FAQ's - Home Office

1. Are your Specialists contractors or employees? Employees. Insert the rest of this FAQ from the Residential FAQ #1. Should be identical.

2. Are your Employees Certified? Yes. Three of our Specialists have earned the CPO^® (Certified Professional Organizer) designation. In fact, we are the only company in the world with three CPO's.

3. How long will it take to organize my home office? The amount of time it will take to complete your project depends on a number of factors. Eliminate Chaos specializes in five types of services for the home office, including: paper management and flow, electronic information, space planning and furniture selection, life management, and the organization of your stuff. We recognize that every home office is different and doesn't require all of our services. In fact, some home offices may only need one or two of our services. Home offices are complex rooms to organize often times because the office serves multiple purposes. The more types of activities taking place in the office space may mean that the office takes longer to complete. However, if the home office functions as a place where bills are paid and books are stored, it may require far less time. One thing to keep in mind is that paper is the single most time consuming item to organize. So if your home office only needs a system for paper management and flow, please remember that you can place a lot of paper in a small space!

4. How much does your service cost? We view the cost of our service as an investment in the way you choose to live an organized life and work in an organized office. The cost of each project varies based on the scope of your project.

5. Do you charge by the hour or project? Our services are billed in ½ day (4 hour) or 1 day increments (8 hours). If your service falls somewhere in-between the ½ day and the full day, we bill by the hour in 15 minute increments.

6. Do you charge for travel? - Copy the question and answer from the Residential FAQ and use here.

7. What can I expect when I hire you? Professionalism. Trust. Compassion. Non-Judgmental. Friendly. Eliminate Chaos Specialists are employees, not contractors. This means that we guarantee you the time you've requested with each of our Specialists and we can control the quality and consistency of the work we provide - so that you are delighted with the final outcome when we are finished. Each of our Specialists brings a variety of expertise to your project and they are placed on your project based on your needs and requirements. It is very possible that you may end up working with more than one of our Specialists to ensure that you receive the best value and expertise for your investment. We pride ourselves that we are not a 'jack of all trades' and we want your experience to be the best, which is why we recognize that it takes a variety of skill sets to organize a home office.

8. How do your home office organizing services work? Before one of our Specialists steps foot into your home office, you will speak with someone in our office so we can understand what your needs, goals and priorities are. Eliminate Chaos specializes in five types of services for the home office, including: paper management and flow, electronic information, space planning and furniture selection, life management, and the organization of your stuff. Because we offer a variety of services, it is important to us to understand which of our services you are looking for so we can match the Specialist best suited for your project Before we end our phone conversation, we will gather the information needed to create the paperwork for your sessions. Along with our engagement letter and service agreement, you will also receive our home-office questionnaire that will help you prepare for your first meeting with your Specialist. During your first meeting with your Specialist, you will review the questionnaire and a needs assessment will be completed prior to the start of the work. You and your Specialist will then spend the remainder of the time creating the solutions for your office. Before your session is complete, you will receive a list of action items you can work on in between sessions (if appropriate) so you can continue making progress before your next session. Should you need any additional resources for your project, we will also provide those to you or coordinate those for you - whichever works best for you. Your Specialist will recommend to you should another one of our Specialist's be needed for your project. It is always our goal to match the needs and goals of your project to the areas of expertise of our Specialists. It is not uncommon for our clients to work with two or three Specialists for their home office project before it is complete - simply because each brings a specific skill set to your project. Before we complete your project, we will ensure that you know how to use and maintain the new systems we have created. It is our goal to transfer these skills to you so that you can put them to use in your office for years to come.

9. Do you have Insurance? Yes, we are Licensed, Bonded and Insured.

10. Do you have a Contractor's License? Yes, we do have a contractor's license - #ELIMICL933Q1. In fact, we are 1 of only 2 organizing companies in the state of Washington that have the appropriate licensing. Because we have the appropriate contractor's licensing, insurance, and surety bonds, you are guaranteed that we are properly insured to be working in your home. Did you know that most professional organizing companies do not even carry basic business liability insurance should something happen when they are in your home? Furthermore, if you hire another professional organizing company and they make any modifications to your home or home office, including a simple nail in the wall or drill a hole - they do not have the proper Contractor's license to be performing this work and if something happens to your home - you as the consumer will have a hard time getting payment for your loss.

11. I am concerned about what you will see in my home office. Do you guarantee confidentiality? Yes, all of our work is confidential. We will provide you with our confidentially agreement prior to our first meeting with you. We may take pictures of your project, however no names will be released and people will not be included in the photos. You can feel confident that you can trust our Specialists with your personal information in order to complete your project.

12. How far in advance do I need to schedule my first appointment? Because we have the largest team of Employee Specialists in Washington State, we are typically able to begin your project the same week you contact us. During busy periods, we may be booked two to three weeks in advance, however we do have a waiting list that we refer to daily.

13. How do your services compare to other Professional Organizing companies? The Eliminate Chaos experience you will receive working with our Specialists can't be compared to other Professional Organizing companies. We have a full-time Client Services Assistant that is available Monday-Friday to coordinate your project with our Specialists. Most Professional Organizers are a one-person company which means they cannot respond to your needs immediately, like we can. While we offer a wide-variety of organizing services, our Specialists are assigned to your project based on their area of expertise - which means they know exactly "how" to create the perfect solution for you. The reason so many home-based business owners turn to Eliminate Chaos is because of our approach to organizing your office. Some of our Specialists are experts with paper management and organization, while other Specialists are experts at how to organize your space and your stuff - both require a very different skill set and area of expertise. We also have a Business IT Strategist that is available to work with you on a variety of computer networking, spam and productivity solutions. We understand that you have options when it comes to hiring someone you can trust to find the right solutions and know the right questions to ask you to help you organize your home office. It's important that you take the time to find the person with the expertise needed for your project. We are often called upon to re-do or complete projects for home-owners because the initial Professional Organizer they hired lacked the expertise needed for the project.

14. What other resources and vendors can you recommend for my project? Eliminate Chaos has a technology infrastructure like no other organizing company in the nation. Our full-time Business IT Strategist, Robert Leist, has implemented our own Exchange Server and SharePoint utility providing remote access for our Specialists, to all of our resources, vendors, calendars - from any computer in your home with an Internet connection. These utilities also allow our team of Specialists to be able to share project notes and files about your project with other team members using our secure site, which can also be accessed from any computer with an Internet connection. These resources and vendors have been accumulated over the past nine years we have been in business and we update them regularly to provide you with this value-added service, for no extra charge, that other Professional Organizers would need to take time to research and charge you for.

15. Why don't all of your Specialists have the CPO designation? The rest of our Specialists will be sitting for the CPO exam in November 2008. They were unable to sit for the exam when it was offered in June 2008.

16. How does one of your Specialists earn the CPO designation? Each Specialist must pass a legally-defensible exam. Before they are even eligible to sit for the exam, they must complete a minimum of 1500 hours of hands-on client projects.