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Casago’s private podcast helping our patners with educational information that can help everyone find success.
It's the KasaCast, created by KasaGo.
It's time for the show, let's go!
Steve: Bill came to us years ago.
From being a homeowner and
started off working with Costco
international and helping us, , do
a lot of different things.
His latest position is PSM.
He is known for teaching people
how to run their businesses with
operational excellence , we're gonna
be talking about the five things
you need to know about work orders.
Hey Bill, welcome to the show.
Oh, thanks Steve.
Happy to be here.
First time on a podcast?
Sure is.
Thanks Steve.
I appreciate appreciate the
invite and happy to be here.
Yeah, glad to have you.
So, as I was reading through the show
notes, something you said about work
orders and tech, specifically, is most
of the time when learning new tech,
People become nervous that they cannot
do it correctly when in fact we all use
smartphones, Facebook, and Instagram.
If you can use those apps,
you'll have no problem at all.
I'm a big believer that if
you try, it's pretty simple.
It's just getting past your fear.
Bill, I've sent you to a lot of
different places to teach people how
to use work orders and I think that
how we see work orders here at Casa Go.
May be different than what a
lot of the industry sees it as.
And we have a very unique way
that we handle our work orders.
And we use it as not only
workflow and coordination, but
also as a communication tool.
And you've been a big advocate of that.
Yeah, I, part of my background
is being a homeowner.
And work orders was the best, one
of the best ways to communicate
what was going on in my home.
I don't always like getting work
orders or paying for work orders.
But, the importance of being able to have
that information helps me make decisions.
the right decisions.
And then also has documentation of
what needs to be done whether I'm
going to do it myself or whether
we're going to have somebody,
somebody at that office do it for me.
So you listed five things that we
should be thinking about as Costco
teammates about what work order
should be and how we operate them.
For number one.
You put workers from
an owner's perspective.
So tell us a little bit about what is the
work order from the owner's perspective
and how do we make it better for them?
And how does the Costco way
of handling work orders?
Driving better experience.
Owners are typically 500, 000 miles away
from their home, their vacation realm.
And the best way you're going to
communicate what's going on in their
home is by creating a work order.
By choosing the words and using the
language that's going to describe
the issue to them, so that they
best understand what's going on with
the problem or issue that it is.
And photos is a huge thing.
It tells the whole story.
You may not put the proper verbiage
in, but pictures can tell you the whole
story from the problem to the work
in progress to the finished product.
When I was just getting going on
work order photography there was no
owner X app or anything like that.
And I went out and bought pink cameras
digital cameras, and I would make our
maintenance men upload the photos and
email the photos to the homeowners . And
in that one month, I had an 85 percent
drop in questions about the work
orders after the statements went out.
It changed everything.
That's when I became a real believer.
And when you're a homeowner, often
waiting until the end of the month to
know what happened, and then finding
out about all the money that you had to
spend on your property, as a surprise
can really be emotional for a homeowner.
I agree with that.
Some of the practices that I've
seen are that they just put it as
a line item on an owner statement.
That doesn't really show me,
the homeowner, or any other
homeowner, what work was done.
It's, did it get done?
I have no proof.
I have no record of it.
And by doing it with photos through
the work order, It is going to
make it much more valuable for
the owner, but also your team.
It takes a lot of questions out of play.
And then there's no doubt either.
I mean, it's basically transparency
and that's really what we're about
is transparency to our homeowners.
Yep.
So for number two, you put why your team
should know for a number scratch that.
So for number two, you said
your entire team should know
how to use property care X.
Why the entire team?
Because anybody that works in the
office or out in the field, at
times they're going to be in a home.
And when they see an issue,
they need to be able to create
the work order on the spot.
It is so much easier to
create it with the app.
upload the photos on the spot.
There's a lot of times where I
see people where they're just
write it down on a notepad and
they're going to create it later.
Well, then there's no photos and we
all get busy and it gets forgotten
and it never gets reported.
And if it doesn't get reported,
it's never going to be fixed.
Yeah.
Not only will it not get fixed, but
if it happens to get fixed, it'll
never get charged to the homeowner.
And suddenly you as the
property manager just ate.
All the costs and fixing that.
I've seen that happen too.
Yeah, that's a really good point So
for number three tell us what determines
what's required for a work order to be
created Really it's kind of comes down to
any issue that you find in the home that
should be reported I'm a big believer
when in doubt, create a work order.
You can always explain away a work order
that was created maybe for the wrong
reason, but if you don't create it,
how are you going to ever track that?
Lost and found items.
Yeah, an owner doesn't need to
know about a lost and found item.
But how are you going to track those
lost and found items for the guest?
And how are you going to
return it to the guest?
So a lot of people don't even Consider
creating a work order for lost and
found But it's a valuable tool and able
to keep track and make sure that the
guest gets back Or at least is notified.
What other creative ways are
there to use work orders that
people normally wouldn't think of?
I'm a big proponent for suggested
items, or suggested repairs.
And this is a way to help a
homeowner learn on what they need
to improve, or it also helps them
budget for future large items.
And I can give you Arizona as an example.
The house side needs to
be painted on the outside.
If you don't put that in front of the
owner a year to two years in advance,
They can't budget for it and then
they're scrambling to come up with
the money to basically protect their
investment and paint is a big thing.
So suggested improvements go
a long way with homeowners.
Yeah, and also when you recommend that
even a suggested item or something
that needs to be put in place when
it comes due and they're like, well,
you never told me that documentation
that here's where I told you.
Here's where you said yes or no.
Here's a discussion that happened.
I can't tell you how many times we've
had homeowners and property managers,
myself included, have a short memory of
what was said or what was suggested and
then suddenly having, to figure out the
blowback for something that we actually
took care of, but forgot all about.
Yeah another good way is a lot of
locations they'll do a quarterly
check in with their homeowners.
You can pull up those, you can filter
out the suggested improvements and talk
about them so that you can actually put
them not only within a work order in front
of them and then through their owner X
portal, but also in a conversation and
have a good conversation on what's the
plan going forward to make sure that
their home is always in tip top shape.
Yeah.
So for number four, , what should
be included in a work order?
What are the elements of a work
order that have to be included
in order for it to be successful?
I'm a big believer in who's reporting it.
So whether it's a housekeeper or
maintenance tech, whether it's the owner
of the company that should be in there.
What the issue is, what the plan of action
is to fix it or replace it or repair it.
And then photos.
You might not be able to give
them the cost at that point.
But you can always get them bids
so you can get them, prices on it
and you should get more than one.
You might have the greatest vendor
in the world, but you also it's fair
to your owners to get them three and
then let them choose from that point.
So I'm going to throw
in one more deadlines.
Yeah.
Task purpose deadline.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Having those deadlines,
I think are important.
A lot.
Often we'll see work orders as we look
at the agent reports and just not getting
done with, there's no deadline on them.
So, there is no urgency on it.
Yeah, I think that's really important.
And if you have a reason for then
it can't be done, let's say three
months, you're waiting for a part.
There's always a section
to put notes in there.
So at least everybody on your team
is up to date on what's going on.
Maybe the parts been ordered, it's
on back order, but at least can
also communicate that to your owner.
Yeah.
Documentation there's a discussion or a
theory around the five to one ratio that
for every one minute you spend documenting
something like a work order or like the
notes and updates your team saving five
minutes of work on the backend trying
to reconstruct what happened, trying
to have a discussion with somebody else
about what went wrong or just calling
you because a homeowner called them
to find out what was going on with it.
And so that five to one ratio
seems to play out pretty accurately
being a property manager.
Yeah, I would say that's really nails it.
Yeah.
So for number five, you put
making sure you have the proper
language in the work order.
So what is the proper language?
Repair.
Replace wear and tear.
Those are the three main terms you use.
Why you don't use broken or damaged
or shattered or exploded is because
automatically the owner is going
to think that the guest did it and
they shouldn't have to pay for it.
And that's not always the case.
You can have a lampshade that
goes bad due to age or humidity.
That doesn't necessarily happen
that the guest damaged it.
But it needs to either
be replaced or repaired.
So those are really key terms.
And then wear and tear.
A lot of homeowners, and this
is where you educate your
homeowners, What is wear and tear?
So, an area rug only has
a life expectancy of X.
And it really depends on the
foot traffic going through it.
And that's wear and tear.
And that's really an owner's expense.
Where do you find the information
for the difference between
wear and tear and damage?
The Ultimate Success Guide.
It's a book that's provided to your
homeowners after they sign a contract.
It's a really valuable tool.
Explains it in simplistic terms
that they're going to understand.
And it saves you a lot of time on the
later trying to explain what it is when
you put it in front of them that way.
Yeah, that whole little book is
there for expectation management.
And the fact that we have something
we can hand to a homeowner that
we can reference ourselves and
even give to our own teammates.
So we're all working from the
same definition of the difference
between wear and tear and damage.
Yeah.
It's a fantastic place to start
that conversation and it sets
expectations for the beginning of a
homeowner's journey with us, right?
So as, as property managers are picking
up the way we do property management
and work orders, and it's often very
different than they've been doing
before because it's a matter of change
management and, we're going to talk about
three steps to that change management.
And your first point was
do not be afraid of change.
Change is I think change is one of
the most difficult things for most
people, especially as we get older.
But if you don't try something
different, you're going to
always get the same results.
But you have to stay with it because
you're working with a team from
housekeepers to maintenance to, admin.
And you have to stay with
it and hold them accountable
about creating the work orders.
Your team will get it
when you stay with it.
But don't just throw it to the wayside,
because it doesn't happen overnight.
Yep.
And for number two, you said,
understand how it operates before
introducing it to your team.
And I've been guilty of this, so
I I can't wait to hear how you lay
this out, but that is such a truth.
I've had the honor to work with
a lot of different locations and
introduce work orders and a lot of
other standard operating procedures.
But when I work with the owners or
the general managers, if they don't
understand it, how do they keep their
team accountable and coach them, really
coach them and guide them to keep it going
.
If your team is successful, you're going
to be successful and your homeowners
are going to end up being successful.
So you have to stay with it.
. So for number three, new takes time.
So stick with it.
Partners using it consistently
will be better operators.
Yeah probably the hardest thing that
I've really tried to teach is staying
with it when you think it's not working.
It probably is working, you just
haven't gotten to that point.
And I've seen too many go, it's
not working for me, I'm going
to try something different.
Oh.
What's the, what are you
going to do different?
And we'll talk about the pain points.
And then we usually try to
tweak, try to tweak some things.
But work orders are work orders.
It literally is a part of the process.
And it really is, it adds great value.
So, you have to stick with it.
And you have to keep coaching.
And you have to keep guiding.
And it takes time because
everything new takes time.
When we come into new markets and
even when I implemented some of the
policies myself, that is now the
standard operating procedure for work
orders pushback in the beginning.
And I had wondered if I'd made a mistake.
Like when we started sending out
notifications to work orders when there
was a new one to homeowners, some of these
homeowners , they kind of bowed up on me.
Like, what's all these work orders?
And they're like, no, we're
just trying to be transparent.
And what we found was once they got
past it and understood it, and with good
framing and explanation, they loved it.
And the transparency of the flow
really allows for us to keep
homeowners for long periods of time.
But I think it gets worse
before it gets better when you
implement these work order flows.
And there's this theory called
the the Valley of Despair.
Have you ever heard of this?
I have.
Yeah.
So the Valley of Despair is when you
put something new into place and your
expectations is going to immediately
go up and to the right . But during the
implementation it actually drops down and
the Valley of Despair is the delta between
your expectations of where you should be.
and where you are now and often where
you are now has to catch back up to where
your expectations are and eventually
meets them but getting through that
valley of despair It's a big part of
change management for all of us It is.
Yep.
One of the recommendations I've had
with a lot of the new partners I've
been able to work with is communicate
to your homeowners ahead of time.
Here's what we're doing.
We have a change coming.
You're going to actually love the system.
You're going to get notifications.
You're going to be able to see
them in your OwnerX portal.
Put that in front of them on a newsletter
once a month for three months before
maybe even before you turn on the
notification so that they have a heads
up or else do a one on one phone call.
It's not always possible to do one
on one if you got 300 different
owners, but put it out there and give
them the information ahead of time.
Yeah.
I've discovered Loom recently.
I don't know if you've heard
of Loom, but it's kind of like
BombBomb, but a lot less expensive.
I've been using Loom to communicate
with the homeowners of Las
Palomas and different subsets
and segments of homeowners.
It is so fast, it's so easy and instead of
just getting the letter which they don't
read, opening up the video and watching
a 15 to 20 second clip of me even as
ugly as I am, they will watch it and I
get fantastic engagement with it and it
becomes a positive tool where they get to
see my face and Hear from me even though
I'm not communicating to them one on one.
It probably feels a lot more like
that I think that's a good way of
communicating change to homeowners
when they see your face and you know
Who else did a great job of that?
was Isaac and Ashley out of Myrtle Beach.
They're fantastic at using video for
change management with homeowners.
They just do a good job of it.
We have a lot of partners, so
I'm not leaving anybody out.
I can now, as soon as I said that, I
thought of four of the partners I should
mention, but I just watched them in the
transition do a fantastic job at it.
I remember seeing Isaac
and Ashley's video.
They sent it to me just to take
a look at it before they sent
it out, and it was awesome.
Yeah.
Bill, what's your favorite
sentence from the Orange Credo?
I am the owner's advocate.
Yeah, why?
Well, owners, if you don't have them, you
don't have a business, first of all, but
you're building that relationship with
them and you're making sure that you're
doing what they're asking you to do.
And that's really take care of their home.
And really it's not just their home,
but , there's different, things
that you do that go the extra mile.
Like maybe you have to communicate
with an HOA on behalf of them.
That's being an advocate, trying to
get the answers for them so , they can
make informed decisions or maybe better
understand even their HOA policies that
they have, that they're not even aware of.
Yeah.
. He wrote over and over.
and expecting different results.
Why'd you put that for
your closing thoughts?
That's kind of been my life credo.
I owned a business myself for 30
years and sometimes I kept doing the
same thing expecting I would get a
different result and I never did.
And I've watched other people do
the same thing and until you try
something different, you're never
going to get a different result.
And you're not always going to get
it right the first time and that's
okay, but you got to keep trying.
So maybe it's throw stuff against the
wall until it sticks and you keep that.
That's what works.
But.
Change is a great thing and , I'm old
enough that I have learned to love change.
It's made me a better person and those
that I see do change or try change are
better better operators and better people.
. Well, Bill, thank you
for coming on CasaCast.
Looking forward to more discussions
. Alright, thanks for having me.
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