As we continue to maneuver through the COVID-19 outbreak it is important to stay informed and take extra safety precautions to ensure our health and safety. Each day there are state, city, and county updates announcing stay-at-home orders and limiting the functionality of businesses.
Here are some tips and suggestions for maintaining healthy business operations for you, your employees, and your customers during this crisis.
Ask Important Questions Before Sending a Tech to a Customer’s Home
- Confirm that no one in the household has been exposed to COVID-19.
- Ask if anyone in the household has traveled recently to one of the high-risk areas. (Here is the CDC’s list of high risk countries)
- Has anyone in the household had a fever, sore throat, cough, new shortness of breath or experienced any flu-like symptoms in the past 14 days.
- Will anyone be home with the technicians when the service work is being performed, and if so, will they be willing to follow social distancing.
- Ask if the customer has any special requests for when the technician arrives. For example, the customer might your service technician to call when they arrive so they may and stay in another room/space while the technician is doing work.
Keep Your Customer Informed
Clearly communicate safety measures your company has implemented to keep everyone safe. Outline the steps employees will take during the service process beginning with being on/in the customer’s property to procedures for communicating during and after service and payment and receipt options.
Provide Employees with Items Including (but not limited to):
- Hand Sanitizer
- Disinfecting Wipes
- Masks
- Rubber Gloves.
- Botties
Implement Safe Business Practices
Be sure employees maintain social distancing guidelines. Minimize touching surfaces inside the home and use disinfecting wipes to clean surfaces touched.
No Contact Payments & Electronic Invoices
Minimize hand-to-hand contact and maintain distancing guidelines by accepting credit card payments and providing electronic invoices and receipts.
Contact-Free Signatures
Opt to use recorded customer calls, online approvals, or email correspondence as a form of approving estimates and accepting service requests.
Stay Updated with the Latest Information
Pay close attention to changes in your state’s guidelines and regulations. Learn how COVID-19 is impacting your business. Listed are some sites to help you stay informed.
Mitigate risk by maintaining consistency in safe practices. We’ll continue to update this post as we find additional useful ways for home service companies to continue to provide services while easing homeowners’ tensions.
