Starting any type of business represents a challenge and among the first things you want to do is search for the right people to work with you. In most cases, a big part of the success of a business is the people, your employees and how well they perform their tasks.
If you are starting a moving company, hiring and training moving your employees needs to be a priority. Since they will be the ones to interact with customers the most, they will likely be the ones who determine the success of your business. Ensuring you get the right people is quite vital and this means conducting a thorough selection process for hiring and then giving them the training and knowledge that they’ll need.
So assuming you have asked all the right questions and found the perfect people to form your moving crew, it is now time to actually train them and prepare them for the job. It often happens that even if you have all the knowledge that is required with this job, sharing it with others and training them becomes a difficult task. No need to worry though! Below, you’ll find some valuable advice into training your newly hired crew!
Train them for the specific job they’ll be doing
The moving industry has a multitude of jobs to offer and not all of your personnel will be doing the exact same thing. Some of your employees will primarily focus on driving while others could specialize in disassembly. It’s crucial to make your training practical and for it to be specific to each position.
If you have hired someone with no previous experience, you need to teach them how to do the job you’ve hired them to do, at least in the beginning. Focusing on training people for specific jobs will make your business run more efficiently and eventually provide better results than if all employees do all the jobs that a moving company entails.
Emphasize the importance of customer satisfaction
One point you need to really need to emphasize is the importance of customer satisfaction. As for every business, recommendations and reviews weigh a lot but especially when it comes to the moving business, as people are always looking for reliable movers considering that they will be the ones handling all their belongings. Therefore it is really important to explain to your new employees how to handle customers.
First things first , they need to look presentable, clean and professional. Having your crew appear clean sends the message that they can be trusted to take good care of the items they are handling.
Another important part that contributes to customer satisfaction is how approachable you rcrew is. Grumpy movers that react negatively to questions or requests will not help with the client’s moving stress. Train your crew to approach customers with a smile on their faces and a friendly attitude.
Explain the importance of moving documentation
An important thing you need to pay attention to when training your crew is explaining to them the importance of moving documentation. These documents are important both for having good organisation on the moving day and protecting the company from potential damages. Point out that they should pay attention to offer customers all the necessary documentation for signing. The lack of these signed documents may get you some complaints section with thee American Moving and Storage Association, which is something that no moving company would like.
Go through all details of the job
The most important part of training your new crew is to prepare them for the job itself. This means teaching them how to pack and lift items properly and how to take all safety precautions necessary.
- Packing
You will need to teach your crew how to properly pack items. Having all your movers trained for properly packing items is a necessity considering that many people choose to have items packed by their moving company. The best approach is to find packing supplies to train with and offer a packing course.
Pay special attention to more fragile things that could need packing like artwork when training your crew as their value can make them very risky to handle.
- Lifting
Another thing you need to teach your crew is how to properly lift items. Lifting heavy objects is one of the main causes of personal injury in the moving industry. Improper lifting can lead to injury even when using moving straps so if improperly lifting, crew members could not only hurt themselves but also put the health of their coworkers in danger. Also, if the object that is moved is very valuable, a sudden injury of a crewmember can lead to damages.
Your movers need to keep a good, wide base of support. To lift correctly, they need to squat down with their feet apart, bending only the knees then slowly lift the item, using the force in their legs and knees. Remind them not to lift with their back.
- Specific moving
Depending on the type of services your company offers you might need to train your crew for specific scenarios. If you tackle industrial moving, your crew might need to handle heavy equipment or dangerous chemicals.
- Safety
In the end, probably the most important thing you will have to train your new crew is their personal safety. Considering that moves can happen in all sorts of weather conditions and with all sorts of items, safety could become an issue. Having your crew aware of all the dangers and teaching them how to avoid juries or more serious accidents is essential.
About the Autor
Michaela Smith is the marketing director of Empire Movers, a much trusted company located in NYC. The knowledge is backed up by an experience of over 15 years on the market, helping clients navigate all sorts of needs and challenges when it comes to relocating and training numerous crew members for the job.