“My face is on my truck—so you can hunt me down!” That’s Jen Reynolds, owner of Jenergy Air Services in Seminole, Florida, sharing her thoughts with our team about what sets small home service businesses apart from larger competitors. On a regular day, this commitment that local business owners show makes me smile. However, it takes on additional meaning in the times we’re in now.
Today is May 6, which also happens to be National Skilled Trades Day. It’s a day where we celebrate the amazing men and women who roll up their sleeves every day to perform an honest day’s work. They fix our furnaces, keep our drains unplugged, ensure the safety of our electrical systems—working day in and day out to keep our homes safe and comfortable. These home service workers–who also extend beyond the certified trades category to professions like landscaping, residential cleaning, and painting–are “the backbone of the home,” as Jen puts it.
Having a locally-owned, trusted service provider like Jen on speed dial is a relief for many of us who are spending more time at home with our families as we navigate the coronavirus pandemic. However, while they want to be there for us (just like always), the current environment is a challenge as they face job cancellations out of fear or necessity, and as their workspaces—our homes—present new potential dangers to consider.
These invisible businesses need our attention
When these businesses are working well, they’re often invisible and taken for granted. Everything in our homes, our offices, and other physical spaces just works. These entrepreneurs aren’t selling goods you can buy online or food for takeout, and their storefronts are usually shops hidden in industrial areas or even in their homes. But along with local retail and restaurants, they employ our friends and family—our communities. In fact, 48% of employees in the US work for small businesses, so let’s support them all.
As the COVID-19 pandemic takes us out of our regular routines and causes us to cancel services or delay maintenance, I wanted to share some ideas on how you can support your local home service businesses so we can keep our communities going.
Keep services running (if you can) or book ahead
Many of us are buying gift cards to support local shops and restaurants. The equivalent of this for home service companies that have paused operations is booking a service for one to two months out—potentially sooner given your local situation.
If you usually like having your windows cleaned or your home pressure-washed in time for BBQ season, get a booking in a local business’s calendar to help them build up and assess their future work volume. Many of them bring on more help in the summer—often students relying on these jobs for next year’s tuition—and they’re now trying to figure out how summer 2020 is going to look for everyone.
As one of our exterior cleaning customers said to us recently, people aren’t going to all of a sudden like dirty things—so beat the impending rush and book ahead!
Similarly, if you’ve paused a recurring cleaning or lawn maintenance service at your property for the time being, consider asking the businesses you work with if you can continue to pay while your service is paused if you’re in a position to do so (with the agreement that they’ll fulfill those jobs when things go back to normal). They may say no, but I can confirm based on firsthand stories I’ve heard from our customers that they’ll appreciate the gesture.
Get in touch
“I would love a customer to call me and say ‘When this is over, I will be calling you’—hearing that from a customer would be huge and would give me permission to reach out to other customers more,” says Graham Audenart, owner of Painters Enterprise in Edmonton, Alberta. This shows that when our news apps and emails are overwhelmed with information and updates on the coronavirus pandemic, business owners like Graham don’t always know the best way to grab their clients’ attention.
So don’t be shy—get in touch. A lot of these business owners are working in empty shops. Their office staff work from home, and their field staff limit their trips to check in and pick up supplies, so a quick call or an email to check in would mean a lot.
The small businesses we work with are following all of the government-mandated requirements to work safely—for both you and themselves. If you see their emails in your inbox and you may need their services, I encourage you to reach out and let them know.
Protect yourselves by protecting them
A lot of these businesses provide essential services that help us keep the lights on and the water running in our homes, but the spaces they work in now have the added challenge of potentially exposing them to COVID-19. They have families at home as well, so please open those informational emails, respect the measures they set on their jobsite (your home), and allow them to do their jobs safely.
If a business offers online payments and asks you to pay via credit card, consider this option over cash or check if that’s how you normally pay. Less contact means less risk.
Ask a home service business to refer another service
If you need service done on your home and haven’t chatted with a contractor yet, ask your service provider for recommendations. Your local business community is working together through their successes and hardships, and are looking to help each other when they can through referrals, free maintenance being offered to closed retail storefronts, and more.
Businesses can often work together on jobs–like a landscaper helping an arborist clear tree pruning debris–so you may also be putting more than one team to work.
Asking a familiar face for a referral is a great way to show support for your local community while also ensuring you’re bringing in a company with a good reputation that someone you already work with trusts.
Share your thanks and show your support
All of these ideas are really about showing small business people that you care. The simple gesture of expressing your thanks for a recent or past job well done publicly on social media or by leaving positive reviews on their websites or Google My Business listings has a far bigger impact for these businesses than the time it takes to do it.
These business owners and their employees have built strong relationships with their customers that go well beyond a transactional exchange. Whether it be checking in on the homes of clients who are on military deployment, delivering catering to frontline healthcare workers, or picking up food bank donations from clients’ homes, these people go above and beyond, often as a rule, but especially now that their communities are most in need.
That said, let’s return the favor. Let’s give these often-invisible home service businesses (and the people behind them) our eyes, attention, and gratitude, and do what we can to help them get back on their feet when the time comes.
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