$400 Gift Card Give Away

RooterPlus is giving away $400 in March and it is easy to win.

The contest will be held between March 1, 2010 and March 22, 2010. Entrants may win no more than one prize during this time. Entrants must be 18 years of age or older. RooterPlus will select one winner each Monday between March 1, 2010 and March 22, 2010. Winners will be selected by a process of RooterPlus' choosing. RooterPlus reserves the right to deem any entry ineligible for any reason.

Winners will be required to respond to a Facebook message prior to claiming prize. Winners who do not respond within 72 hours forfeit their prize. Gift cards will be mailed to all winners.

Employees of RooterPlus and their spouses are not eligible to win.

All prizes will be a $100 Visa gift card.

Here is how to enter: Become a fan of RooterPlus on Facebook. Winners will be selected at random from all Facebook fans.

All federal, state and local laws and regulations of the United States apply. Void where prohibited or restricted by law. Winner's names may be posted on our website and fan page. Entry constitutes each winner's permission to post the the respective winner's name. This contest is in no way affiliated with Facebook or any entity other than RooterPlus. All entrants and winners release RooterPlus and their respective affiliates, subsidiaries, agents, employees and all others associated with the development and execution of this Contest from any and all liability with respect to, or in any way arising from, the Contest and/or award, acceptance or use of the prizes, including liability for personal injury, death, damages, or monetary loss.

A Good Problem to Have

Everybody loves to be thanked. Employees love to hear they are doing a nice job or the company is better because of them or they finished the month with the highest productivity. RooterPlus is no different. We have almost fifty employees and every single one of them loves to receive praise. They also like to receive other things...prizes, gift cards, cash, etc.

Some large plumbing and HVAC companies make the technicians provide their own vans/trucks. Others companies will provide the vehicles for the techs. We fall into the latter category. We give each plumbing and HVAC technician a $35,000 - $50,000 vehicle to treat as his own and run service calls out of. This way we can control what vehicles are on the road with our name and logo on it.

Well the other day, we took delivery of a brand new 2010 GMC service truck. The truck then was wrapped with our new logo by In-Depth, who does all of our vehicle wrapping and do a great job. The truck looks great and is the newest "best truck in the fleet." Now here is the question: Who gets the new truck? Everyone wants it. Everyone can't have it. It is my decision to make, and it is hard deciding what is most important in determining who deserves this latest perk.

Here are some factors that I use to make a decision:

• Who has seniority
• Who is the top producer
• Who never gets complaints or call backs
• Who takes the best care of his current vehicle
• Who smokes or doesn't smoke
• Who needs the new vehicle for extra space, towing capabilities, etc
• Who is in charge of our large, commercial accounts
• Who has the best driving record
• Who has a master plumbing license and who has a journeyman license
• Who is the best representative of RooterPlus

I am curious to know what you guys think and would love to hear your comments.

The Ring Part II - Not What Anyone Was Expecting

So the day had come. Saturday. Super Bowl Saturday, and RooterPLUS was going to make someone's day memorable. (This is where you read the last blog from last last week) The weather was good and I had a great crew ready to give away their Saturday just to do something nice. And then it got weird...

My dispatcher called the customer, who we had been in contact with throughout the week, to let her know that we were coming out to her house, free of charge, to try to find a 100 year old family ring at the bottom of her 1000 gallon septic tank. She said no. Not a pleasant "no thank you, I am very busy today" but a "I don't want you on my property NO!!" My call taker thanked her for her time and told her if there was anything that we could do to call us. She then called my cell phone and relayed the message.

I was dumbfounded. This woman had thanked me personally several times and said that our company had really taken care of her in a time of need. I had to call to find out what was going on. So I logged on my laptop and pulled her number from the database. Then I called. She proceeded to tell me that her neighbor told her that we had probably taken the ring the first time we were out there. According to the neighbor, who now had absolutely convinced this elderly woman that he was correct, the ring could not have made it to the septic tank and that my tech had stolen it and sold it, and that was the reason that we were coming to her house to "try to find it for free". We had already made our money off the sale of the ring, and that nobody would offer to come out for free and spend all day searching through sewage to help somebody out.

Wow! I very rarely find myself speechless, but I was. I politely told her that was not the case and that both individuals and companies alike often times do things out of the kindness of their heart. I then wished her a great weekend and said goodbye.

Maybe she will call back and maybe she won't. It made me sad, but I quickly rethought the entire situation and fell back on the actions of my employees. They were willing to give up their time to do the right thing. Sometimes it is the thought that counts...