Tuesday, March 8, 2016

STEALING CAN BE PROFITABLE


A frequent call I get from BSC's is what to do when a customer steals their employee(s)." Now I have to start all over finding someone to do that work". Ever happen to you? I know it did to me.

While I don't provide legal advice and I always recommend you get legal counsel whenever preparing your agreement, I did include a paragraph in my agreement that went something like this,

In the event the customer wants to hire a contractor's employee, they are perfectly welcome to do so. Because the contractor spends considerable time in recruiting, vetting, and training their employees, we will invoice the customer at a rate of 25% of the annual salary of the employee being hired. 

In this way it is not viewed as a penalty item but rather a recruiting and training fee. If we had not done such a good job of finding a great employee, the customer would not be trying to hire them. You have saved them considerable dollars in the process and this helps reimburse you for your efforts. If you put it in words like that rather than making it sound like a penalty or creating a conflict with the customer, it is very acceptable.

Did I ever collect?    MANY TIMES.

I found the concept of taking my employees most prevalent in manufacturing plants where they would observe our employees doing a good job and then would recruit them. 

Take for example you have a part time 4 hour per night employee that you are paying $10 per hour. That equates to 1040 hours per year or $10,400 in annual wages. At 25% of the annual wages you can then invoice the customer for $2,600. See how stealing can be profitable? I had a couple of good customers that would call me and say we are hiring your employee, send us the bill.

You may want to use a different percentage of annual wages such as 15% etc. but put some percentage on it so you can be rewarded for your efforts. You may also choose to waive the fee but at least you have addressed it with the customer. 

I don't condone or recommend stealing, but in this case I welcomed it and profited from the concept. The fees collected went directly to the bottom line. 

So, let me remind you again that we have a DVD that outlines this procedure as well as other keys point to include in the agreement. Just go to www.consultantsincleaning.com and see that DVD along with a host of other training DVDs in English and Spanish that can help you in Sales, Administration, Human Resources, and Operations. There are also many FREE forms and comments available there as well. Enjoy.

Don't forget to listen to our weekly pod cast at www.kleancast.com. A new one is posted every Monday morning.