Overall, Callbacks are not good for the back account of any service business. Callbacks will typically cost you more money, potentially harm your company’s reputation and even cause a once loyal customer to doubt the capability of their regular technician.
Unfortunately, there isn’t much you can do to prevent callbacks due to equipment failure. Simply because it's challenging for contractor to predict when any piece of equipment that is properly installed and functioning perfectly might end up defective. Human error is another factor to keep in mind. Regardless if an issue was
overlooked, misdiagnosed or improperly serviced, it’s important to educate your team to take all necessary precautions while on site. In this blog post we will discuss three effective approaches to help reduce the frequency of your callbacks and pointers on how to handle callbacks in a professional manner.
- Providing Additional Training to your Team
Technical training and customer relations skills are areas where HVACR contractors can help minimize the number of callbacks to maintain the expected level of profitability in the service and installation departments
Consider adding the following suggestions to your company training:
- Require ride-along training for all newly hired techs, regardless of experience.
- Have supervisors randomly select any service technician to observe for the day. This will help prevent future problems if they see a tech struggling with a certain tool or communicating poorly with customers.
- All tech’s (new or not) should observe tech’s while on a job.
- Create service teams with team leaders who can act as mentors and periodically conduct ride-along evaluations and random job visits.
- Use on-the-spot communication (such as an application on cell phones) to assist with the productivity of the workday.
- Set up training on new products before they are rolled out.
- Make time for supervised cross-training for techs to broaden the skill base of your business.
- NEVER Assume
Always attempt to verify a piece of equipment is operating properly instead of just assuming it should be. Not only is this a safety concern for both you and your customers, but you seem more professional when you choose to measure and verify a situation because you can now prove it instead of guessing.
For example, when replacing a thermostatic expansion valve never assume the valve is adjusted properly. Decide not to check that the evaporator is active and overlook any potential issues your visit could result in a failed system. Making assumptions causes problems for technicians and their companies.
- Test Your Tools
You should regularly test and verify that your measuring tools are accurate. Don’t assume they are accurate — prove it. Just because a piece of equipment is new does not mean it is adjusted correctly for the system you are working on. For example, when you test your refrigerant gauges for accuracy. You can test your temperature tools by placing their probes in an ice bath.
It’s Important to educate your team to take all necessary precautions while on the job. How many more profitable hours will you continue to lose to callbacks? Skip the chaos and invest in Service Software.
At Davisware, we offer business management software to both residential and commercial service companies with our distinct solutions that allow you to scale with the growth and success of your business.
Ready to learn more about what Davisware or our solutions can do for your business's bottom line? Request a free consultation and live demo today!
