1. Comfortech 2010 10 Tips for Making Your Technicians More Productive Linda Couch, MBA Chief Operating Officer and Vice President of Sales Parrish Services, Inc. Manassas, Virginia

2. If you would like a copy of today’s presentation… Leave a business card (or your name and email address on a piece of paper is fine) in the box in the back of the room. I will email a copy of the presentation early next week to anyone who leaves their information.

3. #1 Clearly define and prioritize “productivity” for your techs You may have different measures for your techs if they have different roles. Identify the core tasks and optimize them. Try to move or eliminate non-core tasks; e.g., taking payments You may have different measures for your techs if your business strategy changes You can improve productivity only when you know what you want to produce.

4. #2 Define and manage productivity goals From management research we know task performance is improved when: Goals are specific Goals are sufficiently challenging Goals are within the employees’ capabilities Managers give feedback to show progress Rewards are given for goal attainment Managers are supportive Goals are accepted by the employee You will know if you have improved productivity only if you: set goals establish benchmarks – where are you today? measure results and remember the difference between efficient and effective People respect what you inspect!

5. #3 Equip your techs with productivity enhancing tools Make your techs more productive while they’re onsite by equipping them properly Keep up with the latest in HVAC trade tools. How? – Keep up with trade journals – Attend trade shows – Participate in trade organizations or other peer groups Think about non-HVAC tools. Recognize these parts? Reference materials Call-specific information Codify lessons learned Example: RIDGID® microEXPLORER® Digital Inspection Camera

6. #4 Equip techs with a proper, organized inventory Review your parts usage history to establish proper stock levels in your vehicles. Have seasonal or specialty inventory packages Regularly review your warehouse stock usage and optimize your space for higher use parts. Organize all trucks in the same way When parts are needed, use a lower cost parts runner, even a taxi or delivery service, where appropriate. Having the proper parts greatly improves productivity since techs make only one trip per service call. So what can you do?

7. #5 Train your techs: Technical Have individual development plans and skills assessments. Identify, analyze, and report on all call backs Have a training manager or strong tech mentor less proficient techs Use all the training that is available to you Focus on getting the repair right the first time. Failure to do a first-time fix decreases not only productivity but customer satisfaction, too.

8. #6 Train your techs: Advising Train your techs to act like trusted advisors. Train your technicians how to sell preventive maintenance when they are doing inspections. Train techs to get your customers involved and to use language customers will understand. Show customers meter readouts or pictures to explain why a tech is making a recommendation. Teach your techs not to make any assumptions about what a customer can or will pay. They should present all appropriate options, even if one of those options is putting the unit down! You want your techs to make quality repairs, but you also want them to increase their revenue per ticket. They must become trusted advisors. “You see, ma’am, the blah blah evaporator blah SEER blah blah R-410A blah ECM blah blah condenser. Also, TXV blah blah blah blower wheel blah compressor blah blah two-stage blah blah IAQ. Please sign here.”

9. #7 Use supporting customer service and dispatch strategies Manage maintenance agreement appointments such that your techs can be more efficient. Set customer expectations ahead of time so your customer and tech are prepared for the visit. Reiterate prior recommendations. Send the right tech to the right call. These team members are the first ones to communicate with your customers. Improve tech productivity by taking charge.

10. #8 Use supporting warehouse and purchasing strategies Ideally your techs have proper truck inventory, but be prepared for when they do not: Make sure they have physical access to parts any time they are providing service Make sure they have the ability to buy a part any time while ensuring you can track purchases Regularly review all ad hoc purchases for consideration as inventory items.

11. #9 Use supporting sales and marketing strategies Consider improving the related sales and marketing activities that affect how complex and time consuming a service call can be. Go to flat rate billing Use an exclusive offer to credit their repair Create value bundles for your customers. Give customers option to bundle repairs with lower total cost for ease of billing, fewer return calls, and overall higher profit (i.e., value meal vs. a la carte ordering) Smoothing the demand curve Design a complementary sales infrastructure for proper handoffs – Trained and equipped technicians – Territory managers – Inside sales – Web sales

12. #10 Use IT to increase productivity Think about using IT across all of your functions (technical, customer service, dispatch, billing, warehousing, purchasing, collection, training, etc.) to help your tech. Many new, useful applications are free and not even specific for HVAC (e.g., a loan payment calculator) Search for mobile phone applications Mobile platforms (laptops, proprietary devices) Conference calls and web meetings Routing tools, GPS solutions Find great IT partners who support your website, phone system, back office systems, etc.

13. There you have your 10 tips We hope you’ve found something in our tips you can take home and use right away! Any questions? Feel free to ask now… OR Email me at lcouch@parrishservices.comlcouch@parrishservices.com