SCITUATE - As she and her husband, Jay Habegger, watchedprofessional movers empty their house here last week, Christine Naglelooked surprisingly cool and collected for someone making her fifthmove in roughly a decade.
Even though the latest move is only a half a mile away to a largerhouse with more space for the couple's 2-year-old daughters,repetition doesn't make moving any less of a hassle.
"It's never easy," Nagle said.
That comes as no surprise to Larry O'Toole president of GentleGiant Moving Co. of Somerville.
"With the exception of death and divorce, moving is one of themost stressful events in a person's life," he said.
If O'Toole is right, moving angst should be rampant later thismonth when many apartment leases expire and many renters are joininghomeowners in relocating to new digs before the start of the schoolyear. In fact, August is to movers what Valentine's Day is toflorists and what the Fourth of July is to the fireworks industry.
For companies that specialize in cross-town and short-distancemoves, August can account for 20 percent of annual revenues. And thisyear, Labor Day weekend is crunch time. For the last few days ofAugust, Olympic Moving & Storage of Watertown plans to deploy nearly40 moving trucks, president Michael Gilmartin said.
Some moving companies, particularly small new ones, can wilt underthe pressure, overbooking more jobs than they can handle.
"We'll get several calls on Aug. 29 from people saying theirmovers were a no-show," Gilmartin said.
Like many serial movers, Nagle has a similar horror story, thoughhers isn't quite so bad. There was a time several years ago when themovers she hired showed up five hours late for a noon appointment.
"They were all wiped out - sweaty and grumpy," said Nagle, whonever used the company again, opting instead to go with Gentle Giantfor her last several moves.
At first glance, a strong back and an accurate wristwatch wouldseem to be the only requirements for a good moving man. But to hearmoving company executives tell it, only a select few can qualify as atop-notch furniture mover.
To win the business of potential customers who might otherwiserent a U-Haul for a do-it-yourself move, the true pro must possess apositive attitude, an on-the-job vocabulary devoid of swear words,and plenty of people skills. To make the moving man's hall of fame,an individual must be as attentive to a customer's psyche as he is tocrystal stemware and porcelain figurines.
"It's not just about being a big guy," said manager Dan Lenke ofMom's Moving in Cambridge. "There's a social piece to it."
Because temporary movers with good social skills can be hard tofind, Gentle Giant's O'Toole sometimes runs help-wanted ads inLithuania, where male college students speak good English and areeager for work, even if it means much heavy lifting.
"One of the biggest challenges is getting quality people in thesummer" when Gentle Giant often needs to double its work force,O'Toole said.
Another big challenge is managing the "human equation," saidmanager Dave Hart of Nick's Moving Co. in Somerville. People who aremoving are often in a bad mood. And it's easy for a mover to makethat bad mood worse by showing up late or by recklessly manhandling acherished walnut lowboy.
From a business perspective, a move consists of a thousanddetails. Get 999 of those details right, and it's still possible fora customer to be unhappy, executives said. Aside from striving forperfection, a good mover also tries to buck up customers and make themoving ordeal into a more agreeable experience.
For companies specializing in cross-town moves, winning overcustomers is important because these firms depend on word-of-mouthreferrals and repeat business for as much as 80 percent of revenues.With a tight economy that has fewer people moving - and perhaps morepeople opting to move themselves rather than hiring professionals -local moving companies can't afford to leave many customers miffed ordisappointed.
"In our business, repeat business and referrals are absolutegold," said Hart of Nick's Moving.
Nagle and Habegger, the Scituate couple moving to a larger house,said they have learned some lessons after so many moves. One timeHabegger said he waited to the last minute to pack things up himself.He was still putting things in boxes when the movers arrived. Theresult? It was several months before he could find everything at thenew house.
"Never pack in real-time," advised Habegger, who with Naglestarted a Boston Internet company called Bitpipe Inc.
A Bitpipe colleague, Katie Teitler, 30, moved earlier this monthfrom a Cambridge apartment to a Somerville condo. She's moved severaltimes over the years. This time, she used a professional mover,Isaac's Relocation Service of Boston.
"I will never ask my friends to help me move again," Teitler said.
Professionals know how to work fast and how to avoid nickingcorners. For about $300, the job was finished in a few hours.
In her case, the stress of moving was more than offset by theelation of buying her first condo.
Still, Teitler said of moving: "It's a lot of work. I hope I don'thave to move again for a long time."
Chris Reidy can be reached at reidy@globe.com.
SIDEBAR: MOVING TIPS PLEASE REFER TO MICROFILM FOR CHART DATA.
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