The Chairman's Corner

By John Chipman, Jr.

June 2020

For better or worse the Covid-19 Virus pandemic has changed how the moving industry does business in California. Shelter-in-place orders have affected how we interact with customers and colleagues. The Virus will eventually be defeated when testing and vaccines become available, but the recent changes to our business model will likely stay with us for years to come. While pronouncements made at the time of a major crisis like this one is frequently wrong, here’s a crystal ball forecast with respect to virtual sales, Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) and working from home.

Virtual surveys and sales are the new normal. For decades sales representatives performed a circus act while patiently trekking through a customer’s home tabulating items to be packed, crated, moved, and stored. During the walkthrough, sales reps juggled pleasant conversation, at the same time nimbly dodging yappy dogs and curious toddlers. With flashlight in hand, they contorted their bodies to fit into cobweb filled attics and garages that often doubled as wood shops (at best) and a moldy, burial ground for PBOs filled with family keepsakes (at worst). If the customer needed tips on making junk disappear, voila our reps could produce a Hosting a Garage Sale pamphlet from a concealed pocket. Now our reps are mastering a new act: virtual surveys and sales.

New concerns arise. Does wearing headphones and a floral shirt enhance my professional image? How am I supposed to tabulate what’s moving if the customer waves his mobile phone around like a tomahawk? If I’m seated behind a desk, do I really need to wear pants? And the big one, what’s an appropriate backdrop during the survey? Is it my vintage taxidermy collection in the family room, or towering stacks of dirty dishes in the kitchen?

Customer expectations have evolved. They don’t want to lead multiple tours of sales reps through their residence. They only want to see your face on their handheld device at the time of their choosing, including early mornings, evenings and weekends. Senior customers don’t want sales reps spreading germs at their virus-free townhouses. Urban professionals don’t want to be pressured into leaving work at 2pm for a 3pm in-home appointment. Millennials are thinking about themselves: Why cancel my Peloton class if the mover can virtually survey my apartment on Saturday morning, right after I fire up the Keurig, but while I’m still in my PJs?

Jake Moreno from Suddath in San Jose sees it this way: “From a residential perspective, the virtual survey is here to stay. I don’t believe the in-home survey is completely eliminated, but from a simply and efficiency standpoint, let alone COVID-19, the virtual survey makes more sense. “

Virtual surveys make sense for sales reps, too. If we can provide more estimates each week by reducing drive time and expanding hours, sales and commissions will also increase. Expanding work hours to evenings and weekends also improves customer satisfaction. (Yes, CMSA, it turns out customers like us more if the sales process is at their convenience.) Reduced drive time on CA freeways provides more effective use of finite sales time. Sales reps might see their health improved. Like dropping tobacco, not constantly driving the stress filled 405 or 880 freeways could add at least six months to your life.

PPE will remain in our industry long after the pandemic subsides. This wasn’t my initial impression back in April. The first time I saw a moving crew head to a residence wearing masks and gloves, my initial thought was: Yikes, these guys look a little scary; like they’re dressed to knock-over a 7-Eleven. Later, after learning how pleased the customer had been with the same crew, my initial perception changed. The customer wasn’t scared at all. In fact, they felt safe because the team was wearing protective gear. The customer’s family didn’t see would-be bandits; they saw a team of professionals.

CMSA members are adept at listening to their customers. If customers want licensed, uniformed crews moving their goods then that’s what we are going to provide. The same is true for PPE. Olga Garcia from CG Moving Company in South San Francisco agrees: “If the customers see that you are taking the necessary precautions to make sure your employees are safe and that the service is extra careful, they appreciate that.”

While not all customers will expect PPE after the pandemic, many of them will. For example, it’s anticipated health care facilities, like hospitals, and retirement communities will continue to require vendors to provide PPE. Older residential customers will have similar expectations, as will customers with compromised immune systems. “If wearing masks and gloves can make the customers and employees feel safe, I think that an implementation can only help our industry,” predicts Olga.

For some employees, working at the office will also be another casualty of Covit-19. During the 1980’s you had to be at your desk by at least 8am, or else. That included management, operations, billing, and coordinators. Even sales reps reported to the office. Bob Menne from Crown Worldwide used to have in-person sales meetings first thing in the morning. “Five minutes early meant you were on time”, according to former Crown Operations Manager Rick Carrion. Forty years ago, being at your office desk at a moving company was like voting for Reagan and cheering the downfall of the Soviets; you just did it.

That has all changed. CA movers (and pretty much all employers) have fewer employees in the office during the pandemic. Coordinators and billing specialists don’t drive to work in Orange County; they commute two minutes in their bunny slippers to their second bedroom that moonlights as an office. They marshal scanned bills of lading and inventories on multiple screens, and take work calls on voice-over IP. By hitting the mute button, coordinators can deploy the same “Mom voice” used for scolding errant drivers, to instead dynamite their sleepy kids from bed to online classes.

There are some workers that will need to return to the office, but not all. Dan Lammers of Ace Relocation Systems, Atlas’ biggest hauler, sees it this way, “There will be those who are still productive members of the team, that do not want to or cannot go to an office environment. While we are not used to managing those people who work strictly offsite, we will see a need for management to get up to speed.”

What does your business model look like after the pandemic?

June 2020 - CMSA Communicator