Arkansas HVACR NewsMagazine September 2023

News Magazine September 2023

embarrassed and concerned that you came to their neighborhood. Also, no oil leaks on the drive. 2. Have uniforms for your employees and have them well groomed. Even long hair and a beard may be OK but only if it is well kept. 3. Always show up when promised. Try to have a 2 hour window at the most. Most people work and giving a 4 or 8 hour window means that a working family may have to take a day of sick leave or vacation to wait on your arrival. If you are running late, call and let them know when you will arrive and never make it the next day. And don’t’ charge overtime for you r mistake. I know it’s hard but try your best to accommodate the homeowner. 4. Lots of companies are now using a GPS notification with a picture of the tech being sent to the homeowner when they are on the way. This provides a comfort and a sense of safety for the homeowner. If you don’t use this you are being left in the dirt. 5. Use booties to enter the house. Even if your shoes are not dirty, let your customer know that you would n’t consider tracking in mud and dirt. 6. Use courteous conversation like you care. This one could take a while to cover so we’ll move on but you know what I mean. 7. Give clear and understandable estimates. Don’t let the price be a surprise. This is where “flat rate pricing” can be helpful. 8. Use your time to not only fix the equipment but also leave it looking

better. If you are charging a condenser, use your wait time to clean the housing. Make it shine. They don’t know what you do inside the cabinet but the shine can make it seem even better. 9. Did you clean out a bushel of leaves from the condenser. Put them in a trash bag and haul them off. Don’t leave the yard looking worse than when you arrived. 10. Clean up your messes. Don’t leave replaced parts in the furnace closet or outside the condenser and dang sure don ’ t leave an old furnace in the attic. 11. When the job is complete, make sure the homeowner knows what you did — Do it in easy to understand consumer language. 12. When the job is complete, someone should call the customer and get very casual but professional feedback. 13. Send a letter of appreciation. Remember, if they know you appreciate them they are more likely to appreciate you. There are other things you could add to this list but it is a start on getting your cup of coffee to be worth $5.00 instead of $1.69. Are you worth it? Of course we are assuming that every tech will do an excellent job of service. That shouldn’t even be a question (though it may be in some cases).