Cut Your Stress With Red Tags (Trust me, this works!)
Cut the chaos! Keep every service van stocked with required equipment using a simple red tag system that prevents missing tools and morning meltdowns.
KickStart: When things get weird you can still prevent techs not having the needed tools and supplies by tagging the van’s steering wheel.
If you’ve been in the residential services industry for more than five minutes, you know it’s a logistical circus. Think about it…
Your vans are scattered all over the city, every crew needs the same core equipment and supplies, and yet—a basic tool always manages to be MIA when your tech arrives to their job! Grrrrrr!😡
I used to dread the phone calls like these…
“Hey Steve! Uhhhh, now don’t get mad at me, but, uh… somebody ‘borrowed’ my whatchamajigger off the truck last night. I’m sorry, boss, but I’m already 45 minutes away from the shop.”
My blood pressure is spiking even as I type this! Back in the day I wanted to smash the phone—or my tech’s head—into little pieces. But losing my cool wouldn’t fix the problem.
So, I asked myself: WHERE did my systems break down?
💡NOTE: You DO have a written “Business Infrastructure” of basic systems composed of simple, step-by-step procedures, don’t you? NO? 😱 WHY NOT?
But now back to my non-functioning service business! My first reaction? I typed up a massive Inventory List of every standard item and too on the truck for each tech to painstakingly check off each morning. The result? it was DOA- a huge flop!
Here’s the reality—each tech should have been able to assume their basic inventory was still on their truck from the day before when they restocked everything. DUH! (You likely have the same end-of-day restocking procedure in place.)
So once again. Where did my system break down? People were borrowing supplies and even tools from other trucks and not returning them! (We did a lot of after-hours, emergency call-out water losses.)
So instead of penalizing innocent techs I got proactive and put a simple, cast-iron rule in place:
👉 If you remove a standard tool or inventory item off a truck, you MUST slap a big red tag on the steering wheel with what is now missing.
No excuses. No exceptions. The result?
This one simple rule cut 30 points off my blood pressure and kept me out of jail for assaulting a tech! Here’s how it works:
After-hours emergency tech needs more equipment, so they take it off another truck. (If it is 2:00 AM with no other recourse I’m OK with this.)
BUT the tech must hang a red tag on the steering wheel with a quick note: “No thingamajig on this truck.”
Next morning, a different half-awake tech hops in the van, sees the tag on the steering wheel, and boom—he knows what’s missing before he shows up 30 miles on the first job without his thingamajig.
Problem solved. Communication stayed consistent. Jobs stopped getting derailed. And I didn’t end up in prison for assault or worse! Win-Win-Win!
💡 Pro tip: You can order these oversized red hang tags with the wire attached online or grab them at any office supply store.
Now before you get your panties all in a bunch here’s some notes…
1. Yes, I KNOW all home service companies should have a back-up inventory of tools and supplies in place. (And yes, we did.) Remember, I preach this to all my clients! BUT…
“Poop happens” 😡 and production (read here “profits”) must go on!
2. Want to take it a step further? Pair the red tag rule with a loading checklist your crew reviews every morning before rolling out. That way, nothing gets overlooked, and you get one less headache in your day.
3. Even better, “make it easier to do it right than to do it wrong” for your hard-working techs. How? By hiring a part-time evening employee to come in to clean and restock all your production vans and do minor repairs on (you guessed it!) the red-tagged items! (We should talk about this soon!)