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COURSE #2, LESSON #1:
LEARN THE TOP FIFTY BASICS FOR MOVING HELPERS
Re-read the below given top 50 basics for moving helpers, try to remember them, and if you have any questions about them, ask.
TOP 50 BASICS
___ #1: ANSWER AGMC CALLS, OR CALL BACK QUICKLY. RELIABLE PHONE CONTACT IMPORTANT
___ #2: INFORM AGMC OF YOUR AVAILABILITY SCHEDULE, & UPDATE CHANGES ASAP.
___ #3 CONFIRM JOB OFFER TEXTS QUICKLY
___ #4 IF YOU CAN'T ACCEPT A TEXTED JOB OFFER, CALL AGMC, DON'T JUST TEXT
___ #5: WEAR AN AGMC SHIRT, OR ALL BLACK OUTFIT, OR UNIFORM OF YOUR LEAD CO.
___ #6: BE USUALLY 5 MINUTES EARLY JOB APPOINTMENT START LOCATIONS.
___ #7: CLOCK IN WHEN YOU ARRIVE TO STARTING JOB SITE WITH A "C" TEXTED TO AGMC
___ #8: CALL AGMC IF YOU'RE GOING TO BE LATE, NOT JUST TEXT (AS SOON AS YOU KNOW)
___ #9: DROP EVERYTHING TO HELP BACK UP THE TRUCK
___ #10: KNOW STARTING EQUIPMENT LOCATION SO CAN RETURN AFTER JOB.
___ #11: WHEN POSSIBLE, APPROACH CUSTOMER DOOR TOGETHER. HAVE EYE CONTACT.
___ #12: DO THE WALK-THRU WITHOUT TALKING TO EACH OTHER, LET LEAD DO TALKING.
___ #13: ON WALK-THRU, MEMORIZE FURNITURE LOCATIONS, LOOK FOR HOUSE PRE-DAMAGE.
___ #14: HELP PREP THE HOUSE, PATH, AND TRUCK BEFORE STARTING TO LOAD
___ #15: CHECK WITH LEAD FOR HIS ATTIC LOADING STRATEGY BEFORE JUMPING IN
___ #16: PHOTO-DOCUMENT PRE-EXISTING DAMAGE OF HOUSE & ITEMS BEFORE MOVING
___ #17: KNOW THE 4 LEVELS OF A LOAD WALL
___ #18: BE RETURNING TO THE TRUCK OFTEN, KEEP THE LOADER SUPPLIED WITH ITEMS.
___ #19: DO NOT SLIDE THINGS ON THE CUSTOMER'S FLOORS OR CARPETS, WITHOUT SLIDERS
___ #20: BRING WHAT'S NEEDED FOR THE NEXT HOLE IN THE LOAD WALL
___ #21: STAGE LIKE ON LIKE, 7 FEET BACK, SINGLE FILE, IN A STABLE POSITION
___ #22: ONLY THE DESIGNATED LOADER LOADS & UNLOADS
___ #23: IF YOU'RE NOT SURE YOU CAN MOVE SOMETHING SAFELY DON'T MOVE IT
___ #24: WHEN YOU NEAR A BUMP HAZARD, GO SLOW AS A SNAIL
___ #25: FABRIC SHOULD ONLY TOUCH CLEAN SURFACES
___ #26: REMOVED HARDWARE MUST BE BAGGED AND PLASTIC WRAPPED TO SOURCE ITEM
___ #27: LET THE LEAD BE THE MAIN CUSTOMER COMMUNICATOR & QUESTION ASKER.
___ #28: BE MINDFUL OF NOT GETTING THE CUSTOMER'S FLOOR DIRTY OR SCRATCHED
___ #29: PUT MATTRESSES IN A MATTRESS BAG BEFORE LEAVING SOURCE ROOM
___ #30: WORK HARD AND KEEP MOVING, NEVER STAND WAITING. THIS IS A RACE.
___ #31: ALWAYS SPEAK PROFESSIONALLY AND NICELY, AND HAVE A GOOD ATTITUDE
___ #32: DO NOT TALK BAD ABOUT FELLOW MOVERS, THE CUSTOMER, OR AGMC
___ #33: CLOCK OUT BY TEXT WITH THE LEAD FOR BREAKS, DON'T JUST DISSAPEAR
___ #34: DON'T WALK IN THE DIRECTION OF THE LOAD EMPTY HANDED
___ #35: DO NOT CARRY ITEMS THRU RAIN WITHOUT A TARP OR BLANKET COVER.
___ #36: DO NOT PICK UP LONG GLASS OR MARBLE SHEET HORIZONTALLY
___ #37: DO NOT MOVE ANYTHING WORTH ABOVE $2,000 WITHOUT LEAD PRESENT
___ #38: LET THE LEAD MAKE THE FINAL CALL
___ #39: NEVER SMOKE WITHIN SIGHT OR SMELL OF THE CUSTOMER. REMOVE YOUR BUTTS
___ #40: DO NOT LET A FINISHED SURFACE TOUCH METAL OR GRITY SURFACES
___ #41: PICK UP A HAND-TRUCK TO CARRY EMPTY OVER STAIRS.
___ #42: PUT HAND-TRUCK LOADS DOWN SOFTLY, WITHOUT THUD.
___ #43: KEEP MOVING IF CONVERSING WITH CUSTOMER, DON'T TALK TOO MUCH.
___ #44: WHEN UNLOADING, MEMORIZE CUSTOMER INSUCTIONS, PUT ONLY AS INSTRUCTED.
___ #45: AT JOB END, HELP PUT EQUIPMENT AWAY PROPERLY, THE WAY IT WAS AT THE START.
___ #46: TEXT YOUR HOURS & PAY TO AGMC AT END OF EACH JOB.
___ #47: TEXT AGMC YOUR EQUIP & GAS PICS WHEN PICKING UP AND DROPPING OFF A TRUCK
___ #48: KEEP OFF YOUR PHONE FOR PERSONAL CALLS & TEXTS DURING NON-BREAK WORK.
___ #49: MAKE CONTINUAL PROGRESS ON LEARNING THE COURSE MATERIAL. BECOME EXPERT
___ #50: ALWAYS KNOW & PAY WHAT YOU OWE BY KEEPING A CURRENT TRANSACTION LOG
COURSE #2, LESSON #2:
BECOME AWARE OF HOW WELL YOU'RE DOING THE 50
Become aware of how you think you are doing on the top 50 Basics. Go down the list of 50 Basics and for each of them ask your self if you feel confident you are doing that point correctly. For every point you do not feel confident you do properly (or that you have questions about) write that point number into a text you are going to send to AGMC. When you get your full list together, text that number set to AGMC. i.e. "7,19, 23,38,50". Then have a short phone call discussion with AGMC about those points.
COURSE #2, LESSON #3:
UNDERSTAND HOW TO GET JOBS (just read this section)
THE TOP 50 ARE A BIG PART OF GETTING JOBS
The Basic Top 50 job requirements explained on this web-page are the top 50 most important things you are being hired to do. They are just as important as knowing how to carry furniture or load a truck. Trying to do this work without doing all the Basics is like trying to drive a car without lug nuts on your wheels, without oil in your engine, or without breaks. Sometimes, leaving one of these things out can crash your entire value as a mover, and cause this job to not work out for you beyond a very limited run.
THE LEAD COMPANIES DO THE CHOOSING AND HIRING OF HELPERS
Although AGMC makes recommendations of moving helpers to Lead Moving Companies, it is the Lead moving companies that make the ultimate choice on who they're going to hire for their jobs. This is a bit like the NFL choosing a draft pick from the list of all options. The top 50 basics are a good representation of some of the main things both AGMC and the moving companies are looking for in movers. This is why learning and doing these 50 can have a big influence on the volumn of job offers a helper gets.
THE AGMC RANKING SYSTEM
AGMC recommends moving helpers based on a ranking system. Every time you get one of these basics wrong, AGMC deducts points from your Mover Ranking. Every time you get one of these Basics right, AGMC adds points to your Mover Ranking. The length of time you go getting all these Basics right adds to your Mover Ranking, and the length of time you go not correcting something you're doing wrong continues to detract from your Mover Ranking. That means if you are doing something wrong and you don't correct it quick, your mover ranking can continue to suffer from that. Your mover ranking raises or lowers the order that you are listed on AGMC's mover's list. The higher listed movers tend to get the bigger more frequent jobs. The lower you are on that list the smaller an less frequent jobs you will tend to get. This means you greatly effect your job sizes and job frequency by how well you do the basics. There's no favoritism, bargaining, excuses, discussion, opinions or anything else relevant to your ranking order on the HELPER'S LIST, it's just how well you've been doing on these 50 BASICS.
RANKING SCORING EXTREMES
All violatons are not equal. Some things you do wrong can count for enough to drop you off the Helper list entirely. Like stealing, fighting, or threats of violence. Or enough to make you worth less than a new mover who knows nothing, like smelling strongly of alcohol on the job or walking off a job, not showing up for a job, or causing careless damage. Some other more minor things can turn into a biger deal if they are repeated ongoingly without ever being improved.
ANOTHER FACTOR IS THE FEE YOU CHARGE
The Lead moving companies are also trying to make a profit. Besides the skill level of a Helper, the Leads are also shopping for a good deal on price, relative to the skill they are getting. You, as an independent contractor moving helper can set your own fee for your services. You can say "no" to any offered hourly rate number. If you accpet too little pay you are cheating yourself. If you ask too much, a Lead will decline to hire you. You offering a better deal on your required hourly fee can raise the frequency of Leads choosing your services. You asking too much can lower the frequency of Leads choosing your services. Just be aware of this factor when negotiating your required hourly rate fee with the different Lead companies.
OTHER FACTORS
Other factors that might cause a mover to be skipped over on this Ranking list (disqualified for a particular job offer) are things such as the mover charging more than the Lead wants to pay for that position; the mover having stated that they won't work with certain people who are already going to be on that job; the particular job position requiring a driver's license the mover doesn't have; the job requiring certain skills or equipment the mover doesn't have; or the Lead and other crew that are already on the job not wanting to work with a particular mover. But other than the disqualifying factors for a particular job, this Mover Ranking order list is used to determine the order in which moving Helpers are offered to moving companies.
THE LEAD COMPANY INFLUENCES YOUR WORK VOLUME
It is also advantageous for moving helpers to keep in mind that the higher ranked Moving Companies get many more job offers and for bigger jobs, compared to the lower ranked moving companies. This is why it can get a helper much more work to work for the Higher Ranked moving companies than it does for the lower ranked moving companies. For this reason, it also makes you more money to help the moving company you are working for to do better work and increase its AGMC ranking, or to not mess up and so lower its ranking. Just keep that in mind.
AUTOMATICALLY QUALIFYING FACTOR
There is an agreement in the contract that says once a Lead moving company does a job with a customer, if that customer was happy with the job, as long as that Lead moving company is still working with AGMC and has the needed qualifications for the job, that Lead moving company automatically gets first choice of any future job offers that come in from that customer. So this exception trumps the normal Ranking Order, and flows more jobs towards moving companies who have been around for longer.
HELPERS ADVERTISING TO AGMC
AGMC is trying to sell your (as a helper) services to multiple different moving companies. The less AGMC knows about you, the less AGMC has to convey to the companies as your selling points. The more you convey to AGMC about your selling points, the better your services can be sold. That means, if you can show AGMC pictures or videos of you pad-wrapping a sofa, your uniform, your tool set, that's all good selling point stuff AGMC can use to better sell your services. If you respond to texts & phone calls quickly, AGMC will make note of that, and that's a big selling point. If you clock in early to most all your jobs that a big selling point. And of course, the feedback AGMC gets from the Lead moving companies is a big one too. Following the top 50 Basics is a great selling point. Be aware that all these things can improve the sales of your services and possibly make you worth a higher hourly fee.
DON'T BLAME OR THANK AGMC FOR YOUR JOBS
Keep in mind that AGMC's part in this is to recommend available moving helper options to the Lead Moving Companies, recommending the higher ranked Helpers more than the lower ranked helpers. But it's the Lead Moving Companies that do the actual choosing and hiring. That means it's not AGMC's right to actually hire you or any helpers. The jobs to who earns them through making them self a more wanted mover. If you miss a job opportunity, look in the mirror and take some corrective action about your services. So don't ever get "snippy" with anyone but YOUR SELF about who gets put on which jobs.
SUMMARY
The bottom line; if you want more jobs, actually do all the Basics, don't ask too high of a rate for your services, try to work for the better Lead Moving Companies, and make yourself a better shopping choice than your competitor helpers.
CONFRENCE CALL TRAINING SESSIONS
On any group-conference-call training session you do at the end of a two-hour-minimum job, you get paid an extra $10 for that ten minutes ($70 instead of $60 for the two hour mini). This is your chance to address problems and learn the things you need to learn.
PUT A LINK TO THIS COURSE ON YOUR PHONE
You can't study this course properly without making a home-page link to the course on your phone. If you don't have a link to this website on your phone, you're not really trying to learn this material, and AGMC can tell right away just by this alone that this is the case.
FEEDBACK SPIRAL
A "thing" that often happens with movers is that they think they're not getting enough work or pay, or there's something they're disgruntled about, so they decrease their efforts on trying to a great job. This causes their mover Ranking to lower, which gives them even less work, which makes them try less or care less, which further lowers their mover Ranking, which makes them get even less work or less pay, etc. This causes a downward feedback spiral that often ends up with less and less jobs, and no one wanting to work that that moving helper.
However, a POSITIVE FEEDBACK SPIRAL can be chosen instead. A mover who does increasingly better work, doing more of the BASICS right, gets their Ranking increasing, which gives them even more work and more pay, which is motivation to do even better work, which gets them even more jobs, etc. , creating an upward feedback spiral. This improvement could get them ready to become a successful Lead and run their own moving company and make even more money. You are the one who sends yourself into either a downward income spiral or an upward income spiral. You choose.
PROS & CONS OF THIS SYSTEM
This AGMC Ranking and Lead Choice system of moving helpers getting jobs causes the work volume offered to moving helpers to be in close relation to the quality of work that they do. That means, get a Drivers License, be the mover everybody else wants to work with, have a good attitude, don't disappear on jobs, learn the skills this course talks about, don't charge too much for your services, don't steal things, don't threaten people, and help the moving company you normally work for to increase its AGMC RANKING.
This system makes mover's accountable for their all their choices in ALL the Basic things and qualifications, not just their choices about carrying furniture.
This system has the advantage of funneling more jobs to the movers who do a better job, while "weeding out" the movers who don't do things right and bring problems to the jobs (by giving them less much work). This tends to create more compatible crews, doing a better job, and so making work more enjoyable, with more tips. Traditional job assignment methods with most other moving companies leave you stuck with bad fellow movers that are little accountable for the problems they bring to the job, allowing much less immediately correctable team selection for crews.
This system of getting jobs is a trade off of benefits and drawbacks. This system tends to steer towards there being more steady work for the best movers, happier & more compatible crews, but much less job stability and job volume for movers who have certain "problems" they are not correcting. You should only be trying to get job referrals thru AGMC if this is the trade-off you want to make. If you think other less-accountable systems with other companies are better, that's where you should be working, not complaining about the system you've chosen as the best choice for you.
If you want a higher standard for the whole crew doing things right, then this system promotes that, at the cost of destabilizing job stability for movers who refuse to correct their problems. That makes movers who think they can learn to do the whole picture correctly appreciate and prefer this system, while making movers won't fix their own problems feel disgruntled and cheated out of jobs. You can tell a mover is this "lack of taking responsibility" type of person by their complaints about which jobs other people are getting instead of them. The jobs go to who best earns them.
New unskilled movers should not be too intimidated by the competition with long-time movers, because there's plenty of Top Skilled long time movers that rack up the points in Mover Skills and longevity, but then deduct that many points right back off their Mover Ranking by getting very wrong some of the BASICS so badly that they make them self "barely worth it", sometimes Ranked less than "a new guy" who is at least reliable and learning. So the competition might be more beatable than you'd guess.
If you want to get the bigger more frequent jobs, you just need to earn more Ranking Points by actually doing the Basics, and NOT loose massive ranking points by choosing to NOT do some of the Basics. You make your own bed of job size and frequency by your choice of how well you do or don't do the Basic job requirements. This means the only place you should look for blame or for credit for what jobs you do or don't get is yourself.
But remember, the jobs tend to go to who earns them by doing more of the Basics correctly compared to other movers, not to who just carries furniture or loads a truck better without doing all the other critical job requirements, and DEFINITELY NOT to who just sits around waiting for jobs.
COMPLAINTS ARE NO SECRET, JUST ASK AGMC
A mover's biggest problems (complaints) that are holding down that mover's Ranking and job frequency are the exact areas that if improved would most readily crank up that movers Ranking, job frequency, and income. That means, the most important thing a mover should become aware of in order to make more money is the biggest "complaints" about that mover's services. A complaint is a mover's "gold", if that information is used by the mover to improve the problem.
Yes, you can and should ask fellow movers and Leads for feedback, but the reality is that feedback from these sources might be limited in the degree of openness you might get. AGMC can give you a perspective of feedback on a broader scale than from individual movers. If you want feedback from AGMC, all you have to do is ask. This way a mover can always know exactly what they could do to most quickly improve their Ranking at any time. Just ask AGMC. And ask semi regularly if you want to keep on top of it.
However, if feedback is given from AGMC and a mover receiving this feedback does not make good use of the feedback, responds negatively, defensively, or only diverts the topic to other subjects, then AGMC will stop being willing to provide feedback to that mover.
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