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Just an FYI, we are in the market for a new FT employee to hopefully run a van, and also another PT/FT employee (if you know anyone in Denver Area looking for a job, have them contact us). We have spent about $100 on postings on Craiglist and have had no luck and no responses. This is where we found our last employee that worked for us for 2 yrs, so I know that is a decent way to find an employee. We have also spent about $50 on a site http://www.indeed.com that we found, and have had much more luck on that site drawing interest. So, if you are looking for employees, consider that site. You can sign up and limit the amount you spend per day, etc. You can also reach out to people that posted their resumes on there who may have the skill set that would make a good carpet cleaner, so it is not as much of a wait for the phone to ring site as Craigslist can be. We are still looking for the right employee(s), but have had more luck with Indeed over Craigslist so far in drawing interest and getting people to interview. Just throwing this out there for those looking for new employees if your usual avenues aren’t working.
Dave- Would love to hear how you compensate your employees. I am pulling my hair out trying to come up with a good compensation plan.
How do you pay your employees? hourly/commission/salary? A combination of both? Do you offer commission for up selling? (ie; spotter bottles, fabric protector, additional rooms cleaned)
Evan, I currently just pay my employees an hourly rate and guarantee my Full timers at least 32 hrs per week. Lead in the van gets more per hr than the sidekick. Once they arrive at the office, they are on the clock until they leave the office. I try to keep it simple in that regards. I have not added any benefits to upselling, etc b/c unless we have a slow day, I already have the day packed in for what the customer has already requested for each job. Right now, we don’t have any slow days since we are short staffed. That said, I have considered adding in a bonus of some kind for upselling protectant as that doesn’t add much time at all to a job like adding a couch or 2 rooms of tile would. Haven’t done it yet but mulled it around. Contemplated trying to work it in as a cash type situation (i.e upsell at least $X amount of protectant on jobs that day and you’ll get $5 cash). That could be an accounting nightmare if you are also circumventing uncle sam, but from my jobs in the past, I can tell you that extra cash in hand goes a long way no matter what the amount. That $5 could pay for lunch the next day for your employee, which could be big for them. I know many others will give a percentage of an upsell, and that can work too as long as your employee is a good salesperson but also respects the word no and doesn’t become pushy. I see other companies in my area that advertise % of invoice/sales for pay (see Stanley Steemer website info below) and heard one competitor owner say his people had to invoice $1k/day or he would fire them. That seems unrealistic to me and just a recipe for poor service/results. Unfortunately, I don’t think there is a magic formula for employee compensation in this biz. If someone out there has it, please share it. My employees have all stuck around for over 2 yrs from date that I’ve hired them, so I’d like to think I am on the right track.
Stanley website on how much employee can earn for pay:
As a Carpet Cleaning Technician, that depends on you! You are paid the greater of your earned commission or the guaranteed hourly rate of pay. Our competitive, commission-based plan allows you to earn more through add-on sales at the homes of residential customers. Our guaranteed hourly rate of pay is $8.00, but can be higher depending on the location. Our Customer Service Advisors are compensated with a base hourly rate of pay (varies by location) plus incentives. Incentives are earned based on the “Inside Ticket Average.”Thanks for the input Dave. This is something that has been weighing heavily on my mind for the past couple of weeks. Oddly enough Stanley Steemer is also advertising for new employees here too. Their ad reads “You can make $8-$10 an hour!” (like that’s a lot of money).
I start at the American legion and ask my friends for referral’s I try to hire vets when ever I can
I start new hires at 10 an hour if they are invited back the next day they get a dollar an hour raise retroactive to the first hour. (if not there paid cash, for that day) after 40 hours if they can demonstrate a basic knowledge of the HB Process have decent customer relations, an keep van and equipment clean, they get bumped to 11.50, and are going out on vacancies on there own, from there I watch there production times I like to see 100 dollars an hour average (n the home) its only 384.61 sq. ft. an hour.
after 4 weeks if there averages are where they need to be plus all the above mentioned they go to 12 a hour. once they hit the 6 month mark 12.25, then .25 raises on the 6 month mark.
once they are out on there own we give them a smart phone with Bluetooth headsets
I’m still toying with my spreadsheets for bonuses
but that’s a few more months down the road as we are growing large commercial contracts and I need the cash flow to start cycling on a regular stream.
hope some one finds that useful
FYI 12.50 and hour cost me 17.52 an hour using a payroll service
Thanks Patrick. All good info. Our market in general is having a tough time even getting people to apply in a serious matter, and it’s not just carpet cleaners. Seems like every business has a “hiring” sign hanging. Many of my friends that own their own biz are all looking for employees as well. I also have a friend who’s wife works in HR dept for one of the major airlines and they came to Denver to hire 200 people and were only able to hire about 25 (not many showed up and few could pass the drug test thanks to pot being legal in Colorado). We did find an employee thru one of our realtor groups as we mentioned to them why we were booking out so far and she said her son was looking for part time work. He has mentioned coming on full time, so guess we’ll see. Still looking for another FT employee though. At times I wonder if the potential of “$15/hr fast food jobs” has some people wanting more money than businesses like ours can afford to pay an employee with no experience.
15 an hour and cant even make change lol
With the addition of more crews sharing a van and equipment, thus dividing the overhead has given us the ability to offer a higher wage and make more money as a company.
Anyone else have any (new?) input on this subject matter? I’m still looking for employees (along with every other carpet cleaner in town her, plus other businesses). Had one that only lasted 2 weeks (found a job closer to his house), and one of my part timers may be doing the same. At this point in time, I think anyone that is unemployed isn’t trying very hard if they really need a job.
When it is easy to get welfare, what is the point of working? Be Slow to hire, but quick to fire. I am using Gordon’s process and it is working well for me. the last full time guy I hired a month and a 1/2 ago I met while out making friends (marketing) as I was telling the facilitys manager that I just expanded into his are and wanted to introduce myself he asked if I was hiring for the area I said yes. he stated that his maintenance guy just had gotten his hours reduced because of budget cuts and that he highly recommends him I got lucky on that one. Other then that maybe a temp labor company while you are looking for the right guy, you usually know within a shift if they are going to work out or not. then after the contracted time is up you can put them on your payroll.
Thanks Patrick. We have tried the temp agencies, but have had little luck. Tried one that uses military vets, but unfortunately every person’s profile they sent to us had some form of priors (either existing prior or pending court dates) with charges that were not conducive to an employee that would be in customer’s homes. We are getting a few more candidates via Indeed website (paid option) that may be promising. I still prefer employees that are “vetted” thru friends/business associates like you found (and all my current employees were found this way).
I’ve hired all but 1 of my employees using Indeed.com. Whenever I post an opening, I get a huge influx of applicants. I sort through them manually and most of them I can boot out for one reason or another (no drivers license, only experience is McDonald’s, etc). After I’ve identified a few people who have work experience that involves customer service or cleaning, I send out 4-5 invitations to interview. Here’s the funny part: almost nobody replies when I ask for a brief 30 minute interview. And of the people who do reply, many of them never show up to the interview. Those couple of steps weed out the people who aren’t really looking for work. They just need to check the “I applied for a job” box on their unemployment forms.
Once I manage to interview somebody and it seems like they have the right personality, motivation to work, or experience, I ask them to do a background check. This steps weeds out the folks I don’t want in a customer’s home (and I have turned down applicants based on a bad background check).
If the background check looks good, I invite them to do a test day with me. I personally take them to a day of jobs, show them the process, make them carry equipment, and watch how quickly they learn or interact with customers.
Only after all of that do I make an offer. $10/hour to start and a bump up to $11/hour when they are able to do jobs without my direct supervision.
Finding employees is really difficult, and it’s a long process every time I do it. But it has been worth it. Even as I type this, my crew is out working on jobs without me and getting great reviews for our company.
I also found 1 of my employees through the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee job board. If you have colleges in your area, they probably have a job board for students. Usually you have to contact the admin and ask them to post a job. Great for summer workers, less great when classes start back up in the Fall.
Gordon kohler gave me a qualification check list so most prospects can weed themselves out if you want it emailed to you please let me know so you wont have to retype it all.
Hiring Team Members
In hiring: It is helpful to choose a person whose name and good reputation is known in the community. This helps a lot to build credibility with customers. “Asking God to send the right person can only help.” Dave Ramsey
Hiring steps
1. Have potential team member read the “Requirements” sheet to allow them to “disqualify themselves”. (Next page) Next, go through with them the Heaven’s Best “Code of Conduct” pages and have them sign the last page. If favorable, set up an interview.
2. Second meeting, first interview. Share with them the career “expectations” (position responsibilities) ask if they “Can do the work?” See if the income is adequate for paid position and what they would need ($) to do to obtain their needs. Ask about concerns. Next, ask them to submit a report of “Why they want to work for us and how that fits into their long term goals.”
3. Get the report back and have then read it to you. (We are looking for passion here.) Submit report to person hiring and give feedback.
4. Do working interview with Van Manager. (Van Manager them talks with Owner or General Manager to get proper feedback.)
5. Do background check and drug test.
6. Finally, a sit down lunch/dinner with Owner or General Manager & spouse and potential team member & spouse.
7. Have them sign papers including the non-comp agreement.
8. Order shirts and send them to bookkeeper (human resources) for needed info.
This is working out very well.
Note: #5 is a working interview. Have “Van Manager” do a vacancy cleaning with the potential team member. Feel free to ask questions. (They will be on the same team) See if they are anxious to do some of the work. Show them how to run the buffer and allow them the opportunity to run it in a controlled setting. Also ask how they feel about knocking on doors. Knock on the doors of neighbors. Report your findings to the Area Owner responsible for hiring. (Remember, if you’re not cleaning your finding)
Property of Heaven’s Best(509)628-2378
CAREER OPPORTUNITYMust be honest
Must be clean and neat
No visible tattoos and non-smoker
Must clear a criminal background check
Must be able to lift 100 lbs. up and down stairs
Must have a valid driver’s license in good standing
Must commit time and energy to building the business
Be a sales oriented service person
Advancement Opportunities Available
I am looking for a team member that will learn Cleaning and Marketing skills that will be serving in the Heaven’s Best franchise business in the
Tri-Cities, WA area.Property of Heaven’s Best
The why if asked
Honesty & Trust: Honesty is the foundation of a wholesome rewarding life with peace of mind. “If their spouse can’t trust them, neither do we.” Dave Ramsey
Clean & Neat: We are a cleaning service that demands trust.
Tattoos: You don’t see a bumper sticker on a Porsche.
Non-Smoking: According to research, if you we’re a smoker, you lose a minimum of 25% of your business every year.
Back Ground check and Drug Test: A reputation of hiring cons or druggies kills you’re business. We clean in homes and businesses.
Valid Driver’s License: If you have to ask, don’t fill out an application.
Time & Energy commitment: In order to do well in this business. A good team is on offence or defense or both all the time. The same is true. Eight hours a day, cleaning or building.
Sales Oriented-Service person: This is not a must, but has proven to be the most successful.
Advancement Opportunities: If you are the right fit for this franchise, we will do all we can to help you advance. (Management &/or Ownership)(509)628-2378
MANAGEMENT/OWNERSHIP CAREER OPPORTUNITY
Must be honest
Must be clean and neat
No visible tattoos and non-smoker
Must clear a criminal background check
Must be able to lift 100 lbs. up and down stairs
Must have a valid driver’s license in good standing
Must commit time and energy to building the business
Must have the ability to see what needs to be done, and see
It through
Be a sales oriented service person
Manage the phone, appointments, and vans
Must be able to vision and apply the big picture
I am looking for a team manager that will learn Cleaning, Marketing, and management skills that will be serving in the Heaven’s Best franchise business in theTri-Cities, WA areas.
Property of Heaven’s Best
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