Wavebreak Media/Thinkstock
Contractormag 3493 Hiring
Contractormag 3493 Hiring
Contractormag 3493 Hiring
Contractormag 3493 Hiring
Contractormag 3493 Hiring

You’re hiring the wrong guy

Oct. 13, 2016
If the industry is truly short these workers, how do we find them or in turn create them? Maybe the dilemma is, we’re hiring the wrong guy or maybe we’re setting the wrong expectations for our current employees Most service technicians are hands-on junkies Personality and desired skillset play a huge factor in whether or not someone would naturally fit into your available position

Yes, your brother-in-law’s second cousin’s sister’s kid says he’s a plumber and desperately needs a job, but why is that your company’s problem? I can see you nodding your heads up and down in exhaustive agreement, maybe even a little eye rolling happening. How many times have contractors, including myself done this? Hire people we know that are not the right person for the job.

I know over my 30 plus years in the industry, I’ve done it ten times too many and had to finally come to a place where I slammed on the breaks to re-evaluate my hiring patterns. And asked myself, where are these qualified workers? And if the industry is truly short these workers, how do we find them or in turn create them?

Our average technician earns more than $40,000 a year with education debt at minimal, so why do we still need so many workers?

It seems our trade school classrooms continue to remain on low volume. Our average technician earns more than $40,000 a year with education debt at minimal, so why do we still need so many workers? Employee retention is low and doesn’t seem to be increasing.  Our dilemma of low volume pools of technicians is still well, low volume. Maybe the dilemma is not in the number of workers we need to hire to stay a profitable business, maybe the dilemma is, we’re hiring the wrong guy or maybe we’re setting the wrong expectations for our current employees. 

The ideal

All service companies have an ideal technician in mind. Characteristics typically include: trade skills, sales skills, dynamic personalities, and solution oriented capabilities. The industry promotes this binary super hero able to sell an entire system change-out in under ten minutes and then install it blindfolded.  

Have we ever looked into why technicians become technicians? Have we ever looked into why salesmen become salesmen? Have we ever looked at these two entirely different working personalities and dissected their professional DNA? Because reality in business shows, you are either a good technician, a good salesman, or if you are both…well, that is something different; that person is an entrepreneur. 

The technician

If we autopsied the core values and drive of a true service technician, the industry would see some pretty compelling features. Most service technicians are hands-on junkies. It’s the thrill of the fix. These men and women possess an innate desire to serve and find solutions. Their reward doesn’t come from the bottom line; it comes from fixing the problem. It comes from leaving a home in better working order than when their work boots first hit the floor. True born technicians aren’t salesy or cunning, they are to the point, fix the problem, ease your pain kind of people.  Their goal — the hum of a solved problem. Rarely do you find a group of men or women fully dedicated to fixing systems that enjoy going into the home, putting on their portable suit and tie to make a sale, then changing in the service truck to fix the unit. These men and women get their fill by being recognized as hard workers with a skill set to fix the problem and leave the home secure. They have no real desire to upsell or make a profit. Their profit is a happy homeowner, not a happy business owner. 

Take a squirrel. Do you think you could teach a squirrel to sit on a couch and watch a movie with you?

The salesman

What differentiates the service tech from the salesman? Well, the bottom line to start. The salesman’s sense of accomplishment doesn’t stem from turning the heat back on, it stems from the win, the final sale, the signature on the bottom-line. Clarifying and convincing the customers need for certain machinery is something technicians aren’t inherently good at. Making more, selling more, adding more and negotiating is the life-blood of interaction for a salesman. Their goal is changing the outcome of the initial service call. Can they have technical skill?  Most definitely! Can they be really good at actually fixing the problem? Most definitely!  Is it what drives them? In most cases, not at all. 

The solution

First, acknowledgment that personality and desired skillset play a huge factor in whether or not someone would naturally fit into your available position. It’s mere psychology. Take a squirrel. Do you think you could teach a squirrel to sit on a couch and watch a movie with you? I would venture to say you have about a 100% chance of failing at that idea. But, what if you put in a movie and place a pile of nuts on the couch next to you? Your chance of teaching that squirrel just increased a lot. Will the squirrel ever watch the movie? I doubt it. Will the squirrel sit on the couch next to you? There’s a good probability. Why? You paid attention to the nature of the squirrel.

Humans have the same wiring. To some of us, selling is a natural skill. To others, it’s like that squirrel. No way you’re getting them to sell. How do we fix this? It’s simple. Let someone else sell for the technician or provide a system that allows the customer to buy without requiring the technician to sell. The faster we accept that techs are techs and salesmen are salesmen, the faster your budget will expand and the better chance you have at getting that squirrel to sit.   

Rodney Koop, CEO and Founder of The New Flat Rate, is a motivational speaker, author, entrepreneur and solutions based enthusiast. Over the last three decades, Koop has founded and sold HVAC, electrical and plumbing service companies. Koop is a Master Electrician holding 10 unrestricted electrical licenses and has helped to write and qualify exam questions for state board testing. During his career, Koop has contributed numerous articles and industry assessments to multiple publications and recently authored his first book. Koop is dedicated to challenging all audiences to utilize their brains in creative ways for growing their companies.

Voice your opinion!

To join the conversation, and become an exclusive member of Contractor, create an account today!