To Succeed, Techs Need Human Skills

The ability to connect and work effectively with your clients without hassle or issues arising is an important skill a home service technician should possess.

As a home service technician, be it HVAC, plumber, or electrician, you will be welcomed to your clients’ homes. Thus, one of your responsibilities is to make them feel as comfortable as possible, as the home is a client’s personal space.

As a tech, effective communication should be a skill mastered and deployed, as this will help create a good first impression about you and your company, while also helping to promote your company. First impressions are essential in every business to make your customers understand that you are different from the rest, and also guarantee that you are good at what you do to ensure they come back to you when other home issues arise. 

For instance, as an HVAC technician, a lot of your work involves interacting with clients who outline their home or office problems to you. Since it’s not all clients that will understand the technical language of the industry, you should learn to listen and pay attention to every complaint a client makes. And not in a way that irritates or insults the client. You need to exercise patience as you try to understand the problem, and relate the solution back to them in a way they can understand it

As a technician, the following skills are essential for you to succeed above and beyond the ordinary.

1. Time Consciousness

As a home service technician, you should learn how to manage time, for it serves as a useful skill in the technical field. There will always be days where you will have several appointments to attend to in one day, and it is crucial to know how to efficiently finalize the necessary tasks on time to ensure that the arrangement with your clients runs smoothly and does not suffer any major setbacks.

2. Accuracy

Taking detailed notes and paying great attention to detail are two important skills of a home service technician. These detailed notes help emphasize what work was executed, the type of equipment that was serviced and all other details that are of relevance to that task that will help provide background information for any future work.

3. Customer Relations

It is a must to have a friendly demeanor at all times if you want to get along well with your clients and retain them. In addition, you must develop outstanding communication skills to always appear confident when working alongside a customer.

4. Willpower

Most times home service technicians have to carry equipment that is heavy, and it is inappropriate for you to appear clumsy, unsure or weak and unequipped for the job in the presence of the homeowners. Thus, it is essential to know the correct way to lift heavy objects to protect yourself from getting injured on the job,

5. Multitasking

The problems a tech encounters can sometimes be quite severe. You must endeavor to possess the persistence needed to see the job done thoroughly and to a successful finish.

Oftentimes you might get to work alone without assistance. In that case, you will need to figure out the source of the problems without help, and will need self-motivation to keep yourself on task. You will therefore need to utilize strong problem-solving skills and analytical and logical reasoning talents, while paying great attention to detail in order to be successful and also blow the minds of the clients you are working with.

When dealing with homeowners’ issues, and under so much pressure, you must have an expert understanding of how the home systems work, in order to avoid looking like an amateur or novice.

6. Follow Directions

Following crucial directions is one of the things that makes a technician a professional. It is the rule that defines the type of person the technician is and how the culture of the company the technician works for goes.

A person or organization can be defined simply by looking at their personnel and the kind of work culture they possess. “Personnel” and “culture” act as a mirror for your company, revealing its true face to its customers. So, when a client gives direction on what to do, as a technician that wants to be perfect and succeed, you must ensure you follow your client’s directive in order to prevent unnecessary argument or chaos. This will go on to prove that you are a disciplined and serious technician, and this can result in greater productivity for you and your company.

This indirectly helps in the growth of the business you have, because if directions are not followed extensively it will leave a strong negative impact on the customer and reflect poorly on you and the company you represent.

To learn more about improving your in-home sales experience and effecting a lasting change in revenue and customer satisfaction, download a free training package full of online courses, videos, industry research, templates and much more by visiting EGIA.org/CBS-IHS.

Brigham Dickinson is president and founder of Power Selling Pros (www.powersellingpros.com), a leading coaching and training firm dedicated to teaching businesses to WOW more customers. Brigham is also a founding faculty member of EGIA Contractor University (www.egia.org/university) and the author of “Patterned After Excellence: Pursuing Truth in Work and Life,” a leadership and development book intended to help business owners learn to overcome human tendencies and adhere to universal truths in both their professional and personal lives.