Here’s a story from when I was an HVAC tech. We had a customer with two houses on the same property. I was told “nobody is home just go in through the Bilco doors in the basement.” After I did the air conditioning tune up on the main house, I went to the second house. I didn’t knock since they “weren’t” home. However, after I walked in there was a young guy, probably 16 or 17, completely passed out on the couch! I had woken him up. And it was awkward. I could have used better communication that day.

So, here are some ways you can avoid having your tech find a 16-year-old asleep on a couch and improve communication with your team:

1. Incentives - If you want your technicians to do something, offer something in return to show you’re serious about wanting better communication. The goal can be respond to every text sent, or even just be on time to every job. When the gift card or cash is given out, make sure it’s coming from you, the dispatcher, since it is your communication that is being incentivized.
2. Know When to Call and When to Text - This might seem simple, but having an idea of the urgency for each day-to-day task will help communication. If you, the dispatcher, needs to let your tech know another job note about the next job, a text is all you need. You don’t want to interrupt them on their current job. If a tech needs clarification on billing, a phone call would be more appropriate because it is an immediate obstacle to completing a job in a timely manner.
3. Use Job Notes - Notes are LIFESAVERS, whether you’re texting, paging, writing, or using the Notes features inside Pointman, each job should have notes. It’s here you can have the dispatcher let the tech know the “customer is home, and has been contacted.” This saves a conversation, and will make sure technicians don’t show up to cancelled jobs.

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