For your store front scheduling specifically accounts that should get done twice a month…
Do you offer:
[LIST]
[]Every other week service or
[]Twice a month?
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I ask because we currently do twice a month but it seems if we switch we could squeak a whole extra months worth of revenue in for the year…
You could Chris but it’s a nightmare for the customer. I used to do that but switched this year to 2x mth. What happens a lot is they will complain because some months you will come 3 times and it’s a hassle to continually explain why you were there. Furthermore if you look at the calendar the customer’s service dates will keep changing, one month it is the 2nd and 4th week then when you have a 5 week month it’s the 1st, 3rd, and 5th. You are right about one more month of revenue though because there are 13 4 week periods in a year.
Yea I figured it might be kinda a nightmare… Just trying to kick around some options.
I thought of that too. But since we invoice them before the work is done it’s a bit of a hassle for us having to change the amounts from month to month as well as for accounts payable on their end. (They would call and ask us why the invoice was more even though the extra service date was clearly on the invoice). For the little bit of extra money it brought in it just wasn’t worth the hassle.
Happens all the time, customers not understanding why we showed up 3 times during the month. I recently changed our route work for the 1st of the month and 15th or 15th and 30th that way I could do them twice a month and all of my customers were fine with that.
For mine I just make it clear that its the first and third Tuesday and Wednesday of every month. Some months, like last month, will have a gap before the next cleaning, but they are okay with that. I would love to have another months revenue comming from my accounts!!
2 times a month…same issue as Steve.
We have been using 2weeks and 4 weeks service for the last 20 years with no problems.
many of mine are every second week…some months its 3 times, never had any issues…
Once every 2 or 4 weeks, no problems.
I think this a schedule that should have been thought of first & not introduced to the customer further down the line. By all means new clients take on for fortnightly cleans, but I think the previous clients won’t go for it.
I disagree. Do the math. You’ll gain 8.5% of revenue for going every 14 days instead of every 15 or 16. You’ll spend no extra money and gain 8.5%.
Been on my own for 3 years and worked for a route company before that for 10 years. I’ve always done every 2 weeks and every 4 weeks.
The other thing to remember is that once in a while things come up and a client or a few clients can get missed on any given week (at least that’s true for small one man operations like mine). So, that’ll help even it out a little.
Another benefit is if you nail it down to say, Tuesdays and Thursdays, then when the residentials call you have an easier time putting them on the schedule because you know that you’re always on route work on those given days.
I try as often as possible
I schedule almost everything on a 4 week schedule. Except for bigger storefronts and commercial jobs. I just explain to the customer that there will b a couple times a yr that they will b done 3 times in a month. Most will say that is ok. I dont remember having any issues with this.
I’ve been at it for 23 years and have had very few problems with every 2 or 4 weeks. There are a few that insist on never more than the normal visits per month. So be it. What I really hate are the every 3 weeks accounts. I’ve got a few of them!
I try to keep my commercial customers on 1, 2 or 4 week schedules. I have a few customers that are once a month, and it is a pain fitting them in, means the first week of the month is always booked solid due to the once a month jobs, I’ve spread them out a little through the month, but keeping them on a 4 weekly schedule makes it nice and easy to organise in advance, and keep each week more even
Sounds to me like its how you word it - every two weeks (or four) versus twice a month. Whichever way it is worded will be what the customer comes to expect.
[COLOR=black][FONT=Verdana]I do the same thing because my route has the every two week customers right next door to the once every four week customers. I’ll do 5 to 15 customers all in one stop, some of them only get done once every 4 weeks. If I did the every 2 week customers twice a month instead of once every two weeks they would no longer be on the same schedule as the once every 4 week customers. That would cost extra unnecessary trips to the neighborhood. I’ve got my once every 4 week customers are spread out evenly across the month too.[/FONT][/COLOR]
What – no once every 3 week customers?
Odd numbers only Larry. 2, 4, 6, 8 and 12 weeks. Because it doesn’t make sense to make a special trip for one customer. That’s why we call it route work.
