Part 1: The Emotional Labor of Hiring Home Service Providers
Even though I’ve run a business in the cleaning industry since 2008, it wasn’t until I bought my first house in 2018 where I learned what it felt like to hire service professionals.
Even though I heard the stories from my customers over the years about the level of emotional labor involved in this endeavor, it took my own experiences to see both sides: from the service side and from the customer side. And wow, there are a number of fireside horror stories that I can pull out of my back pocket to share with you. Alas, I’ll save that for another day.
Today and in this 3-part series on The Emotional Labor of Hiring Home Service Providers, I would like to bring awareness to some of the things that you might experience in the process of searching for a house cleaner, landscaper, plumber, handy person, and so on. Perhaps, you might feel less alone in your efforts. Think of this series as a guide to help you navigate through the entire process of hiring someone. In this 3-part series:
Part 1 (below): The Interview
Part 2: The First Impression
Part 3: The Long Term Relationship
PART 1: THE INTERVIEW
In this phase, you’re gathering information, formulating an action plan, and getting clear on what you’re looking for. There are many different routes that you can choose, which can make this process inundating and sometimes even exhausting.
DIY vs. Cost
First, you’ll want to decide whether or not you’ll want to DIY a project or hire out. This often comes down to a decision of budget — the higher your budget for a project, the more you’ll be able to outsource and hire out for the tasks you need done.
Sometime people do a mix of both and DIY what they can and hire out for the bits that they are unskilled at or unable to complete. This tends to be a more budget friendly option, but you get to decide how much your time is worth.
Type of Service Pro
There are different types of service professionals that you could hire. It’s ok if you’re undecided about what type you’d like to hire, but education is empowerment. It’s good to make educated decisions.
The Lone Wolf: you might find this person on Craiglist, FB marketplace, a referral from a friend or neighbor, etc. They may or may not have a website, proper licensing, insurance, or experience. This route tends to cost less. You may or may not find this person professional or reliable, but the risk is higher as you will be liable for any accidents that occur while this person is doing the job for you.
The Gig Economy: you might hire someone through Task Rabbit or Handy who is an independent contractor through these gig economy services. The price is going to be more than “the lone wolf” but you’ll receive that protection as their work will be backed by insurance. The quality of work in the gig economy can be hit or miss as you might come across unskilled workers who don’t have proper training and certifications. You’ll find that scheduling is easier however, which usually is done online.
The Solopreneur: this is a person who owns a small business, has proper certifications / licensing / insurances and works alone or has a small number of staff. They might either be starting out or have chosen to keep their business small. They are usually highly invested in their customers and the work they do. Scheduling might be difficult as these service pro’s tend to be in high demand because they cater to a niche recurring customer base whom they’ve built long term relationships with. Pricing can vary and might be similar or higher than “the gig economy”.
The Full Service Business: this is an established business with a team. They likely have systems and processes in place with proper training programs where they onboard, manage, and retain staff. The booking process might be easier as you’ll be able to book online, text, or phone and they might have more open availability. You’ll pay a higher price for this type of service, but it will be backed by proper licensing, insurance, staffing, professionalism, reliability, and good communication.
Sifting through reviews & countless recommendations
Ok, so now that you’ve gotten to a place of understanding if you’ll do the project yourself or if you’ll hire out…and what type of service pro you might hire — there’s some research that you might need to do, depending on the referrals you’ve received. Sometimes too much information can be counterproductive, so I recommend picking 3 places that you’ll consider doing business with, to start. Here’s some things you’ll want to look for when sifting through the sea of professionals:
Reviews: do a quick preliminary search on different review sites such as Yelp, Google, and Facebook. Reviews were a more prominent part of doing business in the 2010’s, but have become less common or are used as a way to settle a dispute. Sometimes you don’t know the whole story when it comes to a small handful of bad reviews, but it is something important to take into account if a professional or company consistently has poor reviews.
References: if you cannot find reviews, but you’d like to still work with a person, gather 2-3 references to contact to back up a person or a small company’s said reputation.
Brand Messaging: does the messaging across different platforms align with your values and who you’re looking to do business with? Cross check website, social media, Google search to find this information.
Nuts & Bolts
Next, once you’re getting closer to choosing a service professional, you’ll want to get clear on the specifics. You’ll find this information out through a number of places — website, a phone call, email, or even text.
Pricing: what is their pricing structure? Do they bill hourly or by a flat fee? How and when will you pay?
Work Restrictions: what can they do and what can’t they do?
Booking: what are their hours? Do they have availability within your timelines?
Staffing: what is the company culture and workplace like? If they have staff, how do they take care of their staff? {this will directly correlate to quality of work done}
