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Ten Things to do During Busy Times
by Ruth King
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It's
nuts. The telephone is ringing off the hook. Bid requests are
coming in faster than you can handle them. The replacement
department is two weeks behind and you've got room air conditioners
in many, many customers' homes while they wait for your company to
install their new air conditioning systems.
This is not the time to implement new procedures. This is the time
to follow the procedures that you implemented and tested during
slower times of the year. However, it is the time to:
1. Refrain from using the words "we're busy" when speaking with a
customer. These are the last words that a customer needs to hear.
They don't care that you're busy. They don't care that the service
technicians and installation crews are working overtime to take
care of as many customers as they can in a day. They just want to
know when you will get them cool again. Remember, a hot customer is
usually a grouchy customer. And grouchy customers can be mean to
overworked and overstressed dispatchers.
2. Technicians must do a thorough diagnosis and get to the problem
not the symptom of the problem. The last thing a busy service
department needs is additional callbacks. Even though they are busy
themselves, they must take the time to find the root of the
problems rather than what the problem causes on the surface.
Likewise, installation crews must still follow procedures and not
cut corners. They have to complete start up forms, track their
inventory, and do the job right even though they have many more
jobs to get to.
3. Watch your technicians and installers for signs of heat
exhaustion and burn out. If your technicians and installers burn
out they will make more mistakes. This means callbacks, warranty
calls, unhappy customers, and worker's .comp claims. You never need
these problems. However, they can occur more often when employees
are working overtime. This is a delicate balancing act. You need
them to take care of your customers. Watch them to make sure they
do take a break and get time off to rest.
4. Put notes in their paychecks. A hand written note from you means
a lot to them. A simple, "I appreciate your hard work this week" or
"Thanks for going the extra mile this week, I know our customers
appreciate it" takes only a few seconds to write. It pays many
dividends. Saying thank you is important. Share compliment letters
with employees. When you hear about something good that an employee
did, compliment the employee... whether you see him or her in the
hall, in the warehouse or on the job.
5. Send a note home to their spouse or significant other. In this
note acknowledge that the busy times have taken their
husband/wife/friend away from the normal family time and thank them
for understanding. When the employee comes home tired and questions
the value of working this hard, the spouse will be on your side
rather than saying, "Why don't you find another job?"
6. Owners need a break too. If you are stressed out you are working
at less efficiency. You'll make mistakes, lose your sense of humor
when others are stressed out too, and not think about solving
problems as well as you normally would. Go out to lunch with a
friend and don't take your cell telephone or your radio with you.
Do something different to get your mind off work. . . even if it is
only for 10 minutes per day!
7. Return telephone calls. Sometimes you get so busy giving
estimates and handling the day that returning tele phone calls is
low on your priority list. If someone has. called with an issue,
you need to resolve it as quickly as possible. You don't need a
minor problem to become a major crisis.
8. Write everything down. When you are very busy if you promise
someone something and don't write it down you may forget to do it.
Little yellow sticky notes don't help. They get stuck to the bottom
of a piece of paper that you've thrown out or get buried under a
lot of papers on your desk. Get a spiral notebook at the very least
or a time management system. Putting everything in one place helps.
Also, when you think of things to do, put them where you are
writing everything down. You're likely to remember that it has to
be done and do it.
9. Keep a tickler file. When you're busy you'll get the
opportunity to see more work than can be done at this time of year.
Put the unapproved work, the estimates, the service bids, etc. in a
tickler file. This is stockpiling work for the slower times of the
year. Dispatchers should keep the file. They have contact with the
technicians and can ask whether there was additional work that was
recommended that was not approved by the customer. This is
additional information should go in the tickler files.
10. Continue to give out business cards. You'll never know when one
turns into a job! .
Remember that busy times are the times to earn profits. Make sure
that you continue serving your customers and your employees so that
those profits don't turn into losses.
Contact Ruth King via e-mail at rking@hvacrnews.com.
This article is reprinted with permission from the
August 2005 issue of HVACR News.
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