Callback Prevention Principles

In this podcast episode, Bert joins Bryan to talk about what he has learned to help prevent the dreaded callback on the job.

Callbacks are bad news for customer service, time, and profit. However, the highest cost is the inconvenience caused to the customer. To reduce callbacks, Bert recommends communicating your expectations to your customer clearly; explain what the expected performance should be and how a customer should use their system. We need to do better at having conversations with the customer where we listen to them; we should not explain everything through the paperwork and walk away.

Customers become less of a callback risk when technicians stay with them until they are no longer a risk. The technician must run the equipment to ensure that it’s working and set expectations before they leave. This tip can be a bit tricky, as many of us have to move from one emergency to the next, but the extra time and effort will almost surely help prevent a callback. The goal is to get a system to last as long as possible without having a problem.

Overall, hard skills are less important than soft skills when it comes to callback prevention. Many techs have the technical knowledge; far fewer take the time to listen to the customer and get the whole picture of the problem. When it comes to hard skills, callback prevention requires more attentiveness and skill application than the technical skills themselves.

With all that in mind, the ultimate key to preventing callbacks is to take responsibility for ALL of your work: testing, setup, communication, and fixes.

Bert and Bryan also discuss:

• “White-shirt” techs
• “Callback risk” customers
• Reducing loads by adding insulation
• How rain and temperature affect performance
• Recognizing a customer’s budget
• Checking for wire rub-outs and loose/poor connections
• Visual observation