The Thursday that nearly broke my entire client roster

Last month I had a day where everything went wrong at once. One of my biggest clients called at 8am furious because their property had a water leak that I didn't get fixed fast enough. Then at 10 I found out my assistant had been booking appointments for a different location for three weeks straight. By noon I had three separate vendors no show on three different jobs across town. I had to personally drive to each site to smooth things over with tenants. That night I sat down and made a simple checklist system for emergency response that I should have had from day one. It blew my mind how one piece of paper could have saved me that whole week. Has anyone else had a single bad day that made them completely reshape their workflow?

2 comments

2 Comments

derekwalker15h ago

Built a simple color coded board for emergencies after a similar meltdown. Took like 20 minutes to set up but saved me from running around like a headless chicken again lol.

oscarm2412h ago

That "headless chicken" line hits way too close to home, man. I had a Thursday just like yours where I was driving between three different sites with a thermos of cold coffee and pure rage keeping me going. A checklist system sounds simple but it's one of those things you don't realize you desperately need until you're already drowning. I made my own version after that day and it stopped the panic before it even started. Funny how a single piece of paper can make you feel like you actually have control again.