Service Excellence in an HVAC Independent Contracting Company

Even if you have been going strong for many years in the HVAC, plumbing, and electrical independent contracting company world, it is always a good idea to take a step back from time-to-time and evaluate the foundation, health, growth, and developing image of your independent contracting company.  The way in which a independent contracting company is set up in its beginning stages and the values that are instilled into a new team often set the stage for the direction of service excellence for the business.   In today’s post, we are going to take it back to “square one” and revisit a few of the foundational aspects that help to make an independent contracting company successful, growth-oriented, attractive, and service excellence driven:

Cast the vision for your company and give team members specific goals

At the heart of every successful HVAC independent contracting company there has to be a leader (or leaders) that points the independent contracting company in the right direction through developing and creating the HVAC independent contracting company’s vision and mission of service excellence.  The beauty of vision casting is that it initially gets everyone on the HVAC, plumbing, or electrical independent contracting company team on the same page and prepared to work in the same direction.  After leaders have developed and thoroughly explained the independent contracting company’s mission and vision to their team then it is time to breakdown the vision into manageable goals and feasible objectives that can track the success of service excellence of the HVAC team and the independent contracting company.  When team members feel unified under a common vision and are then entrusted to help accomplish specific goals and objectives then they can feel confident in their daily tasks and proud to work with a driven and unified independent contracting  company.  Camaraderie inside an independent contracting company must be an initial goal for all growing businesses because when a team works together it creates a work environment that is enjoyable and this HVAC, plumbing, or electrical team cohesion and unity becomes evident to potential clients.

Hire people that want to get the job done and want to be successful

This next key goes hand-in-hand with the above point.  While it is important to set the independent contracting company’s standards of service excellence and vision high, it is also important to hire people that aspire to be successful as an individual as well as a HVAC, plumbing, or electrical team member.  This means recruiting and seeking out the right people with the right attitudes.  Hiring the right person may not always mean hiring the person that has all of the best technical skills or knows all the right sales techniques; while those attributes are important, it is always vital to ensure that you are hiring an upstanding individual.  Sometimes that may mean hiring someone that is new to the field if he or she has a superb attitude in which he or she is willing to grow, learn, and train.  You want your independent contracting company to be full of growth-oriented and positive people because this also works to create an environment that is prone to success as well as ensures that your team members are providing the best customer service and service excellence to all of your clients and prospective clients.

Train all team members on the non-negotiable action steps that create strong first impressions

When leaders and managers inside an HVAC, plumbing, and electrical independent contracting company recruit and hire the best people for their team, it is always important that they quickly instill their company’s non-negotiable action steps through proper training of new employees.  Non-negotiables work to propagate an independent contracting company’s vision and mission of service excellence to all clients through allowing the independent contracting company’s high aspirations to radiate through acts of service excellence.  While these action steps are small in nature, they make a big impression!  First impressions are key whether it is a CSR talking on the phone with a client for the first time or a technician meeting a client in the field during the first service call.  When working to grow an independent contracting company, it is important to remember that your market will “judge the book by its cover.”  Thus it is so important that non-negotiable action steps are carried out on every call and during all company-client interaction.  When CSRs answer calls promptly and politely or when techs effectively interact with clients and maintain a professional appearance (in regards to personal hygiene, clothes, tools, and their trucks) then it automatically implants a positive first impression in prospective clients’ minds.  It is especially important that technicians maintain a positive image for their independent contracting company when on calls because it may be the first time that a client has seen anything visually related to the company.  This may mean training the tech on exiting the truck quickly, radiating a positive demeanor when answering the door, using floor protection before entering the home, as well as learning to converse with the client to build rapport.   When non-negotiable actions steps are trained and instilled within a company team then they will be equipped to make wonderful first impressions and build strong camaraderie with their growing client base.

At times, it is vital to go back to the business basics to ensure that your company is continuing forward on the right path.  When revisiting your independent contracting company’s foundation, it is important to remember these three important components: casting a vision to create manageable goals, hiring excellent people that are driven to be successful, as well as training team members on non-negotiable action steps that establish strong first impressions. Thank you for following our weekly posts.  Here at Service Excellence Training, we turn learning into earning!

-Resource curated by Whitney Stewart of Service Excellence Training