Write one page telling customers what to move, what to put away, where the crew will park and what can stay, and send it with every booking. The first hour then goes on the job.

The first hour of the job

A painting crew arrives at eight. The living room still has its sofa, two bookcases and a wall of framed photographs, the cat is under the bed, and the nearest parking is half a block away.

Nobody is to blame. The customer did not know what the crew needed, because nobody said.

The same morning happens to carpet cleaners, pest control technicians, movers and anyone else who works inside a home. The crew spends its first hour moving furniture, waiting for decisions or carrying equipment down the street.

Customers find it awkward as well. Nobody enjoys emptying a closet while three people stand waiting.

What customers do not know to do

The last is the one most instructions forget. Customers who are told only to clear everything will empty rooms that never needed emptying, lose a weekend to it, and resent the job before it starts.

Why the booking call is not enough

Most businesses already tell customers some of this when they book. The trouble is the format.

Instructions given on the phone are heard once, often by the person who will not be home on the day. A week later nobody remembers whether the crew wanted the dresser moved or left alone.

A page can be read the evening before, forwarded to a partner or a tenant, and checked again on the morning. It also says the same thing every time, whoever took the booking.

What the page should cover

Write it in the order the customer will do things, not the order your crew works.

A few days before: arrange care for pets, warn neighbours who share a driveway, check whether the street needs a parking permit for a large vehicle, and decide what you will move yourself.

The night before: clear small things from surfaces, take pictures off the walls in the rooms being worked on, empty any closets that need it, and make sure the crew can get in.

On the day: which door to use, whether windows should be open or closed, which taps and switches the crew may need, and how long until each room can be used again.

Give a reason for each step. People follow instructions more willingly when they know why: carpet staying damp for a few hours, or pets kept out until a treatment dries.

Parking deserves its own section

Crews lose more time to parking than to almost anything else, and customers rarely think about it.

Say how big the vehicle is, how much room it needs, and whether it must be close to the door because of hoses, ladders or heavy equipment. A truck-mounted carpet cleaning machine only works within reach of its hose.

Ask customers to keep the driveway clear or save a space, and say what happens if there is nowhere close enough: a delay, a different method or a new date.

A worked example

A backflow testing company checks the devices that stop water from sprinkler systems flowing back into the drinking supply. Its two testers visit homes with lawn irrigation, as well as restaurants and strata buildings.

A test takes well under an hour once the tester reaches the device. Reaching it was the problem.

Valve boxes lay buried under bark mulch or a planter. Gates were locked and dogs were loose in the yard.

More than one homeowner was in the shower when the water went off, and one van collected two parking tickets on a narrow street.

The company wrote a page called Before your test and linked it in every booking email.

It covers where the device usually sits, clearing its lid, leaving the side gate open, keeping pets inside, and no showers, laundry or dishwasher during the test.

The booking email also asks customers to reply with where the device is, if they know, and whether anyone will be home.

Testers now arrive knowing where to look, and a second trip for a locked gate has become unusual.

Write it from the customer's side

The page should read as advice, not a list of rules. Customers who feel scolded before the job do not greet the crew warmly.

Open with what the page is for: getting the job done in the time booked, with nothing damaged. Then the steps.

Avoid wording that reads like a disclaimer. A line asking customers to take pictures down so they are not knocked off lands better than one saying you are not responsible for items left on walls.

If something costs extra, such as moving a piano or a loaded dresser, say so on the page rather than at the door.

Where the page should live

Link it from every booking confirmation, from the service pages and from quote emails. Customers rarely find it by browsing.

Keep the address short enough to read out over the phone, and print the same instructions on the back of the estimate for customers who prefer paper.

If you offer several services, give each its own version. What a painter needs differs from what a pest treatment needs, and one long page covering both gets skimmed.

The counter-case

Some jobs need nothing from the customer, and a business that moves the furniture itself as part of the service should say so rather than invent tasks.

Some customers will not read anything, however short. The page still saves time with the ones who do, and the crew can point the others to it next time.

And for jobs where one missed step wastes a whole morning, a page does not replace a quick reminder call the day before.

For most crews working inside homes, though, write the page, send it with every booking, and keep it current.

This week

  1. Ask the crew what slows their first hour.
  2. List what customers should move and what can stay.
  3. Describe the vehicle and the parking it needs.
  4. Explain pets, water and power plainly.
  5. Give each instruction a short reason.
  6. Link the page in every booking confirmation.
  7. Update it when the crew's methods change.

Step one is where the useful content comes from. The crew knows exactly which surprises cost them time, and the office usually does not.

Telling customers when you can come at all is covered in saying how far ahead you are booked.

Frequently asked questions

Why does the first hour of a job get lost?

Furniture is still in place, pets are loose, nobody knows what can stay, and the truck has nowhere to park near the door. Customers were simply never told.

Is the booking call not enough?

Phone instructions are heard once, often by someone who will not be home on the day. A page can be read the night before and forwarded.

What should the page cover?

What to move, what to put away and what can stay, plus pets, parking, which door to use, whether someone must be home, and when rooms can be used again.

How should the instructions be worded?

As advice with a short reason for each step, not as rules or disclaimers. Customers who feel scolded before the job are harder to work with on the day.

Where do customers find the page?

In every booking confirmation, on the service pages and in quote emails, with an address short enough to read out over the phone.

Does every trade need one?

Most crews working inside homes do. A business that moves everything itself should say so, and a page never replaces a reminder call for critical jobs.

West Coast Media Solutions Inc. provides web design, web development, hosting, digital marketing, and business consulting to organisations across Canada, drawing on more than twenty-five years in the field.

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