For a home-based service business, there has never been a better time to hire an independent contractor.
To start, contractors require less upfront investment for a small business than hiring full-time employees. If your business operates in multiple locations, you can enlist contractors strategically to scale to a broader market. During slower periods, you can simply cut back on contracting instead of cutting staff altogether.
From 2005 to 2015, the share of American workers with alternative work arrangements like independent contracting grew by more than 50 percent after remaining relatively stagnant the prior decade. There is more specialized and experienced talent to choose from than ever before. Still, independent contractors present a unique set of management challenges to service businesses.
A lack of regular face time with a contractor makes it difficult to build a rapport, and this can lead to hiccups in your customer experience. Whether your contractors are out in the field cleaning a home, performing a massage or tutoring a student, it can be challenging to keep tabs on their performance without micromanaging their skills.
As the founder of an appointment scheduling software for service businesses, I have heard many clients echo similar difficulties with managing contractors. Fortunately, the rise of independent contractors has coincided with the advent of several online tools to make this management more efficient and effective.
These four online management tips will simplify lines of communication and help your contractors feel more invested in your business. As a result, your customers will be more likely to have a consistently great experience with your service.
1. Contract time for video calls.
Typed communications like emails, text and chat make it difficult to express enthusiasm for a job well done or genuine concern for a contractor’s performance. Phone calls can be better, but without a face-to-face element, participants are often tempted to multitask during the conversation.
By allotting as little as 30 minutes per month in the contract for a video call on Google Hangouts or Skype, you can eliminate ambiguity through direct engagement, better communicate your company goals and build trust with a contractor.
Just as with managing full-time employees, it is crucial to seek feedback from independent contractors to ensure you are setting them — and therefore, your business — up for success. Use these video calls to ask contractors how you might improve your processes. It also never hurts to take a few minutes to ask about their personal lives.
2. Automate the scheduling process.
While calls can help build better relationships with your contractors, they are cumbersome for scheduling their appointments, deliveries or service visits. Managing emails can also be very inefficient and lead to delays. Instead, there are several online scheduling apps that allow service businesses to quickly schedule shifts based on the availability that contractors set within the app.
Typically, the scheduling software will send automated appointment notifications and reminders to your contractors via email or text. Some apps even offer different levels of staff access, allowing you to empower contractors with pertinent customer information while still protecting sensitive data. Over time, you can also analyze the performance of contractors by comparing how often they attract repeat customers.
3. Track performance with customer surveys.
If your business is booking appointments online, then it is already collecting customer emails. Using survey apps like LoopSurvey or SurveyMonkey, you can automate an email survey following a service and gain more insight from customers regarding a contractor’s performance. This tactic can identify any problem areas that need addressing with the contractor and allow you to reach out to unsatisfied customers.
Surveys can also highlight your top performers to prioritize for future contracting work. When a customer submits a positive survey, you can generate a custom response that encourages him or her to submit a public online review on Google My Business, Yelp or a service-specific review site like Angie’s List.
4. Incentivize for superior customer service.
Unlike full-time employees, contractors do not receive a range of benefits and potential promotions to encourage consistent performance. However, that does not mean that you cannot incorporate incentives for excellent customer service into the contract for an independent contractor.
For example, if a contractor secures a positive online review following one of the aforementioned surveys (ex. four stars or greater), his or her contract could include a 20 percent increase in hourly pay for that customer appointment.
By implementing these online tactics, your service business can develop a mutually beneficial feedback loop with its independent contractors without breathing down their necks. This will result in a more seamless experience for your customers, from the booking of the initial appointment to the superior execution of your service.
