Customers will appreciate the way you take care of their property. And they will often take offense and choose another company if their property is not treated well.
- Cover your shoes with shoe covers or remove them altogether so you will not track dirt or grime onto customer's floors, especially carpeted areas. The customer who has to clean up a dirty trail from the front door to the furnace closet will not likely call your company back the next time the equipment needs service or replacement. When I moved in to a new home in a new neighborhood where a lot of new construction was going on there were still a lot of workman coming in and out of the house. And the streets and construction sites were full of mud and dirt. My wife and I were so appreciative when the workmen removed their shoes/boots at the front door.
- Carry coveralls or a change of clothes so that you will not carry the dirt and grime from one jobsite to another.
- Check yourself and your tools over carefully. Dirty hands or tools can also carry dirt in from previous work. A little extra time and effort keeping them clean can really payoff. And clean well cared for tools work better and are easier to use. This saves time and time is money.
- Carry drop cloths, cardboard or other coverings to place on the floor or over furniture or other items to protect them from any dirt or grime that you stir up. One job I supervised involved working in a church over the pews in a sanctuary with 20 foot ceilings. The job took more than a week so we worked on Saturdays and they had to be ready for church on Sunday. We were careful to make as little mess as possible and to clean up what mess we did make. When my boss received a letter from the church saying that they could hardly tell we had been there he could hardly wait to pat me on the back and to show the letter to other crews.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Thursday, May 10, 2007
How do Highly Effective Techs keep clean in the middle of a mess?
People do judge others by appearance. This may not be fair but often it is the only thing people have to go on, especially in the beginning. So we will start with some ideas for keeping clean.
- Wear clean pressed clothes, if the company provides uniforms make sure they are properly cleaned and pressed even if you have to touch them up yourself before you wear them. One outstanding technician I know takes all of his uniforms home the day he receives them and irons them all personally. Other less talented technicians have coaxed wives or mothers into doing it for them.
- Carry coveralls so you can slip them over your clothes when doing dirty work. And make sure the coveralls look decent too. Get some new ones if yours have stains or torn places. Wash them regularly. I always kept a pair of thin ones for summer and insulated ones for winter. Nothing like a pair of insulated coveralls when I was lying on a cold roof in the snow working on a rooftop package unit.
- Carry a change of clothes in your work vehicle in case you unexpectedly get into a mess. It doesn’t take long to change and eliminating the bad impression you might have made is worth it. This can often be the easiest way to deal with getting dirty on one job and looking good on the next one. Although I have had days where one change of clothes was not enough.
- Carry extra shoes or shoe covers to wear when entering homes and offices after working in dirty or muddy areas. I am always impressed when workmen coming to my home take off their shoes at the front door. But if you are going to take off your shoes at the door make sure your socks are clean. Sometimes mud or grime has slopped into the inside of your shoes without your realizing it.
- Carry waterless hand cleaner and rags so you can clean yourself up after dirty or messy work. This allows you to clean up immediately and saves time since you do not have to travel to another location to clean up. Cleaning up outside at your vehicle is much better than using the customer’s bathroom or other area. And if you take time to clean up before you leave a job site it is much easier to justify charging that customer for that time.
- Bathe and wash yourself regularly. Good hygiene goes a long way toward a good impression. The thing is, customers may not directly notice when you are clean but they will certainly notice when you are not. If you need to use deodorant use odorless deodorant. Some people are allergic to or offended by the ingredients in deodorants and colognes. So keep it to something mild or completely odorless.
- Keep hair and fingernails clean and neat. Wash your hair regularly. If you have long hair keep it contained neatly and attractively. I know that this can be very difficult at times. I always kept my fingernails very short so that they did not accumulate oil or grime. If you have longer fingernails take the time to clean them before confronting a customer
Learn more at www.LearningHVACR.com or contact mark@LearningHVACR.com
- Wear clean pressed clothes, if the company provides uniforms make sure they are properly cleaned and pressed even if you have to touch them up yourself before you wear them. One outstanding technician I know takes all of his uniforms home the day he receives them and irons them all personally. Other less talented technicians have coaxed wives or mothers into doing it for them.
- Carry coveralls so you can slip them over your clothes when doing dirty work. And make sure the coveralls look decent too. Get some new ones if yours have stains or torn places. Wash them regularly. I always kept a pair of thin ones for summer and insulated ones for winter. Nothing like a pair of insulated coveralls when I was lying on a cold roof in the snow working on a rooftop package unit.
- Carry a change of clothes in your work vehicle in case you unexpectedly get into a mess. It doesn’t take long to change and eliminating the bad impression you might have made is worth it. This can often be the easiest way to deal with getting dirty on one job and looking good on the next one. Although I have had days where one change of clothes was not enough.
- Carry extra shoes or shoe covers to wear when entering homes and offices after working in dirty or muddy areas. I am always impressed when workmen coming to my home take off their shoes at the front door. But if you are going to take off your shoes at the door make sure your socks are clean. Sometimes mud or grime has slopped into the inside of your shoes without your realizing it.
- Carry waterless hand cleaner and rags so you can clean yourself up after dirty or messy work. This allows you to clean up immediately and saves time since you do not have to travel to another location to clean up. Cleaning up outside at your vehicle is much better than using the customer’s bathroom or other area. And if you take time to clean up before you leave a job site it is much easier to justify charging that customer for that time.
- Bathe and wash yourself regularly. Good hygiene goes a long way toward a good impression. The thing is, customers may not directly notice when you are clean but they will certainly notice when you are not. If you need to use deodorant use odorless deodorant. Some people are allergic to or offended by the ingredients in deodorants and colognes. So keep it to something mild or completely odorless.
- Keep hair and fingernails clean and neat. Wash your hair regularly. If you have long hair keep it contained neatly and attractively. I know that this can be very difficult at times. I always kept my fingernails very short so that they did not accumulate oil or grime. If you have longer fingernails take the time to clean them before confronting a customer
Learn more at www.LearningHVACR.com or contact mark@LearningHVACR.com
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Highly Effective HVACR Techs Leave a Clean Impression
You have done your best to keep the customer’s house or business clean. You have worked at protecting the driveway, the yard, the floors, walls etc. But invariably you will dirty up the place a little. There will be lint, dust and perhaps a little mud or something that gets on things. No matter how much you cover things up something slops over on the side somewhere. So it is very important to make sure that we leave none of that mess behind.
Messy impressions leave customers feeling uncared for. Sometimes customers decide that if you are sloppy with around the site maybe you are sloppy with your technical work as well. If everything looks neat and clean then they will often assume that you have done excellent work. There are a number of things that you can do to avoid leaving a messy impression.
Clean up after yourself. Brush things off, sweep up the area and vacuum if necessary. Carry your own clean up tools, brooms, brushes, rags etc.
Insist on cleaning up yourself even if the customer tells you that they will take care of it. Doing it yourself and doing a good job of it always leaves a great impression. I once had to fix the vacuum cleaner for a customer before I could use it to clean up after myself. After that I carried my own vacuum cleaner with me on the truck.
Be sure to inspect the area around your vehicle and clean up anything spilled or dropped around the driveway.
Check all around the outside of the building. Make sure you have not left or dropped anything.
Don’t forget areas like the attic and garage. I have left tools and supplies behind. This can be time consuming and expensive to retrieve as well as leaving a messy impression. When I was supervising a class of students installing a system every year, we inevitably left tools under the insulation in the attic or under the concrete slab. Customers and contractors are understanding when students are doing the work but expect Highly Effective Techs to be much more thorough.
It can be even more important to take care of public areas like the church discussed in Lesson 3.4. There are likely to be a number of current customers or potential customers among the people who will be observing the quality of your work and the quality of your clean up.
When you walk off of the job with the assurance that there are as few negative traces of your work left behind as possible you will take pride in your work, your customers will be more likely to refer you, and your boss will be more likely to reward you.
As a Highly Effective Tech you should be ready to sign your name to your work in plain view.
Learn more at www.LearningHVACR.com or contact mark@LearningHVACR.com
Messy impressions leave customers feeling uncared for. Sometimes customers decide that if you are sloppy with around the site maybe you are sloppy with your technical work as well. If everything looks neat and clean then they will often assume that you have done excellent work. There are a number of things that you can do to avoid leaving a messy impression.
Clean up after yourself. Brush things off, sweep up the area and vacuum if necessary. Carry your own clean up tools, brooms, brushes, rags etc.
Insist on cleaning up yourself even if the customer tells you that they will take care of it. Doing it yourself and doing a good job of it always leaves a great impression. I once had to fix the vacuum cleaner for a customer before I could use it to clean up after myself. After that I carried my own vacuum cleaner with me on the truck.
Be sure to inspect the area around your vehicle and clean up anything spilled or dropped around the driveway.
Check all around the outside of the building. Make sure you have not left or dropped anything.
Don’t forget areas like the attic and garage. I have left tools and supplies behind. This can be time consuming and expensive to retrieve as well as leaving a messy impression. When I was supervising a class of students installing a system every year, we inevitably left tools under the insulation in the attic or under the concrete slab. Customers and contractors are understanding when students are doing the work but expect Highly Effective Techs to be much more thorough.
It can be even more important to take care of public areas like the church discussed in Lesson 3.4. There are likely to be a number of current customers or potential customers among the people who will be observing the quality of your work and the quality of your clean up.
When you walk off of the job with the assurance that there are as few negative traces of your work left behind as possible you will take pride in your work, your customers will be more likely to refer you, and your boss will be more likely to reward you.
As a Highly Effective Tech you should be ready to sign your name to your work in plain view.
Learn more at www.LearningHVACR.com or contact mark@LearningHVACR.com
Thursday, March 1, 2007
Are you the Tech that customers invite in?
What do your customers see when they look at you?
The public image of HVACR technicians is often pretty poor. Do customers greet you at the door with “The air conditioner is around back?” Or do they invite you in and make you feel welcome?
As a sixteen year old following my father around it always amazed me to watch him work. He could go from crawling under a house to service a floor furnace to crossing white carpet in an exclusive home and not leave a trace of dirt or grime. He would still have the crease in his pants. How in the world did he do that? Why would customers invite him in, offer him a cup of coffee and seem to feel so comfortable with him? Now frankly my family did not have the type of home we often worked in. We did not even have central heating or cooling. We did not associate in the same social circles as most of our customers. And yet my father was accepted into these fine homes and made to feel welcome.
Well, I eventually learned to do the same thing. This turned out not to be nearly as mysterious or difficult as I had imagined. In my book 13 Strategies of Highly Effective Techs: More Company Profit - More Personal Income I discuss some of the techniques for minimizing the mess that I have learned from my father, from my own experiences and from visiting with company owners and managers from all over the United States. This can help you win customers, earn bonuses and lead to raises and promotions.
My boss at one company where I worked as an HVACR technician posted letters from customers thanking the company for being so neat and clean on the jobs I performed or supervised. My vehicle was a mobile billboard for the company that always looked immaculate. Customers never had to clean up after me. Customers would often ask for me by name when they called in. Customers would sometimes have cookies or other treats waiting for me when I got there. On one occasion a customer made cupcakes with my name in icing on them for me. In Strategy #6 we discuss how to turn these situations into the most Customer Capital.
Now it is time for a little self examination. Get ready for work a little early and take time to really examine yourself in the mirror. What do you see? Is that person dressed professionally? Are there worn or torn places? Is the person you see well groomed? Hair neat? Shoes shined or well cleaned? Does that person smell good? Any tattoos showing? Does that person have a smile? Does that person seem like the type to be accepted in the finest homes in town? Do you see a name tag, patch or other identification? Are you carrying your paperwork in a nice portfolio or other neat carrier? If you were that customer living in a fine new home would you want the person you see in the mirror coming in to your home?
If not do something today to improve. An improvement a day and soon you will see that Highly Effective Tech looking back at you out of the mirror.
Learn more at www.LearningHVACR.com or contact mark@LearningHVACR.com
The public image of HVACR technicians is often pretty poor. Do customers greet you at the door with “The air conditioner is around back?” Or do they invite you in and make you feel welcome?
As a sixteen year old following my father around it always amazed me to watch him work. He could go from crawling under a house to service a floor furnace to crossing white carpet in an exclusive home and not leave a trace of dirt or grime. He would still have the crease in his pants. How in the world did he do that? Why would customers invite him in, offer him a cup of coffee and seem to feel so comfortable with him? Now frankly my family did not have the type of home we often worked in. We did not even have central heating or cooling. We did not associate in the same social circles as most of our customers. And yet my father was accepted into these fine homes and made to feel welcome.
Well, I eventually learned to do the same thing. This turned out not to be nearly as mysterious or difficult as I had imagined. In my book 13 Strategies of Highly Effective Techs: More Company Profit - More Personal Income I discuss some of the techniques for minimizing the mess that I have learned from my father, from my own experiences and from visiting with company owners and managers from all over the United States. This can help you win customers, earn bonuses and lead to raises and promotions.
My boss at one company where I worked as an HVACR technician posted letters from customers thanking the company for being so neat and clean on the jobs I performed or supervised. My vehicle was a mobile billboard for the company that always looked immaculate. Customers never had to clean up after me. Customers would often ask for me by name when they called in. Customers would sometimes have cookies or other treats waiting for me when I got there. On one occasion a customer made cupcakes with my name in icing on them for me. In Strategy #6 we discuss how to turn these situations into the most Customer Capital.
Now it is time for a little self examination. Get ready for work a little early and take time to really examine yourself in the mirror. What do you see? Is that person dressed professionally? Are there worn or torn places? Is the person you see well groomed? Hair neat? Shoes shined or well cleaned? Does that person smell good? Any tattoos showing? Does that person have a smile? Does that person seem like the type to be accepted in the finest homes in town? Do you see a name tag, patch or other identification? Are you carrying your paperwork in a nice portfolio or other neat carrier? If you were that customer living in a fine new home would you want the person you see in the mirror coming in to your home?
If not do something today to improve. An improvement a day and soon you will see that Highly Effective Tech looking back at you out of the mirror.
Learn more at www.LearningHVACR.com or contact mark@LearningHVACR.com
Thursday, February 1, 2007
What it takes to make a Highly Effective HVACR Technician
Highly effective Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration (HVACR) technicians are effective because they do specific things in specific ways. Modeling the behaviors of highly effective HVACR Technicians will lead you to becoming highly effective. Becoming highly effective can lead to higher pay, promotions and even your own business.
- Pay attention to what is going on; what you see and hear is what you get.
- Know what you are doing; not knowing costs money.
- Minimize the mess; messes cost customers.
- Make the Company look good; a good image attracts customers.
- Always ask why; finding the cause is worth the effort.
- Create customer capital; you can bank on it.
- Cut back on call backs; call backs cost big bucks.
- Give more than is asked for; receive more than requested.
- Put it in writing; if it’s not in writing it doesn’t exist.
- Be a good helper; even if you are in charge.
- Be Prepared; doing it twice costs twice the price.
- Be organized; do more with less.
- Keep up on the latest; what you don’t know can really hurt.
In this program you will learn how Highly Effective HVACR Technicians use these 13 strategies to be successful. If you will study these strategies and apply them to your own life and career you will find your income increasing and your career moving forward.
But only you can apply these strategies. The strategies will not happen by themselves. Your boss cannot do it for you. Your spouse can not do it for you. No teacher or mentor can do it for you. You must take control of your life and your career.
If you keep doing what you've always done, you'll keep getting what you've always gotten. If you want something different, you're going to have to do something different!
Learn more at www.LearningHVACR.com or contact mark@LearningHVACR.com
Friday, January 19, 2007
Highly Effective HVACR Techs Earn More
Has your boss ever described you with any of the following? Do you know others who might be described with any of these?
· He always looks like Joe Slob! And he leaves a mess behind wherever he goes!
· He just can’t seem to show up on time.
· He too often forgets to fill out the paperwork. Or he fills it out wrong and the secretary has to hunt him down.
· He gets too few calls or installs done.
· He just can’t seem to take charge. When the supervisor is not around he just stands around when he runs out of work.
· He just won’t ever read directions. Or learn about new models. Even when you send him to training he just sits in the back and talks.
· He has to go back a 2nd time or more for every 4th call or we have to send someone else to redo his work.
· He seems to make customers unhappy. Or down right angry.
· He is always going back to the truck or the shop to get something because he never has what is needed when it is needed.
If so, soon the boss may be saying; “Sorry we just can’t use you any more.”
When I was 17 I worked part time doing HVAC installs while I was going to school. One day when I called in I heard those dreaded words, “Well, don’t call us, we will call you if we need you.” Of course, I never heard from them again. I had been observed doing several of the things on the above list. And I had called in sick several times. To tell the truth it was too much partying.
Several years later, and much experience wiser I was hearing these kinds of things.
· There is a little something extra on your check this week.
· Thanks for doing such a great job.
· Stick this in your billfold and take the wife out to eat this weekend.
· You know there is an opening for the Service Manager’s job coming up, would you be interested?
· Would you show Joe how to fill his Time Card out right?
· I just put that nice letter we got from one of your customers on the bulletin board.
· Starting next week your check will be a little larger than it has been.
· We are putting on an extra crew and I would like you to take charge.
· We will have to cut some help back this winter but we want you to stay.
· That new customer asked for you by name.
· She said she would have cupcakes setting out for you when you get there.
As I visited with former students and with advisory committee members from HVACR companies all over the United States I have collected ideas of what it takes to make a highly effective technician.
In the coming weeks we will be discussing how Highly Effective HVACR Technicians use these strategies to be successful. If you will study these strategies and apply them to your own life and career you will find your income increasing and your career moving forward.
Learn more at www.LearningHVACR.com or contact mark@LearningHVACR.com
· He always looks like Joe Slob! And he leaves a mess behind wherever he goes!
· He just can’t seem to show up on time.
· He too often forgets to fill out the paperwork. Or he fills it out wrong and the secretary has to hunt him down.
· He gets too few calls or installs done.
· He just can’t seem to take charge. When the supervisor is not around he just stands around when he runs out of work.
· He just won’t ever read directions. Or learn about new models. Even when you send him to training he just sits in the back and talks.
· He has to go back a 2nd time or more for every 4th call or we have to send someone else to redo his work.
· He seems to make customers unhappy. Or down right angry.
· He is always going back to the truck or the shop to get something because he never has what is needed when it is needed.
If so, soon the boss may be saying; “Sorry we just can’t use you any more.”
When I was 17 I worked part time doing HVAC installs while I was going to school. One day when I called in I heard those dreaded words, “Well, don’t call us, we will call you if we need you.” Of course, I never heard from them again. I had been observed doing several of the things on the above list. And I had called in sick several times. To tell the truth it was too much partying.
Several years later, and much experience wiser I was hearing these kinds of things.
· There is a little something extra on your check this week.
· Thanks for doing such a great job.
· Stick this in your billfold and take the wife out to eat this weekend.
· You know there is an opening for the Service Manager’s job coming up, would you be interested?
· Would you show Joe how to fill his Time Card out right?
· I just put that nice letter we got from one of your customers on the bulletin board.
· Starting next week your check will be a little larger than it has been.
· We are putting on an extra crew and I would like you to take charge.
· We will have to cut some help back this winter but we want you to stay.
· That new customer asked for you by name.
· She said she would have cupcakes setting out for you when you get there.
As I visited with former students and with advisory committee members from HVACR companies all over the United States I have collected ideas of what it takes to make a highly effective technician.
In the coming weeks we will be discussing how Highly Effective HVACR Technicians use these strategies to be successful. If you will study these strategies and apply them to your own life and career you will find your income increasing and your career moving forward.
Learn more at www.LearningHVACR.com or contact mark@LearningHVACR.com
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