Fun Tips & Tricks for Meeting New Neighbors

May 20, 2013 by moverswhoblog

Written by Claire Schneider

Moving can be a stressful and scary time for anyone, especially if you are moving to an unfamiliar place. Not only are you packing up your entire house and exhausted from the actual move, but you’re also away from friends and family. It can be scary trying to find a new support system, but luckily, they could be living right next door!

Now I know not everyone is a “Kelly Ripa”, but here are some tips to turn anyone into a neighborhood socialite.

1) Spend time outside. Now that it is finally starting to look like summer, turn off the TV and spend time outdoors. When my husband and I moved, we would be outside doing yard work and people would walk right over. Besides introducing themselves, they also gave us some great landscaping tips! If you’re not the green thumb type, try going for a walk. If it’s a nice day people are sure to be out and about.

2) Go to neighborhood events. Many neighborhoods have organizations or groups where the community can get together and discuss relevant news in the area. Some trendy areas are even getting away from the typical neighborhood watch or real estate development groups and are developing recreational clubs. Even if you are not the athletic type it could still be worthwhile to attend games and meet new people.

3) Host a cocktail party. Instead of having a typical housewarming party, think about throwing a neighborhood cocktail party. This sounds more exciting and less of a ploy to receive gifts. A cocktail party also allows you to spend time actually socializing instead of making sure guests have enough to eat. If you don’t have time to throw an actual party, why not think about a cocktail hour. This can be as simple as sitting on your porch, after a long day at work, with a drink and inviting people to come over with their favorite beverage. This is a relaxed way to really bond with your neighbors.

4) Welcome to the neighborhood gifts. Now that you have met all your great neighbors, make sure you welcome new people into the neighborhood. You were once in their shoes, and if they aren’t reading this blog they might not be such an expert. A couple days after they move in, go over to introduce yourself and bring some tasty treats with you. I personally recommend cookies because no one wants to bake when their kitchen is still boxed up.

By following these simple tips, you are bound to find someone you can connect with. As Franklin P. Jones says:

“Nothing makes you more tolerant of a neighbor’s noisy party than being there.”

TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® is the first and largest franchised moving company in the United States. Let us help move you forward! For more helpful tips and information on moving services subscribe to our blog and like us on Facebook.

Movers for Moms® Photos

May 13, 2013 by moverswhoblog

We’d like to say a special thank you to everyone that has helped our Movers for Moms® program by donating items for moms in need. Movers for Moms® is a community-based program seeking to make life easier for less fortunate women forced to stay in shelters on Mother’s Day. With your help we are that much closer to making Mother’s Day special for all moms in need.

Below are some great Movers for Moms® pictures we have received so far from our various TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® locations. These photos show the abundant support from schools, businesses and communities across the country. Thank you for all your help and donations!

Who Moves with TWO MEN AND A TRUCK®?

May 8, 2013 by moverswhoblog

What do most of our customers look like? We took a look at our recent data and came up with our TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® customer profile. This great infographic sums up what we found!

TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® is the first and largest franchised moving company in the United States. Let us help move you forward! For more helpful tips and information on moving services subscribe to our blog and like us on Facebook.

More than Movers (Part 2): Disconnected Application

May 6, 2013 by moverswhoblog

Written by James Hartley

Many of you may have heard the development team at TWO MEN AND A TRUCK®/INTERNATIONAL, Inc. has been working on a Movers Who Care® 2 Disconnected Application (MWC2DA). If you haven’t, no worries, I am going to give a brief explanation.

In-Home Consultant Ben uses the tablet to generate estimates while on walk throughs.

In-Home Consultant Ben uses the tablet to generate an estimates during a walk through.

The MWC2DA started out as a tool that would allow our customer service representatives (CSRs) to keep scheduling moves in the event that an Internet outage occurs. Its current functionality will allow users to look up and edit customers and estimates up to 90 days back while in disconnected mode. It will also allow the user to create new customers and estimates. Once the host computer has an Internet connection, it will synchronize new or edited records with the MWC2 database. Once this application is fully developed and in production, it will provide a safety net to ensure our customers are being serviced.

MWC2DA can also be a useful tool for our in-home estimators. Imagine how easy it will be for them to create an estimate and automatically synchronize that estimate to the MWC2 database upon returning to the office. To make things even easier, MWC2DA can be installed on Windows 8 tablets. These devices typically have a small form factor and better than average battery life. According to David Robinson, software developer on this project, the system requirements are very modest. To run the disconnected application at optimal performance, he recommends the following: Intel Core i3 processor or higher, 4GB of RAM, 500MB of free disk space, and Intel Integrated Graphics 4000.

We have been getting a lot of questions lately as to which tablets currently on the market are compatible with MWC2DA. Parker Olson, a member of the test team, has compiled a list of all the Windows 8 tablets to help answer these questions. I have taken that list and further organized based on hardware specifications. The following list is broken down into three categories: Incompatible, Non Optimal, and Optimal. Please note that these prices were collected at the time this list was made; they are subject to change.

The Incompatible category is comprised of Windows 8 tablets that will not work with the disconnected application. This is because they are using ARM based processors that will not allow the installation of desktop applications. They are only capable of running applications downloaded from the Windows App Store.

The Non Optimal category is comprised of Windows 8 tablets that will work with the disconnected application. However, because of the hardware used in these tablets they may be prone to slow performance. This is especially true when trying to multi-task.

The Optimal category is comprised of Windows 8 tablets that will work with the disconnected application. Furthermore, these tablets will run at optimal performance. Users can multi-task without worrying about performance issues with the tablets hardware.

Please note that Home Office is not recommending any particular brand of Windows 8 tablet. This list is only to serve as a guide to what hardware will provide users with the best performance when running MWC2 disconnect and web application.

Thank you for following me on Movers Who Care and Blog. Please keep an eye out for more blogs from me in the near future. Also, if there is a topic you would like me to write about please feel free to email me with requests at james.hartley@twomen.com. Please put Blog Suggestions in the subject line.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: James Hartley is a application/software tester in the Technology Support department at TWO MEN AND A TRUCK/INTERNATIONAL, Inc.

EFO Training: Why I Hire Movers

April 29, 2013 by moverswhoblog

Chris Bortnichak was a great MC!

Written by Claire Schneider

Over the last two weeks I participated in TWO MEN AND A TRUCK®’s EFO training. What is EFO you might ask? Well, EFO stands for Essentials of Franchise Operations and is an eight day, hands-on, collaborative learning experience preparing franchisees to open and grow a TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® franchise. The training session is held through STICK MEN UNIVERSITY® at TWO MEN AND A TRUCK®/INTERNATIONAL, Inc. During this time, TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® experts teach attendees about policies, processes and tools necessary to launch successful franchises.

Chair Melanie Bergeron shares TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® history. Very inspiring!

During the class I learned a lot about TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® and what it really means to be the “MoversWhoCare®”. We went over our Core Values and Chair Melanie Bergeron shared the company’s history and how we ended up where we are today. We also learned about what it takes to be a TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® franchisee and what sets us apart from the rest. We had experts ranging from human resources to IT support to customer care, who all shared valuable information they have encountered over the years.

Yep, this is me monitoring our Facebook page

For those of you who don’t know, I am the social media specialist at TWO MEN AND A TRUCK®/INTERNATIONAL, Inc. and as the class got on its way, I realized I stuck out like a sore thumb. While their daily tasks consists of making sure moves run smoothly, whether it be dealing with operations, customer care or performing the actual moves, my day consists of sending Tweets, posting Facebook content and teaching others how to optimize their social media presence. I learned a lot from everyone in the group and found out things I never knew were issues while moving. Group discussions allowed me to learn from their real life experiences, which will make me that much better at my job.

We learned a lot from group discussions

Computer lab time!

The day I found most exciting was moving day (not that any day wasn’t exciting). We were fortunate to have movers from the Lansing franchise come and show us how to properly move items in a house. No, this doesn’t just mean loading things on a truck, but rather how to make sure everything had a moving pad and stretch wrap on it to ensure they don’t get damaged during the move. They showed us how to carefully move items through typical obstacles in a house such as stairs and through a doorway. I never knew there were so many different terms for carrying an item. Once they demonstrated, it was our turn!

Our Lansing movers made it look so easy!

I learned how to pad and wrap a dresser. Here I am practicing the corners!

Tim & Don give moving a try!

I even had a chance to move a chair, and trust me, I did not make it look as easy as they did.

Before: Desiree and I are all smiles

After: This is why I hire movers!

Once the eight days of training were complete, it was graduation time!

It’s graduation day!

After participating and graduating from STICK MEN UNIVERSITY®’s EFO Training, I am reassured TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® is not just a moving company but truly are “Movers Who Care®”.

Movers for Moms® 2013

April 15, 2013 by moverswhoblog

Written by Claire Schneider

It’s an exciting time at TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® lately as we ramp up our Movers for Moms® program once again! We are very passionate about our Core Values and Movers for Moms® is a big part of them.

What is Movers for Moms®?

Movers for Moms® is a program that was started by TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® nearly five years ago because we not only wanted to give to charity, but also be a part of the cause. Movers for Moms® is based around the communities where our franchisees are located and is focused on making life easier for less fortunate women, who are forced to stay in shelters on Mother’s Day. Our goal is to make sure their day is special as well.

“Among industrialized nations, the United States has the largest number of homeless women and children. Not since the Great Depression have so many families been without homes.”

– GreenDoors.org

More than 100 TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® locations across the country have partnered with schools to begin collecting items for mothers in need. Our TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® locations will then pick up the items and deliver them to their shelter partners just in time for Mother’s Day.

How you can help

It’s simple! All you have to do is bring your donated items to a participating TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® location near you. Typical donation items may include: soaps, hair styling products, shampoos and conditioners, pillows, blankets, slippers and basic essential items.

We will take care of the rest!

Getting kids involved

Movers for Moms® is a great way to teach kids how important it is to give back to the communities in which we live. TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® wants to thank all the schools that are participating in the program this year. We have seen tremendous growth in the past year and now have 420 schools taking part in the program, compared to 200 last year. We could not have made this program what it is today without them!

KinderCare

We especially want to thank KinderCare for their involvement with Movers for Moms® this year. KinderCare works hard to improve the lives of children in communities where we live and work. With the expertise that comes with caring for and educating hundreds of thousands of children nationally, KinderCare has a unique understanding of child development, early childhood education, parenting and teaching. They understand the needs of children, families and communities.

If KinderCare sounds like the perfect environment for your child to grow, join KinderCare for their Open House Tuesday, April 23 and let their community show you what makes this place one of a kind. Sign up the week of 4/21 and get $100 off tuition. Their Open House provides the chance to tour their center, meet the teachers, talk with other parents and engage in family-fun activities. KinderCare Learning Centers are excited to show you their nationally recognized education program as well as the child-specific focus their teachers bring to the center. To learn more or find a location near you, please visit www.kindercare.com.

Thank you KinderCare for your support in the Movers for Moms® program!

What Moves TWO MEN AND A TRUCK®

April 8, 2013 by moverswhoblog

We have been hard at work here at TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® over the years. Here is an infographic showing what we have been up to and what moves us!

Career Move Month

April 1, 2013 by moverswhoblog

Written by Claire Schneider

Before I began working at TWO MEN AND A TRUCK®/INTERNATIONAL, Inc., I was one of the many people who thought the company only consists of movers, drivers and customer service representatives. When I first heard TWO MEN AND A TRUCK®/INTERNATIONAL, Inc. was hiring, I wasn’t interested because I knew I could not move heavy furniture. My husband then urged me to just see what types of positions they were looking for, so I did. I had heard of the company before, but I thought it was just a local business and didn’t realize, until I began looking at the positions, that it was actually something much greater.

I am now the Social Media Specialist at TWO MEN AND A TRUCK®/INTERNATIONAL, Inc. and, unlike a lot of my friends, I am actually working in the field I got my college degree in and I love it! I have learned so much about this great company and feel really proud to be part of all it stands for.

Part of my job as Social Media Specialist is to work with the franchises on how to improve their social media presence. With Career Move Month approaching, there was one conversation that really stuck out to me and that was with TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® Troy’s Nicole Trice.

Nicole Trice

Nicole moved to Michigan last September from Nashville, Tennessee and has a communications degree from University of Tennessee in Knoxville. She is now working at TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® Troy as a Customer Service Representative and manages their social media. I loved how eager Nicole was to learn how she could improve their social media presence. So when I was thinking of ideas to showcase Career Move month, I decided to ask Nicole to answer some questions for me for a blog post to show how there are so many opportunities and different positions at TWO MEN AND A TRUCK®.

What was the position you applied for?

I applied for the Customer Service Representative position, which is the marketing one as well.

What made you decide to apply for a position at TWO MEN AND A TRUCK®?

I decided to apply at TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® because the position would give me an opportunity to apply the experience that I learned from years of customer service and to gain experience associated with my Communications degree.

How are you balancing both positions?

I like to think that I am a very organized person. I make a list each day of the tasks that I want to accomplish by the end of the day. As I go through the day, I mark the items off. I start the day off as a CSR and I do the social media aspect throughout the day.

What things do you like about being a CSR? And what have you learned?

Honestly, I was a server for 5 years and being a CSR is very similar. I have learned that there is a different approach when speaking to a customer over the phone compared to in person. I like that I don’t have to serve food to people!

What do you like about being in charge of social media? And what have you learned?

I like getting to expand our reach to people. I can let people see that we are real people that care about how we move the customer. I like that I get to see other people’s ideas and I learn something new every day. I have learned how important a Facebook and Twitter are to the business world today. I am learning how to manage websites, blogs and all aspects of social media.

What are some challenges you have been faced with having both positions?

It does get tough balancing both positions. I do wish I had a little bit more time to focus on conquering the social media aspect.

Is there anything else that you think people would like to know about how it is to work at TWO MEN AND A TRUCK®?

We get to help one of the most stressful moments in a person’s life!

There are so many positions like mine and Nicole’s at TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® and now with Career Move Month, we are looking to accomplish our goal of 10,000 applications during the month of April. If we reach our goal we will donate $5,000 to Dress for Success. Take a look at our new Career website for positions in your area!

7 Benefits of Spring Cleaning

March 27, 2013 by moverswhoblog

By Claire Schneider

Are you getting tired of the winter blues? Well it’s finally getting to be that time again for the ritual of spring cleaning; that is if Mother Nature ever decides to cooperate. Spring cleaning is a tradition that allows us to freshen up our homes and get a head start on the seasons of spring and summer so we can enjoy them with our friends and family. Here is more information on the ritual’s history, benefits and a checklist for spring cleaning:

TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® Annual Meeting 2013: The Highlights

March 26, 2013 by moverswhoblog

As we continue to grow as a company, so does the attendance at our TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® Annual Meeting. There were many highlights at this year’s four-day event filled with networking, education, and of course, celebration.

Scott Burrows

The first day started off with an inspiring speech by Keynote Speaker Scott Burrows. He shared his story of being a quadriplegic after a tragic car accident and how it changed his life forever. Even though he wasn’t able to take part in the activities he loved, he was determined to keep a positive outlook and decided to improve his life by focusing on his attitude and physical health.

He did a great job of tying his vision and how he worked to accomplish his goals, along with our company’s Vision 2018.

“When you start to believe, your mindset and grit will always be there to carry you through. If you’re looking to thrive, to beat the odds and achieve extraordinary results, don’t give up on your shared vision of where you want to be in 2018. Be willing to make adjustments along the way to get you back on course.”

At the end of his speech. he revealed to everyone that hard work and determination really does pay off. He stood up and explained he is now able to walk and take part in activities he loves, such as golf.

MWC2

One of the biggest announcements this year was the launch of Movers Who Care® 2, a technology system that automates the way franchises create estimates, book moves, etc. The new system was created to help us, as a company, get closer to growing as a system of one and improving the core purpose of moving people forward. At Annual Meeting, franchisees were able to sit down with the MWC2 panel and ask any questions they had about the new system. The panel also shared best practices and advice on the MWC2 conversion. Click here to view the Q & A session.

Awards Night

This year’s awards night had a Jimmy Buffet theme. Awards were given to celebrate the hard work and accomplishments of franchises strived for during 2012. And everyone did have a reason to celebrate as pointed out by Brig Sorber:

“Tonight you all have something to be proud of. With the system’s growth, we are continuing to set ourselves apart from other moving companies. At year end, we achieved 37 straight months of growth and 21 consecutive record months. Over the past three years, together, we have achieved 60% growth.”

Movers Who Blog

Category Archives: Moving Company

Fun Tips & Tricks for Meeting New Neighbors

Movers for Moms® Photos

Who Moves with TWO MEN AND A TRUCK®?

More than Movers (Part 2): Disconnected Application

EFO Training: Why I Hire Movers

Movers for Moms® 2013

What is Movers for Moms®?

How you can help

Getting kids involved

KinderCare

What Moves TWO MEN AND A TRUCK®

Career Move Month

Nicole Trice

7 Benefits of Spring Cleaning

TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® Annual Meeting 2013: The Highlights

Scott Burrows

MWC2

Awards Night

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