Cleanfax, April 2019

L ike most cleaning or restoration contractors you probably want to get o the truck Who can blame you After all personally doing the daily work in your company is very likely not your highest and best use Once you are o the truck your new focus on sales and management will mean more business So youll likely buy more vans and equipment Great Building a business that could run without me was one of the huge joys of my life Now your growing business will hum along nicely while cranking out happy delighted cheerleader customers along with hardworking loyal employees and tons of net pro ts for you Unfortunately it isnt and wont be that easy Your challenges Once youre no longer on the truck you inevitably lose some control of whats happening on your truck s Your most urgent focus Controlling the essential relationship between your techs and your customers when youre not there Check out my Residential Moment of Truth Checklist in the July 2018 issue of Cleanfax However production logistics matter too and in a rapidly expanding company thats painfully growing into a critical mass business it is easy for the little things to fall apart For example stu breaks out there in the eld True many of your surprise repairs can be avoided with a routine Daily Maintenance Checklist in the October 2018 Cleanfax performed back at the shop but stu still happens To nish the job and stay on Technician Personal Tool Inventory List schedule your tech must make an emergency repair e tech heads to the trucks toolbox and disaster strikes Too often I received panicked calls like these from my techs Steve the wrench to clean out my wands spray tip is missing or I cant cut the carpets seams to pull the soaked pad since the carpet knife isnt in the van toolbox My missing tool problem was seriously impacting production angering customers and damaging employee morale Even worse the lost tools created incessant bickering as in Two days ago I was on this van and it had a carpet knife then Charlie must have lost it yesterday Plus constantly replacing lost tools was costing me a fortune Steves solution Like many cleaning and restoration contractors my techs often changed trucks depending on workloads and emergency call outs so each truck would possibly have a di erent crew every day My rst impulse Have each trucks crew go through the tools and everything else on the truck checking each item o on a detailed list every single morning You know how many individual tools chemicals and pieces of equipment there are on a typical cleaning or restoration van It quickly became obvious that my detailed daily checklist procedure was impractical at best en inspiration struck I realized the root cause of my missing tool challenge was no one was being held accountable e problem was each truck had its own toolbox and the tools belonged to the truck not an individual employee I bit the bullet and bought each individual tech his or her own set of tools I gave all eld employees their own mechanics tools screwdrivers pliers wrenches socket sets etc as well as carpet repair tools carpet awl and knife hammer molding lifter staple hammer etc e tools were in a heavy plastic rustproof 24 inch toolbox that stayed with the assigned tech during a work day Some heavier more expensive tools were still assigned to each truck such as a carpet knee kicker and seaming iron Power stretchers stayed in our warehouse unless speci ed on the techs Production Day Sheet January February 2018 Cleanfax My secret sauce after giving each tech their very own toolbox ey also signed a Technician Personal Tool Inventory List is contract listed out each personal tool assigned to the tech along with two essential phrases I name here acknowledge Belt Holster Bone spatula Napping shears Small UV flashlight 24 Personal Tool Box heavy duty plastic Flashlight Headlamp 30 tape measure with 1 blade Small protective pad for toolbox Mechanics Tools 3 slotted screwdrivers 3 slotted Phillips screwdrivers 3 Torx screwdrivers 1 set Allen wrenches 1 tool roll of wrenches 3 8 to 1 3 adjustable wrenches 8 10 12 3 plumbers wrenches 10 12 14 2 channel lock wrenches 8 12 socket set 3 8 socket set socket set Utility knife Diagonal cutting pliers Wire cutter crimp tool Plastic box of crimp on connectors Roll of electric tape Electric current tester Carpet Repair and W D Mitigation tools Moisture Sensor Carpet awl Carpet knife Claw hammer Molding lifter 15 flat crowbar 3 putty knife Hot melt glue gun Stair tool Seam roller Staple hammer Staple remover Hammer stapler Extra staples Compartmented box of nails and APR 2019 cleanfax com 33 Email me including your zip code at requests@ homefrontsuccess com and Ill email you the Technician Personal Tool Inventory List I used at no charge Then please send me any improvements you make to the list and feel free to include any questions or comments too