HVAC companies install and fix heating, ventilation, and air conditioning units, but are primarily service companies. That means it’s critical to hire, mentor, and retain excellent HVAC service technicians.
You want to make sure your team is friendly and trained on the latest equipment. Your employees should also be able to help your customers understand the services they are providing your customers. They may create new revenue opportunities by selling products and services when they’re at a customer’s site. Skilled, certified, well trained, personable HVAC technicians can help you grow your business.
Want more information about managing your HVAC business? We have blog post about how to grow your HVAC business.
In the blog below, we’ll discuss how to recruit, train, and mentor employees who can be the best ambassadors for your company.
HVAC service technicians install, maintain, repair, and replace air conditioners, climate control systems, heating equipment, ventilation units, refrigeration equipment and more. Responsibilities for HVAC technicians include:
To recruit the best technicians, you want to put your best foot forward. You want to make sure you’re running a company with a great reputation so you can attract excellent technicians. Some elements you might want to assess:
Write a convincing job ad to persuade top technicians to join your company. Here are some tips that can help you write an enticing job ad.
Keep it simple and optimize for mobile since many job applicants will be viewing your ad on their phones. If you ask for a resume, make sure it’s easy for applicants to upload their documents. And only ask for the minimum information to ensure your future employees complete the application process. For example, you won’t need social security numbers or references until you meet in person.
Ask your employees to help. Recruiting one good technician can lead to another one if you provide incentives for your staff to recommend new service technicians. If your employees enjoy their work, they’ll be able to serve as excellent ambassadors for your company. Providing them a cash incentive for successful hires will make them even happier.
Connect with training institutions in your area You could speak with high school students on career day to tell them about service technician jobs. Visit community colleges and technical schools as an advisor or guest speaker in an HVAC class so your company is top of mind for new graduates.
It goes without saying that you place a lot of trust in your service technicians. They help you keep your customers happy so you can build your business. You can tell a lot about how they’ll perform on the job when you bring in potential HVAC service technicians for an interview.
Start with a general screening via phone call before inviting your candidates to an in person interview. Ask a few general questions as well as some screening questions:
At the in person interview, you’ll be able to see if the applicant is punctual, if they’re clean and appropriately dressed, and how their attitude toward work stacks up. Make sure your interview questions cover foundational topics like how heating and air conditioning systems work, as well as situational questions to see what traits they have, how they solve problems, the way they communicate, and how they handle unexpected hiccups that are bound to happen on the job. Don’t forget to ask about the applicant’s wage expectations, benefits, and bonuses!
Here are some questions to assess qualified techs who are reliable problem solvers and good communicators.
Using service management software can make it easier for your employees to check on parts, learn customer histories before they arrive on site, and track warranties, or even help with service estimates. Other benefits of software include:
HVAC Service Technicians are people who enjoy fixing things and working with their hands. The responsibilities for the job include: reading blueprints, using various tools for repairing HVAC systems, assessing all components of the HVAC system to ensure they are properly working, connecting wires and testing circuits, perhaps welding pipes, checking for leaks in tubing and pipes and more. This level of skill requires training.
The usual training and education progression for HVAC service technicians:
You can help your HVAC technicians become more successful by helping them build and maintain relationships with teachers and mentors. A mentor is an industry professional who is willing to share their knowledge and experience. Although mentoring relationships may begin when your tech is starting out, they can last many years longer than it takes to teach someone the basics.
Here’s how you can encourage mentorship within your company by example:
All union and many non-union HVAC jobs work on an apprenticeship or mentoring model.
Sometimes an employee who seemed promising just doesn’t work out. But before you let them go, ask yourself if you have done everything possible to turn their performance around. Have you invested in sufficient training? Did you create an atmosphere where they were able to learn on the job? Did your expectations for the person outweigh their potential? Review your notes from the interview to find out what you expected.
If you see that a particular HVAC technician is costing you customers or money speak to the employee to find out what’s behind the difficulties at work. Maybe there’s a factor in their personal life that’s affecting their work. Maybe you can retrain them to make it right. You’ve already invested time and belief in the employee. You can attempt to provide clear goals and expectations to encourage them to turn around poor work habits or improve processes.
However, if there is still no change, you’ll have to let the employee go. Be firm and direct. Show documentation of the issues that led to the dismissal.
Service technicians are the heart of your business. Providing your technicians with opportunities for career growth helps you maintain good relationships with customers and will help you keep your business successful. Software helps you attract and retain good HVAC techs. One of the ways to ensure you can attract top quality HVAC service technicians is using all in one service software to automate many repetitive processes, provide up to date customer and parts information, deliver digital invoices on the job, compile data that helps you see where you can be more efficient, and deliver powerful financial features to keep your company on track.
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