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At BBA Consulting Group, we show technical service companies how to drive more revenue and higher levels of customer satisfaction by enthusiastically engaging their field service team in proactive business development activities.
Technician Sales Training – Inverse Relationship Between Trust and Technique
Training for technicians that is singularly focused on sales technique also fails to adequately take into account that success will also be dependent upon whether the technician sees this business development role as part of their responsibility. If technicians don’t recognize that the conversations with customers about how their services can help them is an integral part of the service they provide – as important as their ability to repair and maintain equipment – then they will be less likely to engage in this behaviour. In addition, if they focus on technique at the expense of building trust, they might be perceived as merely selling and lose the trust advantage they had in the first place.
4 Questions to Ask When Evaluating Technician “Sales” Training Programs
There is a considerable amount of debate over the role of technicians in promoting services. Below are my key beliefs about the role that service technicians play in your organization and 4 questions to ask when evaluating training programs that can help you ensure you get a higher ROI.
4 Questions about Business Development by your Service Technicians
Many of the technicians that I have met do not see their role as a salesperson. They tend to leave sales activities to the people with the expense accounts and fancy cars. What these technicians fail to see is that we are not asking them to sell at all. We are asking them to serve. By identifying and speaking with the customer about the actions that the customer can take that will help them improve operational performance, reduce costs, improve tenant satisfaction, etc. is a valuable part of the service.
6 Ways to Get the Most out of Training your Team
Let your team do most of the talking. In our enthusiasm, it is easy to get carried away and do most of the talking. We sometimes feel as if we should know all the answers and, as a result, we jump in too quickly to fill in the blanks. When the team looks to you for the “right” answer, turn the question back to them. For example, you might say something like: “You experience this sort of thing first hand, what do you think we should do in this situation?’
Technician Service Challenges – How to Keep a Customer
What made him angry was the fact that the same technician was back at his office to do routine maintenance at least two or three times between the initial recommendation and the failure. “Not once in all those times did the technician remind me of this looming problem. Had he only mentioned this to me, it all could have been avoided”.
5 Questions to Help you Evaluate How Proactive your Service Team Is
In our experience in working with service firms, many have found it helpful to use our 'How Proactive is Your Service Team Checklist' to regularly analyze their performance against key measures. It helps them focus on what matters most in an industry that is easily distracted by the demands of the day-to-day realities of the business. The complete Checklist consists of 15 key questions.
4 Components of a Better Technician Work Order Resolution Description
Frustrated by the poor quality of the information provided by your technicians on work orders? The importance of the quality of the work order resolution description is often overlooked. The fact is the quality of this information is very important! Below are 4, easily remembered components that your technicians can include to better communicate the value of the work they have performed. The four components are captured using the acronym CARE.
You Said “Two” – The Importance of a Good First Impression
“You said ‘two’.” These were the three simple words she spoke to me and they set the tone for our business relationship and a lasting first impression. As I write this, it is early on a Sunday morning in Vancouver. I am staying at a downtown hotel and reviewing the details of a workshop that I am delivering to a group of technicians on Monday. I had decided to take a break and walk a couple of blocks to get some fresh air and cup of coffee.
Spontaneous Empathy – Addressing Concerns Before the Customer Raises Them
It got me to thinking that in the technical service business, circumstances beyond our control often occur to cause us to deliver less than ideal service. A serious traffic delay on a major road or a severe winter storm preventing the delivery of the needed part are just two examples. When those things occur, are our field service teams, dispatchers and other front line staff trained and ready to demonstrate “spontaneous" empathy? Are they aware that, although they may not be responsible for the circumstances that have caused the problem, they are responsible for the ongoing customer experience? Do they know how to communicate this through their words and actions?
5 Mistakes Service Companies Make Asking Technicians to Promote Services
Engaging technicians in promoting services is a focus of many service organizations today – and for good reason. A program of this nature can be a significant differentiator in a highly competitive environment. Technicians who use their expertise and knowledge to recommend products and services that help their customers achieve their goals provide tremendous value. They help their customers recognize that they are better off for having known them. And, a customer who recognizes this value in the relationship is very unlikely to take their business elsewhere.
How is Your Business Really Doing? – Part 2
My point here is that this scoring key can be useful to apply to these two questions about the quality of the Proactive Service® experience you are providing. It will clearly identify the percentage of respondents who will speak positively about you and potentially become “ambassadors” for your company as well as the percentage of those who will speak negatively about you. This helps you focus on both ends of the satisfaction spectrum and focus on minimizing the percentage of “detractors” while maximizing the percentage of “promoters”.
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