Win the Customer Over The Phone
If customers are still shopping after they call you, lost leads isn’t a volume issue. It is a customer experience issue. More marketing will not fix what happens after the phone rings.
In this episode of Cracking The Code, Brigham Dickinson reveals how contractors can create a stronger customer journey from the first call through the in-home experience. Learn why CSRs, dispatchers and technicians need to build trust, ask better questions and create commitment, how AI should support the process instead of replace it, and why better conversations can help contractors convert more of the opportunities they already have.
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The thing that’s top of mind for them is, is I need more leads. That’s the answer to all my problems. Just more leads. Where in fact, what you need is to take better care of each you have.
00:00:12:09 – 00:00:36:21
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00:01:05:23 – 00:01:11:16
Take the survey today at ega.org/survey.
00:01:11:17 – 00:01:40:12
Welcome to another episode of The Code with your host, Jada Moneymaker and my co-host Brad Baron a.k.a what do we call them? The firecracker baby boom boom boom boom, shoot em up. I’m telling you all, we got a great episode. Someone that I would probably say is a legend in the trades all across the nation, and he’s making a massive impact everywhere that he goes.
00:01:40:13 – 00:02:04:08
Right. And I’ve had the privilege on the honor to do a couple on sites as well, partnered with some companies that also utilized his training. And I’m telling you all, if you haven’t dialed in your Caesar’s, your dispatchers bringing some is the guy to to reach. Let’s go ahead and welcome Brigham Dickinson. How you doing, Rockstar? Hey, how are you?
00:02:04:13 – 00:02:26:13
Thanks, Jason and Brad. Appreciate you having me on the show. For a moment, I thought you said Brigham Sun. That’s what I heard. That too, which is great. Hey, hey. Hey, Brad. Every time you’re gonna point it out, aren’t you? You called me Brad Herron from Burlington couple episodes ago, and I love the show. And you came here.
00:02:26:15 – 00:02:39:23
Maybe. Maybe it was my Jedi name, right? Yes, I think so. I think so, bringing the kid wax on. Wax on.
00:02:40:01 – 00:03:03:13
So, you know, Brigham, you know, I had the opportunity, opportunity to do multiple on sites where you’ve actually been part of the training and the organizations, and I’ve got to see what you’ve been able to do. And the passion. Right. You and I were just talking about the passion that you get when you get pack in and you’re about to leave to go make an impact at a company.
00:03:03:14 – 00:03:32:07
Right. Tell everyone real quick what is it that you do? What is it that you enjoy most about being a trainer and making a massive impact? I own a coaching company. I’ve owned it for the last 18 years. The the the the best part about coaching accountability is the ability to go on for me is to go on site and work with anybody who touches, who has anything to do with the customer journey.
00:03:32:13 – 00:04:01:13
So whether it’s the CSR, the dispatcher, lead co-ordinator, technician, I’m I love sitting down with them and talking about how to interact with the customer. I’ll give you an example. Last week I was in Knoxville, Tennessee. And as a side note, offline, Jason and I were talking about, home services that we’ve never worked in or where we’ve we’ve had, you know, 1 or 2 experiences working in, I guess it’s fencing for you.
00:04:01:14 – 00:04:21:15
You’re going to go help a guy with who sells fences. Well, I was sharing with him. I worked with a painting company. I did an on site with a painting company, and and and how fun it was, how exciting it was. And it’s the same thing. But I had a very similar experience in Knoxville, Tennessee. In fact, I was right next to the Smoky Mountains.
00:04:21:15 – 00:04:39:22
You guys know where the Smoky Mountains are? Beautiful. Beautiful spot. Yeah. Oh my gosh, I’m jealous. I need to go back. But anyway, this is a garage door company. I do a lot of of heating cooling, a lot of roofing, a lot of electrical. Plumbing. Right. I’d say plumbing, electrical and HVAC here, like the big three after that.
00:04:40:04 – 00:05:01:06
You know, we dabble, right? We dabble in roofing, dabble in pest control, dabble in Molly maids, dabble in them, and in garage doors, for sure. Right. I I’d say the biggest company I’ve ever worked with, with garage doors is a one garage door, 62 Caesars. And right now, they’re booking about 91% of their phone calls. Wow. Which is cool.
00:05:01:08 – 00:05:24:14
It’s a lot of Caesars for for that to be happening. But I did some ride alongs with with the technicians in. Good day, good day garage door in Knoxville and did a training in the morning with the entire group. They invited the CSRs as well. And I’ll explain why that is so important in just a minute, but did for for ride alongs throughout the day and the rest.
00:05:24:15 – 00:05:49:04
The last ride along I was on. It’s funny how emotionally exhausted you get by the last ride along throughout the day. And, so I, I’m kind of, you know, trying to keep it all together and, and, I jump in the truck with the last tech, and, and we go out to the house and, and, super, super cool kid.
00:05:49:06 – 00:06:06:07
He’s come to find out later on that his dad actually works for a garage door in Arizona. He’s one of their top sales guys in Arizona. But. And I’ll tell you how I found that out in just a minute. But we go out, I go out with this, this young man, and he says, okay, who’s going to talk?
00:06:06:08 – 00:06:19:10
Am I going to talk or are you going to talk? He’s all concerned about who was talking, and we just went over the process in the in the morning. So I was like, bro, we’re both going to talk and it’s going to be great. And he’s like, yeah, but what’s the game plan? I said, let’s just see what happens.
00:06:19:10 – 00:06:34:23
He’s like, see what happens. That’s not a game plan, I think. Sure it is. Let’s go see what happens. And so we knock on the door and as we knock on the door, I noticed there’s this extension cord just kind of laying just kind of laying there. Right. Half hazard right in front of the right in front of this, the front door of the house.
00:06:34:23 – 00:06:58:12
And so the guy opens the door and, and, this young man introduces himself and, and I said, hey, how’s it going? I’m Brigham, and hey, you’ve got this extension cord here. It looks like you’re about to do a project. What’s going on? And and he says, oh, yeah, I was going to vacuum my car, but the, the, the extension cord doesn’t reach the car.
00:06:58:14 – 00:07:21:15
And I said, crazy thing. We got a bunch of extension cords in the truck. We could totally make quick work of this. Let’s go suck the problem. Yeah. And so and so now this young man is looking at me like, whoa, what is what is happening here? We’re going to vacuum a car. Yeah, right. And so then we finally get to the garage, and you guys know how much I know about garage doors?
00:07:21:17 – 00:07:41:09
Nothing, right? Ever. You push a button and goes up and down. Exactly. And so. And so we finally get to the garage door and he says, yeah, this one isn’t have have as much power as I’d like it to have. Okay. And so I just start jumping in and talking to us and cool. So what do you want it to do?
00:07:41:11 – 00:07:58:14
Well, I wanted to be able to do this this and this okay. So it needs more power. And I’m looking at the young man going okay. Yeah. He’s like oh yeah okay. And he’s taking notes as we’re going along. It’s okay. Cool. What else do you want it to do? Well, if it had an extra battery pack so that if the power ever goes out, that I have the ability to open the garage with or without the power being on, it’s like, yeah, cool.
00:07:58:15 – 00:08:17:15
Yeah. We could, you know, and of course I’m looking at the young man going, he’s like, yeah, yeah, okay. He’s taking notes. Right. And, and and I said, cool. So what else, what else do you want to do. And, and he said, you know, it’d be, it’d be really cool if we had a keypad outside, the garage so that I could just, you know, punch in the code and it would open the garage.
00:08:17:16 – 00:08:31:03
And I noticed that he didn’t have to keep adding back to my head, like, doesn’t have a keypad. Well, come to find out that it’s it’s an option when you build your house. You know what I mean? So you you can go without that option when you build the house. And so. Yeah. Yeah, I’d like you to do this, this and this.
00:08:31:09 – 00:08:49:01
And I noticed this portable water heater in the garage. Not a water heater. Portable, heater. Right. A portable heater inside the garage. I said so, so, what if we insulated the door? Not not even knowing if we could do that, right? It’s like you could do that. And of course, I looked at young man. He’s like, yeah, yeah, make a note here.
00:08:49:01 – 00:09:03:17
It’s like we could even talk about a new insulated door. And I was like, oh, good, right. Okay. So he’s like, yeah, it’s like it’s the door. Cool. Yeah, that’s that’s a great idea. And so, he said one more thing. He said, I want to be able to shut the garage door, open the garage door from anywhere in the world.
00:09:03:18 – 00:09:19:07
All right. So you want it all set up. You want to connect it so that you can control it no matter where you are. He’s like, yeah, if you could do that, that would be amazing. Cool. Anything else you can think of that you want it to do? No. Okay, cool. Let’s let’s put together some options and we’ll and we’ll come back.
00:09:19:07 – 00:09:36:16
And so as we go out to the van he says, I don’t know what’s going on, but I’ve never had an experience like this ever in my life. And it’s like. Like like what? He’s like, I was just he just explained everything he wanted. I didn’t have to do anything. Well, yeah. Yeah. You just find out what he wants.
00:09:36:19 – 00:10:04:10
You know, we’re not. We don’t need to fabricate anything. We just need to find out what he really wants. And so I said, look, here’s what I want you to do. He said, what should I do in these proposals? I said, I need you to put everything he wanted, everything he asked for on the top option, and then just start taking things out a little bit and then go with the next option down, and then take a few more things out, next option down, and then take a few more things out and that’s next option down.
00:10:04:12 – 00:10:23:21
He’s like just like that. And I said, yeah, and stop start at the top with everything that he wanted. So he comes back out and he said, here we go. Right. So back when I was like, I hope this works because my gosh, he’s he’s really doubting everything I’m saying. So, so so we go back. We go back and he presents the top option.
00:10:23:21 – 00:10:42:15
The guy goes, that price is a little bit more than I anticipated. What’s the next one down okay. It’s not yes or no anymore. It’s which one. Right. So it’s like oh next one down okay. Well we took out this and this and it’s that price. What do you think. Oh yeah. Yeah. What’s the next one down a little bit more than I wanted to pay.
00:10:42:15 – 00:10:58:06
Okay. Well the next one down is got this this and this and this. But we’re going to have to take this, this, this is not, not our. And then we just pause and sit there and he’s like, you know what? That’s the one. Awesome. That’s the one sign here. And we’re rolling. So after we’re all done he’s like, bro.
00:10:58:07 – 00:11:02:05
I’ve never seen anything like that before in my life.
00:11:02:07 – 00:11:22:17
And in the back of my head I’m going, that wasn’t hard at all. He’s like, he’s like, how did you think of the extension cord? Well, it was there laying on the ground, right. Exhibit A, so you just gotta pay attention, right? Let’s just see what happens and then simply ask, you got to get him comfortable with you, right?
00:11:22:18 – 00:11:35:10
Get him comfortable with you. And then simply ask, what else do you want it to do? What else do you want to do? What else do you want it to do? And then you just give exactly what he wants. You show him what the price. If he doesn’t like the price, we just modify something. We take some things out, right?
00:11:35:11 – 00:11:56:16
It’s simple if you do it that way. One thing I want to highlight real quick. I mean, you did one, two and three here that I want to talk about. So a lot of times technicians they tell telling is selling. Right. Where Brigham did is he asked questions. He engaged with the homeowner, the client. He allowed them to feel like they were accustomed tailoring those options as well.
00:11:56:18 – 00:12:20:19
Okay. So by asking questions. Okay, you’re able to design multiple options and allow it to be able to have that client involved with what you’re doing. The the last thing that I really enjoyed is when you’re presenting your options, this is very key okay. Starting with your most expensive options. But when you keep taking your step down, highlight the takeaways.
00:12:20:19 – 00:12:44:13
What are you losing because what people don’t like to lose things. So I think that was awesome right there. The way that you explained that scenario and like you were saying, it could work in any industry at the end. Well, at the end of the day, what you and the technician, Brigham, were curious, right? Like, genuinely curious and curious about what wasn’t barren.
00:12:44:13 – 00:13:02:20
We, as an acronym called witty. Right. What’s important to you? And at the end of the day, you were curious about what was important, and you were also observant, I think so many technicians, electricians, plumbers, garage door techs right in the home. They they look and they get sort of tunnel vision toward this is my job, this is what I’m doing.
00:13:02:20 – 00:13:24:16
And they forget that customer service is being curious. It’s asking those questions. It’s realizing that you’re dealing with a human being, not someone that’s just going to, you know, robotically sign some estimate based on what you recommend. So yeah, I’m a big fan of of questions and being curious. And the nice thing about you going on those calls is you genuinely are curious about everything.
00:13:24:19 – 00:13:43:20
To your point, you’re not an expert in garage doors, but you are an expert in people and you understand how to pull that out. And I think at the end of the day, that is usually the missing element, if you will, in in our craft. Right. Is that curiosity that, that, that people skill that really needs to be honed and developed and it doesn’t have to be awkward.
00:13:43:20 – 00:14:14:03
And you didn’t make it awkward. Yeah, I appreciate that. I, we really focus in on, the people skills, simply because you’re right, we have a tendency as professionals to go in and know five minutes in what the issue is. Okay, well, you know what it is. You know, the reason that they called us out, they called us out for this specific reason.
00:14:14:05 – 00:14:39:23
But everything else they’re living with. So your objective is to get into the home and recognize everything else they’re living with, right. And then present options based on what they’re living with. The bottom line is, is people are living a certain way and they don’t have to live that way. They don’t have to just get by. They actually can live better, truly, sincerely.
00:14:40:00 – 00:14:58:20
And once we help technicians realize that that’s what it’s about, really what it’s about. And I think I think it changes everything for them when you’re doing ride alongs and training, bring them. And I think this is a two part question. I think we could dive in first because we’re talking about technicians. We can talk about the in-home process.
00:14:58:20 – 00:15:28:07
But then obviously, you know, you launched your company, right, based on a need that you saw on the CSR side, right? Being able to realize that that is truly the tip of the spear, that’s where we can begin that customer experience. What would you say on both sides, on the in-home and the phone side are some of the pitfalls that are, I guess, most often overlooked and should be addressed in the home in the call center.
00:15:28:08 – 00:15:37:00
Okay, it’s a great question. So the mindset of a customer when they call you.
00:15:37:01 – 00:16:00:01
Is their shopping, their shopping, they’re going to call you. And if you don’t answer, I’m going to call somebody else. I’ve got a list. Usually, even if you do answer and I’m not impressed, I’m going to I’m going to keep calling. Yeah. Okay. This is this is a especially true with AI. The cool thing about it, AI is, is that it it fills a gap, right?
00:16:00:02 – 00:16:25:18
It it it does what it’s programed to do, which is to book a call. But a call that’s booked is not a call that’s committed. Being committed to you, committed to your organization. And so they may book you. Yeah, they may book with you. And then they’ll immediately start calling somebody else. Because if you’re only pointing out your time that you’re available because that’s what that’s what AI does.
00:16:25:19 – 00:16:42:10
Is it books? What’s next available? And if the next availability is Tuesday between 2 and 4, great. What if I can get Tuesday in between 12 and 2 so I don’t have to wait so long? What if I can get. What if I can get later today, right? What if I keep calling around and get somebody sooner, right?
00:16:42:11 – 00:17:05:14
If you’re only differentiator based on the experience I had with your AI, is is your timing right when you can get out and take care of my situation? Well, then I’m just going to keep calling around. And so a Caesar’s job and I like to call them high performers. Right. Your goal is for everybody who touches the phone to be a high performer.
00:17:05:16 – 00:17:25:02
And what a high performer does is they do the unexpected, right? AI does the expected. It does what it’s programed to do. It won’t ever do the unexpected. Okay, so so your high performers need to get on that phone as quickly as possible, whether the AI booked it or not, and begin to create commitment with that homeowner. Right.
00:17:25:04 – 00:17:47:05
Let me just give you an example. Let’s say that you have a neighbor you don’t like. Now I realize this is completely unrealistic. Okay? You all love your neighbors. I’m sure it’s biblical. Yeah, yeah. Their neighbor. Come on. Okay, let’s let’s say that you don’t like your neighbor, and your neighbor knocks on your door because your neighbor needs a shovel.
00:17:47:05 – 00:18:09:21
Now, you might answer. Oh. What shovel? I don’t have any shovels. Right. You don’t. You don’t want your neighbor to borrow a shovel from you. And let’s say that you reluctantly let him borrow your shovel, and you’re peering out the front window, trying to see what he’s doing with your shovel. Right. And you’re looking through the window and he’s working with it, and you’re kind of going, man, he’s really aggressive with my show right there.
00:18:09:23 – 00:18:30:15
He’s, you know, break my show. And then finally he looks like he’s done. He, he he leans the shovel against his house and he walks into the house and you’re like, is he ever going to return it? I mean what’s what’s the big deal? I mean, well, just he obviously looks done. I made should we should I go grab it?
00:18:30:17 – 00:18:48:18
Should I leave it alone? I can’t believe I let him borrow my shelves. My favorite shovel. It’s got the nice red handle on I. I got it from Home Depot. It’s really important to me. I wonder, so what’s my point? Let’s say, bottom line, if they don’t like you, if there’s no trust there, they have no patience for you.
00:18:48:20 – 00:19:10:04
None. Okay, but if we were to flip that on, its on its head. You do like your neighbor, okay. Genuinely, sincerely. Your kids go over there. His kids go over to your house. You guys have barbecues on the weekend. He might need an even need, even need to ask you for a shovel because he already knows the code to your garage.
00:19:10:04 – 00:19:22:19
He’s going to borrow it. Bring it back. You know he will. You guys are good buddies. And even if it doesn’t, I don’t know if it matters. That might. You might even go to Home Depot and buy another shovel instead of asking him to give you your shovel back. You don’t care about the shovel. You care about the relationship.
00:19:22:21 – 00:19:38:10
So what’s my point? My point here is, is your goal is to create that trust, create that likability to the point where they become more amicable, they become more flexible, they become easier to deal with. Right? If I got to talk to some guy to get something fixed, it’s just some guy. I don’t care how he feels about me.
00:19:38:12 – 00:19:57:07
But if I got to talk to my best buddy about something that needs to be fixed, it’s going to be a completely different conversation. So the bottom line is, is that people who like that, you like you have more patience with your you. You tend to be more ambient, more reasonable, easier to deal with. And so our goal is to create that likability, that trust over the phone and in the home.
00:19:57:08 – 00:20:15:06
So we absolutely need to do that with our CSRs, dispatchers and coordinators. We need to learn how to connect with the customer over the phone to the point where they’re done shopping. They don’t call anybody else because of the experience we created over the phone. You you talk about something, and I’ve actually heard you speak about at Brigham about a pattern for excellence.
00:20:15:07 – 00:20:37:13
You’ve used that that phrase or term before. What are those fundamental principles, I guess, that separate good or average customer experience from a great one? Yeah. So this is a pattern for excellence. There are eight principles we teach in the pattern for excellence. The end goal is to create a Wow experience for the customer. And the eight principles help you achieve that end goal.
00:20:37:15 – 00:21:01:20
Okay so first is positive attitude. Want to be super positive, super upbeat? Want to be confident confident being the second one. It’s actually preparation. Preparation creates confidence. So you got to have a willingness to practice and prepare to listen to your own phone calls and look at the basis. You got to show the customer that you truly understand that you care and then reassure them they call the right place.
00:21:01:20 – 00:21:21:23
Every customer has three human emotional needs. They want to feel understood, cared about, reassured. You want to make sure you do those three things, and then you want to ask the right questions. Be able to create value over the phone and be grateful. So if you master those principles positive, prepared, listen, care, reassure, ask the right questions. Create value.
00:21:22:00 – 00:21:36:11
Be grateful. You will create that wow experience for the customer. And so that’s the how right? This is how we go about creating an amazing experience for the customer. Then you have the what. And I’ll get into what in a minute. But I want to make sure they’re on to any of the questions on the pattern for excellence.
00:21:36:11 – 00:21:59:00
Does that answer your question, Brad? It does. No. That’s great. Thank you. Not everyone seen that. And I have and I just it was something that resonated with me when I’ve heard you speak. Yeah. Sometimes when we get really caught up in the system itself with the script or the process, it has a tendency to become really rigid and, and the moment that, the script doesn’t work or the process doesn’t work.
00:21:59:03 – 00:22:38:00
As technicians and CSRs, we have a tendency to go, oh, it didn’t work. Throughout the system. And now I’m going to go back to what I was doing before. So everything that say, for example, Jason and I have worked on when we first started, right when we first got out there is gone, poof, gone, right? So we need people to to realize that when, when the situation requires it, you may want to modify the order, you may want to modify, you may need to call an audible every once in a while.
00:22:38:01 – 00:22:56:02
Use good judgment I guess is the word that I’m looking for. Okay, you you’ve got to use good judgment. And I like what you said in the beginning. You said, you know what, Brigham? You’re genuinely curious. Yes, curious. We want to. We want to be genuinely curious. We want to sincerely care. And we want to use sound judgment.
00:22:56:07 – 00:23:20:17
So regardless of the process, regardless of the system, right. Most of the time if a system is good, you’ll you’ll have a good closing ratio, right? 75, maybe even 80%. And that’s awesome. That’s amazing. And most sell centers are going to be like bro, just follow it. Just follow it, okay? Because it’s worth losing the 20 to 25% to get the 75%.
00:23:20:17 – 00:23:44:11
Just freaking follow it. My goal is to get all of them. I want all of them. So let’s let that system get you 75 to 80% there. But then let me show you how to get the rest of the way there. So let me show you how to get the rest of the way there. What we do is we we teach correct principles and we allow them to govern themselves.
00:23:44:13 – 00:24:09:09
Okay? So we teach the principle, the truths behind the script, behind the process. Here’s here’s the reason why this works, so that when you get caught in very specific situations where you do need to create an audible, where you do need to use sound judgment and kind of go off the reservation for a little bit and then come right back, you have the the good sense to do that, right?
00:24:09:10 – 00:24:32:07
And the courage to do that. But then go back to your system, go back to your process. This is the reason why there’s a lot of organizations that, they have their system, their process that they learn from a, from another group, whether it’s a name, the affinity group. Right. You know who they are, right? There’s a bunch of them out there that kind of teach that process in that system.
00:24:32:07 – 00:24:59:08
But they also use parasailing. Pros. Because we are an accountability organization. So we take that system and make sure that you’re using that for sure. But we also teach the principles behind it so that you understand there’s going to be times where you need to make a you need to make a shift real quick and use a good use, good judgment, and then come right back to the process and then keep going in order to achieve your end goal in every situation.
00:24:59:10 – 00:25:28:00
Yeah. Go ahead, Jason, just a quick question because you’re talking about the customer journey, right? I feel like I, I travel and I train a lot of business owners, supervisors don’t understand the experience between each department and how important the customer journey is. Right. Do you mind just highlighting the importance of that real quick? The journey from answering the phones to, we’ll say, the full process of collecting payment at the end?
00:25:28:02 – 00:25:52:01
Yeah, that’s a good, good question. I like that direction. So every contractor that I talked to, the the thing that’s top of mind for them is, is I need more leads, guys. I need more leads. That’s what I need. That’s the answer to all my problems. Just more leads. Where in fact, what you need is to take better care of the leads you you have.
00:25:52:03 – 00:26:11:12
Okay. And I think that’s what Jason’s getting at. Everybody who comes to you, if they come to you. Right. Whether it’s they they’re ready to go right now, write the ready to book or they’re calling and they want a ballpark price. They want to know what you charge to come out. They want to talk to a technician. Guess what?
00:26:11:12 – 00:26:38:07
Those are all leads. And we and we really give our marketing teams a hard time. These leads are awful. They’re terrible. Right? I’m going to go get the hardest job on you guys. We we I’ve seen contractors switch marketing agencies every three months. They’re going to a different market agency. And and, it’s not their fault. It’s not their fault.
00:26:38:07 – 00:26:59:18
Okay. Customer comes in and they’re shopping. Yep. But they come to you because they’re shopping and they’re shopping for the product that you have. So if they can fog a mirror, you guys, it’s a lead. Leave the marketing agency alone, okay? If they if they bring in a phone call, it is now your job to take great care of that phone call.
00:26:59:18 – 00:27:14:00
So they’re shopping. Your job is to commit them. How do you do that? You create such an amazing experience over the phone. But by the time they are done, you’ve booked it. So let me give you an example. I’m looking for a ballpark price. Great. Tell me more about your situation. What’s going on? Well, I’ve got this air conditioner.
00:27:14:00 – 00:27:30:05
It’s blowing hot air. My gosh, it’s terrible. How long has it been doing that? The last couple of days. Well, look, we can totally help you with that. When would you like us to come out? Well, this afternoon. It’d be good. What just happened? Opportunity? Yeah. He wanted a ballpark price, but by the time I was done within 30s, I got to.
00:27:30:07 – 00:27:43:23
I got to come out. He said this afternoon would be good. Now, the back of your head, you might be thinking it couldn’t possibly be that easy. But it is. Let’s say they do push back, you know, really, I just want a ballpark price. Okay. Totally understand. Here’s what we do. What we do is we send out a comfort advisor.
00:27:43:23 – 00:27:55:04
He comes out, he takes a look at the situation. He does a heat load calculation treatment. Right. System size. And it gives you that price that you’re looking for while he’s there. When would you like us to come out?
00:27:55:06 – 00:28:10:12
Okay. Are you saying you can’t give me a price for the phone? I mean, I could, I could if I give you a price for the phone and we come out, did he look calculation and determine that’s a different price. Is that something you’re going to be okay with? Well, no. You give me a price now and a price while you’re there.
00:28:10:13 – 00:28:26:23
No, I wouldn’t be okay with that. And that’s exactly why we need to go out. It’d be irresponsible for me to give you a price without doing a heat calculation first. Got to do the heat. Little calculation, exactly what system size you needed, and then give you all your options based on the right system size. When would you like to come out and get you that price that you’re looking for?
00:28:27:01 – 00:28:55:10
Okay, so as a high performer, okay, I am trained to handle the call that way. Okay. If they can fog a mirror to lead, it doesn’t matter if they’re shopping. Okay. Everybody shopping. Even if they’ve used to a thousand times. Everybody shopping. So your job is to commit them during that call. This is why I say look, if if it’s the if if AI happens to get to that call before a high performer does, that’s what AI is for.
00:28:55:12 – 00:29:14:12
Fill in the gap. Booked that appointment. You’ve captured it. You’ve captured the lead. Marketing’s done their job. AI’s done their job. And then you need to call them and make sure they’re happy. That’s right. It’s a happy call. We now have more time for happy calls than we’ve ever had before. So we call them. We say, hey, you were just on the phone with Sarah or auto auto attendant.
00:29:14:12 – 00:29:34:06
How was that experience now? Good, bad or amazing? You’re about to get feedback. You can’t get any other way. Let’s say it was amazing. Did you know that Sarah was a. I had no idea it was a robot. I was incredible robot I know, right? That’s so crazy. Well, listen, technology is amazing these days. Or the opposite response.
00:29:34:06 – 00:29:51:06
You know what? I could tell it was a robot and it was super glitchy. Oh, my gosh, I really appreciate you telling me that. I really I’m going to make I appreciate your patience. I’m going to make sure that my team knows, and we’re going to work on it feverishly to get it to where it needs to be so that it takes great care of you.
00:29:51:06 – 00:30:03:15
And the only reason why why it’s there is because we have a chance to get to it quickly enough when we just want to be really fast and responsive to your call. Now it looks like you’ve got an air conditioner blown hot air. Can you tell me more what’s going on? Yeah, I’ve got this air conditioner, sport. Hot air.
00:30:03:15 – 00:30:20:09
And it’s it’s it hasn’t been fun. Well, tell me more. How long has it been like that? Oh, the last couple of days. So wait a minute. You’ve been, like, in this situation for the last two days, though. Yeah, I know my my my daughter is really not like it. And she’s four months old for a baby. Yes a baby.
00:30:20:11 – 00:30:34:21
Yeah. Okay. Yeah. We got to get that thing fixed. Well, look, you’ve called the right place. We can totally help you with that. It looks like you’re scheduled for Tuesday between 2 and 4. It seems like you want somebody sooner. Is that right? Now, in the back of your head, you might be going, Holy cow, CSR is going to be freaking out about this.
00:30:34:22 – 00:30:51:19
Well, here’s the thing. They have an expectation of when they’d like for us to come out, we might as well find out what it is if Tuesday between 2 and 4 doesn’t work for her, guess what she’s doing right now? She’s calling around. So your goal is to get her to be done shopping committed to you. So you simply say, okay, if you can move some things around for today, great.
00:30:51:20 – 00:31:05:13
Move some things around. And even if you can’t, you simply say, hey, look, I’m going to get you on today’s urgency list. It gives you faster service as soon as the customer calls and reschedule. Technician gets to know that in your area I’m going to move in that slot. So either way you’re going to get call from me today okay.
00:31:05:14 – 00:31:20:13
So if we can move it up from Tuesday between 2 and 4, I’m going to let you know as quickly as possible. Okay. But because you’re on the schedule I can put you on this list. So I’m going to get you on the list. And just just stay close to your phone, okay? Because I’m gonna do everything I can to get somebody out today because you’re on the on the list now.
00:31:20:15 – 00:31:38:01
Now I’m looking at the notes, and I do know that it looks like it’s David that scheduled to come out to you. If it’s David and I and all of our technicians are amazing, if it doesn’t happen to be David, if I, if I make an audible and switch it up, just know that all of our technicians are trained, certified by companies around for the last 30 years.
00:31:38:05 – 00:31:54:00
So you’re in great hands. He’s going to come out. He’s going to scope of the word. He’s going to come in exactly what you need. He’ll give you a price before he starts. Now, I noticed that you’ve worked with us a couple of times and you still don’t have club membership. I’m just wondering why not? Now, if they’re trying to get off the phone, just say, you know what?
00:31:54:01 – 00:32:10:04
Talk to David about it. Right? But if they have a good relationship with you, there’s a connection there. You know what? It’s amazing. We come out in the spring. In the fall, we make sure it’s running a peak efficiency. The best part about it is, is prevents things like this, the thing you’re dealing with right now from happening, if you want to get you going on right now, it’s 20 bucks a month.
00:32:10:05 – 00:32:26:14
Okay. Is there anything else I could do for you while you’re here? Okay. Well, thank you so much for choosing totally awesome heating cooling. We’re really excited to come out and work with you. So what am I doing? I’m creating a commitment in that part of the customer journey. Okay. What happens over the phone is a valuable touch point.
00:32:26:15 – 00:32:48:12
At very least. You guys, if you leave it to AI to book that call, trust me, more times than not you’re going to be one of five bids because there’s it’s a transaction, okay? It it is a McDonald’s model versus a chick fil A model. Brigham. What I like that you said when you were just explaining it was, hey, if I had to call an audible audible right, and switch it up.
00:32:48:16 – 00:33:18:14
I love that you used that analogy, because what you’re saying is your dispatchers are the quarterbacks of the team, right? They have to understand the daily goal, the daily objective, what the obstacles are, the strengths and weaknesses of each technicians. Right? Or hey, if something was to happen, we could move this person here because it’s a turnover. Explain being the quarterback of the team and understanding what those daily numbers look like in those routines when you’re looking at the dashboard.
00:33:18:16 – 00:33:38:04
Yeah. So you want to make sure that you’re sending out the right people to the right job. Of course. I want to be careful about naming her the quarterback, because we’re going to have business owners on this podcast going, oh my gosh, what do you say? No, I gotta pay her quarterbacks price. You probably should think about it.
00:33:38:06 – 00:33:58:07
Probably should think about that. I think a dispatcher is one of the most important positions in the company. You lose a lot of money. You lose a lot of money. Yeah. Don’t don’t underpay your dispatchers. If you’re listening to this podcast, pay them well. Bonus them well. Treat them well. Yeah. And help them transition. Yes okay. Help them transition into it if any.
00:33:58:08 – 00:34:16:11
If AI is playing a role, let it fill the gap. Let it do what it’s supposed to do, exactly what it’s programed to do. But you need to realize that you now have a whole lot more time to do the unexpected. Correct? Okay, to create wild experiences, to make sure customers are happy, to make sure that they’re committed to you and to nobody else.
00:34:16:13 – 00:34:38:12
If a technician or a comfort advisor goes out and he’s one of five bids that is on the dispatcher, that is on the dispatcher, then the CSR, now the CSR, the dispatcher might say to themselves, that is so unfair, right? They may have mentally checked out as soon as I said it. Just listen to me very carefully. I am your advocate, okay?
00:34:38:12 – 00:35:05:17
I, I have been training CSR in dispatchers for 18 years. I used to, I used to work at Arctic Air in Chico, California years ago and I was a leak coordinator. I know what you’re doing and I know how hard it is. I know how stressful it is. I understand you, I get you as a dispatcher. You’ve got to make sure the technicians are set up for success and that the comfort advisors are set up for success.
00:35:05:17 – 00:35:28:15
I am a very good salesperson. If I’m the only one going out, I’m going to make something happen. If I’m one of five bids, it’s going to be much, much harder for me. Okay, so your job as a dispatcher, leak coordinator, CSR is absolutely to commit the customer in such a way that they don’t call anybody else. So whether the I books it or not, that is your job.
00:35:28:16 – 00:35:52:00
Okay. So more specifically in answer to Jason’s question, okay, we need to be able to move things around. It’s like Tetris. Okay. You want to fill that box with his many appointments as possible. And the most important appointment appointments first. Okay. The ones that are 911 calls are our first priority calls. Our goal is to get to as many families as we possibly can.
00:35:52:00 – 00:36:23:17
If we are in a 911 situation, we need to act like we are 911 and get out to as many families as we possibly can. Okay. And our goal is to also make sure that our technicians are willing to work, work. Because guys, when it’s really, really busy, the dispatcher is the one that shows them, you know, when you’ve got a great relationship with your with your dispatcher and you want to do right by her because of the way that she takes care of you.
00:36:23:19 – 00:36:43:02
Okay. So let’s say that there’s a technician that’s got a fishing trip plan and the dispatcher knows about it. Okay. If the dispatcher has been taking great care of that technician, she might be able to say to him, hey, I have a family that needs you and your expertise today. I know you had a fishing trip planned. I know you did.
00:36:43:08 – 00:36:59:09
And I promise you, you will use that new rod. I will make sure of it myself. I will move some things around, and I’ll give you an extra day on the back end so that you can use that new fishing rod. I know you’re excited about it, but this family needs you. Please, please give me an extra day, okay?
00:36:59:11 – 00:37:22:08
And if that technician has that relationship with that dispatcher, trust me, that’s what’s going to happen. You’re going to get a whole lot more out of your technicians. Yeah. The position of trust and that relational capital is key. Such a big deal. I think it’s very, I guess overlooked is maybe a good way to put it, but making sure like something that we preach and we talk about at Barron is first and foremost, take care of your teammates.
00:37:22:09 – 00:37:45:03
Right. Because they’re going to be able to ultimately take care of your customers in a way that your company will thrive. But you got to you got to have that. We we at Barron recently implemented, to your point, bring them as overflow or filling the gaps, if you will, AI to help assist with some booking. But at that same time, we change the title of CSR to Sex or Customer Experience Specialists.
00:37:45:03 – 00:38:01:02
To your point, I want them to be elevated. I want them to be high performers. We we paid them more as a result of that too. We looked at our group and said, you are our, you know, rock, if you will, of taking care of that customer. And so we changed it. We said, you’re not a CSR anymore.
00:38:01:03 – 00:38:20:01
You’re a you’re a customer experience specialist. And and we want you to act like one right. And train in that capacity. But they have to have trust within the team, trust within your process. And then obviously that will earn the trust of the customer if they do their job right at that high level of performance. I love it, I love it.
00:38:20:02 – 00:38:41:16
See x is x s. That’s that’s what we call them now. Yeah yeah that’s cool I like it. And you’re right, the job has changed. It has. It’s different now. Yeah. Well Brigham, you know, every time that you come and you’re on, you know, a podcast or I get to experience some type of interaction with you. I mean, there’s just, I mean, I got pages right here.
00:38:41:16 – 00:39:03:02
Just written notes. Jason’s taking notes. He’s like, I’m not doing I do, I’m just taking. I mean, I do it every single time. Every time I listen to him, there’s just so much value. And then you could see the passion behind it. And that’s what I think that’s important is when you line yourself up, not with just the right coach or a mentor, but someone that’s passionate about what they do.
00:39:03:02 – 00:39:21:22
And when they go out there, you see the passion, you feel the passion. And I just gotta say, I love the energy every time I interact with you, regardless if it’s virtually or in person at an event. Well, for those of you that are listening and not watching, bring them. You like bring just this presence in the screen like you fill the screen.
00:39:21:22 – 00:39:47:18
Man. It’s awesome, I love it. He’s a monster, dude. It’s like passion on steroids. He’s like, here I am. You know, if if I appreciate that, if I could finish, Jason’s question, the customer journey mindset is shopping when they get on the phone, your job is to get them to be done shopping by the time you’re done with that call.
00:39:47:19 – 00:40:14:02
Okay? They feel like they’ve called the right place. That’s touched. That’s the goal. The end goal of touch point number one okay. So you need to you need to achieve that in order for the second touch point to occur okay. In the best situation possible where you are technician or comfortable is the only one going out. So now that the technician or the provider starts to go out, they need to start over.
00:40:14:03 – 00:40:37:00
They need to realize that they first need to show the customer that they understand them, that they care, reassuring them that they’ve called the right place, helping them feel like they’re in control. Okay, they need to feel like they’re in control and they need to feel confident they made the right choice. So by the time the technician to compromise is done, they need to have made a decision, but not just made a decision, but actually they feel good about their decision.
00:40:37:00 – 00:41:04:04
And not just in the moment, but a day after the decision, a week after the decision, a year after the decision, so that they can tell all their friends about you. Okay. So that customer journey, in order for it to be consistently done, you have to have accountability in place. Okay? So we have everything we need to ensure the customer journey is perfect from top to bottom.
00:41:04:05 – 00:41:27:07
Okay. So the first thing we need to have is recording over the phone in the home. We have the technology we need to have. I know that there are some technicians that are like, there’s no way you can record me. Stop. We have been recording CSRs for the last 18 years. Okay. They have they have been recorded and evaluated based on their recording for the last 18 years.
00:41:27:07 – 00:41:46:05
It is time to get with the program. We now have the ability to record technicians inside the home. Now, I realize there’s some states where it has to be a two to party consent. Guess what? Everything we do is recorded for quality assurance. You say it over the phone, you say it in the home. Everything we do is recorded for quality assurance.
00:41:46:05 – 00:42:09:10
It’s for your safety and mine. Okay. Done. End of story. If they say, hey, I don’t want to be recorded, totally fine. Don’t worry about it. Turn it off. But you do tell them that everything we do is recorded for quality assurance. This will help your income technicians, comfort advisors. This will help your income, especially if you can trust the persons providing the feedback on a regular basis.
00:42:09:10 – 00:42:32:10
So you got to do the recording first. That’s number one. Number two, you need to have somebody in the office who is reviewing that feedback. Do not leave it to AI to review the feedback. Here’s what AI does you guys. It looks for problems because that’s what it’s created to do okay I was on Field Pro and Phil Pro is a phenomenal product.
00:42:32:10 – 00:42:56:05
But again Phil Pro is AI. It looks for problems even when there aren’t any. So there’s one time what I was specifically asking it because at the end of the day, I don’t ever want to walk away empty handed. Technicians, comfort advisors. We never walk away empty handed. We don’t manufacture problems, okay? If we’re good, we do a thorough inspection and we find a way that they’re living that they don’t have to live that live anymore.
00:42:56:06 – 00:43:18:01
Okay, again, remember we have one get by option and many live better options based on our thorough inspection one get by option, many live better options. So we present those options. Chances are they going to choose one of them. That’s the job okay. So they choose one of those options. And we and we record it and we provide feedback on it okay.
00:43:18:02 – 00:43:39:09
So let me start over here. Recordings reviews okay. So you have the recording. You have the reviews. You have you you create time and space for the CSR or the technician to review those recordings. Okay.
00:43:39:11 – 00:44:02:17
After you create the time and space, you provide coaching, you provide coaching to them based on the recording based on what you reviewed. Okay. And then you follow up on that coaching and you make sure that the change occurred. All right. So recordings review space and time to self evaluate coaching. And then and then following up five steps.
00:44:02:21 – 00:44:32:12
That’s how you ensure a phenomenal customer journey. If you don’t have the time or the wherewithal to do that. That is why powerslam pros exists okay, that is why we exist. We are a coaching company, I love it. I have one last question for you before we close off bringing me ready for it. I’m ready. Awesome. What’s one thing a contractor, whether they’re a CEO, general manager, someone in senior leadership could do tomorrow that would immediately improve their customer experience aside from putting in that system?
00:44:32:14 – 00:44:52:18
Yep. Okay. I always like to say the 1%. If you did nothing else other than this thing, do this tomorrow. My gosh, don’t hate me. I’m just going to repeat what exactly what I said. Because this is the one thing you need to do. It’s the one thing that nobody has done without help yet. Okay, but you can do this.
00:44:52:19 – 00:45:11:04
And I’m not going to say nobody. I’m going to take that back. I was at pantheon the other day and I was at Jim. I spoke with James River and I went and did a training with James River. And, I got some feedback at pantheon about what they were doing from there, from and I spoke to a couple of their managers at lunch and he said, you know what?
00:45:11:06 – 00:45:30:02
Ever since you were here, we we began recording everything awesome. And I myself listen to those recordings on the basis. Okay, cool. So you’re reviewing it. That’s fantastic. And I, I’m creating space and time for every one of those CSRs, he says. I said, are you creating space and time for every one of those? CSR yes, I am.
00:45:30:05 – 00:45:44:12
For them to listen to their own calls on a regular basis. Yes, I am fantastic. And you are coaching them. Yes, I’m coaching them using those same calls and you’re following up on the coaching to make sure that you, you see change on a regular basis. Yes, I am. And I said, you know what? Then you then you’re good, you’re good.
00:45:44:17 – 00:46:04:16
If if nothing else, do that. And in fact, there’s one thing, one more thing I want to add. See, that’s I knew there was Brigham. That one more thing. I knew it it was right there. I would say this and I and I’ll, I’ll tell the rest of the story. I was on a panel with Tommy Mello.
00:46:04:18 – 00:46:26:03
Ryan Finn and and and Dan at kick charge. Oh, yeah. Nice. I know Dan, Dan Antonelli. Yeah. So as soon as we were, it was an awesome. Panel had a lot of good things that we went over. And, and I would say that those three organizations. Really good duo there between church between kick charge the brand.
00:46:26:05 – 00:46:51:02
Right. And and selling pros speaking of customer journey, by the way, Jason, those three, you know, if you got those three you’re doing pretty good. But but the individual that I was talking about in the beginning of this fall of this call in Knoxville, Tennessee, the Garage Door company. Good day. Garage door. Well, come to find out that his dad works for A1 and he was in the audience.
00:46:51:04 – 00:47:11:00
And so when I shared the story about him, he came right up to me afterwards and he said, dude, my son, that was my son that you were talking about. And he called me afterwards and he said, I cannot believe he I cannot believe the experience I just had and what Brigham was able to make out of an extension cord.
00:47:11:04 – 00:47:33:21
Yeah. Okay. The fact of the matter is, is. Yeah, it’s. So we took a picture together. It was awesome. But the fact of the matter is, is that it’s not it’s not me, okay? It’s it’s the system. It’s the process, right? It’s the pattern. If you if you have if you follow the principles that we teach. Right.
00:47:33:22 – 00:47:59:09
Positive attitude, confidence, listen, care, reassure, asking the right questions, creating value, being grateful. And you can consistently create that well experience over and over and over again. Your team is going to be very successful. They’re going to be very successful. So so at the end of the day, with or without me, if you follow the pattern, right, follow the pattern and the way that we go about it, with that coaching process, you’re going to be able to fix your customer journey.
00:47:59:11 – 00:48:18:08
So I I’d say we I’d say that’s the answer. That’s the one thing. Love it. Absolutely. I just got to say it’s an absolute honor to listen to you. Like I said, every single time you dropped nothing but absolutely value bombs. Until next time, y’all. Signing off. Jada. Brad home late.
