Becoming Personable in the Heating and A/C Business
You’re in the midst of your air conditioning, refrigeration and heating program, and, of course, there is one aspect you really fear. It’s not handling potentially toxic refrigerants; you have that part down cold, so to speak.
For you, it’s the social part: customer service. Indeed it is a major part of the job, particularly when you work in the residential sector, and you are coming into people’s homes and instructing them on which repairs need to be completed. Coming off as rude or gruff will most likely lose your company a customer. Here, for example, is an article that shows some of the habits of personable people.
Many young heating and air professionals don’t intend to, but just by not being particularly friendly you can alienate your customer base. So as part of your training you should be sure you are practicing being polite and personable. Being in someone’s home is awkward enough; try to not just be there to fix someone’s furnace and get the heck out of there.
How do you do this? Most easy is greeting the customer with a smile. Try to give off vibes that you are here to help and are interested in doing so. Speak to them, and call them “Mr.,” “Mrs.,” or “Ms.” (though if they invite you to use their first name, you might consider doing so).
Next, keep the lines of communication open. When you are explaining maintenance, or which part needs to be replaced, try not to speak in overly technical terms. Laypeople tend to be turned off by overly technical explanations, and may become intimidated.
Try to explain what the replacement part does and how its failure led to the customer’s issue. Again, plain language, as simple as you can, works best.
When you’re in the heating and cooling business, customers are an essential part of the business, and being a good, friendly communicator is at least as important as technical knowledge. Choose your words wisely!
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