Flight controller, drill instructor, traffic cop, mental health counselor…welcome to the word of the HVAC dispatcher. Anxious customers, impatient customers, angry customers (the happy ones rarely call) not to mention the varying moods of technicians, comfort advisors and managers all make up their typical day. It seems that more women than men have this job; likely because they can handle the multi-tasking and the stress better.
I don’t know about you but the thought of answering the phone with a cheerful, enthusiastic voice about a hundred or two times a day, every day, every week, all year, every year is not attractive to me. It’s downright frightful.
I hope you appreciate your dispatcher and you tell her so….often.
She has another very important job and that’s setting the “sales stage” for the technician and the comfort advisor. I believe these things, done well, will increase sales and close rates. Here are some tips:
• Answer the phone with a person, not a recording, including after hours
• Answer before the third ring (have backup persons on alert)
• Create a pleasant, welcoming greeting that everyone uses
• On incoming service calls inform the homeowner about the cost-savings and other benefits of service agreements, setting the stage for a technician to close the sale
• On routine service agreement scheduling calls remind the customer that they’ve made a wise decision in having their precision tune up done twice yearly and to keep that up, setting the stage for the technician to sell the renewal
• On a sales lead call assure the homeowner that your comfort advisor will take care of them in a professional manner, setting the stage for a one call sales process and close. Here’s a sample:
“Well, our customers really appreciate Rick. He’s efficient but thorough. He’ll ask questions and write down what’s important to you. He’ll ask you to help him take measurements of your home to determine the proper sizing of your new equipment. After inspecting your existing system he’ll be prepared to create some choices for you and anyone else you may choose to invite to consider this decision. Will anyone else be joining you? All of this will take an hour or maybe more, depending on the questions you may have. Will 5:00 PM today be good for you?”
Folks, this is part of the sales process that often gets overlooked and no one is better to set the sales stage for the comfort advisor than the dispatcher.
Owners and comfort advisors, please go over to her right now and tell her how much you appreciate her!
Good Selling!