Sales vs Trubleshooting, diagnostic and repair

[Baja500]

[QUOTE=Doesn'tPhaseMe;5745932]As far as diagnostic and troubleshooting skills, guys that can do and those who can't change parts.

Those who honed their skills in this field have worked hard over years to do so and I believe they are an invalueable asset to their employer. Get in and get out, fix it right the first time, no call backs or customer complaints. There is nothing like walking into a customer's business when the crap is hitting the fan and seeing the reilef on their face as they see you walk in the door. They trust and respect your abilities from you being honest with them and providing them with good quality service throughout the years. Thats better than them thinking your gonna screw them over and try to sell them something they don't need any day.

But then again what do I know, I have prided myself in this thinking for 30 years now but find myself out of work now. Previous employer was all about sales, even the service manager was a salesman and completely clueless about the field. Been there 7 years had an established customer base, new service manager hires a parts changer from the place he use to work in the fall. Customers complain about him but it falls on deaf ears and he lays me off. I am still going to stick to my guns until this all turns around and hopefully soon.[/QUOTE


I suck at sales, must admit,I'm a mechanic at heart since my Army days, our service manager went to a HVAC technical school, but is completely clueless about the field, the way I see it, he wants all new techs to be the image of him expert sales people lacking field skills, luckily for me he can't fire me

[Doesn'tPhaseMe]

luckily for me he can't fire me

Yeah, but your customers can.

[Baja500]

Yeah, but your customers can.

So customers love sleasy sales people, but hate good mechanics and techinicians, good techinicians do not BS customers on their needs like I do,sales people BS everybody for commisssion,,Correct?

[truck12]

A service tech is a salesman. I sell my services to every customer I meet. The problem most techs have is being able to sell things other than the broken part that needs replaced. Most techs feel that if they replace the contactor on a 30 year old condenser, charge them for the service call and the contactor, their doing a favor for the customer even though the coils completely clogged, the ductwork is leaking air, the ah leaking refrigerant and the drain pan leaks into the crawl space. To me that’s not helping the customer, helping the customer would be explaining all the problems with the system and offering a solution.
And techs also have to remember that this is a business. What’s the difference between McDonalds asking you if you would like to try an apple pie and me asking a customer to buy a humidifier?

Ok, first step is to get that cold air blowing out of the leaks in the ductwork, and get some condensate leaking into the attic. So you inform the customer she needs a $180 repair to replace the contactor, she falls on the floor, starts crying, etc. (I have had women cry when they hear the price just to make it work)

So...how (and why) would you have the nerve to even bother explaining all this other crap to a customer?

It's like walking into mcdonalds, realizing you left your wallet at home, telling the cashier to cancel the order. Do they still offer the pie?

[klove]

So...how (and why) would you have the nerve to even bother explaining all this other crap to a customer?

Because it's the right thing to do. Up to them to make a decision to fix it or not. It's that part clint mentioned about offering a solution that I think got by you....

[truck12]

Because it's the right thing to do. Up to them to make a decision to fix it or not. It's that part clint mentioned about offering a solution that I think got by you....

No, it didn't really get by me. I always have people piss and moan about the price just to make it blow cold air. I can tell them about the problems.
But like the mcdonalds scenario, why tell them about the pie when they just told me they have no money?

[Baja500]

No, it didn't really get by me. I always have people piss and moan about the price just to make it blow cold air. I can tell them about the problems.
But like the mcdonalds scenario, why tell them about the pie when they just told me they have no money?

Well, this morning my beloved and weasel office manage had the monthly sales meeting, it's a contest, a game among service techs and weasel office manager, the guy with the most call backs but more sales generated won the $100 home depot card, again I asked weasel how is this working out, with me and weasel SR dealing with all the call backs, again he gave me the weasel look, but hell he looks so handsome driving his Scalade, Im starting to hate this business

[klove]

Well, this morning my beloved and weasel office manage had the monthly sales meeting, it's a contest, a game among service techs and weasel office manager, the guy with the most call backs but more sales generated won the $100 home depot card, again I asked weasel how is this working out, with me and weasel SR dealing with all the call backs, again he gave me the weasel look, but hell he looks so handsome driving his Scalade, Im starting to hate this business

Ain't the businesses fault, it's the industry's, and your old idiot is allowing your new idiot to perpetuate the problem. Like everywhere and everything else, our industry is run by salesmen, lawyers, accountants, idiots, cheats, and liars. I'm an expert - I worked for jci after they kidnapped and murdered York International.

[klove]

No, it didn't really get by me. I always have people piss and moan about the price just to make it blow cold air. I can tell them about the problems.
But like the mcdonalds scenario, why tell them about the pie when they just told me they have no money?

CYA

[Baja500]

Ain't the businesses fault, it's the industry's, and your old idiot is allowing your new idiot to perpetuate the problem. Like everywhere and everything else, our industry is run by salesmen, lawyers, accountants, idiots, cheats, and liars. I'm an expert - I worked for jci after they kidnapped and murdered York International.

Couldn't agree more, next month my partnership ends with weasel sr, he can find another qualifying party, I'm out of here see ya!!! Does anyone here knows how thing are in Dallas? is Airtron still in business? my foam house in AZ is now worth 129k, I paid 290k for a styrofoam box ,out of AZ too!!

[truck12]

CYA

yea, exactly. explain to me how you sell (exchange or deliver for money or its equivalent) something to someone who has no money....

[klove]

yea, exactly. explain to me how you sell (exchange or deliver for money or its equivalent) something to someone who has no money....

Didn't ever say that I sold them anything, but if I'm not honest with them about their problems and things that might come back to haunt them, then primarily I haven't done them justice as my customer that trusts me to do them a good job at a fair price. Secondarily, I haven't covered myself by making them aware of the issues at hand. It don't have to be some long diatribe, just a short "Wanted you to know, A,B,C...". As the subject matter expert, you owe it to those that have entrusted their work to you to do that. If they don't care or can't afford, that's not the issue. It's about making an honest attempt to do the right thing by your customer. If you disagree with the way I handle it, go do it however you want, but remember that the way you handle it may be the reason that you have the type customers you have.

[Baja500]

yea, exactly. explain to me how you sell (exchange or deliver for money or its equivalent) something to someone who has no money....

And the ones with money take advantge of this crazy economy by buying smart! what really bugs me is license contractors selling Heatpumps for 2k fully installed and to make up for the lost revenue they force techs into a contest to sell, sell, if you the tech do not make the monthly quota,we fire you. we have over 100 other techs ready to take your position, Yeap I'm refering to my own shop and the direction is heading, just cant stand the weasel Benny Hinn running the shop, thats correct our manager looks and acts just like Benny Hinn.