It’s well known that the HVAC industry suffers from the inefficient use of technicians and a shortage of technicians. While the latter factor is largely out of your hands, boosting productivity in your HVAC business through better use of the technicians you do have is well within your control.

The goal of this blog post is to share my decades of experience in employing technicians and helping clients make better use of their staffs. The end result? Increased productivity. Your own business stands to see a productivity increase of as much as 20 percent — all without having to make a single hire.

There’s a reason HVAC contractors can and should first focus on improving technician productivity. Better use of existing coworkers creates a trickle-down effect on every other area of your business including:

  • Lowering the costs related to owning and operating service vehicles.
  • Offsetting inventory expenses.
  • Buffering other costs related to necessary overhead.

One of the key ways to boost productivity involves maximizing what your technicians do on the job. Many HVAC businesses require technicians to show up at work at a certain time, say 7 a.m. Idle time spent at your business is lost time, but you must pay for it. Then those technicians are paid to travel to the site, more lost time for which you must pay.

A more productive approach involves giving instructions via radio or phone and sending technicians directly to the site to begin a job. Your technicians’ time on the clock can start when they arrive on site. This approach saves you money over the long run and increases productivity.

For this productivity-boosting scenario to work, you’ll need a daily runner to interact with the technicians, conducting tasks such as picking up invoices, receipts and cash and delivering parts and messages. This employee is a go-between helping your technicians remain on the job, where you make money.

If you would like more in-depth information about ways to increase productivity in your HVAC business, give me call, or visit my website. Ron Smith HVAC Spells Wealth is here to help your business succeed — in every way possible.

 

By Ron Smith