Job shadowing is a great way for your HVAC business to recruit future employees without wasting money or your precious time. Show recruits what it’s like to work a day in the life at your HVAC company. Here’s three ways to have a great shadowing experience — for both your potential employee and technician.

Make your recruit feel at home

Brief your potential employee on what your schedule will be like for the day. Don’t go out of your way to make it an over-the-top day – you want it to be an average day so your recruit will know what to expect from a job with your company.

Encourage questions

Through being enthusiastic about your job and encouraging your recruit to ask questions, you will not only create a good reputation for your company but also display your knowledge about your trade.

Follow Up

The best way to make sure your recruit feels like part of your HVAC businesses’ family is through a follow up phone call. Answer any further questions they may have, and offer to speak with them further about available positions when the time is right.

Do you use shadowing as a way to recruit for your HVAC business?

Even when your employees are off the clock, they are still representing your HVAC brand. Your business’ reputation matters — and one employee being irresponsible around clients or potential clients can damage it. Through stressing that around the clock professional behavior is expected of your employees, you’ll be able to sleep safely knowing they have your brand’s best interests at heart.

HVAC truck safety

If your employees drive your HVAC vans when off duty, stress the importance of driving responsibility. Your company’s vans should only be seen in professional locations, and stay maintained with scheduled car washings and kept up to date on inspections. This will not only keep your employees safe, but others on the road as well.

Keep everybody responsible on social media

Maintaining a professional appearance on social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn is key to for preserving both your technicians and business’s reputation. While employees shouldn’t abstain from social media altogether, they should make sure to have their profiles on private and remain professional so their followers will hold them in that light. Another reason social media responsibility is important is because it will protect you against network hacking.

It’s three o’clock in the afternoon and a long day of fixing systems in extreme temperatures is getting to you — and you’re hungry to boot. But what should you eat?

There are many options out there, but not all of them are healthy or will keep you filled up for the rest of your busy day. The key to a healthy snack that keeps you filled is having a carbohydrate and a protein. We’ve got five satisfying snacks to hold you over until your day is through.

1. A piece of fruit and half a cup of nuts. This snack can be easily packed in the morning and doesn’t have to be refrigerated. Fruits like a banana or orange will give you a dose of healthy sugar, while the protein from nuts like pistachios, almonds, or cashews will keep you full for the rest of your afternoon.
2. Whole-wheat crackers and Laughing Cow cheese. When at the grocery store, choose whole-wheat crackers for a healthy and salty alternative to white flour crackers. Laughing Cow cheese comes in a variety of spreadable flavors, which will give variety.
3. Popcorn sprinkled with Parmesan cheese. This snack can be popped in the morning, and then sprinkle with Parmesan when you’re ready to chow down.
4. Oatmeal with nuts. If you have access to a microwave, oatmeal is a high-fiber snack that can be doctored up with additions like nut butter, dried fruit, or chopped roasted nuts.
5. Bagel or toast with Nutella. For those of you who crave something sweet in the afternoon, hazelnut spread like Nutella will give you something both sweet and satisfactory. Toast the bread before you leave for work, and carry the hazelnut spread in a to-go container to eat on the road.

Once you’ve finished your snack, be sure to bring breath mints or gum with you – offensive breath can break a sale!

Before your company is overwhelmed with work this summer, take a moment to check out our five-point checklist on getting your fleet ready for spring and summertime.

1. Take an inventory of your truck. Spend an afternoon taking everything out of your truck, cleaning out the space, then placing it all back in the proper place. It will not only make finding tools and equipment easier, but also keep the interior of your vehicles clean.
2. Make sure all the vehicles in your fleet are current with their inspection stickers. Not only is this safer for the driver, but also keeps you or your employees from getting stuck with a ticket for an expired inspection sticker.
3. Make sure the outside your company’s HVAC vehicles are presentable. Your HVAC vans are a form of advertisement for your company – peeling decals, overly dented bumpers or dirty cars are all a representation of your brand. Through keeping up with your vehicle, you are show current and potential customers that you are responsible and professional.
4. Equip your drivers with a hands-free GPS system. As cities continue to grow outward, it is more and more likely that your employees will have to travel to areas they are unfamiliar with. A hands-free GPS system will keep them off their phone while driving, as well as insure that they show up to customer meetings on time.
5. Stock up on the non-tool essentials. You never know what you’re going to face in a day’s work, so do your best to be prepared.

How do you prepare your fleet of HVAC vehicles for busy season?

Would you make a sales pitch to a client in the United States in Mandarin? I didn’t think so. Then why would you use HVAC jargon when speaking to a customer who doesn’t understand it?

Instead, try speaking their everyday language and experience positive results. I know changing behaviors can be a challenge, but here’s how to get started:

Learn your customer’s language

While the HVAC industry has its own set of jargon, your customers don’t understand these terms. Instead, you need to learn how to speak the language of your customers through active listening. Customers are looking for somebody who will tell them in direct, coherent terms what they need and how to get it.

Earn their trust

Speaking the same language as your customers will make your products and business easily accessible, building a loyal client base. By spending time speaking clearly, they are more likely to continue to use your company and recommend it to friends.

Give your company the competitive edge

The best way to make a sale is to lay it out in terms your customer understands — it puts you on an equal playing field. Through making your company accessible, you are gaining an edge over the competition. The trust of your clients will result in their repeat business.

Speaking to your customer in accessible terms will not only help with in-person sales, but will also help with potential clients finding your business online. Try to think in the terms of your client — tag you website with those terms to help people find it easier.