When I have the opportunity to speak with service managers, one of the discussion points that inevitably comes up is about the quality of the work order summaries written by their service technicians. It seems that in many organizations, the quality of the written summaries of work is all over the map – from very poor to excellent. When I ask if they have clear and simple guidelines to help their busy technicians to consistently write well, they often admit that those guidelines are still on the “to do” list.
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I-CARE – 5 Steps to Work Orders that Shout “Value”
Tagged with: 5 keys to sucess for service technicians, bettering customer service experience, business development using service technicans, customer service expert, customer service tech work order template, Jim Baston, Proactive Service®, service tech work order forms, work order sample
Posted in Business, Customer Service, Service Tech Training
Posted in Business, Customer Service, Service Tech Training
4 Steps to Turn Service Teams into Enthusiastic Business Promoters
From my experience, technicians as a whole do not see themselves as salespeople and object to being put in that position. It should not be a surprise, therefore, if they are not enthusiastic about a company initiative that expects them to take on a larger business development role. This concern should be acknowledged and addressed, yet many managers act as if this concern does not exist. This is a mistake.
Give Your Customers Your Heads as Well as Your Hands
The focus changes from how the customer can help us achieve our goals to how we can better help the customer achieve their goals. We should be taking every opportunity to broadcast what our technicians are doing to our customers and prospects alike. It should be a point of differentiation for us. For example, imagine your salesperson promoting the services of your company in a competitive situation. Rather than simply saying what every one of their competitors will say, they can communicate the unique value they bring through the actions of their technicians. The conversation might go something like this:
Position Technician Promotion of Services as a Valuable Service – 4 Steps
It is important that everyone in the organization understands what you want your technicians to do. As a service, technicians will use their knowledge and expertise, their understanding of the customer’s goals and objectives and their proximity to the customer and their business for the purpose of exploring for ways to help that customer make improvements. Once an opportunity is identified, the technician will make the recommendation to the customer and show them how they will benefit. This will only occur when the technician truly believes that their recommended action is in the best interests of the customer. When technicians act in this way, they provide a service that allows the customer to say, “I am better off for having known you.” There is no higher level of service that we can provide.
The Limiting Reality of Getting Technicians to “Sell” – 4 Reasons Why
In my opinion, a technician who feels – based on their knowledge and experience – that the customer would benefit from a particular product or service in some way, and brings this to the attention of the customer is providing a service and is not selling. It is part of their job – as important as their ability to fix or maintain the equipment itself. In fact, I suggest that they have an obligation to the customer to discuss any action that would be of benefit to their operations.
