Seven Angry Technicians

I spend a lot of time with technicians from plumbing, electrical, and HVAC service companies who use upfront pricing. After 15 years, their stories and viewpoints have taken on a pattern of sorts. Without a doubt, the seven most dreaded customers the flat-rate technician faces are familiar to you, even if you're time and material: (In no particular order) 1. The Flamethrower The flamethrower has some frustrations with their situation that may or may not be related to your company; it is almost never related to you personally, however... This person is willing to unload heavy emotional baggage on you which can range from fault-finding to soul-searching. Some of them are intentionally abusive; others unaware of their output. In any case, many techs do not like this propensity for lengthy reviews of customer service or lectures, and miss the opportunity that simply listening would give them. 2. The Cat-Lady The Cat Lady is really the category heading for unsafe or unsanitary working or living conditions. The reality TV depictions of hoarders and pet collectors are all too real to the technician, and play a heavy role in his sales decisions. The truth is most of these customers are far easier to deal with as customers when you have empathetic listening skills. Their plights will not please the technician, but the opportunity to serve a customer professionally is still quite present. 3. The Expert The expert is usually an engineer or some similarly over-educated person (no offense to engineers). I will stop short of calling them Know-It-Alls because they are clearly unaware that they are this person. However, their intellect is an asset in the sale process, not a hinderance. If you know your products and services well, are a skilled mechanic and have nothing to hide, they can feel as smart as they need to feel, even if it makes you seem ... not as smart. 4. The On-Call Estimate/Add-On The number one complaint about the service trades at large is On-Call. It's a double-edged sword because the personal sacrifices can be high, but the payoff is similarly high. The captive customer buys more often and at a higher price than regularly-scheduled customers. It is generally more lucrative work for the tech. But Add-On at 12 midnight? I'll be divorced! Of course, the customers seem to sense this apprehension at midnight. That's when they say, "Hey while you're here, could you..." 5. The Alpha Male Ever see two Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep crash their heads together? That's what it reminds me of when the Alpha Male customer meets the Alpha Male technician. There has only ever been one way to beat an Alpha, and it ISN'T trying to emasculate him in his own home. Learn to submit. There are subtleties of posture, inflection and spacing that can influence the Alpha without his detection. 6. The Shadow The Shadow never leaves the technician's side. He or she is ever-present, sometimes curious, undoubtedly vigilant. Whether this is an outgoingness or a trustlessness, the situation is actually preferred. To whom will you add-on when you find that additional task if the shadow is not present? Once again you have nothing to hide and the process is not different. Great questions and empathetic, active listening skills will make the shadow a raving fan. 7. Chatty Chad/Chatty Cathy "How ya doin' Mrs. Jones?" has led more technicians to frustration than they care to admit. Sometimes a life story is triggered by the most innocuous of questions. What is baffling is that the technicians consider this a hassle! If Mrs' Jones tells her life story in response to "How ya doin?", you can generally tell the salespeople from the technicians less than 5 minutes into the story. The Professionally minded salesperson is going to remain as genuinely interested in the story as is suitable and effective for building a person-to-person relationship, perhaps even adding follow-up questions. The typical technician is going to say "So I hear there's a problem with the tub..." Get to our Sales Summit or Black Diamond course, and make 7 new friends.