Windshield Time

In this episode of The Service Contractor Radio Show, Chris Elmore and Chris Loudermilk break down the 5 Myths of Training. Each of these myths can cripple your training objectives and hold your team back from having their best year ever.

1: Scripts are gospel, not guidelines.

Robots do not make good technicians. The scripts are designed to help you follow the principles of service. Know the key principles, but make sure your service process is customized to your client. Since every homeowner is different, you must customize what you say to fit their communication style.

Fix: Use DISC profiles to learn the communication styles of your clients. Then publish your company’s unique way of delivering service.

2: If you are doing training, you don’t have to do anything else.

Training is just one part of a successful company. You must inspect what you expect. Role play, spot checks, and ride-alongs are all great ways to ensure accountability. It is also important to practice what you learn in training, not just during that hour a week, but throughout the week.

Fix: Track performance with Key Results Areas and do ride-alongs.

3: Everyone learns the same way.

Everyone has a different learning style. Training must cover different learning styles to make sure everyone is able to learn and apply the lesson. Reading, writing, role-play, and videos are all different styles of learning that must be incorporated in the learning process.

Fix: Make sure you mix up your training sessions. Add variety to your normal training routine with different visuals and activities.

4: I can only do one type of training at a time.

The reality is that your team needs technical training, customer service training, and communication training all the time. The time invested in various aspects of training will help your team grow and will provide a huge return on investment.

Fix: Mix up training schedules to incorporate different skill sets.

5: Everyone has to love the training for it to be effective.

 One bad egg should not dictate your company training culture. Some professionals can fall into the knowledge trap, and that can hinder their ability to implement the training, but the rest of the team can still be growing. When you allow one individual to dictate your training, you may miss out on huge growth potential. Your team’s attitude dictates their altitude. Make sure you are helping your team find the positive in each training session.

Fix: Accept that not everyone will love training, but make sure the majority are learning and applying.

 

It's easy to assume we know what the customer expects from service professionals, right? We’re late, dressed in t-shirts with holes in our pants - we don’t wear belts and the evidence shows every time we bend down. Or is that the case?   Over the past 10 years, almost every customer you will come across has had an experience with a service professional who was using some sort of iPad for diagnosis, putting on floor savers, showing up in a wrapped truck and notifying them of their arrival via text. If we don’t at least do those things, now we are different in a WORSE way.    Beyond that, we often feel that the customer values us because of our expertise in fixing their issue, but they wouldn’t have called us if they didn’t think we could fix the problem. Every service company who shows up at the door is already assumed to be able to take care of what’s wrong today. The customer’s perception of our value lies in everything else we communicate both spoken and unspoken. If we ever want to exceed their expectation, we have to start by managing their perception.

Do you have an exit strategy? This podcast is all about things you should be doing now to build the value in your business. These three items will help you get what you want out of your exit. 

Start with the end in mind

If you don’t know where you’re going how will you get there? This is a very fundamental principle. For your business, you must know your “exit point”. This should be the amount of money you need to have to retire or move on to the next phase of your life – whatever that may be. Also, you need to have an idea of how you want to transition out of the business. Are you going to sell it? Are you going to still own it but be an absentee owner that just gets an income? Are you going to transition it to a relative or employee? Whichever you choose, the business will need to look the same at the time of exit. You need to start thinking and planning now if that business will look like you want it to at the time of exit.

Have Recurring Revenue and a Good Revenue Mix

Your business mix should be such that you have customers and a marketing base that you can always generate new business. If your business is favoring replacement or bigger sales in a higher ratio more so than service and maintenance, it will take more effort and more cost to generate the sales year over year. Once you’ve installed that system, rewired that house, or re-piped that drain line, you won’t do it again for 10-15 years. If your business has a good ratio of service and maintenance to replace or bigger jobs, you’ll have a bigger “internal” base for marketing and new business. Ideally, you have a good maintenance agreement base from which to generate replacement and add-ons. The best strategy is to have a good business mix that is growing by at least 15% per year. This is most attractive to a new owner or to providing you an ongoing income should you choose to transition the business internally.

Owner Involvement in the day-to-day Should be Minimal

For you to achieve the top value for your business, the new owner must see themselves owning the business in as easy a way as possible. Similar to selling a house, you have to stage it to get the highest value. You have to fix it up to sell it. The new owner needs to see a business that’s easy to own and easy to understand, and easy to operate. If you’re a key day-to-day employee, the business cannot run without you. This is not something a new owner wants to see. They don’t want to take on a huge challenge that requires tremendous time and effort to get a return on investment. To maximize value, you should make every effort, as feasible, to replace yourself in every day-to-day task in your business. Here’s a challenge to test your involvement in the business: Can you leave the business for two weeks and have everything run as it should with no chaos or crises? If yes, you probably have a business that is independent of you. If not, you’ve got some work to do to introduce processes, systems, or people to replace you. This also makes for an easier internal transition.

While there are probably another 50 things we could discuss to add value, we feel these are some of the most important. If you’re not sure where you are on your journey, we can help.

The CSR Division of Service Excellence Training is growing. Brady Loudermilk and Todd Liles share some insights into what they are seeing from working with CSRs around the country.

 

We build challenges for ourselves.

           

Often Brandy encounters CSRs who feel isolated with the issues they are facing. It is powerful when the CSR or Dispatcher has an opportunity to see that they are not alone in the challenges they face. For example, every CSR has faced a price objection, it doesn’t matter if their diagnostic is $29 or $149, the price is not the issue.

 

CSR can become indoctrinated in how things are.

 

One of the most universal things Brandy sees is that CSRs who have been with the same company for a length of time, start to see the standard operating procedures at that company as the only way to do things.

 

There are two attitudes you can have to new ideas:

• That is exciting, how can we make that work here?
• That will never work here.

The 2nd attitude will leave you stagnant. If you want to grow you have to have an open mind to change.

 

An organized/ automated workflow gets more done.

 

CSRs often feel that they have more work to accomplish than they have time. One way to reduce this is to organize and automate the workflow. One example is to text or email club members about their upcoming maintenance visits instead of spending hours leaving voice mails that probably will not be returned.

 

Reducing the negative impacts of multitasking

 

A major challenge for CSRs when it comes to consistently delivering quality client service is the additional administrative tasks most CSRs have.

 

This additional work helps companies reduce the number of office staff needed to keep the company moving, and also gives the CSR tasks for when the phone calls are slower.

 

CSRs often resort to multitasking in order to get their admin tasks done and answer the phone at the same time.

 

One solution is using smart blocks of time when the phones are typically slower to have admin tasks accomplished.

 

Brandy shares a story of hearing a recorded call of herself when she was distracted by an admin task while taking a client call. This made her aware of the need to focus on one task at a time, and for a CSR the most important task is taking care of the client on the phone.

 

The joy of group brainstorming

 

Brandy recently spent 2 days onsite at Cathedral Plumbing of Texas teaching the PRESS PLAY for CSR series. Out of 20 students, only 7 of them were call takers. The big Ah-HA moment for the group was when the admin staff started brainstorming how they can improve their communication internally to improve client satisfaction externally.

 

This idea of finding ways to move past great service to exceptional service is what separates prospering companies from the pack.

 

 

Resources from this podcast:

 

PRESS PLAY FOR CSR Classroom

 

4 FREE CSR Training Videos

 

The PRESS PLAY CSR Scripts

 

Also, check out this great deal on a flat rate price book designed especially for plumbers by Marc Carrasco of Cathedral plumbing. It’s a great resource for those that need to get a price-book in place in a hurry and have a limited budget.

 Mr. Price Book

 

This podcast is all about the things that drive technicians crazy. Chris Elmore, Chris Loudermilk, and James Walker discuss ways to handle each of these challenging homeowner behaviors.

 

• The homeowner researching while you are working.

 

To handle this, be honest, upfront, and prepared to answer questions. Make sure that you do not skip value builders. Make sure you explain to the homeowner the why behind the what. Also help them understand the work that goes into replacing a part, not just the cost of the part.

 

• Client diagnosing their own issue before you get there.

 

To prevent this issue, explain to the homeowner that a full diagnostic will make sure that the problem they are experiencing is not just a symptom of a different problem. Use the three P’s: Problem, Possible Causes, and Prevention.

 

• The client does not give you time to do the whole job.

 

To avoid a client rushing you, be transparent upfront with how much time you anticipate the diagnosis taking. Explain the process to the client and why it is important to address the whole issue to save them both time and money.

 

• Clients touching the technician’s tools and equipment.

 

It can be frustrating when a homeowner starts grabbing tools out of your tool bag. One way to avoid this issue is to leave your important tools in the truck unless you need them.

 

• A competitor is there when you arrive or shows up while you are working.

 

To diffuse this awkward issue, explain to the homeowner that you want to make sure that you are respecting the other professional. Reschedule an exact time to come back after the other company has finished. If you are working when the other company shows up, politely ask the other tech to come back once you are finished.

 

Although these client behaviors can be challenging, they can also give you an opportunity to prove your value to the client.

 

We want to hear from you. Do you have a topic you would like to hear about on The Service Contractor Radio show? Send us an e-mail to [email protected].

This episode is hosted by Chris Elmore and James Walker. We are excited to bring James onto the Service Excellence Team. 

Here is what you will hear in this episode. 

- Introduction to our newest Business Coach, James Walker.

- How to implement the hiring process and why it is valuable.

- Why it is important to have a skills test of the candidate even if you know them

- Why it is so valuable to have a conversation with the spouse of the candidate

In this podcast, Todd Liles and Toby Brodie talk with Dave Marquez about his 50 years in the Plumbing, HVAC, and Electrical fields. Dave has owned his own company for 39 of those 50 years.

 

Dave says one of his keys to success is a life-long devotion to training. From his beginnings as an apprentice, to his present-day communications training with Service Excellence Training.

In this week’s episode, Chris Elmore and Chris Loudermilk share the Top 5 Things The Best Techs and Salespeople Do Every Time. These come from their experience in the field and on ridealongs from all over the country. Our best in home service and sales people do these things on every call. It is the result of practice and persistence. Enjoy!

In this week’s podcast, Chris Elmore and Brandon Cockrell discuss some ways you might be leaving value on the table. 

These ways include:

Using Minimizing Language –

Assuming Value –

Not Focusing on One Call at a Time –

Not Practicing Like a PRO –

Creating Contrast –

While doing Technician ride-alongs, I’ve noticed a trend. This trend is worrisome. Why? Because it’s costing Plumbers, Electricians, Roofers, and Techs personal income.

This trend is plummeting Closing Percentages, Average Tickets, and Client Satisfaction. 

I really hate this trend, because I want tradespeople to be their best!

In this podcast, I am going to address this troublesome issue. 

I have decided to call this bad habit: fixing it with your mouth.