There’s also the age old question of whether to send 1 tech or 2.
I will say I’m starting to get tired of customers telling the installer to put the WiFi router in a bad location, and then wanting us to come back and fix poor WiFi coverage. A rushed installer will just put it where the customer says rather than spend the time to convince him it needs to be on the first floor in the center of the house, not in the attic or basement, even at the expense of having a 1/4 inch hole next to the baseboard or a visible (gasp!) cable in the living room. Or that no, the kitchen counter or dining room table is not a good place for electronics, let’s put it in the office or the entertainment center. I often send 2 techs if we are installing on an outbuilding with a PTP wireless link to the house, or if the wiring run is complicated, or sometimes the second person can deflect a chatty customer so the first person can actually work. We don’t get that many commercial installs, but those are usually 2 person jobs. A WISP that mostly installs in subdivisions may have more uniform, straightforward cookie cutter installs and less need for 2 person crews. Even so, a second person can be loading supplies/tools/ladders back on the truck, taking photos, etc. while the other sets up the router, deals with problem devices like wireless printers and smart TVs, gets customer to sign paperwork, etc. It’s nice to walk out the front door and drive off to the next install, rather than spend another 15 minutes loading stuff back in the truck. And you are less likely to have the truck looks like a disaster at the end of the day (some WISPs actually have a second shift to organize and restock the trucks). If you ever watch American Pickers on TV, it’s like that. You need Mike and Frank in the van, and Danielle on the phone back in the office. From: AF <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Colin Stanners Sent: Tuesday, September 18, 2018 8:11 AM To: AnimalFarm Microwave Users Group <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [AFMUG] Paying employees per install/service call When taking less time results in higher profits, the people doing the work have 3 options: 1) don't waste time unnecessarily, e.g. chatting with the customer, doing personal things on cellphone 2) optimize the work for time, e.g. pre-planning, choosing a wire route that is more visible/more prone to get damaged but is quicker to do 3) do low-quality work, e.g. mount the antenna at a location that is quick to reach but has low signal/trees in the way/connects to a more loaded AP, or just throw the wire on the roof without attaching it, or run the wire in a location where it is very likely to get damaged. If employees have a good personality and the company has a good culture and enforcement, you get #1 and a bit of #2. If employees are lazy/don't care and the company culture is the same, you get #3 and lots of problems. I did some work in the early days that was paid per-install; I tried to do always good work while another installer did #3. I can tell you that I was REALLY NOT HAPPY that he was being paid more than me for lower-quality work. On Sep 18, 2018 7:32 AM, "Kurt Fankhauser" <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > wrote: I was thinking of hiring my first installer/service tech and I am trying to come up with a unique way to pay them that basically rewards effort. Has anyone ever heard of having a flat base pay of like $10/hour and then on top of that pay them for number of installs / service calls / tickets they get completed in that pay period? Basically it will motivate them to do more because their hourly rate average will increase with the more they get done. Thoughts? -- AF mailing list [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> http://af.afmug.com/mailman/listinfo/af_af.afmug.com
-- AF mailing list [email protected] http://af.afmug.com/mailman/listinfo/af_af.afmug.com
