Organizing and keeping up a dispatch calendar is a big ordeal for service businesses. However, the rewards are great when you finally figure out a way around it, build a system, and make it work for you.
In this episode, I talk to someone with a lot of experience with it, Tommy Mello. He operates a large company with over $40 million in revenue each year — A1 Garage Door. He has a big CSR and dispatch team working under him, and we get into the nitty gritty about every aspect of his system.
Listen as we discuss these topics:
1:47 Business background run-down
- How he started as a small company
2:53 Beginner mistakes
- Things he did not do right in the beginning
3:57 How he turned things around in terms of hiring and managing people
- What happened that made him fix up the people and the system
5:14 The process of transforming your business after discovering the loopholes
- How he made the switch
- What he did differently in every aspect of his business (financial status, employees, etc.)
6:57 Lessons from Profit First by Mike Michalowicz
- How he applies Parkinson’s Law or “pay yourself first” concept
- A different perspective on money
8:33 Where his company is located
- Area, location, and market
9:04 Tips for getting big in the local market
- How to grow in the location that you operate in
11:02 The struggles of serving 12 states with 20 markets
- What goes on in having a warehouse that people don’t realize
12:32 Big mistakes he made about having a warehouse and the solutions
- Cost of carrying his own inventory
- Discovering how to outsource some tasks to other companies
15:30 Trucks
- How many it takes to deliver his services
- Types of trucks that Tommy has for the company
- Types of trucks that he gets for company’s use
16:35 Why taking ownership of your failures is important as a business owner
17:42 His CSR system
- How he runs his own call center for his business
19:19 System for outsourcing calls
- The different levels of people who takes calls
- What he pays people to take calls
20:33 Compensation for CSR people
- Structure for payment for CSR people
22:51 What calls Tommy considers an opportunity
23:46 Why it’s better to have a local phone number
- How Tommy maximizes a local phone number for micro-targeting communities
26:06 How booking through calls work for Tommy’s business
27:03 How dispatches differ from the CSR people
- What the dispatcher’s job is
- How jobs are optimized
28:22 How dispatchers get paid
- What factors affect how much the dispatchers’ payment
29:46 How dispatchers determine the hierarchy of priorities
- Figuring out what types of service calls are priorities
31:16 How the service technicians are matched up with the priority jobs set
- Who are given the best opportunities
32:44 Tommy’s 8-step sales process
- How to control the interaction with potential customers to end in a sale
34:32 The process of booking through calls
- Step-by-step from CSRs taking calls and booking jobs to dispatchers delegating the priorities
36:11 Timeline from the booking to the service
- Amount of window times for every step in the booking process
37:49 How to determine the route for each day
- How to reduce route time
- How to utilize the routes
38:49 Hierarchy of technician positions within Tommy’s company
- Program of having field supervisors with teams of technicians
39:50 Training
- Internal activities and practices for constant learning within the whole team and small local crews
40:45 Systems for learning and education
- Plans for constant and continuous learning
- How they train people within the company
- How the team is trained to promote the services and advertise its benefits
45:59 How to contact Tommy Mello