My daughter informed me on March 6th that her place of business was going to a work at home schedule starting the 16th due to COVID19. We both thought that was a bit premature.
Week of March 9th – Talk of spread of COVID19 starts to ramp up in USA – staff is getting a little anxious, but it is business as usual. Friday March 13th, Maine Schools close and go to remote teaching. A technician who is considered high risk decides to stay at home.
Week of March 16th – I know my staff is scared and we must start making tough decisions. Decision #1: lock the door to keep out the public. Most of our walk-ins are elderly and this decision was made for them as well as us. We watched people come to the door all day and shake their heads in disgust as it was not the norm, YET. We post on Facebook that our doors are closed to the public and give them several ways to communicate with us. We ask that if we are scheduled to come into their homes and they have been unwell that they notify us. The office staff is a bit somber. I offer reduced hours for anyone that feels they need it. Three high risk people continue to come to the office, but I can see their fear. Mid-week we change our hours to close a half-hour early so people can go home early. One of the high-risk office employees decides to stay at home starting the following Monday. She just happened to have a huge project that she could do from home, so we gave her remote access to assist in other ways as well. One decides to work shorter days and only a four-day work week. We have little mini meetings each day to see how everyone is doing. But it is still business as usual. Mostly…
Week of March 23rd – Every Sunday night is sombering for anyone who runs an essential business. We are asking people to leave their homes as more businesses are closing. I come to work and chase down all the new options for employees to make them aware of what they can do. As far as unemployment, etc. if they are high risk. I offer early payment (up to a certain amount) on their profit sharing checks in case they need it. I offer full-time benefits for part-time work. The other high-risk office employee decides to stay home. Mini meetings continue. Workspaces are moved around to make sure everyone has a safe workspace. Workloads are changing. Some customers do not want us in their homes, so they are cancelling scheduled work. We have another high-risk technician who wants to work. We find him work he can do outside by himself. He is reminded he can file for unemployment. He DOES NOT want to stay home. If he can’t work outside by himself due to weather, he can work on weekends to make up his hours. Honestly, we do not need all the technicians full-time, but we are not going to lay people off. Our employees are like family.
Week of March 30th – We are getting quieter. People aren’t calling much. It is a bit creepy. My last high-risk girl decides she can’t come into the office anymore. And then there were six (out of nine) including me. We are all taking turns in the office “not adulting”. Maybe leaving early or coming in late. We start buying the office staff lunch every Friday. They have taken the brunt of what is going on due to less employees. We try and support local businesses that buy from us.
Week of April 6th – Monday – (another Sunday night decision) Employees who continue to work outside of the home will be getting hazard pay. As long as they work 32 hours, they will accrue an additional 8 hours of PTO time. A small cash bonus is handed out. Statements are out in the mail, so the phones are a bit busier.
Tuesday – As my credit manager is out due to high-risk, I assume the role. I know this is going to be a tough task with so many people out of work, so I start my day personally analyzing all my budget accounts. I know there are quite a few with credits after this warm weather. I tell people NOT to pay if they don’t need to. I offer refunds to those that have credits that won’t need another delivery. People are thankful for my call. One customer said she was going to pay it forward. One donated some to our donation fund. I end my day feeling wonderful despite the turmoil in the world.
Tuesday after hours – BAM the office closes at 4 and I get a call from my dispatcher at 4:15. My on-call driver received a page from the on-call service stating that a propane customer was out of product. This customer told the answering service that she had been ill with Coronavirus. I reached out to the customer directly and I told her we would be unable to deliver to her without doing some follow-up with professionals for some guidance on what to do. I told her I appreciated her honesty. She understood. She stated that she had an electric heater that she would use for the night. We made a phone call to the local fire department who stated they wear full PPE when going into a house with a confirmed case. We, of course, do not have full PPE.
The next morning, she called back and when questioned more thoroughly she said that she had been quarantined for 14 days, the previous day being her 14th day, after being ill and calling her personal physician with symptoms similar to Coronavirus as a precaution. She stated that she had NOT been tested. This was an elderly woman. Her story was suspect where she did not mention that fact the night before, but her story did fall in line with what we have heard from media etc. That they are not testing everyone and if your symptoms are similar BUT you are not severely ill, they suggest self-quarantining for 14 days. She also did not sound ill and was not coughing. This did not change our approach as far as entering the home.
My service manager and I looked at her equipment and were hoping her appliances were electronic ignition. We decided that we would make the delivery and do the leak test and talk her through getting the appliances up and running. In lieu of a signature on the leak test form we did a phone recording (thanks for that idea Matt!). I should point out we were 99% sure there was not a leak, as the run-out was due to a credit issue. We also put that credit issue on the back burner to get her heat back up and running. After a few conversations with her, again recorded, she told me that her furnace needed to be lit which she had done before. I was hesitant and suggested she find some more electric heaters, but she was adamant that she could light it if we would just bring her the gas. This is not normal procedure by any means.
My service manager said he would meet a driver there so they could tag team to get the product pumped, the leak test done and talk her through getting things back up and running.
Next step, find a driver. We knew she had been outside to check the tanks and that Coronavirus likes metal per the gas pump story. I approached one of my drivers with total honesty. Told him everything I knew. That the service manager would meet him there with a mask and some Lysol to spray around the tank and some gloves. Told him he could say no and meant it. He said no. When I mentioned this to the service manager, he said he could pump the product and do the leak test if a driver could handle the meter and Midcom side of things at the truck. This was acceptable to a different driver. When they got there the woman’s son was there to help her get things going. Again, not normal procedure but I did feel better that she did not have to do it by herself. We pumped the product, performed the leak test and gave him the go ahead. My service manager stood by in case he could assist via telephone. I will say I breathed a big sigh of relief when he said things were up and running. I called the woman who was extremely grateful for what we did. I gently mentioned that I would reach out next week to talk to her about her account. She offered to pay me over the phone.
This was a reality check for me. This is real. This is hard and tough decisions that fall out of the norm must be made.
Wednesday – Phones are crazy, customer statements have arrived through the mail. There is talk of a big storm. The six of us in the office are kept quite busy.
Thursday – A repeat of Wednesday.
Friday – Oh boy. The storm is worse than predicted. There are statewide power outages. I think this is the 4th one since October. Customers are grumpy about it; employees are grumpy about it and then we have COVID19 on top of it.
Saturday – On call driver needs assistance. No way am I calling in the troops. They are tired so I go in and field some stuff for him and do some scheduling for the beginning of the week for generator accounts.
Week of April 13 – Monday starts out crazy with generator calls as they are talking about another wind and rainstorm. Even though most people have their power back they are concerned about us not being able to get into their driveways if anymore debris comes down. I again check budget accounts as another payment has been made which means more people will not need to make their next two payments. Again, my heart is warmed as people thank me for the foresight to help them keep their money in their pocket. The rest of the week is somewhat peaceful. We have developed a good routine in the office.
Week of April 20th – Crude oil crashes – phones start to ring AGAIN. Luckily it was just a few phone calls that morning. The rest of the week has been good. I truly appreciate these people.
Next week is another week…..
Credit will be a struggle. We are delivering smaller deliveries to those that need one with no additional fees. We are setting up payment plans. There are no past due letters going out. I am trying to reach every customer that is in arrears that may need a delivery personally, to make a payment arrangement that works for both sides. We stopped all finance charges before our March statements were mailed. I have authorized deliveries to people that owe us money even though they can’t pay us now, based on their past credit history. Some were already on hold when this started and when I saw they were going to run out I authorized a small delivery until I could talk to them.
Credit will be an issue for a while. My credit manager will have to adapt to different ways when she comes back. It will NOT be business as usual.
Businesses and schools have closed. Most under some sort of fixed price contract. They will not use all the gallons on their contract. I will not penalize them. This will cost me. Times will continue to be tough. I hope that some of these steps will help people and businesses survive. This virus will not go on forever. I want to be remembered as the company that cared.
We will continue to screen people about their travel habits and ask them if they have been sick before we enter a home. We will ask that they stay in another room. We will continue to mail delivery tickets. We will continue to pay highly skilled technicians to do other tasks to make sure they get their hours when needed.
I know for me, being a boss in an essential business is a double-edged sword. We can run almost as normal with some protective procedures in place. We can keep our employees employed. We struggle daily with emotions and customer reactions to different things. We continue to
money in their pocket. The rest of the week is somewhat peaceful. We have developed a good routine in the office.
Week of April 20th – Crude oil crashes – phones start to ring AGAIN. Luckily it was just a few phone calls that morning. The rest of the week has been good. I truly appreciate these people.
Next week is another week…..
Credit will be a struggle. We are delivering smaller deliveries to those that need one with no additional fees. We are setting up payment plans. There are no past due letters going out. I am trying to reach every customer that is in arrears that may need a delivery personally, to make a payment arrangement that works for both sides. We stopped all finance charges before our March statements were mailed. I have authorized deliveries to people that owe us money even though they can’t pay us now, based on their past credit history. Some were already on hold when this started and when I saw they were going to run out I authorized a small delivery until I could talk to them.
Credit will be an issue for a while. My credit manager will have to adapt to different ways when she comes back. It will NOT be business as usual.
Businesses and schools have closed. Most under some sort of fixed price contract. They will not use all the gallons on their contract. I will not penalize them. This will cost me. Times will continue to be tough. I hope that some of these steps will help people and businesses survive. This virus will not go on forever. I want to be remembered as the company that cared.
We will continue to screen people about their travel habits and ask them if they have been sick before we enter a home. We will ask that they stay in another room. We will continue to mail delivery tickets. We will continue to pay highly skilled technicians to do other tasks to make sure they get their hours when needed.
I know for me, being a boss in an essential business is a double-edged sword. We can run almost as normal with some protective procedures in place. We can keep our employees employed. We struggle daily with emotions and customer reactions to different things. We continue to have (almost) daily “how are you feeling pow wows” but I am happy to say they are now a bit lighter and almost fun. If someone doesn’t want to “adult” for a day they don’t have to. It is day by day, hour by hour.
We appreciate the fact that we get paychecks and that we get to have some sort of socializing with each other. It helps to normalize our lives that have been uprooted. We are developing a bond stronger than the one we had. We are surviving a battle like no one has seen, together as a team. We joke, we come to work in whatever attire we want, we swear, we cry, we are tired. We watch Bob Marley with his Coronavirus Daily’s; we watch the CDC daily update.
It is NOT business as usual. It won’t be for a while. We as business owners or business managers, etc. have a big responsibility to our employees and our customers.