Professionals who care
MICHAEL YOUNG
Michael Young is a trainer , coach and mechanical engineer in the HVAC industry . He graduated from the University of the Witwatersrand in the field of Mechanical Engineering ( B . Sc Mech Eng ) in 2008 and qualified as a Professional Engineer ( Pr . Eng ) in 2013 . Michael is passionate about promoting knowledge and helping other young engineer grow within the industry through his training workshops and coaching sessions . Michael can be contacted on michael @ myhvaccoach . com or 073 171 2311 for any questions or HVAC training needs .
THE SQUID GAME OF THE HVAC INDUSTRY
By Michael Young ( Pr . Eng .)
The final stage : Going for victory
The final stage of the squid games is to go for victory and secure constant recurring orders . It ’ s much easier to secure an order from someone who already knows you , trusts you and likes you than from a stranger .
Imagine you decide you want an order from an HVAC contractor whom you have never met . You arrive at their office , tell them you are selling a well-priced split unit and then ask them for an order . What will your chances of success be ? I think it ’ s safe to say that your chances of success are very slim .
Now imagine things are a little different and imagine you first work with them on a project and consistently deliver good service . They are really impressed and like the way you handle the entire project . Now imagine you tell them that you are selling some mid-wall split units at a discounted price – what are your chances of securing an order ?
I ’ m sure you will agree it ’ s much higher than the previous scenario . So , what is so different ? How can we secure constant
recurring orders from the same client ? Well let ’ s face it , people buy an experience . Imagine again you are now the client and have just purchased an HVAC system for a specific project . Imagine the equipment arrives late , the technician cannot get the unit commissioned on time and the supplier never answers your calls .
To top it off , when the project is done , they ask for a variation order because what they supplied did not comply with the specification document . What are the chances you will give them another order ? Pretty slim , right ?
So , the key element to getting future recurring orders is experience . How do we deliver a good experience to our clients ? The answer is “ service ”. Deliver exceptionally good service at a fair price and your chances of securing future orders increases .
There is a saying , “ your first order will come from the sales team , your second order will come from the services team ”. Within any project , building the equipment is the easy part . Installing the unit and getting it to perform as per the requirement is the difficult part .
This is where the structure of a team should be changed whereby both the sales and service team work together with one goal in mind : “ deliver an incredible experience for the client ”.
Therefore , whenever there are problems , services should immediately report this to sales and the sales representative must immediately engage with the client . While engaging with the client , problems should be addressed but more importantly , an action plan needs to be presented .
If all problems are solved in the fastest possible time and should the project be handed over in the requested deadline , you will have accomplished your goal of giving your clients a pleasant experience of dealing with you . That wraps up the squid game of the HVAC industry . Wishing you another great month ahead .
To read the preceding articles of this series , see RACA Journal January and March 2022 , or read online at www . refrigerationandaircon . co . za RACA
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RACA Journal I May 2022 www . hvacronline . co . za