Why Pre-Schedule Training?

When you preschedule your training you develop, top-notch technicians. That's a no-brainer. It goes without saying that when you train your technicians, they become better, and when your techs are better, your business is more credible. But no matter how much OJT they get in the field, there is always something more to learn. It’s always good to have refreshers like AC maintenance before the heat of summer, and heat pump maintenance before the first winter freeze. It’s good for the less experience techs to learn about geothermal, oil furnaces, heat pumps, and some of your best-in-class troubleshooting techniques. The best companies, are always training. In fact, some of the best companies I've worked with have excellent training rooms, with a variety of scenarios and controls in place to create multiple trouble shooting scenarios.

Contractors that don’t pre-schedule, tend to do less training in general. The time to schedule training is on a regular basis, it may be weekly, or monthly. I recommend setting aside an hour or two every week as this seems to be a best practice by the top-performing contractors I work with. But there are many other reasons to pre-schedule your training. When you pre-schedule your training, you improve your company culture because your employees want to feel confident and capable in the field. Think of your training as a benefit to your employees, because they are definitely a benefit to the company. When you pre-schedule, you show that continuous education is a priority. If you have a strong training schedule, you can leverage your training in your recruiting process. On the flip-side, when you don’t pre-schedule your training, you show that getting better is not a priority. Training should not be done on a whim, or only because there is no work. If you're only training your people when there’s nothing else to do, you are creating a depressing learning environment. It's training day--get ready for a layoff.

A variety of consistent training shows that you understand the different learning styles. By understanding your technicians different learning styles, you won't leave anyone behind. Some techs learn better when they work hands-on. Some are visual learners. Some are auditory learners. Some learn best when they are trained with a combination of all three styles. And it's important to remember that some technicians need to see and hear something over and over before they finally get it. But when they do, they'll never forget. If you encourage training in the field, and reinforced training in the office, your technicians with all their different learning styles, will eventually learn in the way that’s best for them.

Training your techs is a good thing, but's it's important to train everyone on your staff, including dispatch, sales, installers, call takers, warranty and accounting. You want everyone on the team to know that continuous education is important, and that their roles are important and valued. Every position needs to be playing at the top of their game if you want your company to operate at its very best, and this includes those working in the back office, too. Every position can benefit from gaining additional professional skills, soft skills, understanding the different personality profiles, and becoming better communicators. Many contractors overlook the importance of these skills as they approach their next growth barrier. What I mean is, you and your staff must improve on multiple levels to bring your $600,000 company over the $1,000,000 mark. And the same is true when you want to hit $2,000,000 or $5,000,00+ in revenue--there are new skill sets and processes you'll need to learn at that level, too. If you want better numbers, you and your people will have to upgrade your knowledge and skills at all levels of the game. The best run HVAC companies I know are always seeking knowledge. And I heard an interesting quote once, although I can't remember where... they said, "The people I admire are almost always readers. The people I don't admire, rarely read at all."

Finally, don’t forget to train yourself. Too often owners seem to think they are exempt from personal development. Don't get caught up in this trap. You will always have room for improvement. An owner that used to be a technician, must learn to be a supervisor, and a supervisor must learn to be a manager, and a manager must learn how to manage by the numbers, and a manager must learn how to be a leader, and a leader must learn how to share his vision, and on and on. The best way to have a strong culture of training, and personal growth, is to set an example from the top down. If you seem to know all the answers, and never demonstrate that you are trying to learn, no one else will try to learn to find answers themselves. They will always have to ask you. But if you demonstrate, by example, that you are resourceful and humble, and willing to learn from outside sources, so will your people.

A well trained staff is more efficient, motivated, professional, and will help strengthen your reputation in the marketplace. So if you have dreams of growing your small business into an exceptional service company, you must become an exceptional person, an exceptional leader and coach, and businessman. So start with you. Begin pre-scheduling your personal training regiment right away, and then begin pre-scheduling training for the whole team. Plan for success. Plan for the skills and training required for your team to hit your goals. Don't just throw big numbers on the wall and hope last year's team will rise to the challenge. Help your people get better at what they do, so they are capable of reaching your goals. It stands to reason that if you plan to grow 10-20% in the next year, that you and your team will need to improve 10-20% for that to be possible. In the words of Jim Rohn, "When you get better, everything will get better."

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