Client Services: Communication & Scheduling

PHR Operations & Scheduling

The Operations team at PHR is responsible for two types of scheduling:

1. Internal Tasks
2. External or Field employee Tasks

Internal Tasks

Operations will use Google Calendar to initially schedule the following as recurring events and reminders. They will then use the CRM to set these up as tasks when the due date is close ( within two weeks ).

• Online technician training and the initial practical driving test for new technicians (to be scheduled within 30 days after their onboarding and training)
• Senior Technician exam (after 90 days and within 6 months of their onboarding and training)
• DOT physical inspections (to be scheduled depending on expiration date)
• DOT vehicle inspections (to be scheduled depending on expiration date)
• Annual Driving Tests and other compliance activities/ documentation (to be scheduled on one day within one week in January annually)
• Maintenance schedules for truck, trailer, and small machines (every 3 months- January, April, July and October)
• Monthly Inventory and Truck/Trailer cleaning days (last working week of each month)
• Bi-Annual Inventory Audits (to be scheduled in January & June)
• Job Site Quality Control Visits ( to be scheduled at least once a month for each crew): Operations will create the task and schedule, considering Branch Manager’s proximity to client job location. Branch Manager will conduct the Quality Control Visit and complete the Quality Assurance Visit Assessment Form. All data related to these visits will be uploaded to Google Drive.

External or Field employee Tasks:

1. Surveyor Inspections
2. Technician Jobs

Survey Inspection Scheduling

Three types of survey inspections:

• Regular- No CRM notification for regular inspections; they appear in the scheduling list and must be completed within 7 days. Ops members receive high-urgency notifications on day 6.
• Walk with Clients- CRM notification (this survey item is outlined in red) for inspection scheduling only if WWC. Dispatch contacts clients immediately (no later than the same day) and schedules the inspection as per client preferences.
• PARC surveys- Auto generated by system and has to be scheduled within 2 weeks.

Daily schedule: Surveyors can do 10 surveys within a 5-hour driving time, and work for 5 random days from Sunday to Saturday, as long as there is daylight. PARC and regular surveys take approximately 30 minutes each, while WWCs may take 1 hour or more. New or large properties with 50K parking spots, may take longer. CSR notes are embedded in the inspection task.

Scheduling and building the route for surveys: Dispatch considers various factors when designing and updating routes:

• Types of Inspection Surveys

Regular- assign time of 30- 60 minutes WWC- assign a longer time of 60-90 minutes. WWCs are scheduled in advance as per client preference. Surveyor contacts the client prior to arrival on site and confirms the appointment. PARC surveys- assign time of 30 minutes

• Surveyors within the client region

• Drive time to and from survey/client locations

Use Google Maps for efficient route design and Drive Time calculator in CRM, to find the shortest driving time between client locations

• Weather considerations (avoiding rain, snow, wind)

Rain- On small lots, even if the paint washes away, the technician can still find the repairs. For large lots, do not schedule a survey if there is rain forecasted. Under active rain conditions, surveys cannot be completed. However, the surveyor can wait the rain out or move on to another client location where it is not raining that day.

Snow- If it starts snowing during the survey, the survey cannot be completed. Do not schedule a survey under snow conditions unless the client site has already been plowed. Operations to call the client a day before the survey and ensure that the lot has been plowed and can be marked.

Wind- Complete survey as normal, taking precautions to avoid paint splatter such as cardboard guards, paint wheels, handheld paint applicators etc.

• Sales pressure

PHR tries to accommodate sales (and clients) and complete surveys within a timely manner. So, if there is a request to complete a survey earlier than scheduled, operations will revisit the schedule and try to schedule the client in, either by sending out an additional surveyor or team member.

• Time

Surveyors can do 10 surveys per day. The number of surveys can vary depending on the type of survey, extent of damage and client location. PARC surveys can take less time than a WWC. Client locations can be spread out. Lots can be bigger than planned or have more damage than anticipated.

• Property type: Surveyors can choose where to begin, and how to plan their survey inspections during the day, as long as the surveys are not WWCs and don't interfere with a client’s specific request.

On rare occasions, surveyors may be asked to complete jobs beyond 5 hours of driving time, requiring special permission/approval from management (Terry).

Approval and Dispatch

• Customer approves and signs the proposal, sending it back to CSR.
• Operations team checks the job into the scheduling system by verifying all documents are complete, authorized by the client, and the system properly reflects the work authorized.
• Operations sends a customized confirmation email to the client (ensuring Operations uses the correct template depending on type of jobs), providing the scheduling details and thanking them for their business.

Job Scheduling

Dispatch reviews specifications and schedules the job. 4 types of jobs/ dispatches:

• Priority/ Emergency job: Urgent work completed in 72 hours, incurring extra costs for potential route disruption.
• Regular job: Must be completed within 2 weeks of approval.
• Fixed Date jobs: Scheduled well in advance, providing clients with advance notice based on their preferences. MAY exceed the two week limit for job completion based on clients preference and need to provide advance notice of the scheduled work.
• Cold weather jobs: In temperatures below 30 degrees, each Thermal Repair (TR) takes much longer, approx. 45 minutes to 1.5 hours. The cold weather plan involves providing clients with a temporary patch during winter, and the PHR team returns in spring for a permanent fix. Clients are billed for the temporary repair, with no payment due for the final repair. Photos of the damage, temporary repair, and final repair are provided to the client. Cold weather repairs are expedited, with a 60 TR job taking only a few hours, as opposed to the normal 2-2.5 days. If the temperature rises above 40 degrees or if work is slow, technicians switch to thermal repairs, adjusting the schedule accordingly. You can read more about the process here. CWP repairs ALSO REQUIRE a second dispatch and second invoice showing completed final repairs. These springtime second round repairs must be worked into spring routes efficiently.

In an 8-hour shift, tech teams complete 25-30 TRs within 4 hours of driving time. Unloading, starting machines, and cleaning/packing equipment can take 30 minutes for each job. So the Operations team must pay attention to both the number of TRs scheduled and the # of jobs scheduled. Technicians receive job details in the E-TECHNICIAN app.

When the job is completed (closed in E-TECHNICIAN app), Customer, Operations, and CSR receive a completion notification, with link to after pictures

Scheduling and building the route for surveys: Dispatch considers various factors when designing and updating routes for technician jobs:

• Types of Repairs

Emergency repair- assign time of 60 minutes for 4 TRs. Emergency repairs take priority and the operation team generally tries to accommodate the client. Regular repair- assign time of 60 minutes for 4 TRs Wheel Rut repairs- assign time of 60 minutes for 4 TRs. Fixed Type repair- assign time of 60 minutes for 4 TRs. Fixed job types are scheduled in advance for a specific date as per client preferences and the operation team generally tries to accommodate the client. Cold Weather repairs- assign time of 30 minutes for 4 TRs.

• Technicians within the client region.

• Drive time to and from client locations

Use Google Maps for efficient route design and Drive Time calculator in CRM, to find the shortest driving time between client locations

• Weather considerations (avoiding rain, snow, wind)

Rain- Do not schedule a repair if there is continuous rain forecasted. Under active rain conditions, repairs cannot be completed. Technicians can work under light rain conditions but they should stop and notify operations if the rain continues, puddles form or they are working on an inclined site where there is water run off etc.

Snow- If it starts snowing during the repair, technicians can complete that one repair and then stop. Operations should not schedule a repair under continuous snow conditions. Operations to call the client a day before a scheduled repair and ensure that the lot has been plowed and repaired.

Wind- Complete the repairs as normal, using wind blinds to keep the IR hot and functional.

• Sales pressure

PHR tries to accommodate sales (and clients) and complete repairs within a timely manner. So, if there is a request to complete a repair earlier than scheduled, operations will revisit the schedule and try to schedule the client in by sending out an additional technician team.

• Time

Technicians can complete 25 - 30 TRs per day. The number of repairs that technicians can complete can vary depending on the drive time between client locations, traffic jams, type of repair, type of lot, extent of damage, location of repairs and delays caused due to water pooling, too much traffic in limited spaces, cars parked on the repair, at client’s request to leave the property, etc.

• Property type

Residential apartment or townhome complex: Work should be scheduled between 9 am and 5 pm on weekdays. Weekends are to be avoided, unless requested by the client.

Sports arena- can be scheduled at regular times.

Shopping center or mall- Shopping centers should be scheduled either early in the morning or late in the evening, on weekdays when the parking lots are emptiest. Afternoons and weekends are to be avoided.

Utilities company- Repairs should be scheduled before the client’s opening hours or after closing hours.

Business districts or stand along businesses- Repairs should be scheduled before the client’s opening hours or after closing hours.

Main road or streets- Make sure the technician has the proper signage and the flagger so that they can control traffic along that road.

Stand alone Restaurants- Repairs should be scheduled before 11 am in the day.

Bank- Repairs should be scheduled before the client’s opening hours or after closing hours.

Hospitality (hotels etc.)- Repairs can be scheduled at regular times.

Medical centers- Repairs can be scheduled at regular times.

Gas stations- Repairs can be scheduled at regular times.

Churches- Repairs can be scheduled during the week and with advance notice required.

Schools- Repairs can be scheduled on the weekends.

Location of damage: Damage is in a high traffic area: Avoid scheduling this repair during business hours. Early morning is best.

Technicians have to follow the schedule. Any deviation should be reported to Operations and technicians have to wait for further instructions. If the job is incomplete, techs are not allowed to leave the site without talking to Operations.