Give Your New Helper a First-Day Playbook, Not a Ride-Along

A new helper can cost you the account before lunch. Not because they are lazy. Because nobody told them what they are allowed to touch, say, or promise. The retailer does not see "new." They see your company name on a scratched corner and a shrug at the door.

Treat day one like a paid stop with a second set of hands, not a ride-along. You are still the lead. They are there to protect the piece, the path, and the clock.

Before they get in the truck

Do this the night before, or in the lot before the first stop. Ten minutes. No speech.

Confirm three things out loud:

1. Closed-toe shoes, a shirt you would let a customer see, and gloves on before the first piece moves. No slides. No headphones at the door.
2. Their phone stays in a pocket unless you ask for a photo. Personal calls wait until you are back in the cab.
3. They do not talk money, refunds, assembly that is not on the ticket, or "we can just leave it."

Script, in the lot:

You are with me today, not instead of me. I talk to the customer. You protect corners, watch the path, and stop me if something looks wrong. If you do not know, you ask me. You do not guess at the door.

Have them repeat the last line. If they cannot say it back, they are not ready for the first threshold.

The ten-minute truck brief

Walk the box once. Point, do not lecture.

• Where blankets, runners, and the tool bag live.
• How you want a sofa faced, and why a corner dies when it leads.
• The liftgate rule: nobody rides it, nobody stands under a descending platform, and the helper calls "clear" before you lower or raise.

Script:

If I say stop, you stop with the piece still supported. We set it down on a pad. We do not muscle it through a tight turn to save thirty seconds.

That thirty seconds is cheaper than a claim, a redelivery, and the call from the 3PL that night.

At the door

You knock or ring. You give your name and the company. The helper stays one step back, gloves on, hands off the story.

Script, you:

Hi, I’m [Name] with [Company]. We’re here for the delivery. Before we bring it in, I want to see the path and where you’d like it placed.

Script, if the customer talks to the helper:

[Name] will walk that with you. I’ll wait with the piece.

Then the helper waits. A helper who answers placement, timing, or "can you take the old one" will invent a service you did not sell.

Walk the path together. You call the hazards: rug, pet, low light, tight landing. The helper repeats a hazard back so you know they saw it. "Rug stays or rug comes up?" is your question, not theirs.

On the carry

One lead voice. Yours.

Agree on short calls in the truck, not in the hallway: "step," "turn," "set," "corner." The helper protects the corner that is about to hit. They do not steer from the back with a new plan. If the piece will not clear, you set it down. You do not rotate it "just to try" while someone is under the high end.

Photo rule: if you see existing damage, a tight fit, or a floor you are about to cross, you photograph before the piece moves another foot. The helper can hold the phone if you ask. They do not post it. The photo is for the stop file.

When something goes wrong

Day one is when helpers apologize with offers. Stop that before it starts.

Script, helper, if a customer says a leg is scratched:

I see it. I’m going to get [Name] so we document it before we do anything else.

Script, you:

I’m sorry this isn’t what you expected. I’m going to photograph it as it sits, and then I’ll tell you exactly what we can finish today. I can’t change the order or offer a refund from the truck. I’ll send the notes to the company that dispatched us.

Do not let the helper say "we’ll make it right," "we’ll take something off," or "we can come back free." Those sentences become the claim.

Finish only what is safe and on the ticket. Leave a clear note: what you saw, what you photographed, what you did, and what you did not do. That file is what keeps the next load coming.

Before they go home

Five minutes at the last stop or back at the lot. Two notes, not a speech.

• One thing they did that protected the stop.
• One correction, with the line you want tomorrow.

Script:

You called the rug before I did. Tomorrow, do that every room. And you answered the customer about the old piece. From here, that answer is always: I’ll get [Name].

If you run more than one truck, the same card should ride with every lead. A helper who learns a looser rule on truck two will use it on your account.

Day one still comes from you.

Bottom Line

A new helper does not need a tour. They need a role, three sentences they are allowed to say, and a stop rule when something looks wrong. You keep the customer conversation. They keep the corners, the path, and their mouth off the money. Do that on day one and you protect the claim, the review, and the next route from the same 3PL.

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