this property. Now,
2:56
I’m going to show you here
2:57
shortly how we actually have
2:58
the math going in here but I
2:59
want to draw some context to
3:01
this. So, right inside the
3:02
software, we’re going to go in
3:04
and measure that area. and got
3:09
a little busy with the clicking
3:10
here but let me go in and
3:11
measure this out. So, I’m just
3:13
grabbing the turf area. So,
3:14
this could be for lawn mowing,
3:16
could be fertilization, could
3:18
be any service. Right now, I’m
3:19
going to do a lawn mowing
3:20
example just for real basic
3:23
travel time and gas
3:24
recuperation. So, we’ve got the
3:26
area here. I’m going to
3:27
recommend if especially if
3:28
you’re using service autopilot,
3:29
you want to go in and color
3:31
code these. and name it. So,
3:33
every time we come up to the
3:35
client record, we know the
3:36
areas we’re servicing, what
3:36
we’re on the hook for. This is
3:38
a test account. It’s got a ton
3:40
of these custom fields but what
3:41
I’ve done is embedded a couple
3:43
emojis here. So, that will make
3:45
your sorting a little bit
3:47
easier. So, that’s a little pro
3:48
tip here if you are using
3:49
service autopilot. So, we’re
3:50
going to hit save and we’ve
3:51
gone in and adjusted this. So,
3:55
once we save that custom field,
3:57
we’re going to go in and add an
3:59
estimate. So, I’m going to do a
4:00
lawn mowing estimate. I’m also
4:01
going to do one for mulch
4:03
installation as well. So, we
4:04
actually can see how to add
4:07
material pickup as well as the
4:09
drive time based on location.
4:11
So, like I said, we’re going to
4:13
open this up and show you how
4:14
to actually build this but this
4:15
is the actual idea. So, I’m
4:16
going to go and grab my
4:17
template and all my services
4:20
are going to load here in a
4:21
second and what we’ve done is
4:23
at 8400 square feet is now that
4:25
I measured on the map
4:26
automatically comes in. On all
4:28
this is fictitious, you need to
4:29
make your own pricing but based
4:31
on the model that we set up
4:32
here, it’s charging $30 for the
4:34
on-site only mowing, weed wa
4:37
blowing, and edging. Uh we said
4:39
that’s going to take point four
4:40
man hours and based on the
4:41
hourly cost in his test
4:43
account. It’s costing us $14
4:44
and 76 cents before we make a
4:47
profit. So that comes out to be
4:48
about a 50% net profit bottom
4:50
line in your bank account. Now
4:52
you ask how do we account for
4:53
the drive times? Like I said,
4:55
this is actually from my
4:56
company, Callahan’s Lawn Care.
4:58
We’ve recreated this in this
4:59
test account. Uh but we’ve got
5:00
several areas. So if you’re in
5:02
Upstate New York, over in
5:04
Rochester, New York, these are
5:04
going to actually look
5:06
familiar. These are postal
5:08
codes. So, one, four, five,
5:08
three, four, one, four, four,
5:10
five, oh, some members on our
5:12
development team actually live
5:12
out there in Fairport. One,
5:14
four, five, two, six. In Greece
5:16
and Irondequoit, we’re right
5:17
near our shop. So, what we
5:18
would do is the admin in the
5:20
office would simply go by the
5:20
zip code and go in and
5:23
literally click in here. So, if
5:25
you’re going to this first zip
5:26
code, we just type the one in
5:27
there because we’re going there
5:28
once and it calculates its. 16
5:31
man hour. So, it multiplies it
5:32
by your hourly rate and
5:33
calculated $8 and nine cents.
5:35
Now, conversely, if we were
5:37
right by our shop and we did it
5:38
here in this Greece area, it’s
5:39
only $three dollarsand twenty3
5:41
cents and point oh six. So, it
5:43
allows you to basically be more
5:47
competitive, price wise, closer
5:50
to your shop but what we’ve
5:51
done is taking the map and the
5:54
routes of all our jobs and all
5:57
the jobs that are in the one,
5:59
four, five, three, four, postal
6:01
code. We’ve averaged them in.
6:03
So, if there’s five different
6:04
days we’re out there, we took
6:05
those five days on average
6:07
through the mapping program and
6:09
from the shop all the way
6:10
through those jobs and back was
6:11
the total time. Um not
6:15
basically drive-time
6:15
allocation. So, if there was 1
6:18
hour of drive time in those 30
6:19
stops, that would be 2 minutes
6:21
of average drive time per
6:23
visit. So, that’s how the math
6:25
has worked in here. Now, based
6:27
on this in a break it out here
6:30
in an Excel sheet a little bit
6:31
in a minute. How did we figure
6:32
out the drive time caustic
6:33
fence and actually add that
6:34
into that charge? I’m going to
6:36
get to that but this is what it
6:36
looks like in the software and
6:39
now, all the clients going to
6:39
see is lawn mowing here for
6:41
thirty-eight oh 9. 56 man hours
6:45
and a cost of twenty-six
6:47
seventy-four. So, we’ve got
6:48
about a 45% net profit margin
6:51
long as the guys and girls on
6:52
the crew hit their budgeted
6:54
time with equality. So, we’re
6:55
going to go to drafted quote.
6:57
Now, this is a live estimate we
6:58
built in the on-site time
7:00
specific to the machines we’re
7:01
using so you could break it out
7:03
to a sixty, a fifty-two, a
7:04
forty-eight, a push mower. Um
7:06
all those different things.
7:07
Backyard and front yard with or
7:09
without a gate, a smaller
7:10
mower. All these variables can
7:11
be built in here with that
7:13
drive time and overhead cost
7:14
effect. Now, in addition, if we
7:15
scroll down here I didn’t fill
7:19
out the on-site estimate form
7:19
but what would happen is you’ve
7:21
got one, two, or three inches
7:23
depths of bed. So, I’m going to
7:25
say we’re going out to this
7:25
residential property and it’s a
7:27
little more the top dress but
7:28
it’s two-inch addition, two
7:29
inches of additional depth. So,
7:31
we would plug in say 600 square
7:32
feet and what that’s going to
7:34
do is calculate $330 for the
7:38
three yards of mulch, three
7:39
hours to get it done, and 198
7:42
labor materials. That’s a 40%
7:43
profit margin. So, now, what we
7:45
can do is we figure on average
7:47
is how long is this going to
7:49
take to actually either fill up
7:51
the dump truck or the dump
7:55
trailer on site or drive to a
7:57
nursing unit filled and get to
7:58
that property on average in our
8:00
service area. So, based on
8:02
this, let’s say
8:06
this is 1, 200 square feet and
8:08
that’s six yards of malt. So,
8:10
maybe our dump trailer or dump
8:11
truck can only handle four,
8:13
five yards of mulch. That’s
8:13
actually going to make us go to
8:14
the shop twice and actually
8:17
wore the nursery and fill up
8:18
twice for the wholesaler. So,
8:19
what I could do is put in two
8:21
units here and it would be an
8:23
extra $42 dollars and 90 cents
8:24
and point 66 man hour. So,
8:26
we’ve covered the drive time
8:28
and the drive time gas effect
8:31
for that individual to go and
8:32
refill that dump truck twice.
8:34
So, these are the keys to
8:36
success that I usually see when
8:37
we set these up. We’ve done
8:39
this for my company. Uh
8:40
multi-seven-figure business as
8:42
well as hundreds of other
8:43
businesses anywhere from a half
8:44
a million to all all the way up
8:46
to 19 to 20 million in annual
8:48
revenue and it works on scale
8:49
but we need to do is build this
8:51
in here and be able to hit save
8:52
and have a system that a very
8:56
can measure this or enter data
8:58
in or someone in the field
8:59
through their mobile device and
9:00
be able to create these
9:02
estimates in a systematic way
9:03
that covers that drive time,
9:04
gas effect, and budgeted time.
9:06
It projects profit. So, once we
9:09
have this, we can go in
9:10
literally and hit Email and
9:13
what it’s going to do is pull
9:15
up a an Email here and here it
9:18
is right here and we’ve got a
9:20
pretemplated Email button. You
9:22
can click if you’re on your
9:23
mobile in the five major
9:24
reasons why our business is
9:26
different than other
9:26
businesses. So, this right here
9:28
is basically incorporation of a
9:30
lead letter and it
9:31
differentiates yourself and
9:32
you’ve built it enough value
9:33
into this before they get the
9:34
estimates. So, price is not the
9:36
issue. So, what I’m going to do
9:37
is hit send real quick and on
9:38
my other screen, I’m going to
9:40
pull up my Email real quick so
9:40
you can see what the consumer
9:42
is getting and how we built
9:43
that in and then in the next
9:44
five to 8 minutes, I’m going to
9:46
actually go in and show you how
9:47
to build this out inside your
9:50
software system here. So, this
9:54
is going to be, in my opinion,
9:56
instrumental right now with
9:58
everything that’s going on in
10:01
the industry right now. So,
10:02
what we’ve got here is inside
10:03
my Email inbox. The ability to
10:04
go and see the Email that was
10:06
already pretemplated. Nobody’s
10:08
writing an Email. It’s said it
10:09
and forget it. We’ve got some
10:10
testimonials in here. Um and
10:12
what we’re going to do is the
10:13
customer now is going to click
10:14
view my proposal and as this
10:16
opens up, we’ve got it right
10:18
here. Step one, select the
10:20
services. Step 2, accept and
10:21
sign. Now, what I’m going to
10:23
recommend for best practice,
10:24
don’t have all this verbiage in
10:25
here but in this test account,
10:27
we’ve got all the verbiage to
10:28
say, hey, you can put as much
10:29
details you want in here or you
10:31
have a couple things spilling
10:33
the exact service and
10:34
underneath in in the contract
10:36
or the estimate terms you have,
10:37
the finer details but once
10:38
again, it’s got that
10:39
thirty-nine oh nine in there
10:40
per cut includes the drive time
10:42
and budgeted time. Consumer can
10:44
click it and another key to
10:45
success is we can go in and
10:48
have a video embedded live
10:50
inside the estimate that
10:52
actually talks about what’s
10:53
included, not included in the
10:54
service, and we can create more
10:56
perceived value. So, this video
10:57
myself in here was our our
10:59
automated salesperson,
11:00
literally twenty-four seven.
11:02
Now, the mulch insulation
11:03
obviously, we could’ve updated
11:05
the details but we built this
11:07
out as a test account but you
11:08
got $702 and 90 cents. That
11:10
actually include the mulch
11:13
installed, I believe it was six
11:14
yards and it includes the drive
11:16
time for two different visits
11:17
with the dump trucker dump
11:19
trailer. So, that’s the idea
11:20
here. Now, obviously, we can go
11:21
in and update that and another
11:24
pro tip here. So, if we went
11:25
in, you can go in on the fly
11:29
and update this one off.
11:31
Traditionally, you want that
11:32
all loaded in but what you
11:33
could do is includes mulch,
11:43
flavor or mulch, installation
11:47
of double round,
11:56
and you can put that in there.
11:58
So, you can obviously put some
11:59
more details and everything.
12:00
You could customize it on the
12:01
fly, hit save. Cool thing here
12:03
is when I go to view my
12:05
proposal and I actually refresh
12:07
this. Uh system hasn’t caught
12:11
up but that would actually
12:12
update this system here. So, we
12:14
go and see if I can get this to
12:15
actually update for us just so
12:16
I can show you the live update.
12:18
This is a cool trick. You can
12:20
also do this for change
12:22
requests as well. And actually
12:24
get that to come out.
12:28
and
12:29
we’ll give it one more try.
12:31
Alright, so right there, it
12:32
automatically updates that. So,
12:34
that’s another pro tip. You can
12:35
update those until some excepts
12:36
or doesn’t accept it which
12:37
means you can also update the
12:38
price. So, that’s what it’s
12:40
going to look like finish.
12:41
You’re going to measure it
12:42
through the mapping program.
12:43
Probably have an on-site
12:44
estimate form to plug in the
12:46
square footage of the mulch
12:46
better measured online. We’ve
12:48
included the additional drive
12:50
time in there for the mulch and
12:53
we’ve included it for the lawn
12:54
mowing based on postal code.
12:56
here. So, As we’re going in,
12:58
this is how we actually fill
13:00
this out. So, if our dollar per
13:03
hour goal is say, let’s say $65
13:05
and we’ve gone through a
13:07
financial overhead recovery
13:09
model. So, we know it’s costing
13:11
us $42 per man hour break even.
13:13
That’s including your average
13:15
fuel cost. Now, at the higher
13:17
rate, that’s going to be built
13:18
in. So, what we do is say,
13:19
okay, what’s our base price?
13:20
The lowest we would charge to
13:21
go in. So, I’m going to say at
13:22
4-5 bucks and based on that
13:25
equals 4-five divided by 6five
13:27
bucks an hour. The longest
13:29
amount of time I can take is
13:30
point six nine man hours right
13:32
here. Now, a lot of people are
13:33
going to be like, what is point
13:34
69 man hour mean? Well, that
13:36
means if one person was mow
13:38
blowing stick edging that
13:38
property, they’d have 41. 4
13:40
minutes to get that done.
13:41
That’s the most amount of time.
13:42
So, we’ve got that in there and
13:44
I’m going to say between one
13:45
and 5000 square feet is my base
13:48
price of forty-five and if I go
13:50
in and add some simple math
13:51
here, that budgeted time, time
13:53
is a break, even a 42 hour.
13:55
Coverage drive and gas here. Uh
13:58
that’s twenty-nine oh eight.
13:59
So, you’re charging 4five. It’s
14:01
cost you twenty-nine oh eight.
14:03
You got about a thirty-five
14:04
percent profit margin of
14:05
fifteen ninety-two. In this
14:07
example, now, what I’m going to
14:08
say is a very basic model.
14:09
Every thousand square feet over
14:10
the first 5000 is let’s say our
14:13
production rate is 6 minutes
14:16
per thousand. That’s
14:17
significantly higher than it
14:19
probably would be but we’ll go
14:20
with it just for this example.
14:21
So, it’s point 10 or. 1 man
14:24
hour. So, if I would go in and
14:26
that multiply by my hour rate
14:28
of sixty-five, I would need to
14:30
charge $6 and 50 cents per
14:31
thousand and it would be
14:32
costing me $4 and 20 cents. So,
14:35
that’s the on-site labor and
14:37
how we create a system where
14:38
you measure it and that’s what
14:39
the math does in the back end
14:40
of the software. Now, for drive
14:43
time, I’m going to just put DT
14:45
one four six one two. That’s
14:47
the the postal code, okay? And
14:49
I would say from one to one
14:52
trips to that area, let’s just
14:53
say, on average, each stop the
14:54
drive from the shop, to the
14:57
first stop, all the way through
14:58
25 stops and back to the shop
14:59
again. Let’s say that takes
15:01
about 8 minutes drive time. So,
15:03
eight divided by 60 is point
15:06
one three. So, my price would
15:09
be the. point13 man hours times
15:11
6-5 bucks. It would make that
15:12
would ensure that I would have
15:14
to charge $8 and 67 cents per
15:18
stop to cover that non-billable
15:19
drive time and the additional
15:20
gas expenses built in to now
15:23
the forty-two an hour from the
15:25
38 and every one visit over the
15:28
first visit is an additional
15:29
eight seventy-six point one
15:30
three man hours and its cost is
15:32
560. So, that’s how we build in
15:34
the onsite versus the drive
15:35
time and that’s exactly what we
15:37
had inside service autopilot.
15:39
That’s what was going on behind
15:41
the scenes. Now, same idea as
15:43
the drive time here, pickup,
15:46
and delivery of materials, 65.
15:49
I’m going to move that 30 up to
15:50
$42 an hour break even based on
15:51
new gas prices and inflation
15:53
and once again, it’s a
15:54
one-to-one ratio. So, each
15:56
visit, if it took me forty
15:58
minutes to do at. 75 man hours,
16:01
I would have to charge at 65
16:05
bucks an hour, forty-eight, 75
16:07
per pickup of materials. So,
16:10
each pickup, it’s an additional
16:12
4eight seventy-five. Each
16:13
additional one is another
16:14
forty-eight seventy-five. What
16:15
we’re going to do then is go
16:17
into service autopilot under
16:20
the gear icon and this is where
16:21
it actually all comes together.
16:22
So, you’re going to build out
16:24
some things called custom
16:25
fields first. These are those
16:26
job variables. So, you’re
16:27
going to go and create
16:34
per square footage and it would
16:38
be built to a number and then
16:40
save a new and then you would
16:42
put in the one four six, one,
16:44
two, that’s the postal code,
16:47
that I had in the example.
16:49
Primetime, number of trips. Hit
16:51
say, next step is we’re
16:53
going to go into
16:57
services and build this out.
16:58
Now, we’re going to use a
16:59
simple growth blueprint here.
17:00
This blueprint, we blueprint it
17:02
before we build it just like we
17:03
build a house off of blueprint.
17:04
Do you not want to go in and do
17:06
this without a blueprint? So,
17:07
we’re going to do is add a
17:08
service and quickly, I’m
17:10
going to show you how to build
17:11
this out. So, you would have
17:12
your lawn mowing.
17:17
and
17:18
you would need to go in the
17:19
per unit, invoice description,
17:21
income account is going to be
17:23
maintenance services and
17:25
estimates what the subscription
17:27
is on the, on the estimate, and
17:29
then rate matrix, we go to
17:30
quantity rate times visits, we
17:32
would go in and pull up your
17:35
turf square footage, and the
17:37
one to 5000 square feet that
17:40
was on the blueprint here,
17:42
taking the top five lines and
17:44
bottom five lines and literally
17:45
put him in there and that’s as
17:47
easy it is. Now, you’ve built
17:48
in your overhead recovery and
17:49
job costing for your service
17:52
business. Now, this could be
17:53
lawn care, home cleaning, pest
17:54
control, pool services, holiday
17:56
lights. List goes on and on.
17:58
We’ve done this in multiple
17:59
industries. Uh asphalt
18:01
maintenance, you name it. So,
18:02
what we’re doing is just
18:04
literally taking these top five
18:05
lines and I’m driving it right
18:07
here. So, one to 5000 square
18:08
feet is forty-five bucks. And
18:12
We’ve got point 69 man hours.
18:18
and it is costing us 2908
18:22
before profit. So, you kind of
18:24
get the idea. We’re just
18:25
rebuilding that blueprint now.
18:26
The top five lines and the
18:27
bottom five lines. Each one of
18:29
these services and now they’re
18:31
connected in the back end of
18:32
the template. You measure it,
18:33
it pulls the math in. We know
18:35
the math is right because we
18:36
tested it in the blueprint and
18:37
now we have a way to create
18:39
systematic, repeatable
18:40
estimates can be delegated to
18:41
anybody in your business.
18:43
Callahan’s Corners, you ask the
18:44
question, we answer them live
18:45
right here on Facebook. Leave
18:46
your comments, questions below
18:47
but that’s how I recommend
18:49
tackling the drive time per
18:51
postal code or zone in your
18:52
business and up and delivery or
18:55
disposal of debris for your
18:57
landscape maintenance services
18:58
or your hardscaping services
19:00
and how you’d update that based
19:02
on the higher gas prices and
19:03
have that job-costing and
19:05
additional prices hidden in the
19:08
back end of the software that
19:08
you’re using. So, comment your
19:09
questions, drop below.
19:11
Callahan’s Corner US

Transcript:
1
Corner where you ask the
0:03
questions we answered live
0:03
right here on Facebook. So, had
0:05
a question submitted earlier
0:07
this week. Company business
0:08
owner wanted to know how do we
0:11
communicate with the crews to
0:11
get them to stop going to gas
0:15
stations and fast food joints
0:15
outside of their break time
0:18
because it’s absolutely burning
0:19
up their profits and with the
0:21
price of gas right now, it’s
0:23
eroding their bottom lines.
0:23
Well, folks, this is nothing
0:25
new if you’ve owned a service
0:27
business. After 25 years,
0:28
owning a lawn care and snow
0:29
removal business. This is
0:30
Something that every business
0:32
owner including myself has
0:34
dealt with but we really need
0:35
to be able to go out a
0:37
conceptualize what the cost of
0:38
that extra drive time is and if
0:41
you eventually move to a
0:43
pay-per-performance or peace
0:44
rate system, how you educate
0:46
your crew around making good
0:48
decisions and not bad decisions
0:50
and finally, even if you’re not
0:52
using a P3 to pay for
0:54
performance system, how do we
0:54
have a conversation? So, the
0:56
crew actually understands what
0:58
they’re doing for their budget
1:01
verse actual time and how this
1:03
craziness of stopping at
1:04
Wendy’s halfway across the city
1:06
for a frosty on a 90-degree day
1:08
is absolutely killing Ada
1:10
cruise efficiency. Their profit
1:11
in their pocket if they’re not
1:12
paid for performance and
1:14
killing the company at the same
1:15
time. The madness has gotta
1:17
end. Um just saw five or six
1:19
trucks in a Wendy’s parking lot
1:20
on the way to the office this
1:22
morning. All eating breakfast
1:23
with their feet up on the
1:24
dashboard. That company was
1:25
getting blood dry and if that
1:27
company had paid for
1:29
performance at peace rate,
1:30
those employees were doing
1:31
themselves some injustice. So,
1:32
I’m going to pop the screen
1:33
over in here. And really show
1:35
How we broke it down in my
1:36
company, Callahans Lawn Care
1:38
and explained to the crew
1:39
members how they actually were
1:41
hurting themselves because
1:42
they’re on a peace rate or pay
1:43
performance system and how we
1:45
can actually talk to crew
1:46
members even if they’re not on
1:47
that kind of system about the
1:49
impact and how we can educate
1:51
managers and business owners
1:53
what the net effect of that gas
1:54
station or Wendy’s stop is. So,
1:56
I’m going to pop the screen
1:57
open and talk about this here.
1:59
So, what we’ve got here is just
2:01
a blank sheet of paper. I’m
2:02
going to recommend you put this
2:02
on a dry erase board. A big in
2:04
the shop. I’m going to kind of
2:06
go free hand here. Uh but what
2:08
we’re looking at and this is
2:08
how you should be looking at
2:10
your jobs too. And if you don’t
2:11
have budgeted time, you really
2:12
need it because this is what
2:14
what’s going to happen if if
2:15
you don’t. So, I have got job A
2:19
right here. And I have got job
2:24
B. Over here And what we’ve got
2:28
going here is I’m going to bump
2:29
this up here a little bit so
2:31
everybody can kind of see it.
2:32
Alright, so I’ve got Jab A.
2:33
I’ve got job B. Imagine we’re
2:36
cutting job A and and we’re
2:36
going to we’re going to put as
2:40
food over here as a another
2:44
option. So, what we should be
2:46
doing as we have job A, job B,
2:48
job C, all the way through the
2:50
day is we should be talking to
2:52
the crew leaders that when they
2:53
leave job A here, the budgeted
2:56
time for job B start. Makes
2:58
sense, right? On average, we
3:00
need over the 25 or 30 stops a
3:02
day. The average drive time
3:03
should be built in the budgeted
3:04
times of those jobs. You need
3:05
to recover that overhead. As
3:06
well as From the shop, to the
3:08
first job, and from the last
3:10
job, back to the shop. So,
3:11
let’s say on average, it’s it’s
3:13
three to 5 minutes drive time
3:15
for this cruise. So, we’re
3:16
going to say it’s a two-man
3:16
crew for this this service
3:18
business, lawn care, home
3:19
cleaning, whatever, whatever
3:20
that may be in my home or lawn
3:23
care company. This is how we
3:24
had it. So, we’re not going to
3:27
have any budgeted time here but
3:28
we’re going to say this is a
3:30
thirty-minute the hours. So 30
3:33
minutes of budgeted hours. So,
3:35
theoretically, this crew here
3:38
after they finish this job that
3:40
30 minutes starts. So, they’re
3:42
driving over to there. So, I’ve
3:43
got 30 minutes to drive there,
3:46
mow blown edge, and click out
3:48
of my mobile device and then
3:49
I’m going to go on to job C.
3:51
So, this is the issue that
3:53
happens when our employees make
3:55
the fast food stop at the gas
3:57
station stop but imagine this,
3:59
we’re going to be really
4:00
conservative here. This is
4:01
probably the best-case
4:03
scenario. We’ve got 5 minutes
4:04
here. So, from job A, they’re
4:06
driving five minutes to fast
4:08
food joint. We know the gas
4:11
station, the cigarette stop,
4:12
whatever they’re doing here,
4:13
probably going to be way more
4:14
than 5 minutes. Um but let’s
4:16
put that in as another 5
4:16
minutes here. And just take a
4:20
look at this. So you’ve got
4:21
your five minutes at the gas
4:23
station. You got five minutes
4:24
driving there. And I’m going to
4:26
say in the best case scenario
4:28
you got another 5 minutes. So,
4:30
real simple math here, if we’re
4:32
driving from job A, five
4:34
minutes to the fast food joint,
4:35
there are another 5 minutes
4:36
there, getting the frosty, and
4:37
another five minutes back to
4:39
job. B, that is with my math,
4:43
here is five times free. That’s
4:45
15 minutes for one person but
4:47
once again, we’ve got a two-man
4:49
crew there. So, we need to
4:51
multiply that by two. So, what
4:53
you kind of see here is
4:54
happened is we have created a
4:59
situation where by going five
5:01
minutes out of the way, another
5:03
five minutes at the gas station
5:04
or fast food, another 5 minutes
5:05
of job B. Technically, when we
5:07
leave job A, job B’s budgeted
5:09
time starts and I’ve got 30
5:11
minutes for job B and I’ve
5:13
already wasted 15 minutes times
5:15
two guys. So, I’ve eaten my 15
5:18
minutes times two. So, when I
5:19
get to job B, I’m already over
5:22
budget. So, if we’re paying
5:24
them pay for performance,
5:25
they’re getting paid for the
5:26
budgeted hours. So, if they do
5:27
this two to three times a day,
5:31
that’s going to affect their
5:31
pain in a negative way. Now,
5:33
you, the business owner, this
5:35
is, this is pretty detrimental
5:37
as well. So, let’s say right
5:38
now with gas prices and
5:39
inflation, it’s costing you
5:43
let’s say 38 to $40 per man
5:44
hour break even before we make
5:46
a profit. So, let’s round that
5:47
around in the middle of
5:48
thirty-nine dollars point 5.
5:52
So, what that has cost you in
5:55
expenses, not projected revenue
5:58
but just in expenses is you
6:00
have lost now an additional $19
6:04
and 50 cents. So, if this was
6:08
say a $40 cut, what you’ve done
6:12
is you’ve added additional
6:12
expense here. So, we won’t even
6:13
play with the forty but really
6:15
what this fast food joint stop
6:17
has caused you is is $19 and 50
6:20
cents. So, let’s say that these
6:23
guys do this two or three times
6:24
a day. You’re you’re looking at
6:26
40 to $60 of extra expense a
6:30
day and that’s not uncommon
6:32
that we’re seeing. So, let’s
6:33
just round it up to twenty
6:34
bucks. You’ve got 40 bucks a
6:36
day an additional expense,
6:38
times five days a week, times,
6:41
let’s just say a thirty-week
6:42
season. Actually, we’ll do it
6:44
thirty-six because even in the
6:46
northeast with fall cleanup,
6:46
spring cleanup, that’s about
6:48
what you’re running at. Believe
6:50
it or not, if they do that
6:52
three times a day over your
6:55
thirty-six-week season, they
6:56
have incorporated an extra
6:58
$7two hundred dollars of
7:00
expense Um so, we’ve gotta be
7:03
able to take a look at that and
7:05
have some accountability and
7:07
transparency. We’ll talk about
7:08
some KPIs, Jake Roberts
7:10
actually is in the Masterminds
7:12
Group at Simple Growth. We’re
7:13
going to be diving into KPIs
7:14
and how to make sure all of
7:15
this stuff is being accounted
7:17
for and how to track it on a
7:18
daily, weekly basis, and how to
7:20
actually talk to your crews to
7:20
do that so this is really
7:25
really important here, and what
7:26
I’m going to do is go into a
7:28
test account here that I have,
7:30
and I’m going to go in and pull
7:31
up a account, for Maps Pro, so
7:36
Google Maps. It doesn’t matter
7:37
what software you’re using
7:38
here, but I’m going to go in
7:39
and just pull up this test
7:40
account. So the second part of
7:42
this is, if they’re being
7:44
efficient, but you don’t have
7:45
standard standardized operating
7:48
procedures, you’re also hurting
7:49
yourself. So, a lot of the
7:51
companies that we’ve seen,
7:52
including myself in the early
7:53
days, they don’t have a a
7:56
standard way of handling how
7:59
they tackle where to park,
8:01
where to stop, where to do
8:02
these jobs. So, if you’re
8:04
looking at this house here in a
8:06
residential situation, let’s
8:07
not, let’s not accommodate
8:09
stick edging. There is a way to
8:10
do this but I’m just going to
8:11
sit a very simplistic way. If
8:13
you’re pulling up to this
8:14
house, where are you parking?
8:14
Are you parking over here with
8:15
these two cars are at? Are you
8:16
parking over here? So, before
8:19
you answer that, in my opinion,
8:22
you want to ask, which way is
8:23
the weed wacker carrying the
8:25
weed wacker? Is it off to the
8:26
right or is it off to the left?
8:27
In whatever way the head of the
8:30
weed wacker is on, the left or
8:30
the right where I’m parking.
8:33
So, if the guy’s holding it
8:34
like this and the weed wacker
8:35
heads right here, I’m parking
8:37
down here and what the reason
8:39
we’re doing is we’re
8:40
streamlining and creating
8:42
standardization. So, this will
8:43
save four to 6 minutes alone
8:45
every time consistently and
8:47
create better quality but what
8:48
we would do is he hops off the
8:50
trailer and he’s coming down
8:51
here and going around the
8:55
sidewalk on a 90 up the
8:56
driveway around the house and
8:58
the landscape badge here. Down
9:01
around the sidewalk, back over
9:03
here, and then right here and
9:05
when he’s here, the Carlos and
9:08
the team who trained these guys
9:09
said, don’t break the snake.
9:10
It’s a streamline thing. So, if
9:11
there’s even something right
9:13
next to it, you don’t weed
9:14
whack around it but if there’s
9:15
something in the front yard,
9:15
you grab it and we’re walking
9:17
around the house going down the
9:19
fence line. Maybe you’re
9:19
grabbing a shed. If there’s a
9:21
tree, we grab it and then we’re
9:23
walking all the way down back
9:24
to this truck and trailer. Now,
9:26
we’ve streamlined the process.
9:28
Ideally, this guy should be
9:29
done before the guy mowing. If
9:30
it’s two-man crew. He’s picking
9:33
up the blower very same
9:33
fashion. Blowing everything off
9:35
here. If the guy’s in the
9:38
backyard, he’s going to tackle
9:39
the rest of this year and then,
9:41
he’s going to go around the
9:42
house but hopefully, he’s going
9:43
up and back around the house.
9:46
And blowing that off. All in
9:47
one streamline fashion and if
9:49
we go in and use that same
9:50
system of going up and down and
9:54
around the house, blowing off
9:56
the mulch, coming back in here
9:58
and then going out round, load
10:01
off any swing sets or anything.
10:03
He’s back at the trailer or
10:05
truck with trailer and lifts
10:06
the gate for the guy there. But
10:08
the positive thing is now,
10:10
everything’s blown off in a
10:11
systematic fashion. Now, the
10:12
mower, in my opinion, should be
10:13
mowing the side yard up to the
10:14
back of the house, the whole
10:16
front and the side
10:20
before he goes into the backs,
10:22
everything’s done. He’s facing
10:23
an obviously away from the beds
10:24
in the house and then, most dry
10:27
or mowers are going to be
10:28
discharging from the right. So,
10:31
he’s going to go starting here
10:32
and coming back. Now,
10:33
obviously, we need to change
10:34
the directions but as he’s done
10:35
now, he’s coming back out
10:36
landing right at the truck and
10:38
trailer. So, you want to create
10:39
a standardized system or
10:39
procedure and then, the guy in
10:41
the mower is probably running
10:43
the crew can see way before a
10:46
guy misses something where he’s
10:46
going to miss it because he’s
10:47
doing it the same way. Now, if
10:48
this is a bigger House and the
10:52
guy weed whacking’s done and
10:53
he’s going to jump on another
10:54
sixty. He knows where the guy
10:56
is always starting and stopping
10:57
so he can start in an area and
10:59
work systematically towards
11:00
him. But creating a
11:01
standardized procedure like
11:02
this to where to park based on
11:04
the way the guys weed whacking
11:05
and basically a systematized
11:09
streamline way around the house
11:09
for weed whacking and blowing
11:11
and where they’re going to be
11:12
mowing first and mowing last
11:13
can save big big time and money
11:16
and create a better quality
11:17
product. So we tackled drive
11:18
time, how to talk about it, how
11:19
to those gas station or frosty
11:22
stops at Wendy’s and where we
11:24
park in the truck for
11:25
systemized predictability and
11:27
that’s going to improve the
11:28
quality and the ability for the
11:29
guy managing that crew to
11:31
double check that standard
11:32
process. So, questions or
11:34
comments, drop them below.
11:35
Callahans Corner. You ask the
11:36
questions. We answer them live
11:39
right here on Facebook

Transcript:
0:00
mike allen here want to make a quick
0:02
video took a quick run this uh afternoon
0:03
and we think about a conversation we had
0:05
with a couple of our lawn care uh
0:07
business friends and clients about um
0:10
the size of the business didn’t allow
0:12
for them to actually create room for
0:14
advancement when they were hiring and
0:16
when they actually onboarded and hired
0:18
employees
0:19
employees were looking for more of a
0:20
career they’d done one hell of a job
0:22
going in and finding a players that
0:24
wanted a career not just a seasonal job
0:27
but the issue that they’re facing is a
0:29
lot of these a players are investing a
0:31
lot of time a lot of money going out
0:32
recruiting and onboarding them
0:35
and got lucky enough to actually get
0:36
them on the team but once they got on
0:38
the team they realized there really was
0:39
no room for advancement which actually
0:41
wasn’t the case so what i’m going to
0:43
suggest right off the bat in your hiring
0:45
process no matter the size of your
0:46
business you can have room for
0:48
advancements i’m going to take the very
0:50
basic example of a lawn mowing crew
0:52
technician and crew leader imagine we
0:54
have a two-person crew doesn’t really
0:55
matter the size but i want to use on how
0:58
we can lay this into play so if we’re
1:00
hiring for a lawn care technician
1:03
we may have some clear defined levels of
1:05
the technician a technician in training
1:08
a
1:09
regular technician and then an advanced
1:11
technician so you’ve actually got three
1:13
different levels of a technician
1:14
technically they’re doing the same job
1:17
but as their pay goes up and their skill
1:19
level goes up we can actually have
1:21
basically micro levels of that same
1:24
position so now we can go in and
1:25
actually show three levels of
1:27
progression in a technician with
1:29
different skill sets and then that
1:30
advanced technician is actually starting
1:32
to take some responsibility in training
1:34
to become a crew leader what we did at
1:36
my company callahan’s lawn care is we
1:38
had a crew leader a head crew leader and
1:41
then above that we basically had an
1:43
advanced crew leader that basically was
1:44
trained to either become a manager for
1:46
quality control and training or actually
1:48
become an estimator so my suggestion
1:50
today no matter the size of your
1:51
business especially in today’s labor
1:53
market we need to go out and create
1:55
different levels of advancement within
1:57
the same position so even if you’re only
1:59
having two or three employees in your
2:00
team the technician example is a great
2:03
example technician training
2:04
regular technician advanced technician
2:07
and we’re not just going to in in
2:09
drive them into each position based on
2:12
seniority or tenure how long they’re
2:14
with the company we need clearly defined
2:16
um skill set and things they need to be
2:19
able to achieve to get to each level and
2:21
i’m also going to recommend especially
2:22
with the labor market right now
2:24
certification it doesn’t have to be
2:26
something really crazy but certification
2:28
that they have actually passed
2:31
either a physical or written test or
2:32
both based on each level now what this
2:35
is going to do is help you standardize
2:36
your operating procedures your sops for
2:38
onboarding and training and quality
2:41
control once we can go in and create two
2:43
to three sub micro um
2:46
levels of each position now when we go
2:48
out to recruit and actually retain those
2:51
employees we have room for advancement
2:53
and obviously we want our employees to
2:54
continue to advance and within the
2:56
organization eventually if you’re doing
2:58
a job right they’re probably going to
2:59
advance past your organization somewhere
3:00
depending on the size of it
3:02
but wouldn’t it be nice instead of
3:03
keeping on to a crew leader or
3:06
technician for half or full season two
3:08
to three seasons um and that learning
3:10
curve and then the ability to advance
3:11
through those so those need to be
3:12
clearly defined with no motion based on
3:14
kpis key performance indicators and i’m
3:17
suggesting a physical um if it’s in the
3:19
field with possibly a written test and
3:21
certification so not just everybody can
3:23
go from
3:25
technician to training to technician to
3:27
advanced technician it’s the people that
3:29
are putting in the the time and the work
3:30
and understand those levels um and this
3:32
is going to require you to
3:34
frame out some onboarding and really
3:35
create a standardized process but in
3:37
today’s labor market that’s going to be
3:38
the key to success no matter the size of
3:40
your business micro positions within the
3:42
position
3:43
crew leader
3:45
um head crew leader
3:47
and then advanced crew leader going into
3:49
training for management herself but
3:50
would it be really cool to have a
3:52
technician that’s been trained through
3:53
three different levels that understands
3:55
everything behind time become a crew
3:57
leader and if you imagine a crew leader
3:58
now getting to the top of their level
4:00
ready to get out of the truck and
4:02
understanding what it takes to be a
4:04
technician a certified advanced crew
4:06
leader and a head crew leader and then
4:08
eventually having them going into
4:10
marketing
4:11
sales
4:12
so you understand they understand all
4:13
the pain points and the things that need
4:15
to be done or going into quality coral
4:17
katrina because they’ve actually done it
4:18
and lived it um but when we do advance
4:20
in the training i also recommend that
4:21
the training is also going to have micro
4:23
levels in it because not everybody who
4:26
can do the job correctly can be a good
4:28
trainer so that’s a certain skill set we
4:30
need to look for and set some
4:31
expectations um and you kind of use the
4:33
analogy too so um don’t just throw
4:35
somebody out there to watch somebody
4:37
model it for two weeks so it’s kind of
4:38
like uh if you’ve got a kid going out to
4:40
learn how to drive i mean
4:42
the equivalent of having them sit in the
4:44
passengers and watch you watch you drive
4:45
for two weeks and then saying okay cool
4:47
take the wheel you’re ready to go take
4:48
your driver’s test that’s not going to
4:50
happen you’re going to set them up for
4:51
failures you’ve invested so much time
4:53
and money on the onboarding and
4:55
screening and interviewing make sure
4:57
that the onboarding and training is
4:58
specific and relevant and very clean cut
5:02
first impressions the only impression
5:03
but if you take the the idea of that
5:04
base technician we’re not just going to
5:06
say here’s how to start the weed whacker
5:08
go out and use it we’ve got different
5:10
levels of training so weed whacking
5:12
blowing mowing
5:13
possibly driving the truck truck and
5:15
trailer backing it up certain things we
5:17
need to be able to check the checkboxes
5:19
to go to the next level doesn’t long
5:20
doesn’t matter how long you’ve been with
5:21
the with the business
5:23
so we have somebody who hasn’t met those
5:24
criteria they just they don’t get it and
5:26
the cool thing is not everybody has to
5:27
pass these different levels of micro
5:29
commitments from
5:30
uh
5:31
crew leader in training to crew leader
5:33
to advanced crew leader um or technician
5:35
so it’s good if some people don’t hit
5:37
that because they understand it has to
5:39
be done so micro levels in there if
5:42
you’re starting out in lawn care home
5:43
cleaning i’m going to recommend
5:44
technician is going to be technician to
5:46
training regular technician advanced
5:47
technician and then your crew leader is
5:49
going to be your crew leader head crew
5:51
leader and advanced crew leader that
5:53
crew leader is now training for that
5:54
next position and you need to set some
5:56
expectations of the timeline that they
5:58
may be in these positions they are not
6:00
set in stone but it could be from six to
6:02
12 months two to three months
6:04
but that’s just a benchmark we need to
6:06
be transparent about that up front
6:07
because the worst thing you could do is
6:08
say hey you’re going to join us and as
6:10
soon as possible we’re going to blast
6:11
you off to this next position because it
6:14
may not happen a they may not have set
6:15
the qualifications to advance through
6:17
the micro positions and b uh we may just
6:20
not have a spot from yet in the in the
6:21
company so we need to set that up front
6:23
so comments or questions drop below want
6:24
to say what’s up to aaron um hopefully
6:27
you’ve got some micro positions in your
6:28
business and creating room for growth uh
6:30
for those people to scale without a
6:32
glass ceiling within the position and
6:34
then a clear path to the next position
6:36
callahan’s corner you asked questions we
6:37
had some live right here on facebook