A few years ago – or maybe a bit more than a few – the year was 2006. In a small New England town this particular snow season, our company was obtaining snow contracts by the boatloads and signing them in the months of August and September.
In our perfect sales world of clients signing contracts when they should be signing them (that statement is oozing with sarcasm) we had at least a month to prepare our team with all the pre preparations. Things like organizing the equipment, paperwork, tools, and also the time to prepare the site with areas such as maps, drawings, staking, and layout of the site.
Damn this perfect world.
The Fateful Call…
About 5 days before a forecast of a snow event our best client calls us with quite the dilemma on their hands. Frantic they were… calm and prepared we were. However it turned out they had snow sites that they couldn’t get anyone to do!
Now you know I’m going to say “DON’T DO THIS!” Don’t accept last minute work when you don’t have the opportunity to prepare. But I think you know exactly what we did…
I’ve had the “pleasure” of accepting new snow work in the month of November… and the unpleasantness of looking into the eyes of my employees to tell them the news.
Not to mention that the new contract was in the magnitude of 2 malls, 4 super grocery chain stores, 2 office strips, and a couple of Toys R Us.
Oops.
Learn From My Mistakes…
I tell you this story for the reason that when you set up the site before the season… the surprises are eliminated. The workers go to a site that was prepared and they go to a site that they understand.
If you enjoy annoyed employees and poor client results then the last minute approach is definitely for you. However I finally learned my lesson when it came to doing the right preparation beforehand. You can get more tips about how to properly handle a business at Paystubs.net.
How Pre-Season Preparation Helps Your Business
The preparation we did before the season helped us with:
- Knowing the property – the lot, the walks and any issues.
- Knowing what equipment and materials are needed for the property.
- Meeting with the management and finding more information with their needs and wants.
- Reviewing the contract with management: what to be done and what is extra.
- Reviewing the contract with your crew: what to be done and what is extra.
- Knowing what we will do, each and every snow event.
- Setting up the property before the first snowflake. (unless you have me as a “let’s get work no matter what” boss).
Basically, it’s preparing the organization for what to do, how to do it, and when to do it.
And preparing the client for what we will do, how we will do it, as well as how the client wants us to do it.
Why Preparation Matters…
I know from firsthand experience that it is the difference between making money, being effective, and our organization being in control (as much as we can) of the snow event.
OR…
The company making mistakes, making less money, being in CHAOS every event, and our team just making it through a snow event.
How to Prepare…
1. Pre-Season Processes:
A process for the crews.
List the things you want a crew to do when they go to set up a property:
1. What tools to bring: camera, work orders for notes, stakes,
2. Stake the property.
3. Mark all dangerous zones.
4. Meet with the salesman to review contract.
5. Take photos of all areas.
6. Locate a material / equipment area.
A process for the salespeople.
1. Make appointments with management.
2. Meet with management to review contract, areas of concern, and deadlines.
3. Meet with crew to review contract work.
4. Look for problematic work areas.
A process for the office.
1. Prepare a client folder.
2. Prepare computer software for client information.
3. Pre Storm work order generation.
4. Pre Storm route / time sheets generation.
5. Work order, time sheet, notes end of storm processes.
2. Pre-Season Work Orders:
1. A work order for the crew with a check list that will setup the property.
2. A work order for the sales people to meet with the management to review property, issues, and the contract.
3. A work order that will bring the equipment and the materials to the site.
4. A work order that take preseason photos and videos of the property.
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Education before the Season:
1. You have created the preseason processes for sales, for production, and for the office.
2. You have created the work orders for sales, production, and for the office.
3. It is now time to train the company. One of the best ways for your team to do the work preseason and to do it consistently is to train all the departments all together.
4. Everyone knows what they need to do, what each other are doing, and the tools to do it with.
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Next Article – Capacity and Pre-Season Work Boards
Be Great,
Domenic, domenic@7of7best.com
