This week, we’re hosting training for one of our boiler product lines. Service technicians from contractors and building owners all over North Carolina and South Carolina are attending a one-day training course delivered by factory experts. This course is typically only available in California, so it was a terrific opportunity for us to extend a chance for our customers to come to our facility and do some hands-on training with some of the newer equipment they are seeing on the job site.
One of the techs I talked to yesterday said he had attended school to learn about HVAC and plumbing service but his coursework had focused almost exclusively on residential service. When I asked where he learned about commercial HVAC and plumbing systems, he said, simply, “On the job.”
These technicians are truly experts in what they do. But they troubleshoot vastly different problems and pieces of equipment each day. Attending training and sponsored events by local manufacturer’s reps is a critical component of their continued success.
But why? Technicians get extraordinary experience and knowledge on the job. Why should building owners and contractors spend valuable resources sending them to training classes and rep-sponsored events?
- The HVAC world is changing. Boilers used to be…boilers. But today’s boilers are now attached to complex building management systems. Valves are now “smarter” than ever. Pumps continue to evolve. Exposing service techs to the latest technology is just smart business. They will be better prepared on the job site, which will make your customers and end-users very happy.
- Manufacturers are experts in their own products. Manufacturers and their representatives live with these products every day. Raypak, our manufacturer for this training, spent valuable resources getting a factory expert out to our facility. They know the ins and outs of all of their equipment and are uniquely suited to answer questions from technicians who see a variety of problems out in the field. Exposing technicians to these equipment experts is critical not only for the information they gain during the training itself but also for the factory contacts they establish when they face a particularly difficult issue on the job.
- Keep good employees. It’s no secret that finding a quality service technician can be difficult. And it’s also not a surprise to know that you have a limited team and they don’t have a lot of time to devote to training. But employee turnover is one of the top challenges facing most businesses today. Technicians crave information and resources that are critical to their job performance. Offering additional training to strengthen skills and expand technician knowledge is an excellent way to keep your people engaged and satisfied on the job.
There are many more reasons to offer additional training for your technicians. And, I’m willing to bet that your manufacturer’s reps would be interested in offering training that would benefit your business and your technicians, design engineers and even architects! We’re all in this together, after all. And we all want commercial building HVAC and plumbing systems to run like a top. Win-win.
Click on the link below to tell us what types of training you’d be interested in and get a chance to win a FREE stainless steel double-walled insulated tumbler ($40 value)!