Snow season can cause headaches. When not prepared, they can cost you time and money. As soon as the snow starts to fall, many people start to worry about how they will keep their businesses open. Snowplow services don’t just start when the snow starts to fall. Planning for the snow begins much sooner. If you have never hired a commercial snow removal company, the process may seem daunting. We created a list of three things that we believe will make the snow seasons much easier.
1. Hire a knowledgeable professional: When deciding to hire a commercial snow removal company, it is important to make sure they know what they are doing. If a company does not understand the fundamentals of snow removal it can cause a mess very quickly. Pushing the snow away from the building, avoiding drains, keeping off sidewalks, and keeping garbages clear are all important things that an experienced snow removal company will understand.
2. Visiting the site: Beware of snow companies that do not visit your sites, there are all kinds of special requirements for each site. Sometimes retail lots have buildings on both sides of the parking stalls, basically sandwiching the parking lot, this can lead to limited places to plow or move snow to, so you have to have pre-determined snow push locations already decided upon. You may pile snow at a light pole, or in a corner, you may have to stack the snow to get it all to fit into the parking lot. Snow plowing is an art and the snow has to go to the right spots. Handicapped spaces have to be cleared perfectly to ensure that folks with ADA requirements can easily access business. Drains need to be identified so that the parking lots don’t flood. Garbage enclosures need to be marked to ensure that garbage enclosures are not blocked by snow if the garbage man can’t get the garbage there will be a huge garbage problem on the site. Marking fire hydrants to ensure that emergency vehicles can locate the necessary utilities is key to keeping a parking lot safe. Ensuring that cart corrals are accessible for guests to grab a shopping cart is a key to doing a great job.
3. Snow map: Create the snow map. Every location, every property should have a snow map. This helps keep customers safe and lets employees know exactly what to do during a winter storm. If we map out the directional flow of the snow pushing, the piles, the speed bumps, drains, hydrants, curbs, cart corrals, drains, etc. We will know exactly where these things are when they are covered with snow. We know to have employee parking cleared first so they can open the property for business, then client parking so they can access the business, by having a property snow map we know exactly where these areas are. The snow map ensures all employees and clients are on the same page. This eliminates confusion and ensures that the lot is perfectly cleaned and open for business. Snow and ice management is all about communication, executions, and preparations. Yes, these things take time, but preparation leads to excellent service!
In conclusion, if you’re looking to make your snow season better make sure you work with a firm that truly has a snow and ice management program in place. This is not a fly by night business but a serious study of parking lot management, risk management, and service execution. These 3 things will ensure that your customers don’t lose faith in your brand because of a winter storm, in fact, they will feel more comfortable working together.